.32 Winchester Special Comes 'Round Again

by AaronB, Friday, December 31, 2021, 09:01 (846 days ago)

Hi all.

Well, I got my dies and brass together, and found that a local shop had 170-grain .321 Hornady Interlocks on the shelf (of all things). This happy alignment of the planets allowed me to put up my first 40 rounds of .32 Winchester Special handloads using IMR3031.

IMR3031 had the signal virtue of being a powder I had on the shelf, but isn't a bad choice for all that. I put up some rounds with 31.0 grains and some with 32.0 grains... I think 32.0 is as high as I'll go. Parker Ackley says you can go 34 grains, but he was crazy.

This activity raised a bit of a question in my mind, namely: Was .32 Special ever chambered in any rifle other than a Winchester 94?

Seems to me it would have been a dandy in a Ruger No. 3. Of course, we are a nation of .30-caliber shooters or so I'm told. But I'd go 34 grains in a Ruger No. 3.

-AaronB