The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - 32 mag vs 32-20

**Mike Irwin** · April 1, 2006, 10:56 AM

"it seems the 32-20 Win. High Speed is not the same as the 32-20 Colt or the 32-20 W.C.F. or the 32-20Win. But the last three are interchangable.."

ALL of those cartridges are interchangable. However, it's not wise to do so in some guns.

The .32-20 Winchster High Speed was one of a series of cartridges so named (others including the .45-70, .44-40, .38-40, and possibly others).

They were brought out for use in the newer, stronger Winchester lever action rifles such as the 1886 and the 1892. Essentially, you can think of them as the first +P cartridges.

The boxes had big printed warnings on them that they were NOT to be used in older Colt or Smith & Wesson revolvers or older Winchester rifles, but many people did, and a lot of old guns were destroyed. I've seen it reported in several places that dropping a .32-20HS into an 1873 Winchester will normally blow the sideplates off the action.

I don't even want to think what would happen if you dropped a .45-70HS into a Trapdoor Springfield.

The .408 is actually the rim diameter. That's less important than the diameter of the actual case head, which for the .32-20 is .354, and for the .32 H&R Mag. is .333. That difference of .021 is more than enough to cause either severe swelling or even rupturing of the .32 H&R Mag. if it's fired in a .32-20 chamber.

As for the .32 WCF, the cartridge was introduced in 1880ish, and is about 15 years older than the .32 Winchester Special.

The WCF line of cartridges includes...

.22 WCF = Obsolete, predecessor to the .22 Hornet

.25 WCF = .25-20

.30 WCF = .30-30

.32 WCF = .32-20

.33 WCF = .33 Winchester for the 1886, obsolete

.35 WCF = .35 Winchester for the 1895, obsolete

.38 WCF = .38-40

.405 WCF = .405 Winchester

.44 WCF = .44-40

It should be noted that there were also a number of other .38 WCF cartridges, the .38-56 WCF, the .38-70 WCF, and the .38-72 WCF. To properly identify which cartridge was needed, one had to use the second set of numbers.

The same is true of the .40-60, the .40-65, .40-70, .40-72, .40-82 WCF cartridges, and finally there were a number of .45 caliber cartridges also identified this way...

April 1, 2006, 10:56 AM	#10
Mike Irwin Staff Join Date: April 13, 2000 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 41,380	"it seems the 32-20 Win. High Speed is not the same as the 32-20 Colt or the 32-20 W.C.F. or the 32-20Win. But the last three are interchangable.." ALL of those cartridges are interchangable. However, it's not wise to do so in some guns. The .32-20 Winchster High Speed was one of a series of cartridges so named (others including the .45-70, .44-40, .38-40, and possibly others). They were brought out for use in the newer, stronger Winchester lever action rifles such as the 1886 and the 1892. Essentially, you can think of them as the first +P cartridges. The boxes had big printed warnings on them that they were NOT to be used in older Colt or Smith & Wesson revolvers or older Winchester rifles, but many people did, and a lot of old guns were destroyed. I've seen it reported in several places that dropping a .32-20HS into an 1873 Winchester will normally blow the sideplates off the action. I don't even want to think what would happen if you dropped a .45-70HS into a Trapdoor Springfield. The .408 is actually the rim diameter. That's less important than the diameter of the actual case head, which for the .32-20 is .354, and for the .32 H&R Mag. is .333. That difference of .021 is more than enough to cause either severe swelling or even rupturing of the .32 H&R Mag. if it's fired in a .32-20 chamber. As for the .32 WCF, the cartridge was introduced in 1880ish, and is about 15 years older than the .32 Winchester Special. The WCF line of cartridges includes... .22 WCF = Obsolete, predecessor to the .22 Hornet .25 WCF = .25-20 .30 WCF = .30-30 .32 WCF = .32-20 .33 WCF = .33 Winchester for the 1886, obsolete .35 WCF = .35 Winchester for the 1895, obsolete .38 WCF = .38-40 .405 WCF = .405 Winchester .44 WCF = .44-40 It should be noted that there were also a number of other .38 WCF cartridges, the .38-56 WCF, the .38-70 WCF, and the .38-72 WCF. To properly identify which cartridge was needed, one had to use the second set of numbers. The same is true of the .40-60, the .40-65, .40-70, .40-72, .40-82 WCF cartridges, and finally there were a number of .45 caliber cartridges also identified this way... __________________ "The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.