Finally found a load and COAL for my M1885 (repro) .32-40 (non-competition).  Maybe a little more refinement is needed but I feel I am really close (100yds, 1.75", iron sights).  Not very impressive as things go, but I'm happy.  While shooting first-time fired Winchester cases (from the same bag) I had trouble closing the breech block on several, which I set aside (20%).  Not a big deal but a little force was necessary.  The brass had all the usual preps, e.g., primer pocket uniformity, etc., bullets just touching the lands.  I encountered this before.  Since I had my caliper I thought I would do some measuring.  I found that the cases loaded without issue had a rim thickness of .057-.058."  The ones that needed extra pressure to close the breech were .060-.061."

Are these .061" cases some I should cull out or is this typical?

SAAMI specs are pretty generous on the 32-40. Cartridge rim thickness .063 -.010". Chamber headspace depth: .063" Min., .070" Max. Sounds like the gunsmith was trying for minimum headspace in both cases, which is a good thing.
Chuck

I just measured a bunch of different brands- some made from .32spl or .30-30, and the older they were the more uniform they were. Mostly under .060, and, like I said, pretty consistent within a batch. THEN, I measured some unfired Winchester and not only did I find some that were as big as .062, but the rims were as much as .007 different from place to place on the same case. Not the greatest. I wish I could test whether the out of squareness is more on the front or back side of the rim. Or, if any of it is square. For whatever it's worth the most uniform of all was some elderly Western, some original .32-40 and some formed from .32spl. The new Win was the most varied. My old rifle chambers all of it with no rim being too thick.

One thing we didn't mention earlier is whether the case heads show some scrubbing or drag marks where the block might have left evidence. That would be worth checking to see. Or, maybe some of those rounds were just a bit longer overall, thus making them not seat fully without a little push. Mine shoots fixed best just that way!

All brass checked out at trim length, they were new.  I used a fired case to check the extractor, it is not sticking out too far.  It actually can be pushed in a little. The only thing left to measure is the rim depth of the chamber.  Don't have a tool for that.

Really appreciate everyone comments.

I used fired brass to assess the rim thickness, not OAL of case.  Those case just slide in.  Being new Winchester .32-40 brass I made sure they were all trim length, albeit, some were a little shorter.  .060" just cams a wee bit, which I think is O.K. and will probably become max.  I'm just going to accept that I have a tight rim spec.

Being paranoid, and maybe a little selfish, I bought 350 cases when I bought my rifle.  I'm gonna do some sorting and, preferably, swap with someone at a later date.  The brass stays very clean and I am neck-sizing and barely flaring the case-mouth, so the brass should last. 

Again, thank you everyone.  It's off to the range tomorrow.