Loading for .32 NAA

[pax]

Is anyone here currently handloading a .32 NAA? What's the basic process?

Thanks,

pax

[WIL TERRY]

SO, what is the "basic process" you are asking for ?? Do you know what a press accomplishes, what the dies do, why you need a specific shellholder, what Full Length size means, and why "bullet seat" is needed 1000% more than a crimp ??
If you do not know you will be thrilled with all you can begin learning from a modern loading manual. READ everyone you can lay hands upon and you'll be well on your way to asking ALL the right questions and enjoying the inch thick frosting of handloading upon the cake called shooting.

[Sevens]

Ugh. Let me just tell you this much...

I'm not saying "ugh" over .32 NAA, I'm saying UGH over .312" component jacketed slugs. Total nightmare right now.

It's a diameter that they don't make much of generally, because folks obviously aren't shooting a lot of .32 Auto, .32 H&R, .327 Fed Mag... at least compared to the popular ones.

So when the Barackolypse hit the ammo... then the reloading gear... whatever was out on shelves got bought up. And all the manufacturers are killing themselves to produce and ship everything they can. In .355, .357, .400, .452 of course.

I can only guess, but I seriously doubt that ANY component bullet maker has dusted off the .312" equipment in a year or more. They'll keep making what they need to make to catch up and fill orders. I keep hoping that .312" slugs show up SOMEWHERE, sometime... but it's not happening right now.

Good news for .32 NAA is that 71gr FMJ and 60gr XTP are out there, so if that's what you need for .32 NAA, you can get somewhere. If you go cast lead, there's a zillion of those in all weights. But the heavier bullet stuff isn't available right now.

I'm trying to handload .327 Fed Mag and that's where my frustration is.

What's the parent case of .32 NAA? If this round is handled like .357, you might be sizing the body of the case with a .380 die and neck sizing with a .32 Auto die.

[joneb]

What's the parent case of .32 NAA?

http://www.naaminis.com/32naa.html

[Sevens]

Yep, looks like a bottle neck .380 running a .32 bullet. Probably load this round much like you'd load a .357 Sig.

[pax]

Wil,

Plenty of books on hand, but I'm not really a novice reloader because I've been doing it for awhile. The problem is that I reload only occasionally under the watchful eye of a knowledgeable friend. Truth is I hate the process so much that it's only economics or necessity (or economic necessity) that drive me to the press. So I'm generally on shaky ground whenever I set out to do something I haven't done before. And I've never before reloaded a necked down round.

Sevens,

Thanks -- you answered nearly everything I should have asked.

If the .312 bullets have become that scarce anyway, it's not going to meet my basic goals of providing an alternate supply that is either more readily available or less spendy than commercial rounds.

Not really up to going cast lead. I shoot enough that I work pretty hard at reducing lead exposures wherever I can, and that means jacketed bullets whenever possible.

Of course you know and I know that it's all cyclical and the supplies will eventually come back, but this is the longest and most severe ammunition component shortage that's happened in my decade of shooting, so it seems like a terrible thing to me.

Meanwhile, I'll go read up a little and kick some more tires to see if this is what I want to do or not. Thanks.

pax

[Sevens]

Well, like I said, the 71gr FMJ (most likely for practice round in NAA, I'm thinkin?) is available, and you can also get plated 71gr RN which will work quite well, even at 1,000 or 1,100 FPS, which (I think?) is the neighborhood of the NAA. The plated bullets are completely encapsulated, airborne lead should be minimal. And the slugs are good and cheap!

The real issue with loading a bottle neck pistol round is the technique... I have never tried .357 Sig, I know folks do it, but it's not outrageously popular. As I've heard, there can be issues with case mouth tension on the bullet. A bottle neck round is just plain different than what we are used to dealing with in a semi-auto pistol. In a pistol, the round gets violently jacked in to the chamber and unintended bullet setback can be catastrophic. I know that most .357 Sig factory rounds have cannelured bullets -- you aren't likely to find a component jacketed .312" slug with a cannelure in the weight you will need. 85 or 100? Yep, nice cannelure, but these were made with revolver use in mind.

So, for someone who doesn't particularly ENJOY reloading, but looks at it as a dirty task that HAS to be done, there will be a learning curve with this little round.

Have you got all your spent brass? Is that a large supply of brass? I don't even know if Starline or anyone else sells component brass in .32 NAA. I know that Cor-Bon gets much of their brass (all of it?) direct from Starline.

I can tell you that there is a fairly active discussion forum hosted right at the NAA website. I would think that if there is any reloading forum on earth where more than one person actually handloads .32 NAA, you'd find them in that forum.

[Brian Pfleuger]

All of the factory 357sig ammo that I've seen actually CREATES a crimp groove in the bullet. Anyway, it's not neccesary in the sig as sufficient tension can be achieved between a good taper crimp and neck tension. The same may well be true with the 32.

I checked their site and, unfortunately, Lee does not make a factory crimp die for the 32. If such a beast existed, that would seem like the best option.

The other solution would be to use a powder that can be loaded as a compressed charge in order to prevent set back, which is what a lot of people do with the 357sig.

Looks to me like acquiring a set of dies may be the hardest part though, I don't see them listed as current production by anyone obvious.

BTW, Midwayusa has all kinds of .312 bullets in stock.

[Sevens]

BTW, Midwayusa has all kinds of .312 bullets in stock.

Sure about that?

They have some 60gr XTP, which I said... and some 71gr FMJ... which I also said... in two posts. In jacketed, that's all there is on Midway, and every other bullet seller on earth.

Please, take this as a personal challenge: Find some jacketed .312" slugs for sale, 100 grains and up. PLEASE! And PM me links!

I'm sick of lookin' for 'em!