idetify bullet caseing

Question
found 3 shells  WRA CO. 32 W.C.I.
I FOUND THIS RECENTLY WITH THE LOW LAKE LEVELS AT LAKE TRAVIS.
MUST BE OLDER THAN 60 YEARS. I THINK ?
PLEASE HELP   THANKS

Answer
Brian,

The cartridge case that you found is a .32 Winchester Center Fire cartridge (.32 WCF).  It must be pretty worn, so the "F" looks like an "I".  This is also a referred to as a .32-20 caliber cartridge.  This caliber was popular in lever action rifles and while it was first introduced in 1883, has been around a long time.

It was primarily used for hunting small game (rabbits, squirrels, woodchucks, etc.) since it was powerful enough to kill them, but no so powerful as to damage the meat.  It has largely fallen out of favor since other cartridges seem to be used more for the same purpose.  Effectively .32 WCF is obsolete since very few guns are still around that will shoot that caliber.

There is no way to tell exactly how old it might be since there is no dating on cartridge cases and since the ammo has been in production pretty much since 1883.  The WRA on the case refers to "Winchester Repeating Arms" who was the manufacturer of the cartridge.  Winchester was principally know by that name between 1883 and 1931 when it was acquired by Olin, so there is a pretty good chance that your cartridge was made sometime before 1931.

Hope this helps you out...

Doug Little