search for .32-20 ammunition

Interesting read. Back in mid 60’s my Dad had a Colt Lightening in 32.20 that I learned to shoot centerfire revolver with. Will Never forget my Dad complaining at Breakfast about a mocking bird waking him up about 3 AM squawking from tree in the back yard. My mother said to him, “ do not shoot my mocking bird”, she liked them. Well few days later I was in back yard on the way to the range we had when low and behold the mocking bird was in a tree squawking away. Hardly without thinking I aimed and fired the Colt. Mocking bird fell DRT. Picked what was left and buried it behind the barn.Never mentioned it until Dad and I were in in basement woodworking shop and made the comment,” something happened to that dag gone mocking bird”, he smiled. Good enough for me…
 
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In no way am I recommending the practice, but .32-20 revolvers will chamber and fire both .32 S&W and .32 S&W Long cartridges. Accuracy will be low and having some case splits is likely. But at least you can make some noise. In an earlier posting, I have related personal knowledge of a man being shot and killed by another man using a .32-20 revolver loaded with .32 S&W Long cartridges. It was an accident, not murder. They were slaughtering a cow.
 
And you can fire .32-20 in a .38 Special revolver. I once accidentally loaded .32-20 cartridges in a .38 Special revolver. They all fired and some bullets even hit the target. I did not discover what I had done until I ejected the empties and found that all of them were bulged and split. I was just distracted by something else when I loaded the .38. No damage done.

I don't consider it dangerous to fire .32 Long in a .32-20 revolver, but it is not something I would get into the habit of doing and accuracy will probably suffer. But in a pinch, it will work.
 
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Just did a search on AmmoSeek and there's 13 sellers that have the 32-20, none of it cheap but it's there.

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My reloading buddy, GH is going on a 32-20 rampage. With over 500 cases and a new die set he started out with 50 rounds for my S$W revolver. 115 gr. flat nose over 3.1 700X. Next up will be a "hot" load for my Savage 23C Sporter. He has already honed his skills on some 32 Colt short for my 1891 Marlin. It's great to have a friend like GH. More experimentation coming.
 
I saw some Win at the gun show in Thermopolis last Saturday. 4 boxes...fellow sold them all at 60 dollars a box. The seller also had Starline brass in the caliber...75 cents each I think...just went and checked....50 cents each. 3 boxes of the ammo resold for 75. dollars a box. It really does go high. sold an older box of Winchester Silvertip 250-3000 for $100.00 Winchester 2 piece tan box...also have the same in 30-30 300 Savage and 35 Rem
 
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For the heck of it, you might poll your local shooting club/range, see if there’s renough interest to invest in a loading set-up for the group (assuming there is one). Set up the rules for using the stuff, each guy is responsible to supply his own material. Not the easiest way to go, but could defer the initial cost of a (nicer) reload set-up. Bulk buy brass, etc too. It may not be worth it, then again, it might…
 
I am wondering at this point if the ammo makers will ever load rounds like the 32-20, 25-20 218 Bee or even the hornet. There are so many calibers that seem to be forgotten these days even rounds like the great 35 Remington. I understand there mav have been periods when they pretty much quit many rounds...but they still made a run of hard to find ammo. Looks like it is farthest from their minds these days. I can say that all the 32-20s I have found were old stock
 
Skeet 028 said:
I am wondering at this point if the ammo makers will ever load rounds like the 32-20, 25-20 218 Bee or even the hornet. There are so many calibers that seem to be forgotten these days even rounds like the great 35 Remington. I understand there mav have been periods when they pretty much quit many rounds...but they still made a run of hard to find ammo. Looks like it is farthest from their minds these days. I can say that all the 32-20s I have found were old stock
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Winchester made a batch of 32 WCF in December 2023. All gone now. I bought two boxes.
 

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lgeorge1 said:
I have a vintage single action Colt revolver. Original caliber was .32WCF. That was later changed to .32-20.

Gun was shipped to Sears & Roebuck in 1907.

It is in superb shooting condition but I ran out of factory ammo a few years ago. Did find some from Georgia Arms about 3 years ago, but none since. The GA ammo was cowboy stuff & dirty as hell to shoot.

Anyone have any good ideas, I love to hear about.
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A Lee Hand Press Kit ($67.00) and a Set of Lee 32-20 Reloading Dies ($38.00) .

Become the Master of your own Ammunition Supply ...

For $105.00 You can have the tools to be your own little ammo making facility ... The Lee Hand Press Kit and Lee 32-20 WCF dies are on sale and available at Midway USA .

With the present day ammo availability situation ...
You may want to think about it .

It's also a Fun Hobby !
Gary
 
I reload my own but always have my eyes open for any i might stumble across. Brass is in short supply so even partials are likely to be bought if the price isn't totally insane. Saturday at the Tri-State show in Lima I picked up a half full box of 60's era 32-20 for $1 a round from a guy who had an assortment of ammo on his table. Didn't notice till I got home it was the Western High Velocity load. So I guess I won't run them through my S&W........... Put them in my cartridge collection instead though if I ever get a suitable rifle they might get shot!
 
desi2358 said:
Didn't notice till I got home it was the Western High Velocity load.
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If that is really the case just use an inertial bullet puller and dump the powder, then reload them. The brass is worth the trouble.

Such "High velocity rifle only" ammo would be unusual and hard to find since it has not been made in 100 years.
 
Model19man said:
If that is really the case just use an inertial bullet puller and dump the powder, then reload them. The brass is worth the trouble.

Such "High velocity rifle only" ammo would be unusual and hard to find since it has not been made in 100 years.
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I may be wrong, but I believe it was still being made in the late '50s-early '60s,
 
I have a Lee single stage reloading press, dies and factory crimp dies for my 32-20 reloading. It’s slow but rewarding. Everglades makes a 85 gr. RNFP for easy reloading. Lyman’s 50th reloading manual has recipes. If you’re really into it you can cast your own bullets.
 
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