Pardini problems again

Well, folks, I don't know what to think and what to try next. I have a Pardini in 32ACP I bought new about two years ago. No matter what I try I can't keep it on target. First I thought it's me, then I tried different things with my ammo, then I replaced the red dot, and today I spent a few hours on the range trying to shoot it from a sandbag and see if I can call any shots. What you see is my *best* 50 yards target. Shot from a sandbag, two-handed, very carefully aiming at the very center of the black and squeezing the trigger slowly. The larger holes are my reloads with T&B 62gr LSWC over 1.7gr N310. The smaller holes are the factory Hornady 60gr XTP ammo, this is what Pardini guys have recommended. As you can see, I could barely keep my shots in the black. I cleaned and inspected the barrel, there are no visible defects, scratches or bulges. The crown looks good too. 
Should I just give up on it and just write $3k I invested in it off my taxes (yeah, wish I could do that )) ? 

Your not the first person I know to have their reloads barely stay on a repair center. Reloading the 32's is an art! 
Out of curiosity do the T&B's group at 25 yards for you?
Jon

Of course, I know reloading 32 is tricky. But I'm surprised the factory loads are no better or even worse, this makes me think it's a hardware problem
25 yards is not much better, I do stay on black but it is not grouping as tight as it should.

Greetings,

There is no guarantee that store bought commercial ammo will shot X-ring at 50 yards.

Only testing each lot ($$$$) will determine the best one.

The Hornady 60 grain XTP ammo is directed to Personal Defense. Not Bullseye.

I did look back though some of my test targets at 50 yards with a factory Pardini barrel.

The Hornady 60 grain XTP Commercial I was gifted shot ten-ring with many X's at 50 yards in a Pardini 5" barrel with no choke.

My reloads shot ten-ring with the 60 grain bullet. About the same size group as the Commercial Hornady.

The best results I have had are with the 85 grain XTP bullet using 1.90 AA #2 or 1.60 of VV N310. Both loads shoot X-ring at 50 yards.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ABOVE ARE NOT DOCUMENTED LOADS!!!

I do not own a Pardini; but, I have several barrels that I use in my "ammo tester" for curiosity/experimenting.

Another point is that the recent Pardini barrels have a swaged choke applied to the muzzle. The barrel is 0.314" and with the choke, the muzzle measures 0.312".

I have not done testing to verify this helps or not. Pardini must think so as the current 5" and 6" barrels in both 32 ACP and 32 Long have choke now.

Cheers,

Dave

I wonder if those not having good accuracy with T&B lead bullets are those that have “the choke” in the barrel.
 I for one wish it had no choke but then again I’ve had very good accuracy with the 60 and 85 gr xtp

Well, I don't have a bore gauge that small so I measured it with my calipers (which are not very trustworthy) and indeed it measures .312 at the crown (I took a number of measurements, varying from .310 to .312 but never above that).

This is just me but those that are talking great accuracy with lead at 50 yards never mention if they are using barrels with the choke or without the choke.  I like that Dave mentioned it in his post above.  Personally and again it’s just me but I think the newer Pardini choked barrels are the culprit for lack of accuracy with lead.

However , and Jon mentioned it reloading is a science for these little buggers.  I had someone send me some of their reloads and they did very well at 50 yards.  I’m not going to go into detail on his loads but I will say I could use my thumb and push the bullets down into the case.  No clue if that contributed to the accuracy

Two things to check are: 1) the Allen screw under the muzzle that attaches the slide assembly to the frame, and 2) the threaded adapter that said Allen screw threads into that is really what attaches the slide assembly to the frame. If either the screw or the adapter loosen up, the result is random shot dispersal.

The adapter is supposedly locked in place in the frame with some sort of clear glue-like compound that's not very strong and can disintegrate over time. When that happens, the adapter will work free a bit and then re-tighten when the Allen screw is tightened, but then it can work free again. If this is happening it needs to be removed, have the coarse external threads cleaned, and then be reinstalled with a higher strength threadlocker like Locktite 620 (red). Worked well for me.

Nice, thanks for the heads up 5shooter

I could not get T&B to shoot at all! 
I don’t know anyone who gets good accuracy with factory ammo either.

[quote="javaduke"]reloads with T&B 62gr LSWC over 1.7gr N310 & factory Hornady 60gr XTP ammo, [/quote]

That combination begs the question - did you clean the barrel between ammo changes?

