32-20

[67flh]

I just got 100 new Winchester 32-20 cases they all mic'd out at 30 to 40 thousandths under length. I am using a 100 gr Hornady HTP bullet. What is the maximum overall length and the minimum overall length?

[jimbobborg]

According to Hodgdon's site, 1.580" COAL.

[Pettifogger]

Max is 1.590".  Minimum is whatever will work in the gun.  Don't worry about the brass length.  Remington is usually a lot longer than Winchester and has a different body taper.  Most people like Starline and Winchester better.  What kind of gun are you shooting it in?

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[67flh]

Max is 1.590".  Minimum is whatever will work in the gun.  Don't worry about the brass length.  Remington is usually a lot longer than Winchester and has a different body taper.  Most people like Starline and Winchester better.  What kind of gun are you shooting it in?

I have a MDL 92 Sporting Rifle mfd in 1912, mint bore. So no need to fret about the case length, just do not exceed 1.590" COAL? I am a relative newbie, have reloaded in the past with an experienced handloader friend but not on my own, I have 38-55, 32-40,
25-35, 30-30 and 32-20 Winchester rifles. Do you use a crimp die? I have one but wonder as to the why use it, is its main function to do away with the flare? Until I get my feet on the ground here I may have a lot of questions so THANKS in advance!!

Brad

[dusty texian]

Hello 67flh,To answer your question as to why the crimp die is needed.If you are useing the 32-20 in a single shot rifle, you can get by without crimping. But if used in a revolver or magazine rifle the crimp helps the bullet stay in place under recoil. In the revolver the bullet's can or may move forward and lock up the cylinder. In a spring loaded magazine rifle the bullet's may be hammered into the case,or move outward , changing oal. and other problem's. If you are loading with Black Powder you can get by without the crimp in a magazine rifle ,because the bullet base should be against the powder ,stoping the bullet from going in and proper neck tension should hold the bullet from falling out. Hope this help's ,,,,,,,,Dusty

[pony express]

You'll have to be very careful setting the crimp die on 32-20, the case necks are thin and it's easy to crumple them with too much crimp. Also, as already mentioned, every manufacturer has a different case length so if you have more than one brand, you'll have to either sort by length and then re-adjust the crimp die, or else trim all to the same length. Not sure if they make one, but a Lee Factory Crimp Die would make it easier to get a proper crimp in these.

[Abilene]

I use the Lee Factory Crimp Die (which is a collet-style die for 32-20).  I have mostly R-P brass, but also have some shorter Starline and Winchester.  I don't trim the brass, just set the dies for the longer brass, including the seating die.  With the shorter brass, a little more of the bullet sticks out of the case but so far this has not been a problem with either smokeless or BP, shooting in a '73 and an SAA.  But these are lead bullets and the crimp can "grab" the bullet pretty well at any point.  Since the OP is talking about jacketed bullets, I have no experience with those in 32-20, but I think the Lee FCD die would probably still be a good choice.

[67flh]

I do have the Lee Crimp Die. It just amazes me that these bullets as deep as they are seated could move in the magazine. Thank you all for the input.

[jimbobborg]

Max is 1.590".  Minimum is whatever will work in the gun.  Don't worry about the brass length.  Remington is usually a lot longer than Winchester and has a different body taper.  Most people like Starline and Winchester better.  What kind of gun are you shooting it in?

Yes, the max for the cartridge is 1.590", but for this specific bullet, Hodgdon says 1.580".  If this is the JHP, I had some loaded up when I had a stronger revolver in that caliber.  I used 1.580" COAL as that's what the manual called for with that particular bullet.  It won't fee properly in a lever gun if it's loaded out longer.

[Pettifogger]

Hey Abilene, if you like R-P brass I have 1000 new Remington .32-20 cases I'll sell you for $150.00.  They are in a GI ammunition can.  I'll throw that in.  Let me know and I'll send it back from Winter Range with the Cimmarron guys.

[Abilene]

Pettifogger, sent you a PM.

[rickk]

Do not be surprised too much if the first time you shoot them and resize them they grow 10-20 thousands.

It isn't a bit deal that they are too short as long as they are all the same. If they are all the same, your crimps will all be the same.

The Lee "factory crimp" die is a bit less picky on lengths being the same than a normal roll crimp die would be.

You can decide that .030 under max is your "standard" length and do with that.

