1917 Colt Army Special 32-20

[longranger]

I just bought a 1917 Colt Army Special 6" , Beautiful revolver, "I" frame Colts are awesome.
I need a couple of starting points to make up some some good lead target loads for the 32-20.I understand there are big difference between rifle and revolver loads and not much distinction is made in the reloading books.I know there are some old timers out there who reload and shoot the 32-20.
I have one load I will be starting with, 90 gr LSWC(.313") from Missouri Bullet Co. brinnel hardness of 12. and 2.8 gr Bullseye for about 900fps.I have no desire to cast handgun bullets except .45 Colt, no little bullets.I have had extemely good accuracy from all of the M.B.C's "keith" style bullets.
I have been advised by a more knowlegeable person that it is a 1913,last year for fire blued screws.

[Hickory]

Beautiful guns are like beautiful women;
They always seem to belong to someone else. :violin:

[SmuvBoGa]

Yes, long legs & long barrels DO LOOK so nice !!! :veryconfu

[fourarmed]

If you do decide to cast your own (Never say never!), the Lyman 3118 (or 311008) is a top choice for the 32-20. Ken Waters listed that boolit and 6 grains of SR-4756 as his pet revolver load for the 32-20. I use it in a Contender for field pistol, and it is accurate.

[Wayne Smith]

Mine is a 1909. These are not heat treated, you need to keep the loads light. I have data that recreates the old loads from an old Handloader, but I'm at work now. The Lyman boolit is a 116-118gr boolit, that load sounds too hot for the old guns. I'd consider trying it in my Rem. 25, not the revolvers. Tonite I'll try to remember to post the data from the article in Handloader.

[Echo]

Wow. Sweet gun...

[Guesser]

Mine is a 1922 date and I have a 1907 New Army, both with 6" barrels. Using a plain base 115 gr. 3118 or an unchecked 311316 I find that 4.0 gr. of Unique is a good load. I've tried lighter bullets but never had good performance with anything under 100 gr. My Bisley Colt 7 1/2" likes the 115 gr. bullets over 5.0 gr. of Unique, but that load is too much for the double action Colts that I shoot.

[Wayne Smith]

This is Gil Sengel's work from Handloader #220, Dec. 2002. He attempted to duplicate Winchester's original smokeless loads from 1894, 1899, and 1910. They were shot out of two revolvers, one S&W and one Colt.

1894 Data duplication using RCBS 32-098-SWC 98 gr cast

Unique 4.2gr 868fps
Herco 4.8gr 932fps
SR-4756 4.9gr 946fps
HS-6 5.3gr 862fps


Winchester 1899 duplication using Lyman 3118 @ 115gr

Unique 4.4gr 939fps
Herco 4.9gr 965fps
SR-4756 5.0gr 985fps
HS-6 5.3gr 853fps
Blue Dot 6.0gr 950fps


Winchester 1910 duplicated loads using Lymen 3118

Unique 4.5gr 958fps
Herco 5.0gr 1,033fps
SR-4756 5.2gr 1,016fps
HS-6 5.5gr 901fps
Blue Dot 6.5gr 1,041fps


Hope this helps. It's a good article if back issues are still available.

[Larry Gibson]

If those 90 gr bullets have a hard wax lube you might want to TL them in LLA to avoid leadding in the forcing cone and first part of the barrel. Best to siply wash the wax lube off in boiling water or let the bullets soak in Coleman fuel or unleaded gas for 30 -60 minutes. Then TL them in LLA of lube them with Javelina or other good 50/50 alox/beeswax lube.

Uping the powder charge to 3 gr of Bullseye might help accuracy if it's not what you want.

Beautiful revolver BTW.

Larry Gibson

[HeavyMetal]

Learned to shoot pistol on the very same gun in 45 Auto Rim!

Brings back good memories!

Treasure it always! I wish I had been able to get the 1917 I started out with.

[Dean D.]

3118 or 311316 with 4.5gr. Unique, works for me.

[longranger]

Thank You all who gave their loads for the semi venerable 32-20, notes have been taken.If I do not get satisfactory results with the Missouri Bullet Co. 100 gr FPL.Does Remington make a 32 cal HBWC ? These shoot very good out of my .38 S&W Colts.

[longranger]

My Bisley Colt 7 1/2" likes the 115 gr. bullets over 5.0 gr. of Unique, but that load is too much for the double action Colts that I shoot.

