Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Cowboy Action Shooting Uberti 1873 Cattleman .32-20 Winchester ammo questions

Just picked up a nice Uberti Cattleman 1873 revolver in .32-20 Winchester, 7 1/2" bbl. Preparing for the pistols arrival I started acquiring .32-20 ammo from where ever I could find it: Gunbroker and a couple out of the way gun shops. I have coming some Winchester, silver box of 50, 100 grain stuff, some Remington, yellow and green box, 100 grain stuff and a couple of boxes of HSM cowboy loads, 115 grain. I also have coming some Remington Express "Rifle" rounds, 100 of them in a ammo can. All the while waiting I've done a lot of research and have been reading a lot about safely shooting these various rounds. Folks speak of too much pressure for a revolver, cylinder binding from rim thickness too large or cylinders out of round. Overall cartridge length too long, thin brass, and on and on. I always thought the rifle ammo from the factory would work safely in modern firearms as a nice rifle/pistol combo. I did not know some rounds for rifle should not be fired in pistols. I intend to read the ammo boxes closely when they finally arrive but now I'm thinking I may have bought the wrong ammo. I'm also waiting on the revolver as well to read the manual closely as well. I would like the advice and comments from the membership as to how I can determine which ammo is safe to shoot in my new revolver. I am not a reloader and I will have to rely on what factory rounds I can find in the future as I have seen boxes available from Winchester, Remington, HSM and Black Hills and some others. This stuff ain't cheap, so far 7 boxes of 50 rounds each factoring in shipping has so far set me back $600-$700 dollars. My original thought was to have a nice western pistol although a reproduction to maybe one day try CAS at a local range. I'm worried now I may have gotten off track and I damn sure don't want to hurt myself or others if shooting wrong ammo. Let me know your thoughts on my predicament as I am eager to learn more about this cowboy cartridge. I have a Uberti SAA revolver in 22LR and love it but I'm not so sure on this centerfire one. Sorry for the long rant but looking forward to hearing back from those in the know. Thanks Richard.

Be careful with the "Rifle" loads. Typically, in the old days, the Rifle loads were meant for 1892 Winchester rifles and NOT meant to be fired in SAA's. I don't know if you're even supposed to fire the rifle loads in weaker rifle designs such as the '73. I would have to have a lot more info confirming that rifle loads were safe to be fired in modern steel SAA types such as your specimen, before I'd do it.

If you handload, you're good to go. Simply pull the bullets and reload the cases to specs. If you don't, you can still trade the ammo for something usable. It should have good trade value in this day and age. In the end, it sounds like you're only down 100 rds. at worst.

Congrats on your new Cattleman. They are fine weapons. I hope you have many hours of enjoyment out of it.

Hang onto your ammo-that new Uberti is much stronger than the blackpowder frame SAAs and other black powder revolvers that we worried about so long ago. And keep in mind that even those--in .32-20--had VERY thick cylinder walls.

Get hold of some of Brian Pierce's articles in "Handloader" and"Rifle" maazines and you will see that you aren't running much of a risk with any factory load in a NEW SAA clone like you have. And the Cattleman has a thicker cylinder than any of the gen-you-wine Colt SAAs of any vintage anyway.

If you decide that "rifle marked" (or ctgs. marked "WHV") ctgs are still a worry, sell then to a cartridge collector--they haven't been made for 'way over half a century! The rest of the stuff you have will work fine in any .32-20 in good condition.

Now if you're talking eardrum busting, not sixgun busting, you're on your own! EAR PROTECTION needed even in a 7 1/2" barrel .32-20!

Richard,

Welcome to the wonderful world of the .32-20!

I load for both the pistol and rifle (Marlin 1894CL) and have gone on the search for load data as well. I have uncovered quite a bit of info on revolver loads and, early in my journey, had to go back quite a ways into the past to get rifle load data.

Loads marked "Rifle Loads" or "Rifle Only" loads are meant for rifle only, not revolvers as the pressures involved are high enough in the rifle loads to damage the revolvers. While they may not blow the revolver up, they will certainly accelerate wear and exert undue stress.

The vast majority of factory loads (those loaded in the last 50 years or so) will be safe in revolvers as the ammo manufacturers don't want to be caught being liable for "Uncle Joe"s heirloom to come apart.

I'll second the advice on the "Rifle Loads" in the ammo can, the are worth more to a collector if still in the original box. If not, the advice on pulling the bullets and reusing all but the powder is good info too.
There are some great .32 caliber bullets out there, particularly cast bullet that just make those pistols a lot of fun!

As for powders, Unique is a favorite of mine for pistol and IMR-4227 for rifle loads.

Enjoy!

Ed

Very possible the 32-20's reputation, Robert Johnson's "cut you near in two", is based on those rifle loads shot out of pistols. A 32 in a 45 frame gun, lot's more metal there.