32 acp, i would weigh. and start on the low side, that gives you some room for error and you dont load too hot.
i think starting with something like .38sp in a 357 revolver is easier to work with for someone brand new. *Deleting bad advice*
honestly with standard 38sp loads, you dont really need to worry much about a crimp. 357 full loads yeah. 38sp+ loads, maybe but depends. You can get away with using a mild taper/roll crimp.
I think I got lucky and nailed the 32acp on the first go. The cheap lee auto drum measure can do my 2.3 gn charge for hundreds of rounds with more consistency than my powder balances can possibly pick up (I'd need one additional decimal resolution in grains). When I first experimented, I weighed 100% of the powder drops and every single one came out spot on.
I took the 32 to the silhouette range last weekend and put a few hundred reloads through it. It has become my best shooting, non-match/target gun with this load. The recoil impulse is sweet and accuracy at these ranges is extremely unexpected. I can ring the small plates at 50 with regularity and even managed to hit the big 75 plate 7/8 times in the mag on "rapid fire" (fastest allowable). At 75, I have to hold about 8-10" high. Out to 100, I cant hit any of those plates and even if I did, it would have so little energy the hit wouldn't make a sound loud enough for my earmuffs to pick up. Already at 75 its lost a lot of energy and the hits are soft. I'd say I'm totally 100% satisfied for now just leaving good enough be on that one.
As for my 38/357 project, it appears I am going to have to play around a bit more with bullet weights, powder types, and powder charges to get what I want. I friggin love learning new things and this reloading bug has hit me hard. One of my initial goals was to reproduce both full fire-breathing magnum loads along with soft shooting loads, but I'd ideally like to have my POA be POI from 25-50. I don't know if I'm chasing a fantasy or what, but I cant stand the 6 o clock hold and want both heavy and light loads to hit at the same place
. My revolver has those bomar type rear sights so I had it zero'd to give me POA=POI with 38s AND hot 357s from 25-50. 357 are like lasers even out to 100 though where the 38 drops off hard after 50, and that behavior was predicable with factory loads.
Looks like this guy is probably going to be picking up a few different types of powders this weekend.