Poll: The 32 Retinue

[Green Frog]

An original low wall is only marginally strong enough for a 32 H&R… you would need a high wall for a 327 unless you go with a modern copy with steel you can know is strong enough. Since the new Japanese low walls were chambered in243, I would assume they’d be strong enough for the Fed Mag.

BTW, what makes you think a Ruger #3 carbine would be heavy? The one Dad had sure was light when I touched off a 45-70 in it.

My only experiences with Freedom Arms have been seeing them at NRA, reading about others’ experience , and buying 50 rounds of primed Fed Mag brass from them when nobody else could get them to me. Maybe when I win the VA State Lottery.

Froggie

[Guncrank]

Them 32's is just pure fun to go plinking with! Got some in ACP, S&W short and S&W long. Wouldn't trade them for anything... Well. there could be that big bag O-money or trailer load of primers.

[trapper9260]

I like the 32 ,to the point I had a 327 handi rifle made and it shoots all the 32's there is . It is a great gun also. I have others also . The thing about casting for 32's, you can also use the same boolits for shooting in some of the 30's also for lite loads .

[Green Frog]

trapper9260, how did you build your Handi-Rifle? Did you use a barrel stub and mono-bloc in a prepped piece of the barrel with .313” bore, or did you add a lug to an all new barrel turned to the right profile? Was your donor gun a shotgun or rifle originally? I for one would be delighted to see pictures.
Froggie

[trapper9260]

trapper9260, how did you build your Handi-Rifle? Did you use a barrel stub and mono-bloc in a prepped piece of the barrel with .313” bore, or did you add a lug to an all new barrel turned to the right profile? Was your donor gun a shotgun or rifle originally? I for one would be delighted to see pictures.
Froggie

I had my friend the gunsmith build it , He had the barrel made and It was off of the H&R Handi Rifle. It was a 35 Wheelen barrel on it from the start.

[crash87]

32's? Hmm. Lets see now, A 32 H&R Ruger Bisley, (to replace the '84 S.Six that fed ex stole) 3- 32-20's, Marlin rifle, Cimarron Model P and a converted Ruger 357 Bisley vaquero some wannabe from Flagsatff AZ ruined with (grossly) oversize throats. Claims he knows more than the guy sending him the gun, or anybody for that matter. A 327 federal Ruger Blackhawk. More 32 molds than I can think of at the moment, Brass to keep them all shooting for a very long time. Yea I guess, My name is crash87 and I'm a 32 addict.

[Rapier]

I have an old 32 Smith my great grandfather carried in his robes. Supreme Court Justice, Alabama. Sheriff, Jefferson County, judge, etc. I guess in the 20s it was OK. I just rolled up a pencil note and stuck it in the muzzle.
I sure would not want to hang my existence on that old 32, unless it was all I had.

[Green Frog]

Rapier, any time somebody talks that way about the 32 I just ask “Would you stand in front of me while I shoot at you with one?” Folks seem to think that you need a minimum of a 38 +P to dissuade a bad guy from his evil intent, but a bunch of folks, good and bad, have met their end from the muzzles of 32 s and even 22s. Of o course a 25 ACP is a little puny.

Like your screen name, it reminds me of a great line near the end of the final episode this season of “Wednesday” when she said to the villainess that bringing a gun to a sword fight was probably the smartest thing she had done all day.

[rintinglen]

My only complaint about the 32's, the old top-breaks and hand ejectors is the dinky grips. You have a gun that is minimally powerful and hard to hold while you shoot it. Bigger guns, with bigger grips, made for better shooting. In 1988, I was at the scene of a homicide where the deceased, a young male black of known gang affiliation, died from two wounds from a 32 auto. As a judge in a California case once supposedly noted, you can't shoot some one a little bit. I am aware of an instance where a young girl accidentally shot and killed her brother with a .177 pellet rifle.

All which said, if some one is going to shoot at me, I'd druther he have a 22 or 32 than a 44 or 45.

[uscra112]

Those little .32 revolvers were used at across-the-card-table distances. The tiny grips didn't make a difference, and made them easier to carry in a pocket.

[rintinglen]

something different this way comes
I don't know who made it, but what we have here is perhaps the oddest PPC gun I've ever seen. It has been setting in a pawn shop for over a year with a high price ($1300) on it, I offered 1100 cash and now own it. First, the barrel is 5.10 inches long, not 4, nor 5 and not 6. It started life as a S&W 14-3 38, but now it is a 32 S&W long Model 16 wannabee. The trigger is excellent, though I fear too light to pop my Winchester and CCI primers. The sights are of a make that I don't recognize, but the sight picture is excellent. I can hardly wait to run some rounds down range next week. I hope to find a gunsmith near by that will re-chamber this to 32 H&R, but first I need I need to see how it shoots. My regular guy wants an arm and a leg, so I am going to have to look elsewhere.