The cylinder wall on the Army Service revolver is designed for .45ACP pressures,would not the 32-20 cylinder be that much stronger with more space between cylinders(smaller bore)?I hear conflicting reports on the strength of Colt D/A's.They as strong as any made from what I see.The problem is they are old and no parts/people to repair them.I do not plan on shooting hot loads out of her,she deserves better than to be hot rodded.One or two good accurate loads,target and dispatching unwanted pests load,I have plenty of other revolvers to shoot.

[nicholst55]

The cylinder wall on the Army Service revolver is designed for .45ACP pressures,would not the 32-20 cylinder be that much stronger with more space between cylinders(smaller bore)?I hear conflicting reports on the strength of Colt D/A's.They as strong as any made from what I see.The problem is they are old and no parts/people to repair them.I do not plan on shooting hot loads out of her,she deserves better than to be hot rodded.One or two good accurate loads,target and dispatching unwanted pests load,I have plenty of other revolvers to shoot.

Don't confuse the .45 ACP 1917 military revolver, built on the New Service frame, commonly chambered for .44 Spl, .45 Colt, .44-40 and other large bore revolver rounds, for the Army Special. It is a much smaller (I-frame) revolver, commonly chambered for .38 Spl, .41 Long Colt and .32-20. This is the frame that eventually became the Official Police revolver. The chamber walls are nowhere near the same thickness as the 1917 or New Service chamber walls are.

Unfortunately, a lot of these revolvers are frequently encountered with bulged barrels caused by bore obstructions - frequently bullets that were stuck in the bore. I bought a highly abused specimen that had not just one bulge, but two! Betcha there's a story behind that! A lot of them were also shot with black powder ammo and not cleaned, and/or shot with the old High-Speed rifle ammo that was loaded way too hot for these relatively weak DA revolvers.

At any rate, they're neat old guns. Hodgdon does list data for handguns, and there is some other data available online. Just insure that you're using handgun data - not for the Ruger Blackhawk or T/C Contender, either! If the data lists velocities over about 1,000 FPS, it's probably too hot!

[Bret4207]

Nice gun. Mine is nowhere near as nice looking having been carried on countless fishing trips and other worth while endeavors by a man long gone now. Mine has digested oads from low and slow to hot and fast without any issues. For many years it ate the 10.0 2400 x 311316 ala Elmer, simply because that was the only data I had. I don't know if those gun are "weak", but I'm sure there are stronger ones out there. Used with accuracy in mind instead of wringing every last FPS possible it will alst longer than you and I.

FYI- Hornady makes a dandy swaged lead SWC of about 100 grs. If it fits your gun it's cheap shooting.

[GabbyM]

This is Gil Sengel's work from Handloader #220, Dec. 2002. He attempted to duplicate Winchester's original smokeless loads from 1894, 1899, and 1910. They were shot out of two revolvers, one S&W and one Colt.

1894 Data duplication using RCBS 32-098-SWC 98 gr cast

Unique 4.2gr 868fps
Herco 4.8gr 932fps
SR-4756 4.9gr 946fps
HS-6 5.3gr 862fps


Winchester 1899 duplication using Lyman 3118 @ 115gr

Unique 4.4gr 939fps
Herco 4.9gr 965fps
SR-4756 5.0gr 985fps
HS-6 5.3gr 853fps
Blue Dot 6.0gr 950fps


Winchester 1910 duplicated loads using Lymen 3118

Unique 4.5gr 958fps
Herco 5.0gr 1,033fps
SR-4756 5.2gr 1,016fps
HS-6 5.5gr 901fps
Blue Dot 6.5gr 1,041fps


Hope this helps. It's a good article if back issues are still available.

Those loads are hotter than charges listed in Lyman current 49th edition book. At least the ones with matching powder types. For instance Unique under the 115 grain 311008 is max load 4.0 gains 835 fps from a 6 1/2 " Ruger. Max load of SR-4756 shows as 4.7 @896fps.

Under the rifle section they show loads using RX7 and IMR 4198 powders. I'm sure those could get exciting in a revolver with flame shooting from the cylinder gap.

I have a 96 grain RNFP .313” bullet.

[Wayne Smith]

Be aware that Mr. Sengle was duplicating velocity, not pressure. He did no pressure testing. Modern data is shot with direct pressure testing and is frequently slower. I draw no conclusions nor do I make recommendations.