Nice!

The blued one is a 5 shot 38, Model 36. The aluminum one is an 8 shot 22, Model 317.

The T grip makes the very unergonomic wood grips much more ergonomic and retains the “classic” look of the old J frame. I have Hogue’s for both but I always come back to this configuration because it makes me feel like a 50’s gumshoe.

Looks good the refurb, kept more of patina than refinish, I'd say it's a winner

Looks very nice. I’m a sucker for an old revolver. Glad you rescued that one.
One thing I noticed-the screws are in good shape. I can’t stand dicked up screws! It’s little things that make a project look good.

quote:

Originally posted by leaveraction jackson:
You can shoot 32acp from any revolver chambered in 32?

Short answer, no, not “any” revolver chambered in .32.

Longer answer, many revolvers chambering the .32 S&W Long cartridge can* chamber and fire .32 acp because of the similar diameter of the casings and the semi-rimmed acp cartridge casing. Due to the thinner rim (.3 mm difference in thickness) some revolvers’ hammers (or strikers, depending on design) might experience difficulty reaching the primer of the .32 acp, leading to inconsistent ignition.

* Be aware that there is an increase in chamber pressure of about 5,000 psi. In the interest of safety and due to litigiousness your local ‘smith would tell you not to do it. I wouldn’t shoot them from my old Harrington & Richardson 732, but I might if I had a modern Ruger, say an SP101 or GP100 chambering .327 Magnum. The OP’s Smith and Wesson should be fine, but it’s a case of risk vs. reward, I’m sure.

BTW, a revolver chambering the older .32 S&W (not Long) cartridge *might* fit a .32 acp, but that’s a recipe for disaster.

Outstanding, 92f...great work...I carry a similar one while dog walking...a Colt Police Positive in .32 Long...It'll group 1-1/2" at 10 yds if the sun's behind me and my glasses don't fog...and eureka...the it shoots to the point of aim. Gotta love it when you get an oldie that perks again....

Try 2.0 gr of bullseye with Hornady's swagged lead SWC's for some nice shooting...well done Sir!! Rod Here's my .32 Colt...

Nice little shooter. I think it would be a prime candidate for a .32 H&R reaming.I have an identical one that is near mint, (bought it dirt cheap with a broken hammer that I have since replaced.) that I am on the fence about.
I have a 631 and wrung it out with almost all the .32 rounds I had on hand. Forgot the .32 S&W that day. The biggest groups, low and right came from 71. gr S&B acp. Almost no recoil though. The best came from .32 long round nose, and just above them (+2" at 10 yards) .95 gr H&R magnums.
BK grip adaptor is the cheapest, easiest way to get a grip on it, or check Ebay for some J frame targets. Those run a hundred pius though.
32's are cool.
Oscar Zulu

Nice Colt, Rodfac! Thanks for the load suggestion, too. I'm actually loading the Hodgdon version of that same load...2.0gr of Titegroup, since that's what I had on hand.

Funny story there...I used to use Titegroup a long time ago for 9mm and migrated away from it. I had a couple of pounds sitting around and almost gave them away because I didn't see myself ever using them. Then the covidiocy happened and in the midst of that I got into .32...and suddenly had a handy use for that TG powder that had been sitting on the back of the shelf for years. It lets me save my other powders for other stuff, too.

Yes it's sooty, but it's consistent in the small volume .32 cases, and the results on target are pretty good. I'll probably grab some Bullseye if I ever come across any, but for now using the Titegroup feels almost like charging cases for free .

OscarZulu, did you ream yours to .32 H&R, or did it come like that?

My 631 is originally chambered in .32 H&R Magnum. On other forums the members reported no problems remaing Model 30's and 31's to the slightly longer round.
I'm not really sure how substantial the gains would be.

OZ

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
Thanks guys! Does anybody have an suggestions for a good set of grips? I don't mind the way the current ones look (they go well with the patina), but they are pretty small for my hands. Normally I like the S&W factory rubber boot grips on my J-Frames, but I think this one demands some wood, and it's a square butt so those wouldn't fit anyway. I think a nice set of light maple would be sweet.

My S&W 36 wears a set of, IIRC, S&W branded Pachmayr rubber grips. Much better purchase on the snubby than the really thin wood grips.
The Tyler-T looks like a good option, if you want to keep the wood grip look.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

My S&W 36 wears a set of, IIRC, S&W branded Pachmayr rubber grips. Much better purchase on the snubby than the really thin wood grips.
The Tyler-T looks like a good option, if you want to keep the wood grip look.

