winchester lever action '73 in 32-20

[Pelago]

I have two of these fine old rifles, one a carbine and the other a rifle, they hold tight groups at 100 yards,

my question is, for what purpose was the 32-20 devloped??

not much of a cartridge, kind of hard to knock a deer down with this round

just curious

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[Faulkner]

According to the Speer reloading manual;

"In the late 1800's, it was both prudent and fashonable to pack a revolver and rifle chambered for the same cartridge. Winchester developed a trio of rifle cartridges - the 32-20, 38-40, and 44-40, that were picked up by Colt for its famous Single Action Army revolver.

Both Colt and Smith & Wesson chambered revolvers for the 32-20 cartridge until WWII. In addition to the Single Action Army, Colt produced double action models in both their medium and small framed actions. Smith & Wesson chambered their Military & Police model (the forerunner to the Model 10) in 32-20, but the 38 Special became so pervasive by then that the smaller 32-20 was dropped."

Being weaker than a 38 Special, I'm thinking it probably shouldn't be used on game any larger than a coyote.

[oldpaul]

I remember seeing an old winchester ad claiming the 32-20 was suitable for deer sized animals on down. I have my grandfather's Model 73 in 38WCF (38-40) that he bought new in 1900 and hunted deer with. For familial continuity reasons I used it one year to hunt our local black tail deer. I killed a 120lb spike from about thirty feet (yes feet, not yards) and the 180gr jacketed bullet didn't penetrate both sides of the animal. Not very confidence inspiring. Your 32-20 is even less powerful. I have never owned a 32WCF but have read that it is a consistantly accurate round, to which you can attest, and that it doesn't destroy meat on small game like some more high velocity modern rounds. You are fortunate to have two wonderful guns in this fine caliber. Regards, Tom

[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

[Johnny Peppers]

When I was a kid there were virtually no deer in our part of the state. What happened to them is anyone's guess, but the joke around the gun shop is that they were all killed off with .32-20's and .38-40's, and if you knew the shot would be a long one you got out "Big Medicine", the .30-30. Now that we have all sorts of belted magnums, we are overrun with deer and you can't drive down the road without dodging them crossing the highway.

[Pelago]

i also have a winchester 1899 model 94 in 25-35, that really is a pretty hot cartridge and shoots flat out at 100 yards...

also have a winchester 73 in 38-40 and a colt single action army in 38 50 the colt has never been fired and is a 1891, the 38 40 fairly respectable for short range deer, i think anyway

[Vern Humphrey]

The .32-20 was seen as an all-purpose cartridge. It was indeed used by deer hunters, but those were the days with plentiful game and no seasons or limits.

Another use was for small game, from squirrels to coyotes. Nowadays, we would consider it underpowered for deer, too short-ranged for varmits, and too powerful for squirrels.

[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.

[Bruce McAskill]

The .32-20 was considered to be a close in deer round. It was loaded by the factorys in two different loadings. One at higher pressure for rifle and a milder lower pressure one for pistols. The old boxes were labeled for rifle or for pistol and if you fired a round made for rifle in 4 inch pistol you had one heck of a huge fireball out the muzzle.