32 Winchester Special Lever action Rifle

[Mark Komo]

I have always had this gun. Hand me down from my dad. Have fired it once or twice, but never really hunted with it. Since I moved out to buffalo, ny, wondering if the gun would be useable in say upstate ny, PA or ohio.

And what can you tell me about the 32 winchester load? Worth using on a deer trip?

[Phil T]

The 32 is similar to the 30-30 or 30WCF. Only the bullet is marginally larger. It will work for any deer that's within your effective range.

[rabbit]

Get online and go to the hunting regs for each state and area you are targeting... Should give you all the weapon rules for each.......Paul

[Suzuki]

Like Phil said. Legl where ever rifles are legal. Good deer round.

[kliph]

Mark,
You can use it in the southern tier.
You use any center fire in the southern tier, and shotgun.
Check the regs.

[Mark Komo]

Thanks, will do. They spotted a bear in the neighborhood, in East Amherst, near kline and transit. Thats not good.

Never thought of the 32 winch special of a longer range load, but more of a short range, "brush gun" type. Lots of power close in. Compared to the 30-30, pretty close.

I think both guns are part of the past. Heres a nice read anyway.

http://www.levergun.com/articles/special.htm

[kliph]

Thanks, will do. They spotted a bear in the neighborhood, in East Amherst, near kline and transit. Thats not good.

Never thought of the 32 winch special of a longer range load, but more of a short range, "brush gun" type. Lots of power close in. Compared to the 30-30, pretty close.

I think both guns are part of the past. Heres a nice read anyway.

http://www.levergun.com/articles/special.htm

I have a Marlin 336, 30-30 for use in the southern tier.
http://www.marlinowners.com/
Good deer (or bear) guns for our area.
I see the bear hunting area has been expanded.

[tzonetom]

I have always had this gun. Hand me down from my dad. Have fired it once or twice, but never really hunted with it. Since I moved out to buffalo, ny, wondering if the gun would be useable in say upstate ny, PA or ohio.

And what can you tell me about the 32 winchester load? Worth using on a deer trip?


that gun is perfect for those two states, except in NY where you can't use a rifle, so you might have to check on that.

It is pretty much 30-30 ballistics with a 32cal bullet. Many a deer died to it. I had one I put a Williams peep sight on and shot the heck out of stuff with factory loads.

[hgmeyer]

If you do your part (and stay under 100 yards with iron sights, a personal choice, or under 200 yards with a low powered scope) any deer you can hit reliably will not know the difference between that .32 (an excellent deer round) and a .30-30. Like fishing, a lot more depends on the "indian" than on the "arrow".

And, there is another benefit of living in your new land... The hunting opportunities are pretty good.

[point12]

Mark,

I saved up and bought a Winchester pre-64 32 Special when I was in high school. I thought at the time it would be good to buy something of "collector" (at least to me) status besides having a handy deer rifle I could use. I think I paid about $100 for it in the early 70's.

On the first time out when I racked a shell into the chamber and it went off by itself. Whoa what a shock... Thank God it was pointing in a safe direction. I, being young, didn't think too much of it and figured it was a freak once-in-a-lifetime thing. Wrong. A couple of years later it did it again and I took it to a reputable gun shop. The guy said it was a known problem with the pre 1964 models. He said he might be able to fix it - but at that point I was scared of it and wasn't willing to pay too much to have it fixed and still have a untrustworthy thought in the back of my mind. So, I traded it on the spot to that guy for a Marlin 30-30 lever action cheapie he had on the rack. I still use that 'ole Marlin today and have feasted on many delicious bambi steaks and chops obver the years. And I don't have to worry about a scratch or two. Just a good trusty short range deer gun.

To be safe - please check out your .32sp with a good gunsmith and be sure that your's does not do the same thing. My recollection is that it was just the pre '64's that had the problem.

Have fun out there,

Al Denninger
Point12

[Mark Komo]

Nice pice of advice Al. I gonna check it out, maybe pull some number and see what the story. Never bothered to much more about the gun, other than learning to fire it. You too greg. A solid hour gets you in some nice country out here.

Rumor has it a possible NY state record non typical was taken with a bow a few days back. Buddy has a pictue of it on his I phone. Seems a lot of dads hit the fields in the am, then off to boys football game. Quite a bit of camo in the stands today. We lost. nuts.

[hgmeyer]

First, visually, thye Post 64 rifles usually have a hard plastic buttplate (pre had steel from the factory. There will be no stamped steel parts anywhere on a pre-64 rifle. And, I am not able to verify this info, but my "appraisal notes" indicate that Pre-1964 Model 94 serial numbers ended somewhere at or before 2,600,011. And, the post 64 rifles started at serial number 2,700,000. So, anything smaller numbered is 1964 or earlier.

BTW... here is a very definitive site.. http://www.wisnersinc.com/additional_info/Winchester_94.htm

[kliph]

[QUOTE=tzonetom;1143053]that gun is perfect for those two states, except in NY where you can't use a rifle, so you might have to check on that.

BTW, In some areas of NY State you can use a rifle for deer.
Check it out.

[Suzuki]

I know how dangerous they are to load but my pre-64 lever has never gone off unintentionally and if it does nobody will ever get harmed since the muzzle will not be pointing at anything important.

[chieftom]

shotguns only in Ohio