.32-20 ammo

[rchall]

What factory ammo is safe to fire in an old .32-20 HE with a serial number in the 133,000 range?? I assume it probably has the heat treated cylinder?? Was looking at some Winchester and Remington 100 gr. loads that were mfg. sometime in the 1990’s. Thanks!

 

[rockquarry]

What factory ammo is safe to fire in an old .32-20 HE with a serial number in the 133,000 range?? I assume it probably has the heat treated cylinder?? Was looking at some Winchester and Remington 100 gr. loads that were mfg. sometime in the 1990’s. Thanks!

I've fired some of the Remington (and maybe the Winchester) 100 grain cast factory ammo made in recent decades. It should be okay to shoot in any gun in good condition. I chronographed some of this stuff years ago and it seems the muzzle velocity was under 1100 fps from a rifle. That probably equates to about 750-800 fps from a handgun. Very puny ballistics indeed, but safe.

 

[robertrwalsh]

Way back in the day they made both rifle and revolver loads in this cartridge. You want to avoid the rifle rounds.

 

[Nevada Ed]

If you can find ammo.............
you need the slower, 850fps ammo for your revolver.

 

[rchall]

Right, the real dilemma these days is finding it! Thanks all!

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

Your revolver has the heat treated cylinder. And there is a lot of steel around charge holes. The older high velocity rifle ammo is scarce and you are unlikely to come across it on the shelf of any gun shop. I believe it also was loaded with jacketed bullets. The modern Remington and Winchester ammo with the 100 grain lead pills are fine, though they are pretty hard to come by too. TBH I have never found it in a store so you may have to order online. Or take up reloading and casting your own.

John

 

[Muley Gil]

Here is a picture of a Rifle Only .32-20 round, courtesy of alk3844. It is loaded with a 80 grain jacketed hollow point bullet. The head stamp should read ".32-20 HV" for High Velocity. It is my understanding that this ammo hasn't been commercially loaded since the 1960s.

 

[STCM(SW)]

Glad I reload & mold my own lead 32 bullets!
Use the same bullet in the 32 S&W, 32 S&W long & the 32-20.

 

[DWalt]

Here is a picture of a Rifle Only .32-20 round, courtesy of alk3844. It is loaded with a 80 grain jacketed hollow point bullet. The head stamp should read ".32-20 HV" for High Velocity. It is my understanding that this ammo hasn't been commercially loaded since the 1960s.

Someone always brings up the subject of not using the old .32-20 rifle ammunition in a revolver, making it sound like it is still available and sold. Indeed, it has not been made, at least by the big boys, for over 50 years (I believe it was last cataloged sometime in the mid-1960s), and probably 99% of any of it still remaining is found only on the ammo collector market. Not to say that a box of it couldn't show up at a garage sale. All "new" .32-20 ammunition made today (assuming you are fortunate enough to find some) is safe to use in a revolver. More recent Remington .32-20 ammo I have seen says "Rifle" on the box, but that is just to indicate that it can be used in a rifle, but not only in a rifle. It's confusing. It is not really dangerous (in the sense of presenting a hazard to the shooter) to fire old .32-20 HV rifle ammunition in a revolver, but there have apparently been instances in which the barrel in the forcing cone area has split as the result of using it. I have personally never seen a .32-20 revolver damaged that way. BTW, back early in the 20th Century, the factories also made HV rifle-only loadings in .38-40 and .44-40. They are fairly rare today.

 

[Skeet 028]

I recently bought a couple boxes of the old white box Winchester 32-20 with 100 gr(I think) jacketed ammo and a couple boxes of Win White box 100 gr lead bullets. IIRC the jacketed just said 32-20 no warning about HV or rifle only...the lead bullet rounds has a declaration on the box that they can be shot in anything 32-20 in good condition. I considered I kinda stole 'em paying $25 each...or about that. He took 16 boxes of Fed 22 LR HPs...and he did the offer not me...I just said ...yep! But I recently got a new set of Lyman 32-20 dies so I can now load all the empty cases I have. Which brings up a question...should I load with rifle or pistol primers??

 

[Green Frog]

I recently bought a couple boxes of the old white box Winchester 32-20 with 100 gr(I think) jacketed ammo and a couple boxes of Win White box 100 gr lead bullets. IIRC the jacketed just said 32-20 no warning about HV or rifle only...the lead bullet rounds has a declaration on the box that they can be shot in anything 32-20 in good condition. I considered I kinda stole 'em paying $25 each...or about that. He took 16 boxes of Fed 22 LR HPs...and he did the offer not me...I just said ...yep! But I recently got a new set of Lyman 32-20 dies so I can now load all the empty cases I have. Which brings up a question...should I load with rifle or pistol primers??

What little I've reloaded 32-20 ammo, I've used small pistol primers. Years ago, I used to shoot an early Winchester high wall in the caliber as well as several revolvers, and I figure since the ammo is being loaded to revolver specs and may wind up in a revolver anyway, well... why not?? While I think most unaltered S&W M&P 32-20s will probably pop a SR primer OK, I generally have more SP primers around anyway, so I don't bother to change over.

