French .32 (Don't laugh - read this please!)

A

Adventurer_96

New member
I have a Sagem Modele 1935S pistol that I really enjoy shooting EXCEPT for the fact that ammo is so expensive to buy. But, when I bought a box from a dealer at a show about three months ago he actually gave me a great idea and I just need a bit more info.

It seems that the 7.65 (or .32) French Long cartridge is somewheres between a .32ACP and a .32S&W. The reason I say this is because .32ACP rounds are visibly shorter and this dealer apparently just used a case trimmer to shorten some .32S&W shells since *all* of the 20 he sold me were stamped as such.

So, now I just need to buy a bunch of .32S&W brass to cut, which I think I may be able to track down. The problem is I don't know what the dimensions of the .32French case are and I don't know what kind of load I should put in it since it's an older pistol and not a PPW/CCW as of right now. I am assuming that it will use a .32ACP bullet since someone to me a while back that there's a way to fire .32ACP through the gun single-fire.

Any suggestions?

ps: Feel free to post any and all jokes you may have about French armament, I still think it's a neat Browning-influenced design, and I laugh at those jokes too!

La perte des armes est la fin de la liberte.
 
Joke? French armament? Why is it those three words always appear together in a sentence? (Couldn't resist - besides you asked for it. :D )

FWIW, the Old Western Scrounger sells .32 French Longs for $1 each in boxes of 50. Is that a good price?

If you still have an unfired round, a few minutes with a caliper should give you the dimensions. Actually you should be able to get them from a fired case as well.

Wait, I just remembered that it might be in "Cartridges of the World". Hold on for a second...

I'm back. (Pretty fast, eh?) COTW lists the round but doesn't give the case dimensions except to say it has a 19.8mm straight case. They say "for handloading, any 30 caliber bullet up to 100 grains can be used." But they don't give any powder data which is unusual, sorry.
 
French 32 ammo

I have a full box of the original stuff and no longer have the gun. If I can find it it's available for $30 + S&H.
mac
 
I reload for the 32 French Long

Hi Adv 96. I have a S.A.C.M. 1935A which is essentially the same gun. The 1935S came out a bit later and was modified to help ease manufacturing. Great little guns and yes it is a single action Browning design. Why they chose that caliber is beyond me (yes I know it was influenced by the semi-auto insert for the 1903 rifle).

I bought the brass form Old Western Scrounger and have been reloading it using dies I bought from Ammo Depot. The bullets I use are either 30 Mauser or 30 Luger (from Ammo Depot, both work but one is 86 grains and the other 92 I think). There is another, cheaper source for the brass which is modified S&W 32 Long brass, but I can't remember it right now. If you need help reloading it or sourcing anything drop me an e-mail.

Its a strange and interesting cartrdige and the gun's design was used for the SIG P-210. Check it out and you can see the direct influence.

Pilot
 
I would feel well-armed with one: it points well and the ergonomics are great. Only trouble is the stupid round.

Rather than re-load for it, can it be re-chambered for something else that's close enough in pressure and dimensions?
 
Why not just chrono some of the available ammo, then work up a load in the modified .32 cases? It seems like it would be a pretty easy thing to do...
 
I hadn't even thought of rechambering the gun, although I should have since it cost a whopping $60, I may just take this gun down to the gunsmith and see what they can do.

I did find a cheap source for magazines for the gun, $7 each, and two should be coming to my doorstep in a week or so. We'll see if they were worth the money. Springfield Sporters in PA.

Thanks for all of the info, you've been a big help.
 
Brass is available from several sources, I walked in to a gun show and found several who sold it, they just didn't have it at the show.. Try buffalo Arms, Idaho. (208) 263-6953. The last price quote was $24 / 100
He said to use 30 M1 or 32 S&W long dies.. have not got around to loading yet, but I do REALLY wanna shoot my S.A.C.M. M1e1935a..Oleg's right, ergonomics are excellent, and according to SIG this was the platform for the P210.
 
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