I do like Pachmayrs, however the new production ones lack the quality of the older ones. I've had major fitment issues with the more recent sets that I've bought. I found some wood grip blanks last night on Numrich for a square butt J-Frame. They're gunfighter style, which I don't really care for, but they're just rough blanks so I'll be fitting them anyway, and I'm hoping I can modify the profile a bit to fit my liking. I did the same thing with a set of K-Frame target blanks that somebody gave me, and they turned out ok. They were only $6, so there's not much loss there even if I totally screw them up .

I got some .32 S&W Long brass in and worked up some loads for the little guy. All loads using my 80gr cast bullets dopped from a Lee 100gr mold that I ground down to drop shorter bullets so I could use them in .32 ACP. No light-strikes in DA or SA with the S&W Long Brass, so I'm pretty confident it's just a headspace issue with the .32 ACP.

Here's what I tried (WARNING, this load date is for educational purposes only, to detail my observations with this particular revolver...I don't endorse any of it, nor do I recommend that you try any them in your gun ):

2.3 Grains of Titegroup:

Average 751 FPS. It was marginally inconsistent and hit a bit low, but very soft shooting. Once I got done with the chronograph, I let my 6 year-old shoot the rest of these and he had a blast...actually did pretty decent on the target, too.

2.6 Grains of Titegroup:

Average 804fps. Consistency-wise about the same as the 2.3gr load, and barely any felt difference in recoil. I think I'm probably going to save the titegroup for the .32 ACP loads with their smaller case volume, and go with something else.

3.0gr of HP-38

Average 842FPS. This load was actually a little less consistent over the chronograph than the Titegroup load, but hit center and had acceptable recoil, but felt less like a popgun in the hand than the titegroup loads. It's probably going to become my go-to plinking load for the .32 S&W Long unless I can find something much better. I have a a bunch of HP-38 that I need to use.

4.5gr of Unique

WARNING - I used data from an old Phillip Sharpe manual from 1937, and I wouldn't even consider using this one in a top break revolver, or even an I-frame. But in this stout little J-Frame, well, who says you need to ream to .32 H&R Magnum? .

Average 1189FPS, and extremely consistent. It was very accurate, and tore the center out of the target at 10 yards. No pressure signs on the primers, no sticky extraction. I probably won't shoot many of these, but it's nice to know it's an option.

I may try a slightly lighter Unique load for plinking to see if I can keep the same accuracy and consistency without beating on the gun quite so much. The more I handload for revolvers, the more I love Unique. If I can ever scrounge some Bullseye and a full wadcutter mold, I may try that as well as I hear of good results.

https://www.altamontco.com/pis...and-wesson/J-Square/

A while back I picked up a non-checkered laminated light brown finish of the "fingergrove" as shown in link.

They have two small stainless dowel pins to keep them firmly together and they fall in size between the S&W magna's and S&W target style.

Very nice refinish job!

I finally got around to ordering some BK grips for this little guy. They had "irregular" examples for $5 off, so I went with a set of those. Honestly, I can't find the flaw. They shipped fast, too.

Overall I think they are an improvement. My big hands still require me to re-adjust my grip a bit between shots, but nowhere near as much as I had to without them. I do think they improved it's shootability quite a bit. I was able to keep 5/6 inside the 10-ring of a B27 center at 25 yards standing unsupported, and I got 8/12 inside 1" dots at 5 yards...I'm honestly not sure I could do that with any of my other J-Frames (sounds like a fun project for another range day, though ).

Although there may be a better target grips out there, I like how these maintain the svelte profile of the original grips and keep the gun nice and trim for carry. It also looks better than some of the massive bulky options I've seen out there for J-Frames that are just visually too large for these little guns.

I need to get my wife out to shoot this thing sometime. It doesn't produce much more recoil than a my model 63-5 in .22LR, but being centerfire the springs are lighter and the DA trigger in particular is way better. I imagine it would work really well for her.

Very nice little pistol. I'd carry the hell out of that gun.

BK grips are great. Really keeps the gun looking “authentic” plus they actually work. That is one nice looking little shooter.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
BK grips are great. Really keeps the gun looking “authentic” plus they actually work. That is one nice looking little shooter.

Yeah, thanks for the recommendation! It's a good product and I'm glad I gave them a try.

Very nice work refurbishing that little 6-shooter. Some manufacturers are charging a pretty penny to duplicate your results on their brand new guns.

Jerry