Thread: 32-40

Interesting that Reloaders have a Lee die set for 32-40 and Gunworks have Winchester brass, at least according to their website. Probably make a fortune reselling the brass in the States lol

Originally Posted by Jhon

Interesting that Reloaders have a Lee die set for 32-40 and Gunworks have Winchester brass, at least according to their website. Probably make a fortune reselling the brass in the States lol

Greeting Jhon,
There seem to be two options depending on what rings your bell. One of the John Wayne rifles may be around depending on what they fetch. Should be less than vintage 94 or 99 rifles in shootable condition. Or a 32 Special that could be loaded with cast lead and black powder as a reasonable substitute. There wont be many of these around either but they should be cheaper. From memory of an article in Handloader John Barsness, I think got about 1,450 fps with black and a 170 grain cast bullet. Its just a matter of finding one.
Happy hunting. Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greeting Jhon,
There seem to be two options depending on what rings your bell. One of the John Wayne rifles may be around depending on what they fetch. Should be less than vintage 94 or 99 rifles in shootable condition. Or a 32 Special that could be loaded with cast lead and black powder as a reasonable substitute. There wont be many of these around either but they should be cheaper. From memory of an article in Handloader John Barsness, I think got about 1,450 fps with black and a 170 grain cast bullet. Its just a matter of finding one.
Happy hunting. Grandpamac.

Quite interesting that the 32 special never really seemed to take off here. If my memory is right...pretty sure it was the second most produced caliber in the model 94, after 30-30. I think it was something like 25% of model 94's were in 32 special. As to why it never gained traction here, I do not know.

Originally Posted by Waynesworld

Quite interesting that the 32 special never really seemed to take off here. If my memory is right...pretty sure it was the second most produced caliber in the model 94, after 30-30. I think it was something like 25% of model 94's were in 32 special. As to why it never gained traction here, I do not know.

I think it was probably timing. By the time new rifles became available and affordable in NZ the 32 Specials time had passed. As late as the 1960's the most common rifle encountered in the ranges was a sporterised .303. I only remember seeing one lever action rifle in those early days and it was a M94 .30 WCF (aka 30-30). I thought the cartridges looked great. Later on I knew people that used other lever actions including a Win 88 and Savage 99, the later in .303 Savage
Regards Grandpamac.

@grandpamac Also 303B Enfield ex military were cheap as chips. My first centrefire was a fully wooded 303 I paid somewhere around $60 for in 1977, covered in thick grease, and sporterised by moi. Bloody fine job I did of it too with not a clue as to what I was doing. Had no trouble filling the freezer with rounds reloaded with a Lee Loader and a fair amount of trepidation. You may well have convinced me of the superiority of a Winchester LA in 32-40 but my budget of the day would never have accommodated it.

Originally Posted by Jhon

@grandpamac Also 303B Enfield ex military were cheap as chips. My first centrefire was a fully wooded 303 I paid somewhere around $60 for in 1977, covered in thick grease, and sporterised by moi. Bloody fine job I did of it too with not a clue as to what I was doing. Had no trouble filling the freezer with rounds reloaded with a Lee Loader and a fair amount of trepidation. You may well have convinced me of the superiority of a Winchester LA in 32-40 but my budget of the day would never have accommodated it.

Greetings again Jhon,
I see that Match Grade Machine in the US offers barrels for the Contender in 32-40. Somewhere in my banana boxes of Handloader and Rifle mags there will be load data for the cartridge using the Contender. The desire for something different burns deep in most rifle people. For some it is the latest cutting edge cartridge but for others, to use the words of the late Bob Hayley, it is the weird wacky and wonderful. I and likely you fall into this camp. Bob was a custom handloader that specialised in rounds few others had heard of. Cutting edge cartridges can become common over time thus loosing their appeal. Oddballs only improve with age.
Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by Waynesworld

Quite interesting that the 32 special never really seemed to take off here. If my memory is right...pretty sure it was the second most produced caliber in the model 94, after 30-30. I think it was something like 25% of model 94's were in 32 special. As to why it never gained traction here, I do not know.

The 32 special came out after the 3030, it was a smokeless powder factory round but was intended to be suitable for reloading with bp as smokeless was in its infancy at the time. The rifles had a 1:12 twist which was better than the 1:10 of the 3030 at resisting bp fouling.
Power was identical to the 3030 which proved to be far more popular and the 32 special kind of died off.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greeting Jhon,
There seem to be two options depending on what rings your bell. One of the John Wayne rifles may be around depending on what they fetch. Should be less than vintage 94 or 99 rifles in shootable condition. Or a 32 Special that could be loaded with cast lead and black powder as a reasonable substitute. There wont be many of these around either but they should be cheaper. From memory of an article in Handloader John Barsness, I think got about 1,450 fps with black and a 170 grain cast bullet. Its just a matter of finding one.
Happy hunting. Grandpamac.

Cheers. Be nice, given current interest in LAs if Rossi, Henry or Ruger started doing some runs of some of the older calibres. Heck, even the single shot guys would probably sell me one or two. Not because they are competitive cartridges on the contemporary scene but because they are bloody interesting.

Originally Posted by Jhon

Cheers. Be nice, given current interest in LAs if Rossi, Henry or Ruger started doing some runs of some of the older calibres. Heck, even the single shot guys would probably sell me one or two. Not because they are competitive cartridges on the contemporary scene but because they are bloody interesting.

Greetings again Jhon,
Seeing you mentioned single shots the 32-40 was originally chambered in all manner of single shots including the Peabody. This was a tilting block action that was later improved by Martini to become the Martini Henry and later Martini Enfield. Poor old Peabody's name got lost in the shuffle. The Martini action would suit the 32-40 just fine if you can find one beyond collector interest. Mine was 30-30 for a while until I had it rechambered for 30-40 Krag. Getting a suitable .320 inch groove barrel could be the biggest problem. My Martini shoots really well. Dreams are cheap. Unfortunately turning them into reality's is the expensive bit.
Regards Grandpamac.