I have tried many different lead bullets in my HP32 - not able to get really good groups with any of them. But the lead residue after some bullets can be alarming. I would strongly suggest that you test again (check the tightness of the barrel retaining bolt as suggested above) - this time start with an absolutely clean barrel - shoot your XTP ammo first - then clean the barrel and try again with lead.

I have been intending to do a thorough RR test with all the guns I use in matches - but just never seemed to get around to it - so I do not have definitive results for my Pardini. But I have shot it with quite a lot of different ammo in training and competition. My favourite match ammo is Fiocchi XPT60. Note that it is essential you buy the Fiocchi JHP60 that uses Hornady XTP60 bullets and is assembled in USA. Fiocchi recently started selling "S-JHP" ammo with soft lead hollow point jacketed bullets manufactured in Italy - it is no good for target work even at 25yds IMHO.

Hornady XTP60 shoots OK, but in my casual testing is not quite as good for me as the Fiocchi.

PMC 60JHP looks nice - shoots lousy.

Winchester Silver Tip - not great.

Magtech lead RN - horrible mess. After shooting just 5 rounds of Magtech I vowed never to shoot any more lead bullets in my HP!

The XTP recipes recommended by FC60, Hensler and others all seem to work OK for me (XTP60 over 1.8 N310 - XTP85 over 1.6 N310 both work fine for me).

[quote="James Hensler"]I could not get T&B to shoot at all! 
I don’t know anyone who gets good accuracy with factory ammo either.[/quote]

I like and respect Jim. He has helped me a lot. I have the same experience with T&B - that is a pity because Travis produces good quality product and outstanding customer service.

On the other hand I used factory Fiocchi XTP60 ammo for all of the matches I attended in the second half of 2020 (mostly HP32 5" with UD 1" and Rink grip). Seven matches in total. Average CF 900 Aggregate was 863, PB match 875. Practise PB with same gun/ammo = 881. I'm not a High Master (yet!!!), but I think that these CF scores are quite respectable.

It is possible that carefully reloaded XTP60 or XTP85 might produce even tighter groups, but I have not yet had time to really prove the accuracy/reliability of my reloads. Confidence in gun/ammo is a big issue, so I persisted with Fiocchi factory ammo last year.

I use the T&b coated 62gr bullets with a fairly labor intensive reloading practice. I have not benched my 32, but my 32 scores and my 22 scores are within points of one another making me thing that my reloads are sufficient? I am a 92-93% shooter with both.

Not sure if this is significant or not, but I have found I do my best with the Hp when the clean barrel has about 20 fouling shots. Definitely more than most of my guns. Again, not sure if there's anything to that?

WOW looks like a shotgun target. Send it back to PARDINI

Here's a thought on measuring a choked barrel without precision bore gauges.  Slug the barrel starting at the breech end and drive the slug all the way through.  Measuring this slug should give you the tightest barrel dimensions, i.e. the choked portion.  Then start another slug from the breech end but only drive it about 2" into the rifling; then drive it back out toward the breech end. (Only use wooden dowels for driving slugs so you don't damage anything.)  Measuring this slug should give you the nominal barrel dimensions before the choke is encountered.

Well, I tested the new load yesterday (XTP 85gr over 1.6gr N310, .915 OAL, .333 crimp) and it is much better, I shot 95-2x offhand with five 9's and they were all on call, so I know it's me, not the gun. It feels a bit more snappy but for slow fire it doesn't really matter. So I guess I'm going to keep it for the long line and use either Hornady factory 60gr loads or my TBB reloads for the short line. Now if only I could find any 85gr bullets out there...

I noticed that Optics Planet is offering them :-
Bullet Type: Hollow Point (HP)Caliber: .32 CaliberBullet Weight: 85 grainBullet 
Code:0H-RP2-32050
$20.89
Estimated to ship within 7-9 weeks

But this vendor says they have some in stock - better hurry!

https://www.dowdlesports.com/Hornady-32-Cal-312-85gr-HPXTP-100_p_10282.html?lt_c=1&quickcart=1

Wow, thanks, ordered some, although their shipping rates are crazy. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers...

I just got 500 from Graf & Sons, but I ordered them several weeks ago.  Don't know whether there are any left.