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Old 09-26-2011, 07:43 PM
rburg rburg is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Kentucky, USA
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Just for reference on prices. A week ago at the OGCA show, I bought 2 boxes of Remington .32-20s for $40 total. One box wasn't full, but missing a couple of rounds (brass there but fired.) This weekend at the show in Lexington, Ky there were 2 boxes (unsold while I was there), priced at $49 a box. If you have and shoot one of the guns, I'd suggest you pick your purchases carefully. There's money to be saved or wasted.

With the ammo shortages we've experienced over the last 3 years, there are factors to be considered. The 32s aren't very well represented. Those who own them don't do a lot of shooting. As a result, the more popular calibers have the advantage of volume sales. We'll never manage to get the per round price even near the same neighborhood. You can often find .38s and 9mms for $10 a box of 50. We'll probably never see that price for .32-20s again. I'd suggest if you see them for the $20 a box I paid, you buy them too. Doesn't matter if you really need them or not, chances are the prices will be going up again in the not to distant future. Get your stockpile while the getting is good.

At the OGCA show I also bought a box of .32 S&W (not longs, shorts) but it doesn't matter. You can reportedly shoot them in .32-20s, too. I haven't done it yet, but I'm planning on testing them. The case is a bit small, but the rim still catches in the right place on the cylinder and extractor. If the case bulges, I'll toss them out.

If you reload, or even just understand the principles, you can reload for a .32 or .32-20 easily. Its not rocket science. You need to decap (remove the spent primer). And you need some powder. In my ill spent youth, my father made a powder measure out of a 22 short case with a copper wire handle soldered on. Then he filed it down to about half the original length, so it would measure about 1 grain of Bullseye. We'd just seat a new primer, toss in the scoop of powder, and seat the "bullet". For indoor use, we'd just shoot a single OO buckshot. Its the right diameter for a .32. At long range, they'll knuckleball. At short ranges, they didn't have time and would just hit the target. A good plinking round.

But remember, I've still got small pistol primers I paid under $10 a thousand for... And I was outraged when I had to pay $16 a thousand back in the early 1990s. Saturday I saw the cheapo Tula and Wolfe brand selling for $29 and the seller not even feeling guilty!
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