Thoughts on the .32-40

[David LaPell]

I ran across a nice Winchester 1894 in .32-40 recently. I've never owned one in that caliber and never had a .32-40 before, I know the round is pretty much going to be handloading only since ammo doesn't exist, but where does the .32-40 actually fall in the grand scheme of things? I know it's history as a target round, but how is it when it comes to hunting? I was thinking whitetail at the most.

[cowboy4evr]

David , I own several " 94 " winchesters but not one in 32-40 . That said , from what I have gathered over the years it was a good hunting round for deer and the likes . If we wouldn't of gotten the 30-30 , we still might be using the 32-40 instead . My uncle for yrs hunted deer in and around the corn fields of Iowa with nothing more than a 22 hornet . He never lost one and he wasn't shooting out from a blind . He stalked the timbers around the corn fields . Shot placement is king , not always the caliber . Regards Paul

[cwlongshot]

My buddy has a few boxes of ammo he is wanting to sell.. IINM its "DUKE" Winchester commemorative.

[RU shooter]

Just think of it as a 32 win spl loaded on the light side . Same bullet same case just shapped a little different .

[Mk42gunner]

I have never owned one, but I tend to think of the .32-40 as a hundred yard deer cartridge. On paper it is a bit weaker than the .30-30 or .32 Special.

I think it would be an awesome cast boolit hunting round, as long as the crimp groove is in the right place.

Robert

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I have two '94's and they are among my favourites, an early (1906) and latter (1927) just before Winchester dropped the factory chambering. Boolit selection is easy as any 8mm boolits sized to 0.322" will shoot accurately.

[richhodg66]

Easy to load. It's a pretty weak cartridge, much less power than a .32 Special.

One slow push in a full length sizer makes brass from .30-30, comes up just a tad short, but still works fine.

[ascast]

Factory ammo ( and the reputation) is loaded to be safe in all guns, like Ballards, Stevens 44's etc. In a strong action it is a much better cartridge. Shot placement is all.

[Randy Bohannon]

It was the premier small bore cartridge of its time ,every kind of rifle was chambered for it , When Winchester developed the 30-30 WCF it was a no brainer to neck up the 30-30 and make a reamer to 32. Cal. and use their abundant 32-40 barrels and call it the .32 Winchester Special .
With the new fangled smokeless powder for the 30-30 and most rifleman of the day reloaded black powder cartridges with components not hard to get and suspicious of the new powder. Winchester put reversible rear sight elevators for smokeless loads and black powder on the early 1894’s chambered in 32 Special knowing that smokeless powder would be available eventually for the reloader,they were in business to sell guns.
Intentional or not the .32 Special is the superior cartridge over the 30-30 for cast bullets with its shallow rifling,slow 1:16 ROT. Your 32-40 should be a shooter with cast bullets, I wouldn’t rule out developing black powder loads and have a blast with a cool rifle. My .32 Special chambers a .323” bullet no problem and shoots very good with 170 gr, bullets.

[Texas by God]

I grew up with the 30-30 and still love it, but a few years ago I started traveling backwards and have fallen for the 44 WCF and the 38-55. I'm tempted by the 32-40 as well, time will tell.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[MT Chambers]

I have 2 of 'em, one is a John Wayne comm. and the other is an orig. 1885, with a new barrel and shoots 185-200 grain boolits very accurately breach seated of course. Lymans 165 grain plain base boolit is not accurate in either gun. I have too many oldtime guns with better knockdown power so the .32/40s don't see the hunting woods at all. Even with the case only half full of smokeless, the breach seated rounds are very accurate, the 20X Unertl scope helps alot.

[P Flados]

Over 40 years ago, one of the first guns I reloaded for was my Dad's M94 in 32-40 with the long octagon barrel.

The only tube magazine safe 0.323" hunting bullet at the LGS was a Speer 170. Using available load data at the time, my loads were supposed to be pushing that 170 gr bullet to within 100 fps of a 30-30 for the same barrel length. With my long barrel, I figured I was getting about the same performance as a 20" 30-30. At the range using a good rest, I could hit coke cans set on end at 100 yards with open sights. I took it out into the field a few times without seeing any deer. Although I had a better gun for longer ranges, I had plenty of confidence that it would have done the job well past 100 yards.

Most deer taken with cast in a 30-30 have probably been with loads well below what you should be able to do with cast in a M94 32-40 now that we have powder coat.

If you want to work up deer loads for a M94 in 32-40, do not fear that the cartridge will let you down. You effective hunting range is most likely to be entirely based on being able to put the bullet where it needs to be.

[ndnchf]

I have a .32-40 model 94 carbine made in 1930 with a nickel steel barrel. Its is superbly accurate and a wonderful cartridge. The Lee 8mm bullet is my favorite. It feeds perfectly and shoots like it was designed for it.

[samari46]

Start with IMR 4227 start charge will be 13.5 grains and max will be 14.5 grains
While it was available IMR 4759 basically start 13.5 grs and max will be 14.5 grs. This will be with a 165 grain bullet as in factory ammo of the day. Velocity will be around 1350 fps or therabouts. However with the demise of 4759 other powders are being used. Best to check in at the ASSRA website and see what they are using. They normally shoot heavier bullets so load data for them will be different.. Have fun,Frank

[ATCDoktor]

My 32/40 is a Marlin 1893 and it is probably my most accurate levergun.

The cartridge is easy to load for (although factory brass can be a little hard to come by at times)and most commercial casters that offer rifle bullets have one or two suitable bullets in their lineup to support shooting the 32/40.

Samari46 said:

Start with IMR 4227 start charge will be 13.5 grains and max will be 14.5 grains

Samari46’s recommendation mirrors my own:

This group was fired at 100 yards using a 165 grain lead flat point sized .322 and pushed by 14.5 grains of IMR 4227; velocity was 1475 fps on average.



This group was fired at the same distance using a 180 grain lead flat point sized .323 using the same charge of IMR 4227 (14.5 grains) and velocity hovered around 1400 fps using the heavier bullet.


I’m sure if I tweaked the 180 grain load I could tighten up the group but for offhand practice at 100 yards, that’s good enough for me.

[pworley1]

I have a Martini Cadet chambered 32 40 and it is a very easy caliber to load. As stated brass can be made from 30 30 and it will shoot just about any 322 or 323 cast bullet.
The Lyman cast bullet handbook has plenty of data.

[skeettx]

Great shooting cartridge, easy to load, mild recoil, neat !!

[bishopgrandpa]

After reading this post I remembered I had a few very old boxes of 32-40 and can't remember from where. I have no use for them and will pull the bullets and deprime for shipping if anyone wants them. They are reloads from what I see written on the boxes. There 28 rounds there.

[ndnchf]

After reading this post I remembered I had a few very old boxes of 32-40 and can't remember from where. I have no use for them and will pull the bullets and deprime for shipping if anyone wants them. They are reloads from what I see written on the boxes. There 28 rounds there.

I'd be glad to have them. PM coming.

[bishopgrandpa]

Will send in a few days.