32-20 insanity

[big bear]

I reloaded a box of 32-20 ammo last night, lost 4 cases to collapsed necks when seating bullets. Does anyone make a collimator type bullet seating die for this round? I assume that would help. I am belling case mouth as much as I dare, still crunching case mouths, on average 3 per 50. Just got some Starline and Winchester brass and will see if they are any better than Remington.Aaargh!

[Nath]

Pain that is!

Can you get a Lyman M die for it. I did for cast in a 30/30. Worked well.

Nath.

[jnyork]

I have a 32-20 that I shoot maybe 1000 rounds a year or so, I have crunched my share of cases, found the only cure was to be VERY careful when guiding the case and bullet into the seating die, making sure the bullet is STRAIGHT and holding on to it as far up as you can as it goes into the die. Also making sure your case holder doesnt have any debris hiding under the lip, and making sure the case is all the way into the case holder seems to help. You will like the Starline cases, they run a lot longer than the others.

[Old Savage]

Some dies - notably RCBS in my experience size the neck down way more than is necessary. I bought a 7-08 set and my buddy could use them without the expander ball for his 260.

[J Miller]

Perhaps try seating the bullets w/o crimping them. Then crimp then in a separate step. Sounds to me like the crimper, case mouth and crimp grove isn't lined up right.

Joe

[Sixgun]

I don't understand why your having this problem. Its all mechanical---the case gets belled and you set the bullet on top---pull down on the handle and using common sense in guiding the bullet, ram it home.

Your obviously not belling it out enough. What you are doing is taking a test run on one case by belling it to a minimun, then winding up with a few short cases that don't get a "bell". If it bothers you to bell out more, then resize everything first and trim each to an exact measure.

I bet I have loaded 50,000 rounds of 32-20, 38-40, and 44-40 and may have crunched a dozen, no more than any other cartridge.------------------Sixgun

[BenT]

Go slow when seating the bullet. That seemed to resolved it for me.

[RIHMFIRE]

what sixgun said.....
i dont load 32-20...but its no different than 38-40 or 44-40...
I just make sure the bell is wide enough to seat the back end of bullet by hand...
I may have to tweek it a little...by the amount of force it takes....
Also, it helps if the dies are clean and the case is lubed properly....
and like Joe says.... I crimp it separately

[Chuck 100 yd]

I loose ZERO brass to crushing in the .32-20 . As others have said.Expand and bell properly. I use the M-Die to expand and crimp as a separate operation from the seating step.

I love the little cartridge and have two rifles chambered for it.

[Cast Bullet Hunter]

What Sixgun said. I've been loading .32-20 since 1962, and .44-40 since at least 1963, several thousand rounds, and haven't damaged more than 6-8 cases between the two that I recall, and most were bumping the case on the die mouth or the expander. Slow down and everything will work fine. Everyone except one or two I can honestly say were my fault.

[M. M. Wright]

What Sixgun said. Trim your brass to all the same length and seat and crimp separately. The greatest thing that Lee sells is their factory crimp die. I regard it as essential for the "dashes", 32-20, 38-40, 44-40. I load them all on the Dillon 550 and seldom have a problem.

M. M.

[Ysabel Kid]

You will like the Starline cases, they run a lot longer than the others.

+1 I love Starline cases. These will help.

[KirkD]

I use a Lee expander die to expand my 32-20 case mouths. I cannot recall the last time I crushed a case neck ... A few years anyway.

[pdentrem]

I had problems at the start reloading 44-40s but being careful to get it all lined up and later using a Lee Factory Crimp die solved my problems. Before I got that Lee die I found that square based bullets caused the most problems. Gas checked or bevel base bullets were less of a problem.

[Old Savage]

I am sticking with my answer. The sizing dies is sizing it too small.

[KirkD]

I am sticking with my answer. The sizing dies is sizing it too small.

That could be a problem. I use Hornady 32-20 dies. They seem to work fine.

[2520WHV]

I am sticking with my answer. The sizing dies is sizing it too small.

Old Savage,

You are correct. It is the 'one size fits all' syndrome!

T/C has sold a lot of Contender barrels in .32-20.... They use .308" groove diameter. RCBS changed the full length die to size enough to use .308" bullets. THE DIE OVERSIZES FOR STANDARD .32-20 DIMENSIONS! An old set of RCBS dies I have from the 60's size perfect, while a newer RCBS set from the 90's sizes way too much for my .312" bullets just as Old Savage says...

2520WHV

[Gary Norsk]

Problems when reloading can be caused by different case lengths of brass, Remington have been longer that WW, Winchester, so when belling or crimping they should be all trimmed the same or loaded in groups. Readjusting belling, seating and crimping. Some dies will not crimp because the case is to short for the crimp die. I have reset my belling, seating and crimp die for the different lengths cases. The crimp die also used was a 32 ACP Lee die that was shortened for the 32 S&W case. With this crimp die I would crimp by feel, raising the ram I could feel the pressure for the crimp to start and then just give a slight bump on the handle for a slight crimp for the lever action rifles. Hope this helps. Gary

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

I am a big 32-20 fan. One thing I found early on is some bullets don't have much bevel to the base. I use a 115 now that has a generous bevel.

[Marvin S]

So what is it sizing the neck to and what dia of bullets are you using? The 32-20 is easy to load as long and the right dimensions are met. Figure this out and you wont cuss it no more, it's a great little round. May have to get a different dia expander, the Rem or Win cases are fine just a little different length, keep that in mind. I use a newer Lyman die set with no problems.