Over a month ago i found this in a gun shop on consignment for $800. The cylinder spun freely due to a broken trigger and bolt spring. Hopefully the bolt itself is OK. I checked the bore and told the store owner there was a subtle bulge in the barrel. He pulled the gun to call the owner about lowering the price and after a long grueling month of me not trying to spend the money he called me today and I got it for $500. I couldn't believe he took it down $300. I have a pre-war .44 special cylinder and a 2nd generation 7 1/2" barrel for it with close patina. The old Colt is a 32-20 from 1900.

Thats a nice find!

__________________
WILL WORK FOR AMMO!

Hey Matt, that one is going to turn out real nice and in 44 special to boot! Good find there.

__________________
Stay safe people!

I think I would shoot her like she is and if she was OK, i'd leave her original and look for another donor gun.
Nice find and a bargain in anyone's book.
Congrats

Wow,......

What a great old cartridge. And you can still find a levergun to go with it.

Great score, from a historical perspective.

__________________
Non gratum anus rodentum

Skeeter did the same thing to a 32/20 and regretted it. I would leave it as is myself. Good find by the way. I have wanted one since I read that Shooting Times article as a kid.

This barrel and cylinder were for another project I didn't persue and sold the gun. In all honesty, I might not get around to converting this but definetly will shoot it as is.
And Gizamo. It is such a great companion to a Win. 92 (73 also but the 92 is more contemporary to it). I'm surprised how popular the 32-20 was with the Bisley Model Colt. It's a little anecdotle, but there's a ton of .32's on G.B. Any idea why?
And Ethang. I recall an article were Skeeter wanted a 71/2" Colt 32-20 SAA, couldn't find one, but did locate a Bisley. This must be the same gun but I never saw the article where he rebarreled it. I was just watching The Grey Fox where Richard Farnsworth actually uses Bill Miner's .41 Bisley in one scene.

Congratulations on your find. Every time i see the word Bisley I get kind of sick to my stomach. In the 1946-47 time line a guy I worked with had a like new Bisley which I believe was a 38-40, not sure. He wanted to sell it for $35 and I didn't have the money but told him I would try to get it. While I was trying he traded it for a set of motorcycle crash bars. Think what that gun in a like new condition would be worth now.

__________________
Mighty 90's,Trying 4 a 100!

Nice find. Not often you can get any Colt SA at an affordable price these days.
I have a SAA from 1902(?) in 32WCF. I bought it for $350 because of a ring in the bore just behind the front sight. A 5 1/2" bbl that I believe was cut back from 7 1/2 anyway. Not bad overall condition.
That $350 was a gunshow price in the early 90's.

I thought about converting to 45Colt or maybe 44Special, but finally decided to leave it in 32. A replacement 32 bbl with a nice bore didn't ever come my way.
Maybe I'll reline the bore, but that's about it. Liners are available with the correct LH twist for Colt calibers/revolvers.
Shoots fine the way it is and even throws 32 s&w's pretty good.

There's still plenty of reblued&screwed SAA's around to re-barrel, cylinder and fix up. Unfortunetly, they're usually very highly prized by their owners in spite of the problems making them a costly project to get into.

As I recall Skeeter bought a gun when he mustered out of the Marines to get back to Texas. He wanted a 45 but could only find or afford a 32. Eventually converted it and then tried to find another and found the Bisley. I will have to dig that article up and re-read it.

I miss Skeeters writings. Most of them made me want to buy whatever he was writing about.

Matt here is that old dog .32 wcf I wrote to you about. (cant remember if it was this site or the colt site where I go by bogus bill). I was reorganiseing my ammo rack the other day and found a couple boxs of .32-20 I didnt know I had. Now I have the hots to go out with it again! My gun has the old style V notch and is a little harder to get a good sight picture with. I will give her a whirl and report back. The stocks are faux ivory.

Yep. I remember that article. he might have gotten it at Abercrobie & Fitch and it had carved ivory grips I think. And I remember him having rebarreled it to 5 1/2". It's in Skeeter On Sixguns. A magazine I read so many times the pages are as thin as kleenex.

Leave the Bisley alone. Put a new bolt spring in & shoot it as is.

my shooting pal has a .32-20 SAA bisley. fun little gun to shoot. get it fixed and cleaned up and get a nice little 1892 in same caliber to go with it

I have been looking for a Colt SAA .32-20 for awhile, hopefully I will have as good as luck as you had. Nice score!!!!

Since everyone else is putting in their 2 cents worth, I would keep it as a .32-20 myself (but that is just me... )

the kid in the movie All The Pretty Horses had one, shot his buddies wallet out of the air with it........

I remember that. I think it was identical in every way, except better condition probably. Don't worry gang. We've been discussing this caliber and gun at the "other" forum and I'm liking the idea of leaving it alone. I've even been looking at Uberti's on gunboker and other places for a big bore "Bisley" just for shootin'.

Another snatched back into the light. The Uberti you can hot rod and do anything else you want to but that grand ole gal 32 20 needs a more genteel life. To be shot for sure but keep her like she is.

Thanks for sharing.

Hi -- I'm not really a gun guy, but I've had one of these Colt Bisleys in the family for more than 100 yrs (fooled around with it as a kid -- not quite 100 years ago). It's in perfect working order but has a chip in one grip. I found this thread as I was thinking about getting some ammo for home protection.
Here's my question: if I should decide to sell it, what's the best way: show? dealer? auction?
Any thoughts? Thanks. Pownal

You should research the gun, so that you understand what it is. A good way to do this is to post good pictures of it here, or on the Colt Forum, and ask people to teach you about it. Then get on the internet and find what models in the condition yours are in are selling for. Then list the gun for sale in the classifieds here.

Or, research it on your own on the internet. I do think asking knowledgeable collectors to comment would be the easiest approach.

(Except for just looking at the zillion offers stacked up in your in box! )

But I think unless you are very lucky there is no way to get what something is worth if you do not know what you are selling...

I love it when a plan comes together! Can't wait to see it when you're done!

Thanks to Onomea & Wyatt Burp for your suggestions. I will follow up.
Here are photos of the revolver.
Pownal

Attached Images

	colt revolver right side x.jpg (116.2 KB, 88 views)
	colt revolver left side x.jpg (104.7 KB, 39 views)
	colt revolver left side chip x.jpg (140.7 KB, 35 views)

Years ago I had one of those .32-20 Bisleys - for about two weeks. A friend of mine was going on vacation, and didn't want to risk it being stolen, so he entrusted to me and my vault. Sure was reluctant to give it back.

PLEASE don't refit it in another caliber! Repair it so it's functional, but keep it original. You have a piece of history there, and it will be important to hand it down in as close to original condition possible.

Good find!

I do admire the Bisley configuration, so not long ago I got this Ruger .45 Colt Bisley, and modified it so that it has a half-cock and indexes for loading properly like the originals. Not quite the same as the Colt, but still satisfying to own and shoot.

John

__________________
- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -