I too prefer to travel back in time. I suspect that I’m in the minority preferring that Marlin 32-40 over the 27 Nosler.
I never owned a 32-40 and I thought that it would be nearly identical to the 32 Special which I like. I have older Lyman manuals that would have 32-40 loads...
I suspect that you know Mike V. Did an article on the 32-40 some time back.

Very accurate cast bullet cartridge and a comfortable one to shoot.

Bugger,

Yes, I know Mike did an article the .32-40--in fact I am sure he has done more than one. So have a bunch of other people. My article was primarily about the rifle, the reason it appeared in RIFLE, not HANDLOADER.

However, these days RIFLE articles are listing more handloads, because many readers are interested in them--especially in a specific older rifle.

A .32-40 is one of the few I still lust for. Lever gun would be cool as heck, especially a Savage M1899. A Stevens 44 1/2 or Winchester High Wall target rifle would have me scheming to own it.

Had a High Wall sporting rifle .32-40 back in another lifetime. Y'all are welcome to take turns kicking my butt for letting it go in a moment of weakness. (It did help finance an Austin-Healey, but...)

I don’t have one.

Yet.

-sniff-

Have only known a few people who owned Austin-Healys and .32-40s, but all reported Austin-Healys wore out quicker than .32-40s, either mechanically or emotionally.

I picked up a Savage 1899B octagon barrel 32-40 a couple years ago and have yet to fire it. I do love the romance and feel of it.

That would be a nifty one! How's the bore?

Hush your mouth!! At least a Healey has more velocity than a .32-40.
(I'm as much of a British sports car loonie as I am a rifle loonie. Currently running a pristine 1970 MGBGT, on nice days while waiting for the next thing to break...) MG-TC hopefully in my near future- if you see me selling off a bunch of guns you'll know why.

Bore's good. I've got quite a few rounds for it. Just haven't made the time.

That’s what she said



Happy Trails


Bob

I bought a MG (newer version of the Austin Healey) new in ‘73. $2,480 for list price.

Not a .32-40 guy, but I've humped a .32 Remington Model 141 around in the northern woods of Pennsylvania and never felt undergunned. 170 grains at 2100 fps will kill any deer that ever lived if placed in the right spot. I suspect a .32-40 in a strong action could get pretty close to that. I wouldn't use it on a big bear, but I remember a photo of an Alaskan living off the grid with three dead grizzlies (mama and two nearly grown cubs) that had tried to raid his farmstead and which he had dispatched with a Winchester Model 94 in .32 Winchester. Same ballistics, different case.

I don't think the 32-40 was ever loaded to the same pressure as a 32 Spcl is and NO it maybe the same rim size but not the same case. MB

My .32-40 is a modern T/C TCR. I use AA 2015 and in that action can take the old cartridge to another realm.

I picked up a 32-40 barrel for my CPA Schuetzen rifle. I have used it in the last couple matches and have shot pretty well. The recoil is noticeably less than my 38-55. I have been loading 16.5gr of RL 7 (16.5 gr of 4227 shoots just as well) with a Winchester Large Pistol Primer. I am breech seating a 165 gr Saeco bullet. It made a huge difference when I switched from a 20-1 to a 30-1 alloy with the softer bullet shooting way better. The 5 shot group in the picture was fired off the bench at 200 yards. The rings on the target are 3/4” apart.

My deer rifle for the past year has been a 1899 Remington- Lee sporter 32-40. It's a great rifle and wonderfully accurate. I have been using 170 gr bullets made for the .32 Special.

Phil how fast are you shooting them? MB

The 32 40 in single shot rifles used to be the king of the old time shooting matches.

IIRC, the Healey had a good bit more engine than MGs, maybe a 6? Liked the Healeys and Triumphs, never bought one, sadly.

I foolishly paid $3500 for a new '72 SS396 Camero RS, when 240Zs could be had for just a bit more, if you could find one.

Wow, I had no idea the 32-40 WCF was so liked here, I have a 1897 year model '94 Winchester with beautiful 26 inch octagon barrel, Lyman tang peep sight with dual apertures, with super cool folding front sight that has a hooded bead for target and a little ivory bead for hunting, I fire 178gr cast lead flat nosed bullets at an easy 1600 fps with H-335 powder in WW brass, it's an accurate little lever action rifle.

Need to shoot a deer with it this season.

I have an 8" twist barrel installed on my Stevens 44 1/2 that I used when I used to shoot BPCRS matches. I shot my best score on rams using that rifle shooting a 290 grain bullet and Swiss black powder. I hit 9 out of 10 rams and all 9 fell. The rams are at 500 meters. I also have a Hepburn with a 32-40 barrel installed on it and a 32-40 barrel for one of my CPA 44 1/2's and an original Winchester 1885 32-40. I like the cartridge especially now that I have had surgery twice on my right shoulder.

In a rough bore 1893 Marlin .32-40, I tried to duplicate some published very hi velocity loads with very little success. The only hi velocity load that showed any promise was the 170 grain Speer with 35.5 gr of Hodgdon LVR for 2225 fps. 5 shot group at 100 yds, original sights was 3.5". 2100 fps loads with the Speer using RL7 produced a dismal 8" group! If I keep the velocity down around 1500 fps it will shoot any bullet, including cast, with any suitable powder, 4198,RL7,H322,2400 into 2". I guess if I want .30-30 velocities, I ought'a buy a .30-30.
The Marlin requires a very short OAL cartridge, and I have to shave off the exposed lead tip of the Speer .321 170 gr, leaving a flat exposed lead meplat, which accidentally and fortunately seems to enhance expansion at the lower velocities, or so autopsy results on jackrabbits would suggest.

Need to shoot a deer with it this season.[/quote]


I have an Savage 1899 in .32-40 like Fireball’s and need to get a deer with it as well!!

An interesting fact about that front sight you have on your 1893 gunner500 is that little ivory bead is actually a plug that can be driven through the sight to get a “fresh” bead should the current one get broken off (you may already have know that so I apologize if I’m going over old ground but I found that fascinating - that they thought it through to that level, although they did tend to think a little more overall back then😄!).

PennDog

Coincidentally, a 32-40 Savage 1899 26" round barrel manufactured in 1908 with the rounded breech bolt has been my restoration project this month. The rifle had been slathered with marine spar varnish over the metal and the stock and begged for a redux. It's got about a dozen coats of tung oil followed by orange oil and wax. Turned out alright I think.



I found it to be a very gentle shooting rifle with Speer 170 grain Hot-Cors. New Winchester brass is available in Canada but a bit pricey. Looks like I will be reloading for a new toy.

Anybody crimp the necks of their 32-40s cartridges?

Nice job! I do crimp (lightly) but I’m using cast bullets.

PennDog

I have an Savage 1899 in .32-40 like Fireball’s and need to get a deer with it as well!!

An interesting fact about that front sight you have on your 1893 gunner500 is that little ivory bead is actually a plug that can be driven through the sight to get a “fresh” bead should the current one get broken off (you may already have know that so I apologize if I’m going over old ground but I found that fascinating - that they thought it through to that level, although they did tend to think a little more overall back then😄!).

PennDog
[/quote]

PennDog, that '99 Savage sounds like a nice one too, saw your post, went and had a look, indeed there is hole drilled all the way through the portion of the sight that holds the little ivory bead, had never looked that close, getting my old guns mixed up again, my serial number of 184xxx dates to a 1900 year model '94 in 32-40.

Not pristine but 100% original.

My .32-40 was obtained to duplicate my great grandfathers deer rifle.............an 1893 Marlin.

Love that rifle.

Damn nice rifle FB and tmitch, i'll take "HONEST" wear over re-finish and for god sakes over bubba'D any day and 5 times on Sunday, we ALL need to make meat with our 32-40's this season, I'm planning on just that, also believe a 178gr flat nosed bullet at 1600 fps ran through a deer lengthways will 'not' entail a long tracking job, if not drop to the shot.

Why don't we all make a point to start a 32-40 hunting thread for 2020? Brand, model, who cares, but it has to be 32-40. Or maybe any of the really old cartridges? I'd be down with that. That'd be a great thing to look forward to.

"The Official 32-40 Killing Thread"

That sounds great.

I have a friend who shoots tiny little groups with a Union Hill Ballard. He won't sell it, I've asked a hundred times.

Gonna get up on my soapbox here.

There was a reference up-thread to the ".32-40 WCF" No, no, no. The .32-40 was a Marlin& Ballard development. Yes I know, loading dies, etc. are marked ".32-40 Winchester". That doesn't make it correct, though.

For those 32-40 fans

I refer to my other post on Mule Deer's 1893 Marlin in 32-40. If you are a handloader I'd suggest finding a Accurate Arms No. One loading book. It provides both the black powder velocity Shutzen loads as well as HI-V loads for modern steel level guns. Ken Waters Pet Loads books are also a value.

