Hi BigBuckFrenzy10,
My dad owns a Marlin chambered in .32 Winchester Special. I killed my first buck with that rifle when I was 12. Ballistically it is identical to the .30-30 Winchester. (It uses a slightly larger diameter bullet that starts a few feet per second faster than a like-weight bullet from a .30-30. But within the first 100 yards the better sectional density of the .30-30 bullet has "caught up" with the bullet from the .32 Winchester Special.) The killing power of either...is identical!
The .32 Special has declined in popularity immensely in just my lifetime, (I'm not saying
). But if your buddy's .32 is still accurate enough to place a bullet in a deer's vitals within 150 to 200 yards....it works very well on deer and black bear sized animals.
If you'd like to know more?
http://www.chuckhawks.com/32spec.htm
Hope this helps!