Two .32-20 problems!

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At least, I think it's two independent problems. After citric acid washing all the fired brass I could find and lubing sparingly with lanoliin, I started sizing/decapping last night, and fairly casually inspecting the cases as I put them in the loading block. Only the fifth had a small but clear-through or nearly so crack in the neck, which I discarded. Over the next few, I found a couple with an even smaller crack or nick on the shoulder (first photo below). Since these seemed be in a consistent place, I thought it might be something in the die, so I pulled out the decapping pin and wiped the die out with a swab. Inspection showed nothing on the shoulder, but a gouge in the side of the die (second photo). Looking back at the cases, they have a longitudinal scratch below the shoulder from this, not deep but enough to feel with a fingernail. Not great news. Apparently my previously cavalier brass cleaning put something gritty in there.

Since the little shoulder cracks look transverse, I'm wondering if they are occurring as I pull the case out of the die. Before removing the decapper, I checked a few more before and after sizing and did not see that happening, but maybe some are not lubed enough? I will re-inspect all the unsized cases for cracks before proceeding to figure that out. In any case, I guess it's time to order some new brass (after checking all the closets to make sure I didn't do that six months ago and forgot about it, again.)

I'll contact Lee and see if I can get just a new die or die body, or if I have to buy a new set. Any suggestions for bubba-ing up the old one in the mean time? My ideas so far are glue a piece of 600 grit sand paper around a 1/4 dowel or see what's in the Dremel tool box that can do some serious damage. I kinda doubt either choice is going to turn out well...

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IMR4227: Zero to 900 in 0.001 seconds

I'm only killing paper and my self-esteem.

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Re: Two .32-20 problems!

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I've polished out dies with cloth and chrome polish, Flitz, and car polish, not at the same time. Stick it on a dowel in a drill and go at it.

The 32-20 need care like any other bottle neck cases. Some sort of lube is required. I sometimes get a dimple in the neck near the shoulder if I use too much. A blob of lube will press a pleat in them.
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Re: Two .32-20 problems!

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What kind of brass and how many times have they been reloaded?
You say you use lanolin I assume its a spray liquid how do you apply it? If you put the brass in a tub which is what I do you have to make sure the tub is free of any kind of debris.
Also if you have trimmed the brass you have to make sure all of the tiny pieces of brass are off of the case before you lube them.
Good luck talking with Lee they have in the past been very quick to simply reply with "you've been using them wrong, not our fault".
Polishing out that die might just turn it into a neck sizer.

Re: Two .32-20 problems!

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They're Starline. I'm not good about keeping the lots separate. I've bought .32-20 brass twice I think, and an initial box of loaded ammo in also Starline cases, so it is a mixed bag. I don't shoot the little Colt a huge amount, so I'd be surprised if any had been through the mill much over 5 times. Most should have been fired 2 to 4 times, with light or at most middling charges.

The lube is nominally 8% lanolin in alcohol. The lanolin tends to separate out unless it's warm. I thought I shook it up well, and splashed a few drops on my palms and rolled several cases at a time between them, re-coating my hand with a couple of drops each time. Previously I'd used a pad made by folding a paper towel and rolling the cases on the pad. Maybe that applied more. The press did feel a bit draggy, more so than a typical .38 case in a carbide die.

I'm not hoping Lee would replace it gratis. OTOH, for the cost of one die plus shipping, I could probably just buy a whole new set along with some other stuff and get free shipping from Midway, if I do it in the next few days.
IMR4227: Zero to 900 in 0.001 seconds

I'm only killing paper and my self-esteem.

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Re: Two .32-20 problems!

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What kind of alcohol are you using? On another sight I read the formula for making your own and it was mentioned to keep it from seperating one needs to use isopropyl for gas treatment but it was only one of the 2 available. I can't remember which one of the 2 either the red bottle or the yellow.

Re: Two .32-20 problems!

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Success?!? The Flitz and dowel tip was good. Thanks!

There were actually three nicks in the die. Being impatient, I glued a little piece of 600 grit wet/dry paper onto the side of a round pencil and attacked the two nearest the die mouth. Not much work was needed to mostly knock them down, seemingly without doing much unintended damage. Chucking a bit of 3mm dowel in a drill and spinning that with some Flitz pretty much erased the remainder in a few minutes. While assessing those, I found the third closer to the shoulder that had been making a minor scratch on the brass that I'd not really noticed before, which Flitz alone digested well enough.