I got a batch of Starline 45 LC cases. a while back. They were about .030-035 under max. I loaded them up as is (adjusting the crimp for the best crimp I could get with the length that they were) and used them for practice. After I fired them all once they grew a bit. I trimmed them all to .020 under max and adjustment my crimp die a little. Once they grow the initial amount after the first firing, they tend to stay put as far as case length goes for quite a while, so after that first trimming they are pretty much all set for quite a few loadings.

[67flh]

Thanks all for the crimping tutorial, I get it now. What I did today was in an effort to find where my bullet engages the rifling I partially seated a bullet in a dummy round, fed it by hand into the chamber then closed the breech bolt, OAL of the ejected cartridge was 1.553 . How many thousands off of the lands should I be loading to? 

[Pettifogger]

How many thousands off the lands?  This isn't bench rest.  Just load them so they cycle through the action properly.

[67flh]

How many thousands off the lands?  This isn't bench rest.  Just load them so they cycle through the action properly.

I apologize if my questions seem silly, this is kind of a measure twice cut once experience for me. At the moment I am trying to absorb the basics and until I am comfortable I will not be measuring any powder and seating bullets. Thanks all!

[jimbobborg]

I apologize if my questions seem silly, this is kind of a measure twice cut once experience for me. At the moment I am trying to absorb the basics and until I am comfortable I will not be measuring any powder and seating bullets. Thanks all!

Do you not have any reloading manuals?  You need at least three recent ones.

[Isom]

Howdy 67flh,
small story about my 32-20's. Bought 2 32-20's for $130.00 for both, great shape, ----------- don't cry ,,,, 1966. Anyway, I didn't start reloading until 1968 ,, back from Viet-Nam. Never loaded for 32-20, just .38 and .357 mag. Would shoot the 32-20's but always used factory ammo, $4-5.00 a box, but always saved the brass. Started shooting CAS in '96, bought a couple of 32-20 pistols. Sooooo, all the brass ( app. 3-400 cases) I'd shot over the years plus 300 cases I got from Starline I decided to load. Main match caliber was 44-40. So I grabbed a batch of brass and reloaded it, mixed head stamped,,, biiig mistake. Lots of problems , jams, over crimping , no crimp. Observation ,,, Win. Rem. UMC, Starline and a couple of others , all different case lengths. Solution?  Starline was the shortest, I spent about 2 days trimming everything to Starline's length. Problem solved, only use Starline brass now for "everything" I shoot, if they've got it.
Take care,
Isom Dart

[yahoody]

Old thread but I could really use some help. 

Reloaded for 32-20 on and off for years.  New brass seems to not be a problem.  But once fired is a beech.  Can't get it to chamber easily.

Sizing die (Lee) is right and resized brass chambers easily.  Add a Oregon traill lead bullet and it is a *no go* after seating and/or crimping.  Do I need to sort and trim my mixed brass (rem and win)?   Powder die wrong size?

Also bought a different set of dies to see if that would help.  Loading on a Dillion 550.  As I said new brass is easy.  But once fired has me stumped.  32-20 is the only bottle neck case I load for.  The straight walled cases are easy.

What am I missing?   Thanks in advance for any help you might offer.

[jimbobborg]

Old thread but I could really use some help. 

Reloaded for 32-20 on and off for years.  New brass seems to not be a problem.  But once fired is a beech.  Can't get it to chamber easily.

Sizing die (Lee) is right and resized brass chambers easily.  Add a Oregon traill lead bullet and it is a *no go* after seating and/or crimping.  Do I need to sort and trim my mixed brass (rem and win)?   Powder die wrong size?

Also bought a different set of dies to see if that would help.  Loading on a Dillion 550.  As I said new brass is easy.  But once fired has me stumped.  32-20 is the only bottle neck case I load for.  The straight walled cases are easy.

What am I missing?   Thanks in advance for any help you might offer.

I had a similar issue when I picked up 150 new Winchester 32-20 brass.  I've been using my original Remington brass from 1989 for the first couple of months.  I had to adjust the seating die when I switched over to the Winchesters, they were shorter new than the old Remingtons.  Now that they've all been used once, I've had to readjust my seating die again, as they seemed to have grown. 

[pony express]

Case lengths seem to be all over the place in this caliber. And case walls are thin, too. So it could be a case of too much crimp causing a slight bulge right below the crimp. When I get some like that, I use the sizing die with decapping pin removed, run the loaded rounds in just far enough to iron out the bulge so they will chamber.