Revisting an old friend...

Doug ordered some .32-20 for the weekend shoot. I found a stash of 90 gr. XTPs and I have a good supply of AA1680. The 90 XTP are 0.309" and Hornady makes a 100 gr. XTP in 0.311", more on this later. They were what I had to work with. The Lee nomenclature states about 16.0 gr. 1680 will punt the little JHP at around 1900 fps from a carbine. Typically the slow 1680 makes for some real nice accurate loads too. The fine almost dust granulation meters well and is very consistent in the volumetric drop dispensers.

There are a few tricks though. Many folks mention "weak" brass. What does that mean? Some attribute that to some case failure issues but in reality the only "weak" I have found is some old numbers with inherit "thin" brass in the neck area. The .22 Hornet, BEE,.25-20, .32-20 (latter 3 are all the same base case)and .38-40 are mainly front to mind. Just bump the neck and it crumples! Also crimping is very easy to throw up a bulge at the case mouth if you have varied case lengths. You did trim all your cases to the nearest 0.001" right?! HA! Me neither, I just do minimal crimp and run them all, long and short. The .32 WCF does not need much of a crimp. I placed this one in the shellholder and lube stuck to my thumb puling the case back slightly, too late, my mechanized reflex was in motion, mash! I'll trim it back and try to make a .218 BEE.

It is odd to me with some rounds, namely to my attention the .32-20, .38-40 and .44-40 that the chambers are routinely "oversize" comparing to a FL sized case! Perplexing for another 150 yrs.? You can see the difference and the 1894CL is not some old worn chambered ranch gun. This trait is dominant in the industry. My fired .44-40 almost look like .44 Mag. or .45 Colt cases, hard to tell at a glance.

The LEE dies I have gave me some issues at first. I used a "universal" neck flaring tool also by LEE initially. This left the necks very tight at 0.306-0.307" and created case bulges when I seated them. They fired OK though, just looked a bit natty. Then I tried the included "flaring die" in the LEE set. That die does not flare in a conventional manner. It basically irons the neck to about 0.310" with minimal case mouth flaring if I can detect it at all. If you continue to adjust till you see "flare" a 0.309" bullet will drop right through. I guess it is intended for the proper 0.311-0.312" spec. industry bullet. However I can limit the amount of depth I iron into the neck and insert carefully the 0.309" bullets then finish seating to a deeper spec where the neck tension grabs them. I finish with a light crimp where the majority of my brass feels right. Every once in a while I'll feel a short one then a tighter long one but no bulges, I'm good for the calculated shortcut.

Some rounds demand a little more finesse which only adds to the pleasure. I can appreciate the added knowledge they ask of the loader. The only thing I forgot was my caliper at the bench. Later I discovered my rounds were a bit long for spec. OAL is more important than most give respect to, especially too short, pressures can really spike! But these were a little too long, not that the Marlin would mind. I'm running (100) back through and getting my 1.56", it matters to me and will ensure a velocity closer to the specified and desired fps. The Marlin has a .308" bore I believe and shoots them or the .312" fine, interchangeably. I hardly notice unless I am striving for heavier hunting loads with the larger spec bullets. Ruger .32 factory revolvers seem to demand a 0.311" bullet in my experience. TC and Dan Wesson all use .308" bores in their .32 cal. guns. I'd much have a little too tight than too loose. It was all great mental therapy for about an hour.