Vintage 32-20 revolvers

[shooting on a shoestring]

Daver7,
Nice revolver. Beautiful old Smith.

I’m not a fan of Trail Boss in old guns.
It has low velocity and it’s easy to ignite but it has surprisingly high pressures.

Of course Bullseye can get into high pressure pretty quickly, but it also burns fine at low pressures that I prefer to use in the old guns.

[shooting on a shoestring]

Colt SAA with a flat top and dovetailed rear sight?
Yeah I’m wondering if it is, how it came to be?

[Outpost75]

With Bullseye powder in the .32-20 a charge of 3 grains was suggested by Hatcher (1935) as the starting load loading the traditional 115-grain #3118 .32-20 bullet. A charge of 3.5 grains is the full charge load not to be exceeded in pre-WW2 revolvers. In my experience TiteGroup can be safely substituted in the same range of charge weights with either cast or jacketed pbullets from 98-115 grains. The .312" diameter Hornady XTPs perform OK at subsonic .32-20 revolver velocities above 800 fps.

In modern powders 3.5-4.0 grains of 231 or WST works well and is safe in the older guns. You can also use 4.5 grains of AutoComp, 7.5 grains of Alliant #2400 or 9 grains of IMR4227 without shooting the older guns loose.

Many of the loads listed by Waters and others are too much for pre-WW2 revolvers.

[HWooldridge]

With Bullseye powder in the .32-20 a charge of 3 grains is suggested as the starting load loading the traditional 115-grain #3118 .32-20 bullet. A charge of 3.5 grains is the full charge load not to be exceeded in pre-WW2 revolvers. TiteGroup can be safely substituted in the same range of charge weights.

In modern powders 3.5-4.0 grains of 231 or WST works well and is safe in the older guns. You can also use 4.5 grains of AutoComp, 7.5 grains of Alliant #2400 or 9 grains of IMR4227.

I use 4.0 grains of 231 with 120 gr lead pill - works a treat…

[Tall]

Thread drift warning!

Tall……ummmm we’re going to need another pic!
That’s a pretty heavy tease! Might be a flat top Colt??? USFA??? Custom???

It's a Flat Top from maybe 1889. It's out being refinished so I do not have a lot of pics right now of the current reblue. It's a great shooter so I had to have it done. It looked pretty tatty. Hopefully it will look better soon.

[augois]

That is Boss!

[Green Frog]

I also have a Single Six in 32 H&R, and a Blackhawk in 30 carbine if I need to soup things up a bit.

Depending on the vintage, you may already have a BH in 32-20. The 30 carbine chambers of some vintages of BH will also accept the 32-20 as well. Of course if you insist, a custom cylinder such as one from Borchardt Rifle Co and have it custom fit and chambered in 32-20. Depending on your definition of “vintage” it might even fit the parameters of this thread!
Froggie

[augois]

My BH was born in '69 or '70, unadulterated three screw.

[Rodfac]

Here's my Smith Hand Ejector, 4th variation, a 1938 build IIRC, as it's been a long time since I've had it out of the safe. The 3rd pic is my home built rig for carrying it afield.

BTW, Outpost75's recommended bullet and powder/charge weights are solid advice. Rod

[augois]

Very nice indeed.

[shooting on a shoestring]

Tall,
OH MY GOSH!
That’s awesome!
I wasn’t sure they let any of those out of the museum!
Sure hope you post some pics when you get her back home.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Here's mine. Both Uberti. Both good shooters.

DG

[augois]

Interesting, didn't know Uberti chambered 32-20.

[Green Frog]

Great thread! First I have to ask Rodfac who made the grip adaptors on that fantastic 32-20 M&P? Try as I might, I can’t manipulate the image on my iPad well enough to read it. Like others here though, I’m in awe of a nearly 90 year old revolver.

With regards to Uberti SAAs and 32-20, as long ago as the time Navy Arms had a distribution deal with them, Uberti introduced this caliber to their SAA line. Interestingly, Navy Arms owner VF III told me that he regarded them as a prestige portion of the line and that every one of them was gone through and tuned by his gunsmith here and had American(Wolff) springs installed. I know my example is unbelievably slick. SAA design strength supplemented by modern quality steels make this the strongest 32-20 handgun short of the near mythical Ruger BH Buckeye Spl in 32-20 (and 32 H&R).

Green Frog

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Good info. I bought these used at least 20 years ago. One (top) has the black powder frame with the cylinder pin screw in front of the frame, and the other the more modern spring loaded cross pin design. I can't recall which, at the moment, had the hammer they used for several years that had a connected internal safety and it chewed up the internals and caused the pistol to freeze up after just a couple of shots. The other also left a lot to be desired action-wise. I sent them off to Ryan Hoover in Fredericksburg, TX and he fixed them up for me. He was doing Cimarron's gunsmithing back then-- maybe still is, I don't know. They had been used a lot, but look almost new, and are definitely keepers. I agree that the combination of modern steel and the .32-20 cartridge is a good one.

DG

[rintinglen]

That grip adapter is an old Pachmayr, (1940's-1950's IIRC). I had one on my old Police Positive 38, but replaced it with a Tyler T.

[shooting on a shoestring]

Mine is a 5” late production. I’ve got the original stocks but prefer shooting with the VZ grips. And I don’t think they look too bad.

[Tall]

This is my S&W Model 1899 in 32 WCF.

[Tall]

This one is my Colt Army Special from 1926. It's also 32 WCF caliber. As you can tell it's one of my favorite calibers.

[Rodfac]

Green Frog: Rintinglen has it right...they're Pachmayr's and I've had 'em for 25 yrs or so. They come up on Ebay from time to time but I don't recall where I got them....most likely a gunshow in Louisville, KY. Best Regards, Rod