There are a couple of nice used rifles at a local pawnshop for sale. I am tempted to buy one because I think they are not so common these days.

So how many here use the .32 Special for hunting?

I used to have one and used it to take a couple mulie does. Anything you can say about the 30-30, you can say about the 32 special. Bullet weights are the same and the power level is nearly identical. Simply put, it's a 100 yard deer cartridge. Nothing more, nothing less.

Finding ammo was kind of difficult, which was lead to me trading mine off. If you get one, get some dies, lots of brass, lots of bullets and load data. I would not be surprised to see this one drop off the list of available ammo in the near future.

But, it was kind of fun having something a little different to play with.

Mac

It's still popular around here.
get the dies and bullets, don't worry about the brass, single pass will convert 30-30 to 32 win spl and data is almost identical to the 30-30 and identical to the 32Rem.

Rifleman,

When I was a kid here in the Ozarks 32 Special was the elite
deer gun. Every kid that I knew lusted after one. So it goes without saying that after I got older I had to have one. Handloaded it is a bit better than a 30-30. Seems to have more knock down power. I never hunt with mine anymore but it's worth the price of one just to get it out of the safe once in a while and remember the good old days.

Hawkeye47

My wife has one, a Win. Model 64 Deer rifle, that she uses for her "Foul Weather Gun". It makes a handy carry rifle and is one of the most accurate lever actions that I have seen. Ballistically, it is the twin of the 30-30, and when you place the shot where it is supposed to be it will do its part. She, and her father who preceeded her as the owner, have taken quite a number of PA whitetails with it. She won't let me use it so I cannot attest to the performance personally, only by observation of her results.

When I was a teenager, there was one local hunter who always seemed to shoot the nicest bucks, and was the first PA hunter that I met to have shot a Black bear. His pet rifle was the Model 64 in .32 Winchester.

I remember the 32 Special being pretty common when I was young. The story was they were almost identical to the 30-30 but had a slower twist so that they could be used with black powder. Anyone know if that is correct?

Also, do M94's in 32 Special sell at a premium over a 30-30 due to their rarity, or at a discount due to lower demand?

No their is no truth to the 32 WS ever being a black powder cartridge. There has been a lot published about this over the years. Some of this rumor arises from the fact that the caliber was introduced in 1902 when Winchester and all gun makers were making the change from BP to smokeless. A few of the origional carbines came with BP sights and not the ones marked for smokeless powder. The 32WS offers slightly improved ballistics over the 30-30. The 32 WS can be made to shoot BP loads accurately but it was never released or intended for that purposer.

CW: thanks for the info. Out of curiosity, I looked in the Sierra manual and they list the 30/30 M94 as having a 12" twist and the M94 32 Special with a 16" twist. Any guess as to why the difference, since the two cartridges are so similar? Also seems curious that Winchester would introduce 2 rounds so similar in such a short period of time...

I love the .32 Special. Mostly shoot cast boolits through it now.

And the idea of sizing 30-30 is correct. For 20 years or more I have been doing just that. Both for the .32 Special and for my 25-35. Then, just recently, I acquired a 30-30 and now will be shooting properly headstamped brass through all three. New brass is readily available from Graf's, and I presume others.

The story is that when the 30-30 was introduced, there were some old-timers who were just a little set in their ways (we don't know anything about that, do we? ) They had always reloaded with BP and the fast twist of the 30-30 would foul rather quickly with BP. So, as the story goes, Winchester brought out the .32 Special with the slower twist so those who wanted could still load with BP, and the slower twist didn't foul as badly.

I think thats partially correct. The 32 WS was not intended for those who would continue to load BP and was only for smokeless. This is not opinion, there is a lot of documentation on the subject. We must turn our mental clocks back to the appropriate time frame to make sense of it. Smokeless powder was the newest, latest, greatest. It certainly was not the easiest to come by nor was it inexpensive by any standards. For the most part the availability was in the east. Now certainly there were some folks who MIGHT have shot BP in a 32 WS but it would have been very foolish and is ulikely that occured at the calibers introduction. The reason is that the 32 WS in smokeless with the Nickel steel barrel was a LOT more expensive than say the 32-40 or the 30-30 that could still shoot the more cost effective BP. In modern terms it would be the equivelant of buying a Weatherby custom and loading with BP. The twist rate is more likely a combination of factors including more energy and another 100 fps with heavier bullets. No doubt during WW1 when supplies were limited BP was far more common and available. In either event this often led to the rumor that the 32 WS was less accurate than the 30-30 which is IMO rubbish. They both are a lot of fun to shoot especially the old SRC versions and between the two have probably put more bucks on the camp pole than all the others combined for the last century.

