Anybody recognize this cartridge?

[bainter1212]

My grandfather gave me an ancient suitcase full of old paper 12 and 16 gauge ammo. Included was three boxes of this stuff:




The lower box shows a rimmed cartridge on the label, but all the cartridges inside are not rimmed and say "32 rem WRA co" on the case head.

All three boxes are identical as far as what they contain, although some headstamps are different than others. Some have a REM UMC headstamp. All are 32.

According to my grandfather, his dad had a "32 Special" rifle that my grandfather remembers him hunting with in the 30's. That is what this ammo is left over from. Apparently, my great uncle now has this rifle. Hopefully he will show it to me next time I go over there.

Edit: The boxes these came in are literally crumbling if I handle them. Is this stuff valuable to anyone?

Here is what the cartridges look like:




So....what cartridge is this exactly? Can't seem to find "32 special" as a cartridge on an ammoseek search.

 

[JimKirk]

That is one of four cartridges introduced in 1906 for the Remington Model 8 Rifle ....

.25, .30, .32 and .35 Remington.... all rimless

The bottom box is the .32 Winchester Special introduced in 1901 for the Winchester Model 94... it is rimmed

 

[Old Fuff]

They would have some value to a cartridge collector, as would the boxes. But you wouldn't get rich.

 

[bainter1212]

So this is a .32 Remington then? OK.......I wonder which model the rifle is. It would be neat if it is a Model 8.

 

[KeithET]

It looks like what you have is 32 Winchester Special box(s) that are filled with 32 Remington rounds.

The 32 Winchester was introduced in the Winchester Model 94 I believe. The 32 Remington was introduced in the Remington Model 8 semi-auto rifle. From what I understand they were pretty much the same ballistic wise just one was for a lever gun and the other was a semi-auto.

Interesting to note is that both guns were designed by JMB.

KeithET

 

[witchhunter]

Both are semi obsolete. The .32 Remington is rare for sure. I have a couple of 32 Winchester specials in 94's, the rimmed version of this cartridge. The top box says 32 Remington and that is what they are. They are identical except for the rim. My uncle used to shoot a Remington in 30 Remington, my cousin Riley killed a couple of deer with it. I think it was the autoloader with the recoiling barrel, maybe someone could post a pic?

 

[Wis-Harpo]

32 Remington

Yes these are for a .32 Remington. If you look at the top Remington box, the rifle on the side is a Remington model 14 pump rifle. The shells fit the models 14-141 pumps and 8-81 autos as well as the Remington bolt action model 30.
The shells have been hard to get in the recent years. I bought a Rem model 14 a year ago with 3 boxes of loaded shells, and 2 boxes of once fired empties. I had to buy Redding dies in order to reload for this rifle, as Redding is the only one I could find who made them. I called Lee, and it would cost me $150 to set up the lathe and $75 each for the two dies.
The new empties from Remington dried up over 15 years ago. You will see full boxes in good shape advertised on the usual gun/ ammo sites for $50 to $75. Not many sell for that price. On the higher end ammo auction sites they bring about that price or more depending on maker, rarity, condition and condition, and always condition.
I had a post earlier, but I somehow cancelled it before I posted it. I went into more detail about reloading that you would not be interested in. You seem just to want to know about what you have. It is just like you asking me what time it is, and I tell you how to build a clock.

 

[bainter1212]

Thanks for all the responses guys.

I called grandpa again and asked him what type of action his dad's rifle was. He answered without hesitation that it was a lever gun and that his brother Bill inherited the gun.
I have to verify the stuff my grandpa tells me nowadays because he is 86 and things tend to run together in his memory. I have caught him conflating two stories into a single story lately, even though he has no evidence of bad memory loss, his old storytelling habit seems to be getting the best of the actual facts.
I will call my great uncle Bill in the morning and see if he still has the gun. Maybe we can determine the actual model gun these cartridges were meant for.

 

[rcmodel]

The .32 Winchester box was for a Winchester lever-action.

The .32 Remington cartridge in your hand was for a Remington pump or semi-auto.

But judging from the age of the boxes??

They have had almost 100 years to get put in the wrong boxes, by somebody that didn't know the difference, or that one is rimmed, and one is rimless.

rc

 

[Young&Ret.]

Lock that away in the safe and try to buy that gun off him then. if successful PM me and we can do some good old buisness

 

[Edster12]

I have a friend that has a Model 14 that was bought by his grandfather new in 1913 when the gun was first produced. It is chambered in 32 Remington. The rifle now belongs to his father who is 84 and will some day be his.
The amazing thing about the Model 14 is that you can use (in fact they cycle better) pointed bullets rather than the flat point bullet that is usually recommended in tube magazines.

 

[FROGO207]

I had a model 14 in 30 REM and the trappings to reload for it. I used 30-30 data and it shot well with that. Those are great rifles. Sold mine a while ago as a friend really really wanted it. It now has a better home as he shoots it often. I always like the history and stories that get handed down with old firearms stuff.