I have a 96 hand ejector and it was in mint condition and apparently has never been used before so everything was original. After shooting a few times using typical good quality target wadcutters that I use for my Pardini Olympic pistol, I realized my grouping is going way too low. Using regular run of the mill round nose bullet ammo also did not improve the results much.

I noticed the front sight is unusually tall compare with other S&W that I have, such as my 44 Russian. Is there a special way to aim this, because the sight picture makes no sense. At 5 yards it was barely tolerable, but once at 10 if I aim at center mass I am essentially shooting the crotch! Whether I use sub6 method of aiming or center-aiming it is still low, sub6 means the shots ended up between the legs of the silhouette. At 15 I might as well aim at the head to shoot the crotch.

Was the police in 1896 taught to aim differently? Did they aim above the target at 12 oclock instead of underneath (the reverse of sub 6)? Or am I supposed to shave the front sight (I hesitate to do that to such a good low serial number antique, even though I do plan to use it often!). Or would you recommend me whiting out only the very bottom part of the front sight to artificially lower it visually thus bringing the group up, then shoot center-aim instead of sub6?

Or was the gun designed for close quarter encounter (3 yards or less) only, so essentially the front sight is merely used for horizontal part (windage) of the aiming and has nothing to do with the vertical part (elevation)? That is, all the designer wanted was to make sure the user can shoot straight. Thus police needed to train to figure out how the shots will land from various distances? The front sight is simply ridiculously too high for any practical precision aiming at distance beyond 5. Since today we generally uses 7 yards as a training standard, it is already too far, and the grouping too low.

I shot it as single action to minimize the possibility of operator (me) error.

I bought this for training conceal carry; for the purpose of sharing the same caliber as my Pardini so I do not have to reload or purchase two different calibers.

Suggestion?

Welcome to the Forum.

Is this a target model 1896 .32 Long? Is the rear sight present? Can you post pictures?

Personally, I wouldn't shoot one that old for all that much. It is over 100 years old and replacement parts will be hard to come by.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Nice looking .32.

What load are you shooting, including bullet weight? Generally, fixed sighted handguns have the sights regulated to a certain load. I presume you are using a wadcutter loaded flush for your Pardini.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

I wouldn't shoot that antique at all, it is just too valuable. I would suggest putting it up for sale at a firearms auction and use the funds to purchase 2 or 3 brand new S&W revolvers. Problems with shooting that revolver beyond your sight issues are that the steel used in this revolver is far from modern. As a result you have a firearm that was designed to be used with Black Powder ammunition, not today's smokeless powders and there is a risk you could bulge or even burst the cylinder.

A Model 1896 in the condition shown is too valuable to perform any sight modifications on. Normally, one could file or grind down the front sight to raise the point of impact, but in this case that would greatly reduce its collector value. BTW, all of the M1896 revolvers are considered to be Antiques under BATFE regulations.

I would not be shooting that one.....nor would I be selllng it.

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Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760

A more practical gun for your purposes would be a Model 30 or 31 (or the pre models post war). Available in 2" or 4". They would handle any of your 32 SWL loads. Mine all print to POA at about 10-12 yards.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

You bought a 120 year old revolver for conceal carry training?

A heavier bullet will raise the point of impact. A file to the top of the front sight blade will also raise the poi. (cringe)

I praise you for your efforts to use such an interesting firearm in seemingly perfectly working condition, but....I believe there to be better suited choices.

Good luck.

Wow. I have finally seen a firearm on here that I would keep and not fire. Normally, I advocate selling those safe queens off to someone interested in curating such a thing.

That one, however, is a beautiful relic. I'd keep that bad boy cleaned, oiled and on display in a glass case.

But, do as you will with your firearm. Congratulations on owning it.

There is a reason why I want to use this one for training, and not a modern one. On the other hand it does not mean I will shoot it often. It is more for demonstration purposes in training.

I look at all the load data available they are all pretty much similar to what I have, which is 90 gr. wadcutter. I see other brands, including round nose, top out at 100 gr and that's about it. Most of them also have the muzzle velocity at the 700s, with the exception of buffalo bore and sellier & bellot top out at 900. I am simply at a lost.

I am not a novice, as I am both an instructor and a coach. So I do understand sight picture, which makes the whole thing even more puzzling.

I will not file the front sight.

Does anyone out there has the answer to this? I read Alfred Lane's book on how to shoot a pistol and there was no useful information whatsoever on this.

Or should I use this to really demonstrate the art of point shooting at 2 yards in a CCW class? (I know it is just a joke, but really, that front sight is ridiculous).

Either there must be used to be a 150 grain load, or somehow everyone was expected to file the front sight when they received their pistol, otherwise I could not figure out a reason.

What happened if I reload it with reduce power, will it help?

Or have the competent gunsmith to tap the front sight out, and install a proper front sight (that surely is a better solution to filing the original front sight).

I am out of ideas.

Welcome to the forum!

And that's a spectacular 32 for your first thread!

Your problem is too low velocity not too high. The gun was designed and sighted for standard 32 loads, not target loads. Therefore the high front sight is to compensate for more barrel rise!

Try a couple of brands of standard velocity 32 ammo. And try it single action.

That was the first S&W designed for the then new 32 S&W Long cartridge and very likely the 32 black powder cartridges of its time were higher velocity than the smokeless loads that came after it and the current loadings.

For the little you want to shoot it, I would not hassle with doing anything to the front sight. Other than figure out how far above the rear notch you need to hold the front sight, to shoot to point of aim with the ammo you want to use. Black out the front sight above that point with a black Sharpie.

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Jim
S&WCA #819