The .32 special was brought out during a period that smokeless was available to manufactures only-or at least smokeless was so much more expensive than bp and not nearly as widely available, it was sold as a smokeless factory round but could be reloaded with blackpowder, the .30-30 fouled too quickly with it's 1:12" twist and lead/bp loads, the slower 1:16" .32spcl alleviated this problem-more evidence is the fact that winchester offered an extra-high standing rear sight for the 1894 .32spcl, the standard sight for factory ammo and the extra sight for bp loads.

It and the .30-30 were introduced at the same time, so the special was a way to introduce two rounds without producing two types of brass-make .30-30 brass and simply neck up-which was also advantageous to the reloader.

It's also debated that the equipment available for the feeble .32-40 barrels could be used to produce bbls for the more potent .32special, produce a brand new IMPROVED round (big selling point) without buying new equipment.

At the time of introduction, the .32 bore was more popular than the .30bore that rules america today, so introduction of the .30-30 AND the .32spcl gave them a standby .32 as well as a new 30cal.