I want to order some 115 gr. flat nosed bullets for my old Colt Army Special in 32/20.

I am assuming the correct diameter is .313. This is the size listed for cast bullets by Oregon Trail Bullet Co. and Hunters Supply in Midway's catalogue for the 115 gr.

Hornady and Speer list lead bullets in .314 but they are wadcutters and not the weight I want. Jacketed bullets in 32 cal are .312. I looked at a cartridge diagram and the measurement was .3125 and rounded off would be .313.

Just wanting a little confirmation.

I have some Mag Tech RN bullets for my 32 S&W Long and they don't crimp well in the 32/20 and if crimped in the right place they are too long for the 32/20 cylinder. Thanks for any help to confirm what I think is right. Merg

You pretty much need to just match your cylinder throats. Would be best to slug your bore and cylinder throats (and hope the bore isn't larger than throats). Then you'll know. Try to match the cylinder throats or larger and you should do OK. I run most all of my 32-20's through a .314 sizer and they do fine. The worst thing you can do (IMO) is shoot commercial hard cast that are too small. Those Laser Cast bullits are hard and if you're throats are larger, you'll likely get leading. Regards, Woody

Cast bullets normaly run .001 larger than jacketed, regardless of caliber.

So the .312 Jacketed or the .313 Cast would (nominaly) be the correct sizes

Woody1 gave the best answer, match it to your revolver.

Woody's got it right. There's no point in using bullets that are larger than the largest chamber throat since they will only get swadged down when fired. And I wouldn't worry too much about accuracy either. After all, it's a 32-20.

Ray

Thanks guys, This was my grand dad's pistol and he only shot it on New Year's Eve just to make more noise than anyone else I think. The old box of shells that were with it were jacketed hollow points. Probably rifle bullets which I was told to avoid.

I load it light at cowboy action velocity. It's a fun shooter for me. Merg

The factory loads with the jacketed hollow points were a high speed load loaded to higher pressures suitable for rifles like the 1892 Winchester and not for older black powder rifles and revolvers, the ammunition companies said.

They might have some value to cartridge collectors now.

Off topic, I suspect the old high speed .32-20 loading inspired Robert Johnson's classic .32-20 Blues, which makes several references to his .32-20 pistol being very powerful. (In the song he says his woman has a .38 Special, which he believes is "'most too light.")

Not all jacketed 32/20 loads were High Velocity. In fact the "Hot" ones were quite rare. Having said that these pistols seem to shoot lead bullets better.
Good luck!