Pardini 32acp rim lock

Got myself a brand new Pardini 32acp and having occasional rim lock on the top round (5th round loaded).  Second from top round moves forward underneath the top round and its rim goes forward of top round, causing it to lock.  Top round won't feed and it is a MF'er to get the top round out; I've had to resort to using a small screw driver to pry down the 2nd round and another to push the top round ahead.

Has anyone found a solution to this?

I'm currently loading 0.845 OAL with 0.333 crimp, bullet is T&B.

I've tried going longer in OAL, but closing the slide will cause the T&B bullet to engage rifling and make opening to eject a live round very difficult, if not practicable.

Any suggestions or cures?

Thanks.

I am bias but you are shooting the wrong bullet

Greetings,

While I do not own a Pardini, the Walther I converted presents the same issue.

You have to carefully load each round and push it to the rear while under magazine spring tension.

Over time, you will sub-consciously master this loading technique.

Cheers,

Dave

FC60 tells it right.

Those 32ACP magazines are a PITA. A forum member sold me a nifty 3D printed speed loader that helps, but I have also got into the habit of pushing down on the top of the 5th round a couple of times every time I load to just make sure that everything is moving smoothly.

The problem can occur regardless of bullet type, in my experience.

radjag wrote:FC60 tells it right.

Those 32ACP magazines are a PITA. A forum member sold me a nifty 3D printed speed loader that helps, but I have also got into the habit of pushing down on the top of the 5th round a couple of times every time I load to just make sure that everything is moving smoothly.

The problem can occur regardless of bullet type, in my experience.

You are right Ray but it’s really bad with the short Travis Bullets!

James Hensler wrote:

radjag wrote:FC60 tells it right.

Those 32ACP magazines are a PITA. A forum member sold me a nifty 3D printed speed loader that helps, but I have also got into the habit of pushing down on the top of the 5th round a couple of times every time I load to just make sure that everything is moving smoothly.

The problem can occur regardless of bullet type, in my experience.

You are right Ray but it’s really bad with the short Travis Bullets!

What bullet do you recommend?

fc60 wrote:Greetings,

While I do not own a Pardini, the Walther I converted presents the same issue.

You have to carefully load each round and push it to the rear while under magazine spring tension.

Over time, you will sub-consciously master this loading technique.

Cheers,

Dave

Thank you Dave, I will try to master this.

85 XTP’s

James Hensler wrote:85 XTP’s

Thank you.  What's your OAL with that bullet?

.895
1.6 grain N310


It can still lock up but not near as much

Careful loading of the magazine as described above will eliminate this problem. I use the T&B indoors and at 25 yards. I have 3k of the 60gr JHP and still stick with SWC except for 50 yards.

I have had this happen also.   It seems to me that there is a problem with the magazine spring.  If it gets compressed unevenly, or slightly out of alignment  it can cause the case rim to lock in the magazine.   I have only had the issue when using a skinny hook to push the rounds down so I can more easily load the magazine.   When I load them the hard way, with my thumb and check every bullet for ability to slide forward, I don’t have this problem.   Once the magazine spring has been broken in by being loaded several times,  it gets easier.

I have had this problem on the top round with the short bullets.  Only push the 5th round back until the bullet tip is well clear of the mag front.  This becomes second nature after a while.

Thank you all for your input.  I'll try the loading techniques with the remaining T&B 64gr SWC bullets. I've also ordered 400 of the 85gr XTPs.  I'll let you know what I settle on and why.

On the plus side, best damn trigger ever of any gun I've shot -- puts a smile on my face :-)

LongSlide wrote:Thank you all for your input.  I'll try the loading techniques with the remaining T&B 64gr SWC bullets. I've also ordered 400 of the 85gr XTPs.  I'll let you know what I settle on and why.

On the plus side, best damn trigger ever of any gun I've shot -- puts a smile on my face :-)

Truly one of the best reasons to own the gun.   Learn this trigger, and the world is your oyster.

After carefully loading the magazine, be sure to lock the bolt back before inserting it into pistol. Inserting the magazine and then racking can occasionally cause your rim lock.

Just a quick follow up for the next new Pardini owner that has these teething problems. 

I've shot another hundred rounds and carefully loaded the magazines as suggested (slide first 4 rounds back fully to rear while rounds under spring tension, the top 5th round ~1/8th inch from rear, and insert magazine with bolt locked back). I experienced no rim lock; it has definitely improved.

For completeness, the load I used is 64gn T&B bullets, OAL 0.835", crimp 0.330", and 1.6gn N310.  Shoots accurate at 50', pleasant recoil -- to be honest, I'm used to shooting 45, so yeah, pleasant recoil.  Funny how the 45 acp rounds look giant after handling the itty bitty 32 acp rounds.  

I'll update when the 85gn XTPs arrive.  Happy shooting.

Also to be complete, I previously experienced a few stove pipes while firing.  Read some threads on here and targettalk, which led me to adjust the magazine feed lips to bt. 0.275 and 0.280.  The stove pipes disappeared.