Winchester model 1894, 32-40

[Win71]

Earlier this year I aquired an old circa 1910, Winchester 1894, w 1/2 round-1/2 octagon barrel, button magazine, caliber 32-40. The chamber was really messed up by some bubba home smith, so I had it relined and rechambered for the same original caliber. Man is this thing a sweet shooting rifle, low recoil, mild report and very accurate. I'm thinking about hunting Michigan whitetails with it this fall. I haven't seen much about this caliber on this or other websites, does anyone have any experience with it, hunting or otherwise?

[pwl44m]

I guess John Wayne liked it. Thats one I don't have. I want to hear more on the Reline. What,where ,how much?
So what is a 32-40, is it a 32-20 with 2x the powder?
Perry

[airedaleman]

32-40 an early Ballard cartridge, very popular with target shooters. Briefly, basis for the 30-30 and original chambering (along with 38-55) for the Model 1893 Marlin and 1894 Winchester. (30-30 [30WCF] introduced about a year later.)

[Win71]

I had Sonny France in Okemos, Michigan do the relining, he did a super job, can't tell it isn't the real deal, this guy does very nice work. I also had Sonny rifle the 32-40 with a 1-14" twist to stabilize the 200 grain bullets my Saeco mold casts. So far it has about 50 of these bullets though it ahead of 13 grains of IMR-4227, for a velocity of about 1380 fps, the rifle with a Lyman tang sight and my 60 year old eyes will keep the groups at less than 1.5 " at 100 yards off sand bags. The relining set me me back only $300 with a 3 month completion time. The 32-40 was the companion cartridge to the 38-55 and also one of the parent cartridges to the Winchester 25-35, 30 WCF (30-30) and the later 32 Winchester Special. Winchester originally chambered their 1894 rifle for the 32-40 and 38-55 (both black powder cartridges) in 1894 the smokeless loads of 30 WCF and 25-35 followed in 1895. The 32-40 does burn twice the powder as the 32-20 with twice the bullet weight.

[Nicknack]

The 32-40 does burn twice the powder as the 32-20 with twice the bullet weight

And also the groove size of the 32-20 is around.312 and the 32-40 groove size is usually .321 diameter.

[Win71]

The 32-40 does burn twice the powder as the 32-20 with twice the bullet weight

And also the groove size of the 32-20 is around.312 and the 32-40 groove size is usually .321 diameter.

+1, good catch, I missed the difference in bore and groove diameter.

[jhrosier]

The 32-40 was a favorite of target shooters in its' day.
Harry Pope and many other very well known gunsmiths of the period chambered their best offhand rifles in this caliber. these were more often single shot falling blocks such as the Stevens, Ballard, and Winchesters.
As barrel steel was not as durable as we now enjoy, many of these rifles were subsequently rebored to 33-40 .
The Marlin Model 1893 rifles were also offered in 32-40. I have a 26" oct 1893 that shoots well despite having some pitting in the bore.
The 32-40 was originally a black powder cartridge. Yours will probably shoot well with soft cast bullets and light charges of Unique or other pistol powders. Trail Boss might work well in the tapered case of the 32-40.
Bullets designed for the 32 Win Spl should work OK but I would stay with lead bullets if your gun does not have a nickle steel barrel.

Jack

[Chuck 100 yd]

My .32-40 has a Douglas 8MM barrel and I size my bullets to .323 and load 14 gr. IMR 4227 . My rifle is a Ruger #1 and I breech seat an NEI 180 gr. PB bullet and have shot several sub .500" 5 shot groups at 100 yd. with it.

14 gr. gives 1414 fps ave.

[Sixgun]

Great cartridge I use 30-30 brass and just run 'em through a 32-40 FLS and seat the bullets out a bit. I only use cast with the majority of them being the RCBS GC in front of 20 gr. of 5744 for 1700+

At the moment I only have two 32-40's, both 1894's. One is serial #2267 and the other is a very late one produced in 1921 thats like new. That one, with an original Marbles "special base" tang sight keeps 'em into less than 2" @100 and will hit cans at 300 if I hold steady on the sandbags.

I've shot thousands of rounds through both of them and like you said, a very pleasant cartridge to shoot. I used 'em for levergun silhouette with success. The other bullet I use is the Saeco 190 grainer and I never could get that one to shoot consistently. I'll get 9 shots into 2" and then one will blow a foot away. The original 1-16 twist is stabilizing them great with nice round holes. I've tried about every velocity from 1200-1800 and I still get these wild fliers, so I stick with the RCBS 170 grainer.

A fun load is 6 gr. of Unique behind a cast bullet without the gas check installed. I don't know why but when I use a gas check with that load, they don't shoot so great but without the gas check, they will puncture cans out to 200, easily. One heck of a trajectory though. Its only 900 fps.--------Sixgun

[Mike D.]

I have a nickel steel barreled .32-40 carbine, and they are quite scarce. Not many of the BP caliber 1894s were assembled with NS barrels, but those that were are often not marked on the upper left side of the barrel below the rear sight. They are simply stamped M.N.S.(Midvale Nickel Steel), or maybe I.N.S.(Illingsworth Nickel Steel) on the bottom flat where the proof and inspector's stamps were placed. If you see a letter designation marked within a circle it is another indicator of NS composition. Soft steels suitable for BP and light smokeless are marked with a letter in a square. The only way to determine your gun's barrel steel is to remove the forend and slide the mag tube forward to see the markings on the bottom flat just forward of the receiver.

[deanf]

I have a few .32-40s, both Winchesters and Marlins. It's a nice caliber and fun to shoot. This post makes me realize I have not shot them for a while and so I need to go do that.

[Griff]

I have LOOKED FOR YEARS and not found a nice, affordable nickel steel .32-40 in either a Marlin 1893 or a Winchester 1894. That "affordable" being a relative and ambiguous term, often quite variable also!

[Sixgun]

I have LOOKED FOR YEARS and not found a nice, affordable nickel steel .32-40 in either a Marlin 1893 or a Winchester 1894. That "affordable" being a relative and ambiguous term, often quite variable also!

Ah come on Griff--you got the bucks! I deal with truckers everyday and it ain't nothin' for them to tell me, "well, I put another 10 g's into the Pete" or "I get my Western Star powerwashed, it only costs $200" or "I got me some new floormats--$150"


Only joshin' Griff! If you want a 32-40, drop me a line. My bud at Targetmaster has a decent octagon barreled one in his shop for 8. It would sell for 14 on the internet------------Sixgun