32-20 Chamber Problem

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MI2600

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Over the weekend, I shot three old 32-20 revolvers. One Colt and two S&Ws. The S&Ws shot very well. The Colt however seemed to lock up and wouldn't allow the trigger to be pulled.
I suspected the cartridges were rubbing on the rear shield. Maybe a primer not deep enough, but they appeared correct.
Later, I resized the spent brass and they dropped right in and the gun functioned correctly. Then, I noticed the loaded rounds had a slight bullet bulge in the case neck. The cast bullets measured a correct .313". When I tried them in the chambers, some would not seat fully.
What can be done? Ream the chambers slightly? I'm open to ideas.
 
are you sure it was a 32-20 and not something that is set up for a shorter cartridge? were there any scratches along the back of the cartridges? I've had a few revolvers drag and lock up from a ding and a burr dragging the back of the catridges.
 
It is easy to bulge 32-20 cases when you use a traditional bullet seating/crimp die. This is very common and the reason the lee factory crimp die is so popular. Are the bulged cases hard to chamber in the S&W as well?
Also check that when you resized them that you set the shoulders far enough back. The Colt may have tighter chambers than the S&W.
 
MEHavey: I'll try that tomorrow and advise.
film495: I didn't observe any scratches at the time. Unfortunately now the cases from other guns are mixed in. The Colt barrel is stamped 32-20.
 
The .313" bullets popped out of the chambers with the lightest push. So, the bullets are alright.
I used the Lee FCD on a dummy round and they would enter, but not all the way without a healthy push. Just sliding a cartridge into the chamber resulted in about a 1/16" outside.
 
PROBLEM SOLVED!
After trying everything I could think of, I ran a loaded round back through the sizer die. It removed the "bullet bulge" and the cartridge dropped right in.
Thanks to everyone who responded with ideas.
 
The lead and brass have different a Modulus. Which means they spring back at different rates. The lead core will not spring back near as much as the brass. In a lot of cases you can push the bullet down into the powder will little effort. With roll crimps, these roll into the canalure grove to keep the bullet from jumping under high recoil. So it does hide what you did. A lot of handloaders remove the sizing ring at the bottom of the LFCD, to prevent this. A regular sizing ring must under size the brass so it will hold the bullet, aka neck tension. The sizer normally over size the brass so it works with all variations of wall thicknesses, the reason a expander is used. The expander die opens up the ID so you have around 0.002" of neck tension.

Now if your using bullets that are under size the impact is less but it still removes neck tension. You can test this your self. Best to not crimp so it does not mask what your testing. Load a couple of round and see how much load it takes to move the bullet as loaded, then post sized, you will see the difference. It's surprising on how much it removes.
 
OP just run those back through the factory crimp die and they'll be fine. Back your seating die out a bit so they're not roll crimping and adjust your seating die to the correct depth. Hit them with the factory crimp die and kiss bulged cases goodbye!
 
In case you ever get them this also holds true for .22 Hornet, .25-20, and .44-40 as well. They all have relatively thin necks.
 
OP just run those back through the factory crimp die and they'll be fine. Back your seating die out a bit so they're not roll crimping and adjust your seating die to the correct depth. Hit them with the factory crimp die and kiss bulged cases goodbye!

I agree wholeheartedly. The process you recommend is no different than how my Redding "taper crimp" dies work, for .45 ACP & .40 S&W, when I load for those rounds. Those cartridges headspace on the case mouth, so a roll-crimp is not the way to go.
Good advice #1buck.
 
A belated reply, but I loaded a dummy round using the factory crimp die. Success! The case mouth still showed a slight bullet bulge, but it fit.
Thanks all.
 
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