Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats 25-20 brass from 32-20

Has anyone here any knowledge on resizing 32-20 brass to 25-20? I've got a couple 25-20 rifles, a Win 92 and a Rem 25 and I'd like to get after shooting them.

It's as simple as lubing the .32-20 case, run it through a .25-20 sizing die and load it.

That's how Winchester did it.

Ed

I've done a couple hundred, have about that many more in reserve for future conversion.
There is a long thread on this over at Marlin Owners .com

You'll get fewer losses if you push a 32 cal expander ball through to iron out any out of roundness, then trim to take off any irregularity.
I use an old 270 die with the expander stem removed for a mid range sizer. It seems to work better not taking it down the whole way at once. You'll need something to push the short case into the long die, then use a punch to knock it out. I built it by cutting off a 270 case below the shoulder and upending a cut off .223 case into the cut 270 case. What you are trying to do is have enough of the 32-20 case sticking out of the cut 270 case that you can push most of the neck of the 32-20 into the neck sizer portion of the 270 die. Imperial size wax is your friend, but use sparingly! Some guys have built their own intermediate size die with shorter dims to eliminate the need for the redneck extended shell holder.
I bought a Redding 25-20 Trim Die and Extended case holder, this die is slightly over sized and steps the neck down closer to size. Watch the Imperial Wax, use enough but not too much.
Some have said they use the 25-20 seater die without the seater stem for the same step.
Then I go to the standard 25-20 sizing die for final shaping.

I lost 3 cases on the first 100 I did, probably because I didn't use the 32 cal expander and trim step to take out any irregularities in the bulk Starline cases.

Thanks for the info!

I used my lathe. A 6" x 1" rd bar end drilled .40 dp x "N" drill dia,chuck up in spindle. Used a "Y" drill turned round backwords chucked in Jacobs in the tail stock. Sized the neck dia of 100 cases in less than an hour by screwing the tail stock in and out sizing the case in the "N"drilled hole utilizing the "Y drill as a pusher. Cases did not stick in hole. It was easy enough and suited my minimalist tendencies. Form there I FL sized to 25-20. No blood shed and nothing destroyed. Thanks for the ideas posted, got me thinking......

Great thread--great to see this ol' round still has some advocates!

Mesa, these are oldies but goodies. Reminds me, of me, 60 years ago shooting a Model 25 remmy. Today, I have a different Model 25 and a Winchester 92, both 25-20's that were just screaming at me to get some rounds and go shoot. There's still a place for my 25-06 and 22-250, but the old ones are just as much fun also.

I don't have a 25-20 but did pick up one of the Browning 53s in 32-20. Great little shooter and lots of fun. A 92 in 25-20 would be a great small game and varmint gun.

My Win 92 does fine with an 85 gr cast. I even use it in the prairie dog towns if I can find one at less than 100 yds.