I have a WWII bring back FN Browning Mod.1922 that I'd like to take to the range. It's in almost new shape and Norma has some 73 gr. FMJ ammo that I'd like to try out in it. I have read that most of the USA made ammo is pretty anemic and that Norma seems to pretty hot compared to them. Anyone have any first hand info with this ammo?

No knowledge of Norma but just about any European made 32 ACP is loaded hotter than USA stuff. S&B, Privi Partisan, Fiocchi etc.

This info may be dated but I remember I had a few boxes of .32 Norma in the mid 80's for a Walther PP. I also recall Norma had a reputation for being hotter than other cartridges It was good ammo then probably still is.

I was considering either Norma or S&B but Norma is much less expensive. Privi is just about the cheapest and seems more plentiful.

How much do you expect to shoot this gun? Probably not enough that the ammo price differences will matter much.

You're right. Not really planning on shooting it that much. I just wanted to shoot a few boxes through it to see how it shoots and to test for function. But I wanted something that was close to original configurations. Thanks for the replies.

Compared four brands of similar .32 Auto ammunition at 30 feet,
aiming at the 'Q', 2 strings of 5 = 10 rounds of each brand, fired single action, Beretta 82 BB,
recording my very subjective, sequential evaluation of recoil and muzzle blast in sequence:





Starting with Norma, then S&B ( slightly hotter), then Fiocchi ( same as S&B), (slightly hotter than Fiocchi).

The Norma and S&B grouped together around the 'Q', the Fiocchi grouped above them ( circled), and the PPU made an improved cylinder pattern all over the others but including 3 of the lowest hits.

No malfunctions occurred.

In essence, all four brands of .32 Auto gave simliar results. I don't think I'll buy more PPU in this caliber for this pistol.

That was a pretty informative test. Thanks.

I ordered some boxes of Norma from AE Ammo on the 14th and it was shipped on the 15th and according to the shipping tracker it will be here tomorrow, the 16th. The price was good and shipping was pretty good also. Can't wait to see how it shoots.

Any comments for Aguila? I recently bought a Colt 1903 in .32ACP and that was all the ammo I could find locally, at the moment.

TIA.

quote:

Originally posted by Glynn863:
Any comments for Aguila? I recently bought a Colt 1903 in .32ACP and that was all the ammo I could find locally, at the moment.

TIA.

I think that 1st step is to test the ammo in your gun. I was doing some testing with a Browning 1911-22 recently, CCI ‘Velocitor’ ammo. This gun hated it, normally cycles rather well. When I went back to standard bulk ammo, worked fine.

I don’t think the 32 acp is known as a powerhouse. If your gun cycles the ammo fine, that’s much of the battle.