.32-20 revolvers, Cimarron (Uberti) SAA clone

[David LaPell]

I am looking at getting a SAA clone in .32-20, the gun is a Cimarron Arms Uberti 4 5/8" version. I have never owned one of these, had a Smith & Wesson M & P .32-20 once. Anyone have one of these, I can't afford a real Colt SAA so I am thinking of getting it to go with my .32-20 Winchester. Would make a nice trail gun since we have no big bears I would think.

[Texas by God]

It sounds like fun and Ubertis are good guns.

[bob208]

I don't have a .32-20. but do have a .38-40 uberti saa and a Winchester 92. it is a good combination. I think a .32-20 would work good also.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Attachment 209127 I have two of them. I assume you'll be buying a new one? I purchased both of these used at the same time.
The one on top had an early Uberti safety that operated off the bottom of the hammer and chewed up itself
and the hammer. It was replaced with a Colt hammer. The bottom specimen was difficult to cock, and also
required a lot of stoning and polishing of internal parts. Now you couldn't wish for two nicer plinkers. The
5 1/2 inch barrel revolver is the old black powder frame type with the cylinder pin retention screw entering
from the lower front of the frame, whereas the 4 3/4 inch version is the newer type of cross pin retention.

[Multigunner]

Question.
Do taper case and bottle neck cases tend to cause drag on cylinder rotation.

I ask because I've read that a S&W No.3 style single action chambered for the .44-40 was said to be hard to cock after the first shot. The Colts had better leverage. Straight cased cartridges caused no problems with the S&W.

[marlin39a]

I have an octagon Japanese Winchester 92, in 32/20, made for Davidsons (1000) back in 2002. I need to get the handgun mate for it, and this sounds like it.

[dubber123]

Question.
Do taper case and bottle neck cases tend to cause drag on cylinder rotation.

I ask because I've read that a S&W No.3 style single action chambered for the .44-40 was said to be hard to cock after the first shot. The Colts had better leverage. Straight cased cartridges caused no problems with the S&W.

I only have experience with the S&W D/A revolvers, but neither of them have any issues with functioning after many cylinders fired, both of mine are in 32-20.

[Green Frog]

Re: cylinder drag due to fired cases backing out:
While I am not reloading any significant numbers of 32-20 (yet) I’ve shot a fair number of factory rounds through 2 S&W M&Ps and a Navy Arms-Uberti in the caliber and don’t recall even a single instance of fired cases backing out a significant amount, certainly not enough to cause drag. I may have just been lucky, but that’s my personal experience.

Froggie

[Guesser]

I have Ubertti in 32-20, good gun, just as the other 2 in 44 Special and 45 Colt. Treat them as they were Colt SAA with the same loads. No problem....

[Dan Cash]

I have an Uberti Cimarron 5 1/2 inch .32-20. It is smoother to operate than my Colt, satisfactorily accurate with 1 1/2 inch groups at 30 yards with my hand loads. No cartridge case back out but the chambers on this gun are very tight and some reloaded cases are difficult to chamber. The same cartridges/cases chamber freely in my other .32-20 guns. It is an excellent pistol at an excellent price.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

My pair work very smoothly. My earlier post (with the photo) was to advise you that you'd be better off buying a new one to avoid the earlier hammer safety. If I wanted another I wouldn't hesitate to buy a new or newer used Uberti. But with the pair shown there is no difficulty in cylinder rotation or with cartridges setting back. I like Ubertil a lot, and in addition to the pair of .32-20s have two .45s and two .44-40s.

[Bent Ramrod]

IMO, Cimarron is the importer to buy from if you want a SA clone. I have a 7-1/2” .32-20, with the black powder frame, that is tight, crisp and accurate. I do believe, however, that the dual-detent cylinder axle that functions as the “safety” device was set up with the spring-loaded crosspin of the smokeless frame in mind, rather than the angled screw of the blackpowder version.

