Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General .32 Winchester Special

I have a Winchester Wrangler carbine in .32 Win.Spec. and want to try out the new Hornady .321 FTX bullets in it. Does anyone have any data or experience/advice with this bullet in a carbine? Hornady doesn't have the data up on their site yet, so I am just trying to get what info/advice I can. I am trimming to 2.030 and was thinking about IMR3031, but am willing to be flexible with powder. My goal here is to create rounds that will be accurate and still have enough punch to take out a deer (either mulie or whitetail) out to 100 yards or so. This rifle has a short barrel and has never really been more than a 75 yard gun...so maybe I am asking too much. Thoughts? Thanks all.

I've loaded a fair deal for the 32 Winchester Special, but have no experience with the bullet. With the Speer bullet I like W748 best. IMR4064 also works well. Haven't actually tried IMR3031.

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it.

I did some work with Reloder 7 and regular Hornady flatpoints, seemed to work well.

FWIW,

Dale

I use about 13.0 grams and IMR4227. Works great on my check rifles without bullets from 115 gr to 130 gr. I had no problem carrying the load. I created them pretty hard and maintain a moderate speed.

Moderate speed always seemed to work best for me in the 32 special. I used the Hornaday flat points and reloader 7 woth mine. 150 yds was not a problem.

To me, the "secret" of the .32 Special (as is true of the .30-30) is to use a fairly heavy-for-caliber bullet to achieve maximum penetration.

Any 170 grain (or more) bullet will work. Anything less is a move in the wrong direction. 190 or 200 grains is even better as the .32 Special (as it is with the .30-30) kills by penetration NOT by speed.

I was introduced to the .32 Special very young (10 years old) and was convinced it was head-and-shoulders above the .30-30 in killing power (and I'm still convinced)....because of the bigger bullet and ability to penetrate.

Try a 190 grain bullet and it will be even better.

.

I agree with TexasRick on bullets, the heavy one work best. 3031 is an excellent powder, my guns like 30 grains to start then you can fine tune if you want, but that load works as is for me.

I tried some factory and handloads last fall and today over two 94s in 32 Winchester Special, one made in 1949 and the other in 1957. The data for factory and W748 loads are from ten-shot groups. The data for IMR4064 loads are from three-shot groups. The Federal ammunition was from the late 80s or early 90s. The Winchester and Remington ammunition was from the late 90s. The Remington ammunition for each rifle was a different lot. The Federal ammunition was from the same lot. Only one rifle had Winchester ammunition ran through it.

Federal: 1949 rifle = 2080 fps 8.6 SD. 1957 rifle = 2070 fps 10.1 SD.

Winchester: 1957 rifle = 2080 fps 19.6 SD.

Remington: 1949 rifle = 2190 fps 23.9 SD. 1957 rifle = 2080 fps 21.3 SD.

Speer bullet/36.0 gr. W748/F-C cases/WLR primers: 1949 rifle = 2020 fps 13.2 SD. 1957 rifle = 2030 fps 13.0 SD.

Speer bullet/IMR4064/W-W Super cases/WLR primers:
34.0 gr. 1949 rifle = 2030 fps. 1957 rifle = 2030 fps.(2040)
34.5 gr. 1949 rifle = 2050 fps. 1957 rifle = 2060 fps.(2070)
35.0 gr. 1949 rifle = 2110 fps. 1957 rifle = 2110 fps.(2110)
35.5 gr. 1949 rifle = 2120 fps. 1957 rifle = 2120 fps.(2140)
36.0 gr. 1949 rifle = 2150 fps. 1957 rifle = 2170 fps.(2170)

The value in parenthesis is the velocity from the Speer manual. These loads track very close in my rifles. The W748 load is listed by Speer at 2170 fps.

Hornady bullet/IMR4064/R-P cases/WLR primers:
32.7 gr. 1949 rifle = 1910 fps. 1957 rifle = 1890 fps.(2010)
33.4 gr. 1949 rifle = 1970 fps. 1957 rifle = 1950 fps.(2060)
34.1 gr. 1949 rifle = 2010 fps. 1957 rifle = 1980 fps.(2110)
34.8 gr. 1949 rifle = 2050 fps. 1957 rifle = 2050 fps.(2150)
35.5 gr. 1949 rifle = 2100 fps. 1957 rifle = 2110 fps.(2200)

The Hornady loads, like the Speer W748 loads, are much slower than the manual when fired in my rifles. If the accuracy of the Speer/IMR4064 loads plays out I'll probably switch to them.