You haven't searched very hard.

I surely hope nobody rises to this tired old bait.

 

Chumming... blood in the water...

 

Choose a .30-30 if you want to find ammo EVERYWHERE.


Choose a .32 Win if you want to handload and brag about the obscure cartridge you have (which, odds are, you loaded in .30-30 brass because it's way easier and cheaper to find).


Pretty difficult to find a finer hair to split.

 

You haven't heard??!!!

It's very complicated.

One can do what the other can, no more, no less, in regards to field performance.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I'm sure that some hunters believe that their 32 Special rifles are deadlier than my 30-30 carbine. They can believe whatever they want. But this big buck was felled by my 30-30 with one shot while hunting within rough country of western South Dakota. He bounded away at the shot but toppled after just a couple jumps.

TR

 

Now, see...……………..a .32 Special woulda dropped him on the spot and, likely, had him field dressed by the time you had walked up to him...……..

 

It depends

This is a very old debate that may never be resolved. So it depends what you prefer, what is available in the gun shops you visit and can afford. When I could not make a choice between the two calibers, I simply bought one of each off the used gun racks at decent prices. All the best...
Gil

 

Whatever drove the pference of one over the other back then is kind of lost. I spusect there was some reasoning back then (hold over from the 32-40's fan base?) but whatever it was, today's shjooters aren't infected.

Have read some writters (writting well after that time frame) think that it might be becasue the ownwers might want to use black powder, which worked better with the 1:16 twist of the .32 special...which seems like speculation to me...and the Remington developments wouldn't have had balck powder as a possible excuse.

So evidently, the .30 vs .32 was a "thing"back then. Remington came out with the .30 Remington and the .32 Remington....basically the same choice as between the 30-30 and 32 special in a rimless case for their new semi-auto rifle. MAkes me doubt the above black-powder .32special theory as I seriously doubt anyone wanted to run black pwoder in their Model 8 semi-auto.

Pick one....30-30 or .32 special....makes about as much difference in perfomance as what color socks you wear.

 

Have read some writters (writting well after that time frame) think that it might be becasue the ownwers might want to use black powder, which worked better with the 1:16 twist of the .32 special...which seems like speculation to me...

True, and not speculation...……….


When the .30-30 was introduced in 1894, most mature shooters had long been hooked on using black powder.

Adults in the late 1800's didn't not have the wide education that modern adults do, so it's easy for some to look down on the "mustache Pete's" of that era.

The firearms industry of those days was nothing like the modern firearms industry.

The smokeless powder at that time was a mixture, and not like modern smokeless powders - and many shooters at the time felt that blackpowder was the better choice.

The BP of the day didn't work very well in smallbores like a .30cal, so several years later (1901) Winchester introduced the .32cal Winchester Special to address that part of the market - since the .32 gave better performance when loaded with BP than the .30-30 did.


As for the usage of a .32 Special today goes, remember - "There's nothing like a .32 gun, for fun"...…



.

 

I have several 30-30's, a 32 Special and I shoot my Marlin 336A 35 Remington 10 times more than all of them put together.

 

I'll bet that nice muley didn't even know the difference and the fact it took a couple of 'bounds' means to say the meat would be pretty well pumped dry ....delicious.
Here in the UK there is a big thing with relatively new deer hunters to shoot in the head/neck which of course kills the deer but leaves all the blood in the veines arteries throughout the meat ...OHHHHH!! solved that say the 'experts' we bleed them and stick their knife through the front of the chest HUH!!

30-30 great cartridge at sensible ranges. Put that bullet through the ribs/lungs and the good old heart will pump it dry very quickly. 32 Special and the 35 Rem will do the same.

Wish I was close enough to share a slice of that fine beast, well done.

 

I had both but got rid of them to fund even more obscure rounds like 30 &32 Remington

 

From what I have read here and on other sites, I would give the edge to the .32 for hunting-especially bigger animals than say a white tail deer.

However, the range of factory ammo available, my intended purpose and a bit lower recoil give the edge to the 30-30-for me anyway.

Given that, however, If I found a really nice rifle in .32, I could quite easily live with a .32.

I had been considering a 45 Colt or 44 magnum in a 92, or clone. I think the 30-30 in a carbine made for that round is a better way for me to go.

The .35 is always a great choice-just more horsepower than I need/want.

Great deer, T.R.!

 

I have a "flat band' 1947 vintage Win 94 in 32 Win SPL:



From what I understand and, and I'm sure there are others more knowledgable, with the 32 Win SPL, Win developed this cartridge around 1900 or so. It differed from the 30-30 in that the rifling was reduced to 1:16 from 1:12 for the 30-30. This was done to accomodate shooters who wished to handload with black powder and cast bullets. Win marketed the 32 Win SPL as a cartridge more powerful than the 30-30 yet with not more recoil.

Of course, over the years, the 30-30 with the 308 diameter cartridge became immensely more popular with much more ammunition varieties and availability.

I handload for my 32 but I use the Hornady 165 grain flex tip FTX projectile. It's quite accurate, and I've overlaid bullet holes with open sights @ 50 yards. I don't hunt, but I think that would be sufficient accuracy for south Louisiana brush hunting.

Bayou52

 

Mabye so rangr44....although when introduced, the "nickel steel" 30-30 / 32spec. cost considerably more than the 32-40 that was also offered (with the less expensive steel barrel)...so I'd have though a black powder fan would have gone with the 32-40 and paid the extra money.

But maybe they did....just to have the "new improved" version (1906 marketing being pretty much the same as 2018 marketing).

Hard to tell from this distance in time....I'd certainly rather have the 32-40 for cast bullet or black powder shooting.