THE USEFUL .32-20
By Maurice H. Decker.
Fur-Fish-Game, vol 26, No 2, Aug 1917, pages 30-31
NOTE: This is a period article. We no longer consider the .32-20 as suitable for black bears at any time.
IF YOU ARE considering the purchase of an all-round weapon for extensive small and medium game shooting you will do well to consider a rifle using one of the most popular center-fire cartridges in existence—the .32 W. C. F. or .32-20. Like its fellow calibers the .38-40 and .44-40, this cartridge may be found in use in every country of the globe and can usually be obtained wherever shells are sold. By using the different loads adapted to this caliber a good variety of game may be brought down by its deadly and accurate fire, without the work of reloading mid and short-range loads.
To begin with, the .32 Smith & Wesson short revolver shell, while not being recommended by makers, will shoot very nicely in the .32-20 rifle and forms a very desirable load for dropping small game animals and for target shooting and short ranges. This shell charged with nine grains of powder and 85 of lead can be to some extent compared to the popular long rifle .22 cartridge although not possessing its range, and will kill small animals cleanly because of its round, pointed bullet. These .32 shorts can not be worked through the magazine of repeaters, but will be thrown out of the gun by the ejector and this allows fairly rapid firing even if each shell has to be started into the chamber by hand.
When out for game shooting I generally keep a short in my Model 92 Winchester and if a squirrel or rabbit is spied, I am in a position for a quick shot. If, however, a larger animal comes into view it is an easy matter to throw out the short and reload with one of the regular shells from the magazine. I know of a good many farmers and stock men who use the .32-20 for butchering purposes, shooting hogs with shorts and cattle with the regular load. A better combination could hardly be chosen or secured with but one rifle, as nothing less powerful than the .32-20 will drop a heavy steer down to stay while hogs require a light charge similar to the S. & W. for best results in bleeding.
The factories recommend the .32-20 for game as small as squirrel, but I have found the flat pointed bullet tears up rabbit and even geese pretty thoroughly and when I shoot either of these I want as much meat left for the kettle or fry-pan as possible. For woodchcuck shooting, a sport coming into universal popularity with the increasing depopulation of our other game animals, the .32-20 is an ideal caliber. Loaded with the new 105 hollow point bullet it is a sure killer at short and medium ranges and at distances of 200 to 250 yards the High Velocity shells will do good work and shoot much more accurately than one would at first suppose. The average type of low-pressure high-velocity loads intended for use in black powder barrels, such as the .45-70 H. V., .45-90 H. V. and .50-110 H. V., etc. were intended only for short hunting ranges; but much better results may be expected from the .32-20 and also the .25-20 High Velocity loads, in accuracy and holding up at long ranges.
Since the .32-20 cartridges have been put out with smokeless powder and lead bullets, sufficient combinations and styles of loads can now be obtained to suit the tastes and requirements of all shooters of this caliber. Personally, I prefer the regular load of 20 grains of black powder behind the lead bullet, but as the barrel becomes more or less fouled after 25 to 30 rounds of this ammunition and requires the regular use of a field cleaner to maintain regular accuracy, I would earnestly recommend the smokeless loads for steady shooting. The metal patched bullet with the smokeless charge of regular power will also prove a valuable load for killing small game without excessive tearing when one happens to be out of the S. & W. shorts.
The .32-20 High Velocity with its 1640 feet per second velocity and its energy of 1282 foot pounds is really a deadly little killer at medium ranges, possessing as it does a higher velocity than the Winchester .32 and .35 Self-Loading calibers, and the .32-40 and .38-55 black powder loads. This shell has been used with success many times upon deer and even bear and although for the regular hunting of these animals I would always recommend a heavier caliber, the hunter or trapper need have no fear or hesitation of taking a shot at either should it cross his path at a reasonable range. This is a pleasant shooting little cartridge with no noticeable recoil and the few of these loads the average shooter will have occasion to use will have little wearing effect upon his black powder rifle barrel. However, if one intends to use considerable numbers of such shells it will pay him to have his .32-20 repeater equipped with a nickel-steel barrel which the factories making repeaters of this caliber will do at a moderate cost.
