The .32 Winchester Self-Loading (also called .32SL, .32SLR, or .32WSL) is an American

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

cartridge Cartridge may refer to: Objects * Cartridge (firearms), a type of modern ammunition * ROM cartridge, a removable component in an electronic device * Cartridge (respirator), a type of filter used in respirators Other uses * Cartridge (surname), a ...

Description

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

introduced the .32SL and .35SL cartridges in the

Winchester Model 1905 The Winchester Model 1905 (also known as the Model 05), is a blowback-operated, semi-automatic rifle produced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company beginning in 1905 and discontinued in 1920. This rifle loads cartridges from a 5 or 10-round ca ...

self-loading A semi-automatic firearm, also called a self-loading or autoloading firearm (fully automatic and selective fire firearms are also variations on self-loading firearms), is a repeating firearm whose action mechanism ''automatically'' loads a follow ...

rifle, a

centerfire Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center A centerfire cartridge is a firearm metallic cartridge whose primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i.e. "case head"). Unlike rim ...

version of the

Winchester Model 1903 The Winchester Model 1903 was the first commercially available semi-automatic firearm made by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. History The Winchester Model 1903 was designed by T.C. Johnson, who had joined Winchester in 1885 and had become ...

. The .32SL never gained popularity as a

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

cartridge, although it may be suitable for the largest small game such as fox and coyote at ranges under 150 yards. Both the .32SL and .35SL were soon superseded by the introduction of the more powerful .351SL in the

Winchester Model 1907 The Winchester Model 1907 is a blowback (arms), blowback-operated, semi-automatic rifle produced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company beginning in 1907 with production ending in 1957. It fired a cartridge of intermediate power, cycled through ...

. When first introduced, however, the notable firearm expert

Townsend Whelen Townsend Whelen (March 6, 1877 – December 23, 1961), called "Townie" by his friends, was an American hunter, soldier, writer, Outdoor enthusiast, outdoorsman and rifleman. Whelen was a colonel in the United States Army, and a prolific writer on ...

noted the .32SL cartridge as displaying similar

ballistics Ballistics is the field of mechanics concerned with the launching, flight behaviour and impact effects of projectiles, especially ranged weapon munitions such as bullets, unguided bombs, rockets or the like; the science or art of designing and a ...

as the .32-40 Winchester

black powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...

, low-pressure cartridge. He further suggests the best use of the .32 SL as being for rapid-fire

target shooting Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms ( firearms and airguns, in forms su ...

for ranges up to 300 yards. Within such ranges, it is quite an accurate cartridge. In October 1940, an Army Ordnance circular suggested development of a light rifle using a .30 caliber cartridge similar to the "Winchester Self-loading Cartridge, Caliber .32" to replace the pistol and submachine gun. This led to the production of the " Caliber .30 SL, M1" cartridge directly based on the .32 SL in February 1941 and, after a design competition, adoption of the Winchester-designed

M1 carbine The M1 carbine (formally the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine that was a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The M1 carbine was produced ...

in October 1941.Larry Ruth, ''M1 Carbine: Design Development and Production'', The Gun Room Press, 1979.

Dimensions

References

External links

.32 W.S.L.

.32 Winchester Self Loading

7.65x33R: Kynoch; .32 Winchester Self-Loading
{{DEFAULTSORT:32 Winchester Self-Loading Pistol and rifle cartridges Winchester Repeating Arms Company cartridges

Description

Dimensions

See also

References

External links