Finding Cases for Odd Calibers
It seems like people really enjoy their odball cartridges, but finding brass and reloading seems to be a challenge for some. I think one of the most fun things about reloading is being able to produce cartridges that would not otherwise be easy to find. At $50 a box of 32-20 I would not even consider shooting one without loading the shells. At least Starline makes good brass that is readily available.
The 32 MAS round sounds like one I'd be interested in reloading if I had a pistol in that caliber. If I were wanting to shoot a 32 MAS, I would either buy over priced Bertram Brass from Midway or form them from 223, 30 carbine or 32 S&W long cases. I would suspect neither forming process is real easy. 32 long would have to have the rims trimmed down unless they fit bolt face of your gun as it stands. You can put brass in a lathe and trim the rims down until they fit a 32 ACP shell holder. I made 9mm largo brass in this way from 32 super cases. This was before Starline made 9mm largo cases a standard item. Trimming them to length would then result in a usable case for the MAS pistol. Rifle brass would have to have the walls thinned which seems a bit more challenging process unless one could have a special reamer made and then you could just run the reamer in and out with a drill to thin the cases once trimmed to accept bullets. Brass made from 30 carbine or 223 would probably extract better than converted 32 long cases.
I would think 32 MAS would be easy to load once you have brass using 32 ACP dies. 32 ACP, S&W (long and short), H&R and 327 Federal all use the same straight walled sizing die. I suspect the 32 MAS would be in the same family and the 32 ACP taper crimp die should put a satisfactory crimp on any suitable bullets 308 to 312. I imagine loads in the 900 to 1000fps class would function and group fine.
Sometimes I think it might be nice to get a 25-20 to play with, but then I think about how much extra work it would be to make brass from 32-20 cases and I kinda shy away from the idea.
"That's a cannon" when compared to most modern sporting cartridges. As far as what's left on the shelves with the run on ammo, 270 seems to be what I'm running across most often at the local walmarts. I think those of us who shoot oddballs don't expect them to be on the shelves of mom and pop shops or places that only stock common rounds anyway. I think the fact we can shoot and enjoy what most people avoid is part of the fun like your grampa's old 25-20 or 25-36 or mabye a 25 or 30 remington etc......
Still have the gun though so maybe I'll take it on my next elk hunt.
