I got lucky! At least, given ammo prices here in Canada, I think I did. I picked up a box of .32 rimfire long ammo made by C.I.L., probably in the 60's. It's in very good shape with no signs of corrosion and only some oxidization of the lead and polymerization of the lube. It cost me $425. for a full box of 50 and a part box of 40. Not that I intend to shoot it a lot, but I have an antique revolver in that caliber for the wife.

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Congratulations! I don't know how rare .32 RF is in Canada, but personally it's been many years since I've encountered any in either Texas or Florida.

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Dave Brown
SWCA #3279

I got this 32 Short Rimfire near perfect box, this past summer, I have a Marlin 92, but will not shoot them.

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I believe CIL continued making .32 RF for quite awhile after the U. S. manufacturers stopped making it. I have several boxes, but no guns in that caliber. I think the .32 RFs were used mostly in Stevens single shot rifles. I believe the Navy Arms .32 RF ammunition was imported from Brazil up until around the 1980s, and it once was fairly commonly seen at gun shows.

The CIL box is the same as this 22 box that was made from 1957 to 1960.



The Navy Arms box is from the late 1980s to the 1990s and they were imported and marketed by Navy Arms, being manufactured in Brazil.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

How much did that ammo cost you? Is that a typo or did you really spend $425.00 on it.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

I use to go up to Canada every year. Some years several times. In 60s and 70s. Would prowl the stores in northern Ontario & Quebec for ammo. I bought a lot of Rimfire ammo. By middle 70s it had pretty well dried up. I wasn’t only one buying up Odd Ammo.
Ammo wasn’t cheap either. I always bootlegged 22s and shotgun ammo in for Canadian friends. Never left Canada with any ammo or canned goods.

Good grief! At that price I'd bought a nice 32 rf rifle, say a zremington rolling block #4, or one of the old SW tip up revolvers!
Have decided it is better to go the route of the new cases modified to use 22 blanks. They are not cheap but completely reusable. And would have enough left to buy a heeled bullet mold to go with it.

John

Besides the Marlin lever action mentioned (that took 32 RF as well as a 32 CF equivalent to 32 Colt by the simple expedient of exchanging firing pins) there was also a 32 Ballard with reversible firing pin that took both and a Winchester low wall available in 32 RF. Steven’s, H&R and others made 32 RF rifles too. I inherited a pocket revolver labeled American Bulldog, IIRC that also took 32 RF. Unfortunately, all of this ammo now falls into the collectible category and much of it has become unreliable to shoot. For whatever reason 32 RF doesn’t seem to age as well as 22 RF.

Froggie

No mon ami, not a typo! Ammo prices up here would be a shocker to most of my southern neighbours, and obsolete ammo is more often relegated to collector as opposed to shooter status. Viable out-of-production ammo is not too thick on the ground and the costs reflect that. Lots of old guns floating around that are looking for food so the .38 rf, .32 rf., or the .25 rf. will make you dig deep into your pocket. What I paid is actually cheap, given that the best price I've seen recently was $275. for a box of .32 rf shorts. Realistically, resale value on this stuff would be over $500., but of course that's in the Canadian peso.

A very good condition S&W first mod.1-1/2 in .32 rf. will run $800-$1100. up here for the 4" barrel ones. High condition and the longer barrel models will run about $1000. more. If you want to have a heart attack, go to "Old Guns Canada", check out his stock and his prices. Canadian dollars notwithstanding, I envy you guys in the US (at least most states) with what is available to you and the pricing.

I can usually get @ $3 a round (depending on how clean it is) for loose 32 rim fire at the gun shows around here. No guarantee of firing though, I sell it as collectible stuff. Some of the guys who buy it just want a couple rounds to go with an inherited gun, some already have a partial box and are hoping to find enough correct rounds to fill it. Full boxes in good shape can bring a premium too. Many collectors are into the boxes, a sealed box (with the ld wrap around labels can bring a very good price.

The only stuff I sell as shootable ammo is the CIL and the later Navy Arms stuff. CIL was still producing into the 70's I believe and in my experience is still reliable. The Navy Arms stuff was made later, last lot I know of was made in the late 90's. Navy Arms finally sold out of it @ 2008 or so. I bought a case of it for resale from their booth at the Chantilly show and was told that was the last of it. None has been made since, probably took too long to sell to invest in more. Though there is still a demand, prices on the shootable stuff just keeps climbing. I've even seen discussions on how to re-prime a case and reload the stuff on the Cast Boolits forum.

S&W 32 rimfire is not the same as Colt 32 rimfire. The case diameter is the smaller than S&W rimfire. Colt is a heal type bullet therefore the case is the same size as the bullet. 32 S&W bullet is not heel type so the case is larger to allow the bullet to seat in the case.
SWCA 892

I think you might be confusing the .32 Colt CF with the .32 S&W CF. There indeed were .32 RF and .32 Colt RF cartridges, but they were dimensionally the same. The CF versions are not interchangeable, as the .32 S&W CF case has a larger diameter than the .32 Colt CF. Always something to look for if you ever consider buying an old Colt .32 revolver. Colt made revolvers chambered in both .32 Colt and .32 S&W.

AFAIK, there is no such thing as a "S&W 32 RF". Since the 32 RF was not a proprietary cartridge, all of the 32 RF revolvers and rifles used a common cartridge. As DWalt suggests, you may be transposing the CF with RF rounds... they did have proprietary designs, with Colt and S&W making their own. Each had its advantages and disadvantages. The Colt was outside lubricated with a heel type bullet, so it had the same external dimensions as the RF round, making reversible firing pins useful. The S&W had internally lubed bullets, so the case was slightly larger in diameter.

If the 32 RF had remained introduction (both guns and ammo) the Colt 32 would probably have stayed around longer as well and perhaps even outsold the S&W 32s, but one never knows.

Froggie