I pop into a couple of local shops from time to time to see what treasures may surface. Today I cam across a Winchester Model 94 in .32 Special. Serial # shows it is from 1958 and it appears to be in very nice condition. The owner would not let me take pictures, but the bluing is even and without scratches, the wood is clean and again without scratches. The bore is bright and the rifling looks good. All of the hardware is tight and I could not find any rattles or damaged screws. The only flaw I found is a 1/2" gouge on the feeding ramp of the action. Not deep, but it looks like someone may have tried to feed the wrong cartridge at some point. I do not believe this mark would affect the loading cycle.

I am not familiar with this caliber. Seems to be in short supply for loaded ammo and I did not find much in the way of reloading supplies. Is there availability out there?


What value range would this specimen fall into? The ask on it is $999.00 and I am trying to decide if I need to make room for another 94 in the safe.

Thank you for any information you may have.

I sold my 94 32 Special made in 1955 in this last year here on 24hourcampfire. I had it for sale for quite a while. It was in excellent condition. I regretted it soon afterwards. I think I sold in the $750 range, not sure. But $999 sounds about right of one in excellent condition.

The 32 Special has slightly more power than the 30-30. I mostly shot cast bullets in mine. Jacketed bullets are easier to come by in the 30-30.

32 Special ammo is scarce as hell. It's been some years since I last saw it on the shelf

Enjoy shooting mine. Sounds like a nice one.. these days you don't find much ammo for it in the lgs. Got to hit the gunshows usually see some there. Speer made a 170 fp last I knew and Hornady makes a 165 flex tip? And 170 fp
Best bet on brass is from factory rds you shoot up..mb

Gunshows do seem to have it, I agree with MB. I don't see it on shelves but I suppose it will come back some. I shoot Hornady 165's in mine with the plastic tip. I'm sure you could order some from one of the order houses.

If you really want it, I don't think 999 is gouging you. They're not making any more of them and they're not growing on trees out in the wild.

Thank you for the replies. I am going to stop in there again in the morning and take a longer look. While I do not need to add another caliber, it is hard to pass up a good pre-64. In my research, I saw a comment that said many people loaded these with black powder and lead casts. Anyone here try that? Same forum also had a post claiming that forming cases from 30-30 brass was as simple as running it through a .32 resizing die. Any truth to that?

I bought a '52 Marlin 336 in 32 WS last year. I was fortunate to find 12 boxes of factory Winchester ammo locally. I really like the gun and cartridge.


Here's the link to ammoseek.com showing ammo available.

https://ammoseek.com/ammo/32-winchester-special

A quick search shows that Speer has a run of .321 FP bullets out right now.

https://www.speer.com/bullets/rifle_bullets/hot-cor_rifle_bullet/19-2259.html



Don't let ammo stop you from buying the rifle. Ammo can be found and you will be able to find all the components you need to hand load. Yes you can neck up 30-30 brass. For comparison, here is a picture of factory Winchester ammo. 32 WS on the left and 30-30 on the right. Both are 170 grain.

Yes, run a 30-30 case into a 32 Special sizer and you have a 32 Special case.

I always admired the cartridge. It had a great following for a long time. Many people who used both, swear the 32 was a far better big game killer than the 30-30. Plenty of ammo can be found. I regularly find it at gun shows and pawn shops, etc. Easy to reload for and with the use of 30-30 brass, all the fun of shooting you may ever want. Then find a few boxes of factory ammo if you decide to hunt it. I collect antique ammo, both boxes and singles. The 32 was loaded with many different bullets over the years. Just last year I ended up with a large handful of factory fmj ammo.

Many people say a lot of stupid shyt.

So, the new owner let me take some pictures. The fourth one shows the gouge in the loading ramp. It looks to have been cut intentionally, perhaps to remove some damage. I cycled a dummy 30-30 cartridge through and it seems to feed and eject without issue. Opinions?

