effective range of 32WinchesterSpecial on deer?

[hans g./UpS]

What is the effective range on whitetails with a lever action in 32Winchester Special[scoped or iron sighted].I realize there may be better rifles/cartridges,but this[and a Savage bolt action 30/30] is what my friend has.
Thanks.

[savageT]

What is the effective range on whitetails with a lever action in 32Winchester Special[scoped or iron sighted].I realize there may be better rifles/cartridges,but this[and a Savage bolt action 30/30] is what my friend has.
Thanks.

hans,
The 32 Win. Special is the ballistic twin to the 30-30 Winchester.  It is the 30-30 case necked up to accept 0.321" bullets.  Back in 1957 or so I paid $65 for a 94 Winnie in .32 Special still in the box.  It was my first deer gun as a teenager.  Traded it for a Savage m99 in 30-30 and never looked back.  
The cartridge is an excellent deer round used with open sights up to about 100 yds. or as long as you can see your target well.  If you are using w/  a Winchester 94 carbine you will find the commercial ammo a little difficult to find, but reloading should be an easy round to reload.  Just remember to use only flat nosed bullets in the tubular magazine!

[Siskiyou]

My Dad had what I believed was a Winchester Model 64 when I was a very little guy.  It had a Lyman tang peep sight on it.  As a tag-along with a BB gun I thought Dad had a great rifle.  I suspect most of the deer he took were under a hundred yards.  He replaced it down road because he was passing up shots at 150 and 200+ yards.

[John Y Cannuck]

If you practice lots, the cartridge is capable of shots to 175 yards. I've seen it done at 225. The problem is not with the cartridge's ability, its hitting the kill zone at that range with the iron sights on most of the carbines, and with the lack of shooting practice that a lot of hunters do.  
It does require practice, and lots of it.
The average guy used to scoped bolt guns should probably stay under 125yds.

Using a Remington 150 grain core lokt I put down a large shepherd size dog at 600 yards with my little carbine, resting it on a fence post. That was a lot of years ago, and the dog was raiding my brother in laws sheep in BC. His 30-06 jammed, or I would not have tried it, the shot was pure guess work on my part, we didn't know the range until we paced it off. The bullet was recovered, and it had just barely mushroomed.

[Siskiyou]

John:  You are right-on when it comes to practice.  Without a doubt a little practice with the .32 Special can increase the effective range.  I can remember a neighbor bringing in two bucks to be wieghed back in the fifty's.  The Cattlemen's Club had it's buck contest going.  The neighbor was hidden near a spring on a dry hillside.  He dispatched both bucks with neck shots at close range.  His rifle of choice, a Winchester 94 in .32 Special.  A man who knew his rifle and how to use it.

I recall looking for the spent bullets in Dad's deer.  Normally penetration was good with the old Silvertips or CorLok bullets.  The bullets were  recovered with a classical mushroom.  Damage to muscle and bone was limited compared to deer shot with the 30-06, and .270.  My young buddies and I would gather around when a deer was being skinned out.  I recall there was very little difference in the bullets or damage when a deer was shot with the following calibers, 30-30, .32 Special, .303 Savage, and .30 Remington.  I  looked at a collection of five or six bullets removed from a very large mule deer.  The wound channels were in the chest and front shoulder.  None of the hits fully penetrated the deer.  All the bullets were classic mushrooms.  The hunter had jumped the deer at close range in heavy brush.  He was using an old Remington 141 pump gun chambered for the .30 Remington.  He quickley put the buck down with multible hits.  

Clearly efficency is a combination of rifle, cartridge, and marksman.

Siskiyou