Relubed a couple of cases and they came out without any drama or palpable grooves. Haven't yet verified that they chamber, but I can't imagine I took off enough material to actually change the size.

:thumbup:
IMR4227: Zero to 900 in 0.001 seconds

I'm only killing paper and my self-esteem.

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Re: Two .32-20 problems!

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Buck13 wrote:Success?!? The Flitz and dowel tip was good. Thanks!

There were actually three nicks in the die. Being impatient, I glued a little piece of 600 grit wet/dry paper onto the side of a round pencil and attacked the two nearest the die mouth. Not much work was needed to mostly knock them down, seemingly without doing much unintended damage. Chucking a bit of 3mm dowel in a drill and spinning that with some Flitz pretty much erased the remainder in a few minutes. While assessing those, I found the third closer to the shoulder that had been making a minor scratch on the brass that I'd not really noticed before, which Flitz alone digested well enough.

Relubed a couple of cases and they came out without any drama or palpable grooves. Haven't yet verified that they chamber, but I can't imagine I took off enough material to actually change the size.

:thumbup:
Huzzah, since you seemed to be ready to buy another die anyways why not try.

Re: Two .32-20 problems!

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Carbide dies are very difficult to change significantly. Even regular aluminum oxide sandpaper won't do much, you need the black silcon carbide stuff to really screw it up.

32-20 cases are very thin walled especially at the mouth, so crack inspection should probably become a habit. A loaded round with a crack at the mouth would be safe to shoot, since the chamber is sealed further back on firing, but I'd discard it afterwards. A scratch on the length would probably get pitched, and I know that's painful for expensive brass, I reload .327.

The day I find a 32-20 I want to own I will probably be joining you, so thanks for your adventures, and keep em coming.
When only cops have guns, it's called a police state.
I carry due to toxic masculinity.......just other people's.

Re: Two .32-20 problems!

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Full carbide dies for bottle neck cases are indeed very rare the only ones that I'm aware of are made by Dillon for either 308 or 223 and the sizing die is very expensive. Others make dies that have a carbide case mouth ball but the outside of the case still requires lube. The lubes available today are so easy to use compared to when I started out that I don't feel that carbide are really needed. Also if taken care of they will last for a very long time I have RCBS standard dies that have the dates on the top when they were manufactured and the earliest was made in 1980. Remember that lanolin based lubes which are the greatest since sliced bread are also water soluble so the dies need regular attention or they will rust.

Re: Two .32-20 problems!

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eelj wrote:Full carbide dies for bottle neck cases are indeed very rare the only ones that I'm aware of are made by Dillon for either 308 or 223 and the sizing die is very expensive. Others make dies that have a carbide case mouth ball but the outside of the case still requires lube. The lubes available today are so easy to use compared to when I started out that I don't feel that carbide are really needed. Also if taken care of they will last for a very long time I have RCBS standard dies that have the dates on the top when they were manufactured and the earliest was made in 1980. Remember that lanolin based lubes which are the greatest since sliced bread are also water soluble so the dies need regular attention or they will rust.
Yesterday I pulled out a 44 RCBS die for some decapping fun and the resistance caused me to take a look in there. Sure enough, a light patina. A squirt of oil and a wad of fine steel wool and all was good to go. I probably should store things in zip locks to avoid this.
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Re: Two .32-20 problems!

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Simmer down wrote:
eelj wrote:Full carbide dies for bottle neck cases are indeed very rare the only ones that I'm aware of are made by Dillon for either 308 or 223 and the sizing die is very expensive. Others make dies that have a carbide case mouth ball but the outside of the case still requires lube. The lubes available today are so easy to use compared to when I started out that I don't feel that carbide are really needed. Also if taken care of they will last for a very long time I have RCBS standard dies that have the dates on the top when they were manufactured and the earliest was made in 1980. Remember that lanolin based lubes which are the greatest since sliced bread are also water soluble so the dies need regular attention or they will rust.
Yesterday I pulled out a 44 RCBS die for some decapping fun and the resistance caused me to take a look in there. Sure enough, a light patina. A squirt of oil and a wad of fine steel wool and all was good to go. I probably should store things in zip locks to avoid this.
What I've always done with mine is take them apart and give them a thorough cleaning and a light oiling before putting them away for an extended period of time.

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