Thread: .32 Special hunting again

Took a mate to the West Coast for 4 days hunting as he wanted to get his first deer with his bow.
So I decided to take my 115 year old Winchester 1894 .32 Special and make it into a bit of a challenge also seems all the stags are in velvet and I don't shoot hinds on the property.

He didn't get the bow shot deer he wanted. But not for a lack of trying, drew on a couple of spikers / young stags but never got the shot he was after.
Saw some good stags and left for a few months time.

I managed to get a very big spiker with the old 32 special 170 grain flat points at 70m through the shoulder and out the off side ribs. Down with no drama not far from where he was shot.
Fairly basic open sights and over 50s eyes don't make it particularly easy.
Also shot a 40kg black boar with the old girl.
So very happy to get it out in the field and have to sneak in a lot closer than usual.

Cool old rifle could you chuck up a few more picks please.
I take it it cannot fire 357magnum?

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Cool picture! Congratulations on the Hunt!

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Cool old rifle could you chuck up a few more picks please.
I take it it cannot fire 357magnum?

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Uh, think you might be thinking of the 38 special which can take 357mag as well - if the pistol is designed for it. 32 is a different thing - I think the Americans still chamber pistols in 32 for light concealed carry but others will know more

357 and 44 are popular rifle cartridges with pistol shooters in my (limited) experience because they can be used on pistol ranges

Originally Posted by 308

Uh, think you might be thinking of the 38 special which can take 357mag as well - if the pistol is designed for it. 32 is a different thing - I think the Americans still chamber pistols in 32 for light concealed carry but others will know more

357 and 44 are popular rifle cartridges with pistol shooters in my (limited) experience because they can be used on pistol ranges

Ah yes I was

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.32 Special came out in 1901 and this carbine is from the first year of production.
Basically just sales spin ... neck up 30-30 and offer more options ... nothing has really changed with salesmanship.
The 32 special had a slower twist barrel and was intended for those who wanted to reload and had molds etc from the 32-40 and other previous black powder 32 cal rifles.

Mine is a half magazine saddle ring carbine.
Very light and easy to carry as it sits in the hand and balance is perfect to hold receiver.
Has a reasonable recoil with the steel butt plate.
I need to replace the front sight brass bead as the original is broken out.

Previous owner had " restored it ", re blued the receiver and weirdly colour case treated the lever. So it has very little collector value left due to these so called restoration.
I wanted it as a shooter so picked it up pretty cheap and therefore not afraid to use it.

@akaroa1

I love seeing these old rifles being used for what they were intended for.

I have an 1892 Winchester (manufactured in 1910) in 25-20wcf that I use to hunt goats with.


Cheers
Pete

Neat rifle and obviously still very effective, nice shooting. Had a 94 Winchester 30 30 many years ago it worked well on deer and was nice to carry when bush hunting.

Originally Posted by Mooseman

Neat rifle and obviously still very effective, nice shooting. Had a 94 Winchester 30 30 many years ago it worked well on deer and was nice to carry when bush hunting.

Yes its got me thinking that if I could improve the open sights I would carry it a lot more often.
I guide guys for koha only and carry a conventional rifle for bloody miles and hardly ever use it.
So this rifle or another similar carbine with a peep sight that would be accurate a little further out would be ideal for a lot of those hunts.
They are often using one of my other rifles anyway ( foreign hunters and its too difficult to travel from Europe with a rifle ) and if I want to take a longer shot at something myself ( they don't have any experience over 200m usually ) I will just pull rank and grab the 308 or 300 off them.

@akaroa1

If your looking for an aperture sight for your Winchester 94 check out the Skinner Barrel mount sights.
Barrel Mount

I have one on a Rossi 92 and it works great.

Cheers
Pete