I got it for $950. I missed the Speer bullets aboltfan linked to; they now show as unavailable. So, I will be watching for their return. Meanwhile, I will have to scour the upcoming gun show tables for some factory loads or components.

Thanks for the information. I'll update the thread once I get some ammo down range.

Nice lookin '94, congrats!

That looks like a nice rifle.



Given that its case dimensions closely match those of the 30/30, that’s no surprise but you shouldn’t fire 30/30 cartridges as accuracy will be poor. It will be easy enough to expand the necks of 30/30 brass to accept bullets designed for the 32 Win Special.

When Winchester introduced the 1894 and 30/30, smokeless powder was in its infancy and black powder was still used widely. To hedge their bets and satisfy all potential users, Winchester brought out the 32 Win Special with a more BP friendly twist rate. They did the same with their 1895 model, with both smokeless and BP chamberings (35 & 405 Win and 38/72 & 40/72).

I have heard from a good source that the 32 WS was popular in the rural northern Canada up through WW2 as owners could, in a pinch, fire 30-30 ammo in their 32 WS rifles, but not the reverse.

There are multiple stories about why Winchester introduced the 32 WS when they were already selling 30-30 Model 1894s and 30-40 Model 1895s.

I never understood why Savage never chose to chamber their Model 1899/99 in 32 WS so that buyers who wanted a 32 WS would have an option other than Marlin and Winchester.

14'er next month in May 19-21 there is a damn big gunshow CCGA and SCA in Greeley I am sure you will find ammo there or components..mb

I think your conclusion on the loading ramp makes sense. I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

Maybe someone can help finding some article about hunters that have used the 32 with great success. I remember Wally Johnson used one in his early career as a PH in Africa. Don't know if he was the same African who swore by the 32 Win Spcl as being a top-notch lion gun, having killed many with the caliber. Years ago, I read about a New Mexico game warden who killed vast quantities of elk using a 32. I should have printed and kept the articles.

Well, Speer was kind enough to let me add 2 boxes of bullets to my cart so those are on the way. I have not found brass, except for sites that only accept venmo or bitcoin and I will pass on those sites. Hopefully the tables at the shows will reveal some factory loads.


Bob - Thanks for the heads up on the CCGA gun show. I have not been to one of their shows in many years. I met a man several years ago while hunting that made some of the finest Kentucky long rifles I have ever seen. He invited me to a show back in 2014. I will definitely add this to the calendar. The Tanner Gun show is happening next weekend so I will be hitting that one as well.

JFE - Certainly won't be shooting 30-30 through this. I used some snap caps that I have for my 30-30 to test the feeding ramp. I am in the process of gathering the needed items for some proper ammo.



Looking forward to firing this rifle. Looks good in the safe next the rest of the levers.

If you cannot find any brass or ammo at the gun show, shoot me a pm and I will hook you up.

You don't need to shoot 30-30 through it but you xan use 30-30 brass

I found 2 boxes of Winchester unprimed brass so I have a start. Still waiting for a set of dies.

I bought buggers 32 WS can’t wait to shoot it. ( he also got a Leupold scope in the deal) so I think $950 is bout right

I use the Hornaday FTX bullet.

Remember, the less constrained the column of powder, the more efficient.

The Winchester 32 was criticized for shallower grooves and lans. Would wear out quickly?

I think that Winchester had it mind that reloaders would use BP in the 32. I shot my 32 quite a bit at lever action silhouette; I didn’t notice wear, but I didn’t own a bore scope.

I hope you have enough shooting and hunting opportunities to wear out a 32 Special barrel. If you manage to do that, then you’ve had a lot of fun and killed a lot of game. Then you can rebarrel and do it again.

My .30-30 has the same milling on the lifter as your .32. I believe it was milled that way so the cartridge rim could slide by when loading.

Thanks for letting me know. I am glad to hear that mine is note unique. Makes me feel better.

Going through some stuff today I found a box of 38 Hornady 32 Special 170 grain flat points. PM me if you’re interested.