winchester lever action '73 in 32-20

[Jim K]

Before every cartridge had to be labeled a "Magnum" and people and animals grew hides so thick that only a .50 BMG could damage a cockroach, the .32-20 was considered adequate for deer size game. It still is, if the hunter can place his shots and not have to carry a small cannon to feel macho and compensate for bad marksmanship.

And the .25-20 is a very nice and quiet varmint rifle at reasonable ranges.

Jim

Jim

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[jon_norstog]

Before every cartridge had to be labeled a "Magnum" and people and animals grew hides so thick that only a .50 BMG could damage a cockroach, the .32-20 was considered adequate for deer size game. It still is, ...

Jim

Second on that, Jim. There was a time when the standard police weapon was a .32. The strongest of them and the one everyone wanted was the 32-20. Robert Johnson even had a song, "32-20 Blues"that goes in part:

"She got a .38 special but I believe it's most too light,
she got a .38 special but I believe it's most too light
I got a 32-20, got to make the camps alright"

It's a blues in A.

My brother was cleaning out a basement in west philly one time, found an old Colt double action .32-20 (he said, maybe a .32 long?) all rusted up. Lady freaked and made him throw it out ...

The neighbors where we lived in South regarded the .32 as the ideal home defense gun, 'cause it wouldn't mess up your house too bad when you shot someone, and with any luck he'd go die somewhere else.

And in a '92 Winchester, you can load the 32-20 up to where it makes a pretty respectable deer load.

Good luck with the old guns!

[DaveHH]

and Meadowlarks, and anything else that flew or walked. My dad told me that when he was a kid the 25-20 was the .22 of the day. I would also lay odds that lots of misbehaved people were shot dead with the 32-20. This country has become obsessed with Magnums and velocity. I had an old friend that took all North American big game including moose and bear with a 257 Roberts. I vividly remember seeing the first of the big Magnums in deer camp. Mule deer using a 264 Win and 7mm Mag. The whole front shoulder was blown off. The smarter ones among us used (in my case) 8mm or 270 or 06 and some 30-30s. Those are absolutely plenty of gun for the job as I'm sure the 32-20 would be. I personally don't want a hunting bullet to GO THROUGH a deer, I want it to stick around and make him bleed. But then today, we "harvest" deer and need range finders, food plots, tree stands and lasers and want to poleaxe every animal we shoot regardless of how much meat we screw up. Around here, I could kill a dozen deer a day with a 32-20.