Tightening this screw too much in the “fire” detent pushed the axle back slightly, causing light firing pin strikes until I polished the rear end of the axle so the hammer wouldn’t hit it. The outer “safety” detent will still block the hammer fall, if the axle is locked in the second position. Arguing, of course, that anybody actually uses this “safety” device. You’d have to be quick on the draw and quick with a screwdriver too if somebody across the card table called you a cheat and demanded that you “fill yore hand!!”

There shouldn’t be enough bottleneck in these traditional calibers to push the cases against the recoil shield hard enough to impede cylinder rotation. I have two .44-40 clones, a Remington 1890 and a SA Target Model, and neither have any problems with cylinder rotation. Neither does the .32-20 clone. It was the heavily tapered or shouldered cases like the .22 Jet and .256 Magnum that would push backwards from the gas pressure.

[Green Frog]

David, I don't know whether you have completed a deal for a Uberti 32-20 yet, but if not, you can also look at Taylor's & Co in Winchester, VA. They are direct importers of Uberti and seem to have about as good a selection as anybody out there. I had already gotten my own 32-20 (which was imported and tuned by Navy Arms) before I started dealing with the folks at Taylor's but I got my 45 from them (4.5" Smoke Wagon Deluxe) and it's as sweet a SAA as any I've handled. They do a super job of tuning their deluxe revolvers in-house and I'm very pleased with the results.

Regards,
Froggie

[9.3X62AL]

I have owned 4 revolvers in 32/20 WCF over the years, and still have 3 of them. None have ever shown any tendency to set up case setback along the lines of the 22 Jet.

I mourned the passing of IMR's SR-4756 as a fuel for 32/20 wheelgun loads. I am pretty satisfied now that Alliant's Herco is a fair substitute, though NOT a grain-for-grain replacement.

[rmark]

'No cartridge case back out but the chambers on this gun are very tight and some reloaded cases are difficult to chamber.'

Mine is also like this.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
To add another stick to the fire... Our Dan Wesson 32-20 with hot hunting loads or plinkers has no issues with cases "backing out and dragging".
In my thinking that would sound like the load was very underpowered so as not to grip the chamber, then getting external fouling which caused the issue. We only neck size our brass. It is also dedicated to that firearm. Accuracy with the 32-20 is our prime issue as we hunt with them.
I understand your desire as we do the setup with 41 mag. Our Henry works far better than the Marlin as the Marlin has the typical fat chamber. OK accuracy if used with ammo the 41 Blackhawks will digest. The Henry though is a vast improvement chamber wise.
Mike in Peru

[9.3X62AL]

32/20 WCF chambers DO differ between guns. Kinda like Duesenberg automobiles--"No 2 are alike". Diameter differs a bit between examples, but the most noticeable variation is in locations of the vestigial "shoulders" from gun to gun. "Poetic" describes the condition succinctly.

My 44/40 WCF arms share this shoulder location poetry trait also. I consider such things part of their charm.

[Walks]

The old design tapered cases will back out of a revolver chamber if the cases or chamber are left oily.

[9.3X62AL]

I suspect that 38/40-chambered revolvers might be worse offenders in this way, or perhaps one of the few 25/20 revolvers that Colt and S&W put out as "one-off" custom critters. With the 32/20s and 44/40s I have played around with, this trait has been outside my experience. I make a point of patching out revolver chambers before shooting them, though--oil attracts grit and mangy critters in the dry, dusty deserts where a lot of my shooting and hunting take place.

[Wayne Smith]

Don't know if they are still making them but Uberti chambered their Lightening in 32-20 as well. Mine is in 41 Colt and I was told it was one of the last ones Cimarron made before they discontinued it. Now, discontinued the Lightening, or discontinued the .41? I didn't ask and should have, but I haven't seen the Lightening on the Uberti USA website.

Nice little revolver using the downsized SAA mechanism with the Lightening frame and birdshead grip and fits in a .22 holster! I like it.