If you don't want to be limited to the 170 gr flat nose you can try using the swaged method of different weight 8mm's and filing the nose if used in a Marlin or Winchester. For those 99 Savage folks, have at it with spitzers. Lee makes a good swaging die and I use Alox lube. Swaged 8mm's bring you into the shadow world of load experiment and you need to proceed with caution. As I note, I used the Ken Waters method of case web expansion and careful examination of fired cases.

As noted earlier, sometimes fast is not necessarily accurate and Waters notes that in his book. I also found that changing primers made a notable difference and suggest caution.

Still, the 32-40 is perfectly adequate for deer size game and 100 yard shooting.

I’m in.....it’ll give me even more motivation!

PennDog

Dang right Men, I'm in, great idea, how about starting the thread in the 'Hunting Rifles' forum? after all, then, the lever action, slide action, semi-auto and even single shot 32-40 shooters/hunters can join in the fun, open to all, a lot more traffic, and not limited to lever actions only, sound good?

I haven't hunted with mine in several years so I'll play.

Here we go men, go get em!

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/15093329#Post15093329

Ploughman,

While you're correct (as I mentioned in the article), a lot of "cultural appropriation" went on back in those days--and even later. The reason the .30-30 Winchester became the ".30-30" (it was introduced by Winchester as the .30 Winchester) was that when Marlin chambered it in the Model 1893, they stamped their rifles .30-30--or .30-30 Marlin.

This sort of thing continued for quite a while, even after SAAMI was formed in the late 1920s, partly due to so much conflict in cartridge names, and even slight dimensional differences in ammo for the same cartridge made by different companies. After Remington submitted their version of Ned Roberts' .25-caliber wildcat to SAAMI in 1934, Remington called it the .257 Remington Roberts, because the shoulder angle was slightly different than the .25 Roberts. When Winchester started chambering the .257 Roberts, they called their "version" the .257 Winchester Roberts--not because there was any difference in chamber or ammo dimensions, but because they wanted the Winchester name out there. Which is also why so many 19th-century cartridges developed by companies other than Winchester eventually got appropriated as W.C.F. rounds.

This also why I pointed out in my Rifle magazine article that my 1893 Marlin's barrel is simply stamped .32-40, with no company designation.

Yes, like the 44-77 Sharps bottleneck, I think they stole that from Remington, a lot of that cut throat chicanery going on back in the day.

My oldest frined I met at 16 is a Canadian who had a Sprite along with a book called "How to modify your Mini." which put all sorts of notions in his head. We removed that engine , without exaggeration, a dozen times. Unbolt, wrap rope around it, suspend from wight bar and carry it into his Dads garage at first but later and far more often into second floor apartments. Ok- not the best tenet but he had gotten married young. Fond memories. His wife would ask how long we would be messing with the car r- then very cutely she would double the time estimate he told her - and made sure to have chile or sloppy joes + corn on the cob ready for us. I should have bought Michelob stock back then. Sigh.....good times.

His younger sister was my first love (still a looker in my book) and she now owns a beautifully rebuilt MGBGT We still call her Mowy- her nickname derived from "MOWOG"- nearly 40 years later so how is that for an MG story?

Oh- that 32-40 thing looks kinda cool too. .

Of course...... late to the party. Just got my “Rifle” magazine today, must be the last one to get it in the northern hemisphere.
Good article, very enjoyable. Lots of information and that rifle is very nice!! I always thought a .32-40 would be fun, now I want....no need one badly.

Any of you guys bloodied your .32-40s yet this season? I have carried my TCR five times so far and can't seem to connect yet. I had a decent 6 point stand there and pose at rock throwing distance but he wasn't big enough to shoot in this new club I joined this season. Maybe I can at least bust a doe with it before the season is done.

Wasn't in the cards for me yet. Ranges too long in the area I hunted deer. Still have a bear tag. Called a cougar in this evening but no shot opportunity, he came in behind us.

Bear season starts here the weekend of the 21st and deer season the following week.......so I have to wait a little longer!

PennDog

Just picked up a Winchester Model 1894 Sporting Rifle chambered for the .32-40 with a full octagon barrel and take down frame. All original gun with condition that was serialized in 1908.

That one I'd like to see!

Uh-Oh, I gotta go bump that 32-40 hunting thread.

Congrats on the rifle Jack.

That sounds like a nice one Poconojack!

PennDog

When I got out of the service I bought a MG Midget which seemed like a copy of the Austin Healy. I’m 6’5” and my girl friend was 6’2”. But that MG had more leg room and head room than a Corvette back then. I own a 1955 model 94 32 Special which replaced for the 32-40, I suppose.

I drove that MG pretty hard and maintenance was expensive. The engine had to be pulled to work on the clutch...

I’ve been looking for a 32-40 for a while