On an unrelated note. I ordered a set of Williams Fire Sights for my Talo .327 Single Seven. Oh wow, what an improvement over the big dot sight that had been on there. I intend to put a drop or two of super glue on the rods to hold them in place, but boy do they make seeing the sights easier. I heartily recommend them.

[megasupermagnum]

something different this way comes
I don't know who made it, but what we have here is perhaps the oddest PPC gun I've ever seen. It has been setting in a pawn shop for over a year with a high price ($1300) on it, I offered 1100 cash and now own it. First, the barrel is 5.10 inches long, not 4, nor 5 and not 6. It started life as a S&W 14-3 38, but now it is a 32 S&W long Model 16 wannabee. The trigger is excellent, though I fear too light to pop my Winchester and CCI primers. The sights are of a make that I don't recognize, but the sight picture is excellent. I can hardly wait to run some rounds down range next week. I hope to find a gunsmith near by that will re-chamber this to 32 H&R, but first I need I need to see how it shoots. My regular guy wants an arm and a leg, so I am going to have to look elsewhere.

On an unrelated note. I ordered a set of Williams Fire Sights for my Talo .327 Single Seven. Oh wow, what an improvement over the big dot sight that had been on there. I intend to put a drop or two of super glue on the rods to hold them in place, but boy do they make seeing the sights easier. I heartily recommend them.

That's a very cool gun for sure. I'm kind of torn. One part of me would want to keep it as a 32 S&W long target gun. Another part of me would want to make it breath fire. Why stop at 32 H&R? The model 16 K frame is perfectly suitable for 327 federal.

[tejano]

Could be a Millett target sight.

[Green Frog]

Sweet score, Rintinglen! I’d love to actually see it sometime. A closeup of that lens might enable us to identify it, but any way you look at it, that was somebody’s idea of a game changing competition revolver, probably PPC, but maybe for the plate racks, etc. as well. It’s for sure you couldn’t get it built today for that same $1100!
Drop me an email if you would like to discuss some options off board for getting it rechambered to 32 H&R. There’s one guy fairly close to you that I have used, but he might not be the least expensive. There are others, and since it is simply a matter of reaming, you might not have to even send the whole gun. BTW, was the rear face of the cylinder milled off flush or do you have recessed chambers?

Froggie

[rintinglen]

From the looks of things, this was a Model 17, 22 cylinder that was rechambered, but I can't see any sign of a recess. I had been on the fence about this gun for a long time, since last July, IIRC, but it took me a while to accumulate some funds and then I was a bit perplexed as it came with a partial box of Western Super-X 32 Long Colt ammunition. That would have been a deal breaker, but after I tried a fired, 32 S&W case and it fit I went ahead and made an offer. Of course, now I will have to look for a 32 Colt Pocket Positive, so I can use those 44 rounds.

[uscra112]

Is that Colt ammo centerfire or rimfire? If it's rimfire there's any number of boys' rifles it will fit.

[rintinglen]

Centrefire. I've not seen 32 Rimfire in Super X Yellow packaging, though I suppose it might exist.

[rintinglen]

@ Tejano, Thanks for the tip. This is a Millett sight. Funny, because I had a 1911 set up with Millett's back in the 90's, but I don't recall it having the same markings.

Did some fiddling with it last night, replaced the Pachmayrs with Uncle Mike's grips which suit me better. I measured the cylinder throats as .312-.3125. I am going to slug the barrel when I find my short steel rod and I loaded up some 100 grain 314-640 MP HP boolits. I will cast up some RCBS 32-98 SWC Clones when I find my NOE 5 cavity. Those have proven to be the most accurate in my 32 S&W Long's, although they don't work well in my single 7's, at least, if crimped in the crimp groove.

[Green Frog]

rintinglen, you might look into the Lee TL version of their little 32 SWC. You could use the top lube groove to crimp into or just taper crimp it. I think they call it a 98 grain, but YMMV due to differences in whatever alloy you use.
As for grips, I wouldn’t be happy ‘til that bad boy had a set of smooth finger grip combats with a closed back strap to fill my hand just right. JMHO, of course!
Froggie

[rintinglen]

I've only seen that LEE mold in 2 cavity versions, and life's too short to cast with LEE 2 cavities. Plus I have a 5 cavity NOE around here some place. Plus a nice NIE 315-100 4 cavity, plus a new 8 cavity MP 32 DEWC + a whole slue of other 32 molds. Something I already have will feed this thing.
Re Grips: I was enamored of Eagle grips but they have out-priced my wallet. However, I really like the Uncle Mike's K frame finger grooved grips and I recently got a set for a very gentle price. This will match my M-14 and M-17 S&W's.