Poll: The 32 Retinue

[rintinglen]

@ Green Frog. Re the Smith.
Well, it was about an honest 80-85% gun, with a good bore and chambers, no pitting that I saw. I'd guess it to be a 1920's to early 30 's piece. It had Magna grips that were obviously not original, but they were in good shape. At first I thought it was just another 38 M&P and was puzzled by the crazy high--even by gun show standards--price. But when I saw the caliber, I realized why it was so costly. It was at the Nation's Gun Show on a table over by the south end. Same guy had some nice older Colt Revolvers as well, but he was also quite proud of them.

Re my newest acquisition. Harrington and Richardson made a copy of the 1906 Webley and Scott 32 Auto, although it is perhaps a stretch to call it a copy. The H&R had a concealed Hammer, while the Webley had a funky looking hunk of metal hammer that hung off the end of the gun like an afterthought. I understand there were some other differences as well, the H&R had a grip safety while the earlier model Webleys did not, and I believe the H&R guns had a mag safety, though I am not sure on that (but I will be this week end ). Anyways, Webley made several versions of the their 32's including one adopted by the London metropolitan Police. H&R was envious of the sales that Colt and Savage were racking up and was interested in manufacturing a 32 Auto to get a piece of the market. William Whiting was the principle designer of the gun and was an Officer at W&S and sold the rights to make his guns to H&R. They made a few thousand of the curious looking .25's modeled on the 1908 Webley and Scott 6.35 pistol beginning in 1909 or 1910. It took longer to tool up for the bigger 32 pistol, but they started in 1914 or 1915 to make the "1912" pattern 32. From what I've read, they made 50,000 plus Webley style automatics of both calibers but stopped making them in 1924. However, they were still for sale in the 1930's. I had a reprint of a 1932(?) Hardware Store catalog that showed the 32 H&R 8 Shot Semi-automatic Pistol. IIRC, they were a couple of bucks cheaper than a Colt 1903. Anyways I hope to include it in my review of pre- WW II pocket Pistols.

[Green Frog]

Thanks Glen. I was trying to figure out how they made a semiautomatic in 32 H&R (magnum wannabe) not a H&R semiauto in 32 ACP. NOW I UNDERSTAND!

As for the 32 S$W L M&P, with my champagne tastes and Budweiser pocketbook, I’da had to let it go too, with much regret, of course! I cant remember off of the top of my head how many were made, but there couldn’t have been many. I’ve never even seen one in person. AFAIK, most if not all of the pre War examples were that same configuration with a tapered 5” barrel. I don’t remember hearing of a 4” or 6”, but I haven’t found out enough about them to be certain.
Froggie

[Tall]

So I am pretty flush with 32 caliber revolvers. I have three in 32 WCF. A S&W Model 1899, a Colt Army Model, and a flat top SAA.

[Tall]

Then I have one in 32 Long S&W. It's a Hand Ejector with 6" Target barrel.

[Funky]

Tall, some very fine examples of .32 revolvers, do not see many come up for sale around here. Good Luck Chris

[Green Frog]

Tall,
Where does that 32 HE fit into production? All I have seen before were in Regulation Police configuration, not round butt. That’s an interesting piece regardless.
The flat top SAA is pretty special too. They shouldn’t be all that rare… until you try to find one!
Thanks for you pix!
Froggie

[Frbksguy]

Froggie,
Found your thread today and you can count me into too. I also added myself to the community page. I currently have four 32 revolvers in .32 S&W Long, .32 H&R and.327 Federal. Guns are a couple of Rugers, a S&W 16-4 and a Colt PPS. All are fun to shoot. Been hand loading the .32 Long and H&R and will be looking to play more with the guns in the future. Looking forward to learning and sharing.

Rod
Fairbanks, Alaska

[rintinglen]

Well, this is a learning experience for me.

The Mauser 1914 I bought shares a seemingly common fault with these guns in that the SAFETY DOES NOT WORK. THE GUN WILL FIRE WITH THE SAFETY ENGAGED.

I haven't yet determined if it is the safety catch release or the safety itself that is worn, but the safety is not held low enough to pivot and block the sear. I will pull mine apart and investigate further, but a quick search of the internet found several other reports of a similar nature. To Check if yours has this problem, clear the weapon and triple check that the magazine and chamber are empty. Insert the empty magazine, allowing the slide to close. Press the safety down to put it on. Point the weapon in a safe direction and pull the trigger. If you hear a click, yours is also unsafe. In mine, if I hold the safety down about a 1/16th of an inch, it will not fire when the trigger is pulled, but I can feel the trigger pushing up on the safety. But if I release the safety and allow it to be in the normal "safe" position, it will fire with only slightly greater resistance than normal.

[Green Frog]

So I’ve heard it said over and over that we should never count on a mechanical safety working as advertised. You’ve just demonstrated once again that there is no substitute for safe gun handling! The Femaru 32 ACP that the Nazis had the Hungarians make for them during WW II had a mechanical safety lever, but the 380 the Hungarians made for themselves pre War on the same frame had no mechanical safety lever at all!

