Originally posted by BennerP220: and can maybe fire .32 S&W long?
Don't bet on it.
OK, I'm back. Its not like those magnum loadings will do any damage. If you'll discover the velocity between the two are about the same. Not like you'll burn out the barrel or anything. If you can discover when it was made, I've probably got a shooters bible from back then. You'll probably need to reload to fire it much. The hard part will be getting primers, just like any other caliber. The cheap way will be to buy a bag of O buckshot. The cases don't expand so you won't need to resize them. Might be a pain to decap the fired cases, but a dowel rod and a block of hardwood underneath will serve to reprime them. You can use a tiny measure to toss maybe a grain or two of Bullseye powder, or Unique, whatever. If you can find it, an ancient Lyman tong tool will serve you well. The idea being to keep costs low. I'm just going to assume it has a lousy trigger pull, like most of them. Still OK for plinking in your basement.
If you go the route of O Buck, its about the cheapest way to shoot. The same or even cheaper than 22s. You can't get 22s or primers, so neither is practical. On trash day, if you see an old couch set out, pick off the cushions. Liberate the foam from the covering and stack them several deep. You can often recover the O Buck from that backstop and even reuse them. Yeah, I grew up poor. My mother said my dad was just cheap. But you learn how to keep shooting without spending much money.
Small primers are all the same. Small pistol, small rifle, small magnum rifle might give you a few extra FPS. They're all the same size. Hope you didn't want to make this a magnum.
Unhappy ammo seeker
Posts: 18394 | Location: Kentucky, USA | Registered: February 25, 2001
Reload with 4f black, its easy. It'll smoke some. Won't stink, I like the smell of black powder. And you probably won't need to measure the powder. Just pour it full and press a ball on top.
Unhappy ammo seeker
Posts: 18394 | Location: Kentucky, USA | Registered: February 25, 2001
This article says to count the pins on the frame above the trigger guard. 2 pins black powder only. 4 pins safe for smokeless.
I see 4 pins on your revolver. As long as there is nothing functionality wrong with your revolver, that owl should be headed to the range with some of those .32 s&w you just purchased!
Posts: 3218 | Location: Manheim, PA | Registered: September 04, 2007
Really!? The cylinder seems a bit loose but other than that everything seems to work just fine. You think I’d be good to shoot the regular rounds I got?
This article says to count the pins on the frame above the trigger guard. 2 pins black powder only. 4 pins safe for smokeless.
I see 4 pins on your revolver. As long as there is nothing functionality wrong with your revolver, that owl should be headed to the range with some of those .32 s&w you just purchased!
When in doubt have a gunsmith look it over. Your revolver is a solid frame with the 4 pins. The solid frame is stronger than the top break types. The .32 S&w isn’t the .327 magnum by any stretch. Pressure wise according to the article the revolver should take it. However it should be free of any other mechanical problems before a range visit. If it were Me, I would have the smith look it over. I don’t do wall hanger guns and I only shoot smokeless.
Posts: 3218 | Location: Manheim, PA | Registered: September 04, 2007
Wow blast from the past. On the early black powder models the owl looked down the barrel. Yours is made for black powder. On the smokeless powder 3rd gen models starting around 1909 the owl looked down the grip.
I have a Iver Johnson 32 short that was my great grandma's. Last time I shot it was in the early 1970s at my great grandparent's farm in Montana. Let me tell you something, almost as much lead comes out the sides of it as goes out the muzzle. After about 1/2 a box of ammo my brother and I decided it was a lead splitter extraordinaire. It also has the distinction of being the most inaccurate revolver I've ever fired.
I don't have an Iver, but I do have a number of S&W lemon squeezers I shoot. I reload light cast bullets and tiny charges of Bullseye powder. Everything has been good thus far, but the Smiths of the era cost 2-3 times what an Iver would so I'm uncertain how the strength of your revolver compares. A lot of these old .32 S&W revolvers get used in cowboy action "side matches". The most common thinking within that group is that the gun is unlikely to explode, but that smokeless powder will accelerate wear on the revolver.
"Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." - Barry Goldwater
Posts: 1971 | Location: Minnesota | Registered: February 23, 2002