Anyone reload for the Nagant Revolver using 32-20 brass?

[RandyP]

I have the Midway/Lee die set to reload NEW Starline brass with a plated .312 bullet.

With NEW brass? Works great, plenty of neck tension, mild load of 3.2 gr Win 231 and an OAL of 1.5".

Once fired however the brass forms to the cylinder chamber walls, taking out the shoulder in the 32-20 brass, and becomes straight sided with a case mouth of .315 after resizing/decapping. Needless to say my .312 bullets now free fall into the case.

I get small amount of burnishing of the case mouth for about 1/4" but it is not creating a tight enough case neck.

It was suggested I try a .30 carbine sizing die, received the new die yesterday. Still no joy.

It does not resize the case mouth/neck of the fired Starline brass sufficient to even loosely hold a .312 bullet in place. I even tried completely removing the die from the press, removing the decapping rod and tapping the fired case all the way into the die...still the case neck opening is measuring about .313/.314. The 'OD' of the resized brass case neck is averaging .324

The bullets have been triple checked and they are indeed ..312 - The only variable left that could be causing the problem is perhaps the neck wall of the Starline brass is too thin? Frankly I am at a loss and welcome all suggestions. Remington sells 32-20 brass in bags of 50 but it is out of stock everywhere across the internet.

[RandyP]

OK, here's an idea - what if I exchange the .30 cal carbine die for a standard 32-20 die set? I know that the Nagant custom 3-die set works for 'regular' 32-20 new brass - so a 32-20 resizing die should resize my fired oversize brass to original 32-20 dimensions in my 4-hole turret #1 position, then the Nagant custom die set -sizing/decapping - powder/flare - seat crimp - in the other three spots?

Does that make any sense or am I grasping at straws here?

[JLA]

That, theoretically, sounds plausible.. But the only limiting factor i can see is work hardening the brass. If it works, I cant see you getting more than 2 or 3 reloads tops from it before its splitting on you.

Watch this..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R8Y15-Qoyc

Might contact this guy and pick his brain on the subject. he seems to have the 7.62 Nagant mapped.

[warriflefan]

I use the lee 7.62 nagant die set with the 7.62 nagant brass from buffaloarms.com. The bullets just move a little bit in the case after being run into a 30 carbine taper crimp die. It doesn't seem to have much effect on accuracy. I've gotten 5 loads so far out of my brass. Just don't crimp it like the PRVI stuff and you should get plenty of reloads because it is a low pressure round. I just started loading with trailboss and it seems to be a very good choice. 3.0 grains seems to do the trick.
I've tried just resizing deep enough for the bullet, but still some of them (not all) seem a little loose in the case. I've got some russian target ammo that has the bullet seated about halfway back in the case and it is super accurate.

[RandyP]

An update I am delighted to share.

My Lee 32-20 die set arrived today. I put the 32-20 sizing die in position #1 on my Lee Classic turret and resized the once Nagant fired Starline, Winchester and Remington brass to 32-20. I then skipped over the Midway Nagant die and flared and powder dropped and finally seat/crimped with the remainder of the custom die set (actually they too ARE just 32-20 dies). The Ranier .312 plated bullet seats absolutely snug and to the OAL I wanted = 1.5". FWIW I am using Win 231/HP-38 powder dispensing 3.4 grains.

Tried them out just now and they function and fire just fine, the fired cases fall right out of the cylinder without even needing the ejector rod, and then back on the press they went to resize back to a small enough neck diameter from the 32-20 die to start the process all over again.

It appears I now have no need at all for the Midway/Lee custom Nagant die for my once fired brass. I DID however need the Nagant die to resize the NEW brass otherwise it would not fit into the cylinder in the revolver.