The mechanical safety is sort of an afterthought in auto pistol design, and as your Mauser pistol showed, with age, wear, and even build up of grease and powder fouling, they just can’t be depended on. BTW, other than that, how do you like your new found Mauser? It is reputed to be a well designed, well made gun.
Your Phriendly ‘Phibian

[elmacgyver0]

Anything mechanical can fail, as a responsible gun owner it is up to you that your firearm is in good working order, even the safety.

[uscra112]

It's been written that Walthers made by slave labor during the War were deliberately sabotaged so that the gun would fire when the decocker lever was used with a round in the chamber.

[rintinglen]

@ The Green Frog
I was really digging the 1914, the sights are better than many of the other pocket pistols--or for that matter service pistols--of that era and it is quite accurate and easy to shoot. And the safety, if it worked, is actually pretty good, better than many others. Push the lever down until it clicks, then just press the button to take it off. IMHO, it beats those slide mounted safeties seven ways to Sundays, not to mention those backwards levers on the Lugers or the 180 degree swingers on the older Berettas and Nambu pistols. I have ordered a replacement Safety Catch from Jack First and will install it when it gets here. I'm hopeful that that will do the trick.



Although slave labor sabotage was an issue with some things, the vast majority of the 1914/1934's were made before there were captives to be compelled to work in Nazi factories. The last ones were made in 1941 before the Hsc replaced them in the Mauser line. Mine was made in the early 30's, at the dawn of the Nazi era or at the end of the Weimar Republic, according to a chart in the unblinking eye series.

[Green Frog]

Peacetime or civilian firearms manufacture in Germany was always “a step above” so if yours is that early it’s a little piece of jewelry worthy of lavishing a little extra care. Sights that can be seen by eyes of any of us “seasoned citizens” is an unexpected bonus. Keep those reports a’coming!
Froggie

[Bawana17]

Sorry I missed the poll, but haven't been on the computer much, and no time on here to speak of. I love my 32's. A Ruger Single Seven that shoot almost every 32, and a Beretta Tomcat 32 ACP. The Tomcat was for my father for as small pocket pistol when micro's were harder to come by, and the Ruger was for me. Mine, mine, mine! I love it! I was the the knuckle-dragging 44 Mag guy when I was younger, but six shoulder and two wrist surgeries made that less fun. I still shoot them all, just how many rounds of each has changed, and I load a lot more 44 Specials than Magnums nowadays. As an aside, I got an E-mail regarding the Donation Drive, and came back on to see how things are going. I've always enjoyed the info, opinions, and data available to us for FREE! We don't HAVE to give, but I certainly am and ask others to do the same. Let's not lose the best cast boolits site on the web!

[rintinglen]

My latest addition to my pocket pistol treatise is up today. I finally found a Savage 1915 to add to my collection and it went for a spin yesterday. Went better than I thought it would.

[Green Frog]

Well rintinglen, it sounds like you’re going to have to get a jacket and britches with more pockets!!. If having a 32 gun in your pocket [is] for fun, having a half dozen or so would be a whole Fun House!
If you get down this way again any time soon, bring along your truckload of 32s and we’ll go out to my club. We’ve got lots of tables on the pistol range!
Froggie

[rintinglen]

@ der Green Frog
Cargo pants, my friend, Cargo pants.

[raljr1]

$1500 is NOT a terrible price for one of these K frame 32 M&Ps. I have over $1300 in the one I posted and it's far from perfect.

[Green Frog]

This is a perfect example of intrinsic value as opposed to rarity and demand. The 32 M&P is really a pretty low value revolver from the standpoint of utility… but it’s rarity and difficulty to obtain give it a price far in excess of any it would otherwise have. It has the cachet of small numbers supplemented by a mystique of collectibility, making it bring far higher prices than would otherwise be the case. Would I love to have one? You betcha! But I don’t think I’ll ever find one at a price I’d be willing to pay, and remember, I’m one of the leading proponents here for 32 cal revolvers! Don’t start flaming me here guys, it’s just that this revolver, the 32 M&P, may “personify” the concept of high price accompanying irrational demand in a manner approaching the Dutch Tulip Craze where bulbs became worth more than their weight in gold as folks wanted to be the one to own that perfect flower.
Froggie

[RJM52]

Well....did it to myself again...just when I'm all settled in on my .327s with nothing left to buy, had a conversation with an acquaintance who I had purchased a custom revolver from...it was a Ruger Single-Six based gun and he happened to mention he was thinning down his .32 "herd" and was selling off a Single-Seven...and made the mistake of asking which model....

Of course it was THE ONLY ONE THAT I WAS INTERESTED IN but had felt save in that it was a limited edition with very few on the market...

So now I'm about to become the owner of a 4 5/8" blue lightweight that was a distributor exclusive...probably arrive next week sometime...

...never ends...

Bob