There are a number of very desirable single shot and repeating rifles made to handle the .32-20 cartridge. Among the single shot weapons the Stevens Ideal Model leads, I believe, in reliability and low price. It possesses a beautiful balance and appearance and is heavy enough to make steady holding possible with little effort. For accuracy it cannot be excelled, for Stevens' goods have a famous reputation the world over for close, hard shooting. This model in .32-20 caliber comes with 26-inch barrel weighs seven and a quarter pounds and can at this writing be obtained for around $1[ed. indistinct] smokeless powder barrel $3.00 extra and comes in take-down form. For target work and occasional game hunting in settled districts close to home one could hardly wish for a better light weapon. For the regular hunter and trapper, however, I believe the repeater will prove of greater value and in the following paragraphs will give descriptions of several of these which in my opinion leave little to be desired in the form of a .32-20 rifle.
When years of faithful service and popularity among old timers and pioneers who generally know a good thing when they see it are taken into consideration, the Model 1873 Winchester leads in prominence, it being one of the most famous repeaters in existence. It is, however, a little too heavy and clumsy in handling [when] compared to the Model '92 to be seriously considered by modern buyers, particularly as the H.V. loads can not be recommended for it. [The] '92 gun is one of the neatest proportioned repeaters ever made and possesses an action which for strength and smoothness has never been excelled. It is a small edition of the famous game-getting Model 1886 and when equipped with round barrel and shotgun butt with steel butt plate will make a very quick handling [rifle] with a very good balance. The shotgun and the carbine butt are the only styles [which] make rapid firing from the shoulder practical and certain, having in my opinion the [sharp] cornered rifle butt outclassed in every particular.
If you care to dispense with the thirteen shoot capacity of the full magazine, one of half length will improve both the balance and appearance of the Model 1892 and slightly cut down its weight. For extreme light weight and general service the hunter and trapper should examine and handle, if possible, the half-magazine .32-20 carbine which for its weight and size will furnish as much actual business shooting as any other style of this class. For use in a country where medium sized and large game may be frequently seen I would advise a carbine with a special smokeless steel barrel and the almost exclusive use of the H. V. loads. With this light [ed. missing text] weapon the trapper could drop anything crossed his path, from a Canada jay to a black bear in a steel trap or even at large and in case of a deer crossing his trail at short range he would stand a very good chance of eating venison at his next meal. Unless, however, there was an extraordinary good chance for a hit, I would not advise a shot at a deer with the .32-20 H. V. at over 70 yards unless the hunter is badly in need of meat, as there are far too many animals shot with low power guns each season that escape the hunter and die in the woods or brush, of no benefit to anyone and of no use to this world except to furnish food for wolves, The '92 carbine is stocked and built in general for hard usage and should be equipped with a peep sight, preferably a Marble's peep, to obtain the greatest possible distance between sights and make up in this particular for the four inch longer barrel of the regular model.
The Marlin Firearms Company put out two types of repeaters handling the .32-20 shell; but my preference is for the Model 27. This rifle has the pump action, shoots eight times and is [missing text]ted regularly with the special smokeless barrel, several features for which Marlin rifles have been noted for years are incorporated in this model. These are the solid top, which protects the shooter's face from defective or hang-fire shells which sometimes have been known to explode in the action and keeps dirt and moisture from interfering with its correct manipulation; the side ejection, which never throws the empty cases in one's face or across the line of sight and the peep Ballard system of rifling, which guarantees the long life of the barrel. The Marlin action is exceedingly simple and after a little usage wears down smooth and silent. Being very accurate and exceedingly fast, this Marlin is an excellent rifle for practice at moving objects and targets thrown into the air, practice at which work will prove of immense value to the practical hunter and trapper.