S&W 32-20 2nd. change. Gunsmith that can work on one?

[mattw]

I am working with a young man that I am teaching to reload. He inherited most of the equipment and some firearms from his grandpa. Among them a 2nd. change nickel 32-20. It is in good user condition, but not collector condition. Cylinder hardening back in this series was questionable if even hardened. He has fired BP rounds in it and would eventually like to load very mild smokeless rounds... not an issue.

But the issue is that it appears that someone either pulled out the single action parts or they are broken. I would not be afraid to take on a modern, pre-hillary hole gun but this is out of my wheelhouse. The trigger is as smooth as glass in DA, but the hammer will not lock back in SA. Yes, he is also aware that there is no hammer block in this design as well. We have an awesome S&W armor in our area, factory trained state police armor, retired. But, he is in the same boat that I am and is not interested in trying to work on it.

So, we are looking for a S&W gunsmith that understands these turn of the century beauties. Does anyone know of one still alive that is a decent smith?

Matt

[blue32]

No, but couldn't you just pop off the slide plate and look at the single action sear on the hammer? It would be fairly easy to diagnose by running the action with the plate off.

[mattw]

I will look into it the next time I am at his place. I hope it is just crud and not a problem.

[Mk42gunner]

See if you can find a clear illustration of a parts diagram for the particular version your friend has. I'm not sure of the K frames, but I have two I frames that have very different internal mechanisms.

With a bit of studying, I was able to work on the one that does not resemble a modern S&W very much at all.

Robert

[Catshooter]

Matt,

The inside of your .32-20 looks very much like a modern one. You'll see differences, craftsmanship being one. But one is very obviously the parent of the other.

Chances are excellent that there is 900 year old hardened oil in there, causing your difficulty. Have you got screwdrivers that will closely fit all four side plate screws? Before you pull off the side plate, take some of the tension off of the mainspring screw (bottom of the grip, inside strap). Not all just some like maybe half. When you have the side plate off the hammer is then supported only on one side and those old flat main springs had some power. You don't want to bend the pin the hammer rotates on.

If you don't want to pull it apart I can. I work with an old 'smith locally. I can ask him if he'll be ok with you sending the gun to him without an FFL from your end, unless you have one that can send it. The fee is $20, plus return shipping. After all, can't have gramps old gun not working, now can we? PM if you're interested.


Cat

[murf205]

mattw, the heat treating of the cylinders started with the 4th change and at serial # 81,287. During this period of time, there was 32/20 ammo loaded that was intended for rifles only and was so marked on the box so S&W started the heat treating.

[rintinglen]

The major difference in the lock work is in the relationship between the hammer notch and the the trigger. On the older models, the trigger catches the notch on bottom of the front of the hammer, while on the late ones, (and on modern ones), the trigger catches on the top of the notch. If a later style hammer got swapped for the earlier one, the trigger won't catch in the notch.