Hawkeye47,

You and I are agree on this one. My old M94 has a 24" octagon barrel, buckhorn sights and shoots like a dream. I don't hunt with mine either but keep it as a memento of years gone by. Lawdog

Do a search on the cast bullet forum, there's been a lot of discussion on the .32, also one can use 8mm bullets, esp. lead, as they are .323 (.32 is .321)providing one is careful about using pointed bullets in a tubular magazine.

Rifleman,

The 32 Special as stated will do anything that the 30-30 will. Both Winchester and Remington still load for it. The older 94's are nicer than the modern ones and if you like something a little different maybe you should buy one of the rifles you mentioned. I shot a nice cougar with mine this last Dec. and I can't imagine that a different rifle or caliber would have worked better.

Good Hunting,

Mark

I just bought the cheaper of the two for $275 and dropped it off at the gunsmith for reblueing. I also put out an order with RCBS for dies.

This is going to be used for deer and the occasional black bear in western Washington. Since Winchester still makes the .32 Special ammunition, I will just buy that factory fodder and save the brass for reloading.

Anyway, it is kind of nice to have a rifle that is different from what is too common. Especially when it is an old time favorite, that gives it some character.

Last season I talked with an older Indian Fellow who was hunting deer with a 32 Winchester Special in a Savage Model 99. He said when his dad died, he left behind two rifles, and the two sons took one each. The gentleman I was talking too took the 32 Win Special, and the other brother took the Model 99 in 38/55.

He said they tossed a quarter, and he lost. They both wanted the 38/55 as they felt it was a better caliber for Bear and Elk. However, laughing he told me that he got the better of the deal either way. His brother may have got the better caliber, but HE was the better shot. He indicated that the 32 Win Special took a lot more elk and bear than the 38/55 had with his brother using it.

He indicated he finally got the 38/55 when his brother died, but he said he still hunts with the 32 Win Special now, because it is a "luckier" rifle than the 38/55 was.

I really felt fortunate to be able to speak with an older Indian gentleman like that. That story, fact or fiction, was sure good to hear told by an older Indian like that. Sort of made 'out hunting' feel timeless passing multiple generations.

I don't know when the old Savage was made, in the 32 Win Special or the 38/55, but it sure was in great shape. He indicated that his dad had gotten each one back when they were new.

Cheers and Good shooting
Seafire

While growing up in Idaho as a youngster,my best friend shot his first Deer with a 32 Winchester and has used it every since.Mostly a bow hunter now but when rifle season comes around,that is his weapon.He has also taken two Elk with it.The popular leverguns back then around here were the .32 Winchester-30-30 and 25-35.Great guns then and now.

Jayco.

Over the years, there seems to have been a lot of repeated rubbish about the 32 Special. The black powder story is one, the inaccuracy of the round is another. While having only limited experience with the cartridge, I don't think it is any worse (or better) than a .30-30. The rifle (and sights) is the limiting factor (I haven't tried it in a scoped marlin). While only speculation, I think it probably hs the slower twist because that is what worked so well in the .32-40 (a very accurate cartridge using the same diameter bullet). Which then leads us to the question of why the 32 Special would be so inaccurate, when the .32-40 (same bullet diameter/twist) was the pre-eminent target cartridge of the day?

Actually, you might be able to get another 100 fps or so from the .32 Special as compared to the .30-30 due to the bore expansion ratio. However, that is about the same as the difference you might find between rifles chambered to the same cartridge so it really isn't significant.

There are some experts (real experts, not just those on the forums) who think that the BP usage might have been a contributing factor in the rifling twist decision.

Those must be the experts at the lever guns forum. They certainly must know more than George Maddis and Norm Flayderman or Frank Barnes........NOT !