Just my opinion based on limited experience, YMMV.
Froggie

 

[Skeet 028]

Both my handguns are S&Ws. One is an early adj sighted dating to 1907-08. The other was made about 1925 or so. Don't really want to hurt either gun so since I seem to have more SPPs...so I will load them. The early gun is more accurate than I am...but I am a shotgun shooter.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

All "new" .32-20 ammunition made today (assuming you are fortunate enough to find some) is safe to use in a revolver.

I'm pretty sure that's because of the cowboy action shooters needing low velocity ammunition and, as a general rule, they're the only ones shooting these old calibers, except us, of course.

 

[rockquarry]

What little I've reloaded 32-20 ammo, I've used small pistol primers. Years ago, I used to shoot an early Winchester high wall in the caliber as well as several revolvers, and I figure since the ammo is being loaded to revolver specs and may wind up in a revolver anyway, well... why not?? While I think most unaltered S&W M&P 32-20s will probably pop a SR primer OK, I generally have more SP primers around anyway, so I don't bother to change over.

Just my opinion based on limited experience, YMMV.
Froggie

I doubt the type primer really matters, but if you have different ones, try them. I can't recall using anything but small rifle primers in the thirty-five or more years I've loaded the .32-20 in two rifles and one revolver. Primer ignition has been 100% even in the Colt revolver. I did get slightly better accuracy with the Remington 7 1/2 vs. the CCI-400 that I generally use in other cartridges that require a SR primer. I load this cartridge very moderately, using a 115 grain cast bullet at about 1250 fps from a rifle. Maybe I'll try a SP primer someday.

 

[Drm50]

I’ve loaded 32/20 for years. I use Small Rifle Primers because the 1st 32/20 I loaded for was a old Marlin 1894. The S&W and Colt, Ruger and Spanish knock offs all shot well with it. I have had trouble with CCI SP & SMP in 38s & 357 S&Ws, so other than that have nothing to add.

 

[DWalt]

If your revolver pops SR primers reliably, you can use them. Whether you use SP or SR primers won't change ballistic performance significantly.

 

[Brooks]

32-20 is a rifle cartridge. I always use small rifle primers. The S&W hammer spring always sets it off.

 

[Skeet 028]

I haven't loaded 32-20 in so long. I also had a 32-20 Savage bolt gun and I did use rifle primers all those years ago. I sold the rifle at least 25 yrs in the past and let the dies go with it. Loading the 32-20 was kinda different cause the cases were so thin and crumpled fairly often. I shot the door of an old metal mail box at about 120 yds and it only dented the darn thing. Didn't impress me much so it got sold. Never loaded for a 32-20 handgun...but couldn't turn down that old adj sighted S&W....or the 2nd fixed sight one

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Well, in light of this discussion and my recent acquisition of a "32-20 Hand Ejector Model of 1905 4th change" I went on an Internet hunt for that caliber of ammunition. To no one's surprise I either found websites indicating that it was out of stock or websites that didn't even list it as a caliber in the inventory. Okay, no surprise and, THEN! - I found a box on a well known auction site. It is vintage ammunition, Remington-UMC identified as "REM-UMC 1911-1915 .32-20 Win. Original Box .32 Winchester Ammo" and the box says "Softpoint Smokeless". I'd have called it semi-wadcutter but maybe that term is from later on in the 20th century, I am uncertain. The lead tips of the bullets are white with age.

The price when I started bidding was very low but, interestingly, the shipping price was $26.00. But it was still under a dollar a round.

I was outbid but the bid was picayune as far as I was concerned so I bid again. That happened twice and today I got this notice:

You have been outbid for Item Number.........

Date/Time the auction closes:
10/31/2021 at 16:10:00

Item: Remington UMC 50x .32 WCF Vintage Ammunition REM-UMC 1911-1915 .32-20 Win. Original Box .32 Winchester Ammo

The current High Bid is $32.01.

So, now we have passed the dollar per round issue. I think I'm done but it was a nice try.

Here's the gun - we all love pictures:

 

[DWalt]

It used to be possible to find a few full boxes of .32-20 at most any medium to large gun show, but I doubt that is the current situation. The gun show price for factory .32-20 loads pre-pandemic would usually be in the $40-$50 range, but several years ago I found a full box at one for $15. I don't think the seller knew what he had - he also had some other good buys on odd ammo, and I bought everything he had. Over the years I have accumulated maybe 300+ .32-20 cases, and that is all I need for reloading. Used to be that if a gun shop didn't carry ammunition in the size you needed, they would (or could) special order it for you from their supplier. I doubt if it works that way today, most shops probably wouldn't want to be bothered.

BTW, I started my teen-age grandkids shooting with a .32-20 M&P rather than with some .22 revolver. Full size, and low recoil.