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32 Winchester special (Read 540 times)

RJ-35-40 Senior Forum Member Offline Posts: 287 Joined: Dec 7^th, 2016	32 Winchester special Mar 25^th, 2026 at 11:23pm	Print Post
	32 Winchester special, Any suggestions on a gallery load shooting a very light 75 grain projectile utilizing a 32 Winchester Special cartridge? or Any other suggestions for Gallery load / a projectile weight and powder for this 32 Win. Sp. Rifle is a Martini Cadet. TIA Bob in Saint Augustine


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Jonathan Junior Member Offline Posts: 89 Location: THE GOOD PART OF NY Joined: Sep 5^th, 2025	Re: 32 Winchester special Reply #1 - Mar 26^th, 2026 at 11:29am	Print Post
	I have no experience with the 32 special per se but I load gallery rounds for all my rifles under 35 cal. and have found that 2 1/2 to 3 grains of red dot work well in the 30 and 32 calibers. I have tried bullet weights from 75 to 100 grains and have found that the heavier bullets give the best accuracy. I shoot these all the time indoors and use a couple of old folded up blankets for a backstop. Shake the blanket out and you've got your lead. This load is good out to 25 yards with excellent accuracy and is a lot of fun for knocking starlings off of the bird feeder or smiting small rodents.


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RJ-35-40 Senior Forum Member Offline Posts: 287 Joined: Dec 7^th, 2016	Re: 32 Winchester special Reply #2 - Mar 26^th, 2026 at 11:58am	Print Post
	Jonathan , Excellent, Thank you.. RE: Blanket Idea... Who says you can't build a better bullet trap.! .... I can't tell you how many frames with angled steel plates, sand boxes and sifting screens I've made over the years. I've mined a lot of my lead over time. The last range I belonged to didn't want me to recover my own lead because they actually had a guy who paid them to be able to recover lead from the berms


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marlinguy Frequent Elocutionist Offline Ballards may be weaker, but they sure are neater! Posts: 17887 Location: Oregon Joined: Feb 2^nd, 2009	Re: 32 Winchester special Reply #3 - Mar 26^th, 2026 at 12:29pm	Print Post
	RJ-35-40 wrote on Mar 26^th, 2026 at 11:58am: Jonathan , Excellent, Thank you.. RE: Blanket Idea... Who says you can't build a better bullet trap.! .... I can't tell you how many frames with angled steel plates, sand boxes and sifting screens I've made over the years. I've mined a lot of my lead over time. The last range I belonged to didn't want me to recover my own lead because they actually had a guy who paid them to be able to recover lead from the berms I work at the gun club every Tuesday in our indoor range. We have an angled trap to catch bullets, and some of the bullets end up falling down into a catch area at the base of the targets. I could shovel up a 5 gallon bucket full each week, IF I could carry the bucket! I did shovel up a bucket 3/4 full once and brought it home, but it was a PITA to process. Lots of brass jackets to skim off, and lots of smoke from dirt and burnt powder. I still have part of the bucket in my storage shed after I quit melting it.

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beltfed Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1819 Location: Central Wi Joined: Dec 20^th, 2007	Re: 32 Winchester special Reply #4 - Mar 26^th, 2026 at 6:03pm	Print Post
	And besides range lead being a pain to clean/remelt, it is a Duke's variable mixture of hardball, soft jacket cores and 22 bullets good only for "plinking" I still have opportunity to collect some COWW in my "neighborhood". Lots of Iron and some Zinc ones to sort out, but the "Good" COWW is surprisingly reasonably consistent. I do now have more than a lifetime supply, but my habit at the local auto shops is still addicting, "Just Because" beltfed/arnie


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beltfed Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1819 Location: Central Wi Joined: Dec 20^th, 2007	Re: 32 Winchester special Reply #5 - Mar 26^th, 2026 at 6:04pm	Print Post
	And besides range lead being a pain to clean/remelt, it is a Duke's variable mixture of hardball, soft jacket cores and 22 bullets good only for "plinking" I still have opportunity to collect some COWW in my "neighborhood". Lots of Iron and some Zinc ones to sort out, but the "Good" COWW is surprisingly reasonably consistent. I do now have more than a lifetime supply, but my habit at the local auto shops is still addicting, "Just Because" beltfed/arnie


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2152hq Participating Member Offline Posts: 34 Joined: Oct 18^th, 2024	Re: 32 Winchester special Reply #6 - Apr 6^th, 2026 at 11:49am	Print Post
	I used 8mm Nambu pistol bullets in for light loads in 32cal rifles like the 32Win Spcl and 32 Remington ALR. Also in a .318d 8mm Mauser cal sporter. The bullets are usually marked as being .320d but some of the bullet cast companies will sell them in various (withing reason!) diameters. Cast bullets I had (still have a few) were 90gr IIRC. I see jacketed bullets for the 8mm Nambu are available. Listed at .320d. Grafs has Jacketed 8mm Nambu bullets (83gr) in stock for $11.29 /per 100. Not a bad deal. I used red dot for the powder and loaded anywhere from 5 gr up to 10gr in the above rifles w/the cast bullets. Likely most any pistol powder will work just as well w/a light load. I loaded the same cast bullets in 8mm Mauser Sporter w/ .318 bore dia. and they were 1" group loads at 25m . Again RedDot powder. I think I used 10gr for those loads. Never tried them in a .323d bbl but probably pretty accurate. Good plinking stuff! Full Loads in a 32Specl Cadet are cheek smashers. Light loads would make it a fun rifle to shoot again Even a 150 gr cast lead bullet loaded with 10gr of Red Dot would be more than manageable I would think.


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craigster Oldtimer Offline Posts: 818 Location: lost coast CA Joined: Feb 20^th, 2011	Re: 32 Winchester special Reply #7 - Apr 7^th, 2026 at 12:01am	Print Post
	You might try some of the original type Cadet bullets. They are heeled, 120grs.


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RJ-35-40 Senior Forum Member Offline Posts: 287 Joined: Dec 7^th, 2016	Re: 32 Winchester special Reply #8 - yesterday at 12:41pm	Print Post
	Thanks to all for the suggestions..! craigster wrote on Apr 7^th, 2026 at 12:01am: You might try some of the original type Cadet bullets. They are heeled, 120grs.


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Schuetzendave Frequent Elocutionist Offline Retired Ex-Shooter Posts: 4221 Location: St. Albert, Alberta Joined: Jan 28^th, 2005	Re: 32 Winchester special Reply #9 - yesterday at 1:41pm	Print Post
	Many people have converted their 310 Cadets and chambered them to .32 Winchester Special. I purchased one and found it kicked like a one ton mule fully stretched out with both legs. I also learned the higher pressures of the .32 could stretch the pins in the Cadet action. So I converted mine to .218 Bee and it is a fun rifle to pack in the bush and makes an excellent varmint rifle without knocking your shoulder off. Besides the scope it is also fitted to use Anschutz iron sights.


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