32-40 cast bullet question

[fatoldfool]

I have some .323 260 gr cast bullets. I loaded one yesterday with my new RCBS cowboy dies. It would not chamber in my Stevens 44 1/2 .32-40 and the diameter of the neck was .340. The bore casts at .319. What diameter bullets should I be looking for? TIA, fatoldfool
Sorry, I made a typo, should read 160 gr. bullets.

[runfiverun]

look at the inside measurement of a fired case,go about a thou under that.
that should give you an idea what will chamber and be the biggest diameter available to you.
if it happens to be from 319 to 321 you should be fine.

[2Tite]

Also, the twist in the factory Stevens barrel would be in the 1 in 16 range. That's not going to do well with a 260 gr bullet. It's designed for bullets in the range of 165 gr. I suspect that the nose of the bullet was either too long or too large maybe both. Lyman catalogs a bullet designed for the 32-40, the 319247. It does well with fixed ammunition in most Stevens rifles. I'd suggest slugging the barrel and using a bullet a thousandth or two over groove dia. That's not a difficult task with a 44 1/2. If not, I'd try .321 or .322 as a starting point with a Stevens.

[ovendoctor]

check to see if your seating die is taking the flare out of the case mouth

I had the same trouble with my cowboy dies

the case wont chamber all the way with the slug sized to .321

to remedy this I used the full length sizer ,removed the de priming unit

put a live round in the press and cycled it all the way up

installed the sizing die and ran it down until it made contact

then then cycled the press and turned the die 1/4 turn until the flare dis a peered and the case mouth met the proper measure ment

you will find that the sizing die will be a good distance from the shell holder

don't run it all the way down cause you will mess up the die


Doc.:drinks:

[fatoldfool]

Thank you for the input! However, I am confused. The inside neck dia. of a fired case is .315. Case neck thickness is .010. Outside neck diameter fired case is .339. What diameter bullets does this indicate I should try?
Bore slugged at .319

[ovendoctor]

Thank you for the input! However, I am confused. The inside neck dia. of a fired case is .315. Case neck thickness is .010. Outside neck diameter fired case is .339. What diameter bullets does this indicate I should try?
Bore slugged at .319

size the slugs to .320-.321 no more

load them and check the outside dia.

the lyman cast boolet book sez it should measure .3388 out side of brass at case mouth loaded