Just added a 431 PD to my .32 collection! Now I have the 16-4, the 632 Pro carry, the 432 and the 431. I'll need to add the 331 now that I know about it. I'll add pics once the 431 comes!
Great bobcat Hammerdown! I owe you some thanks - I read your post on the 16-4 you had converted by Bowen Classic Arms and that's what got me started on the 16-4 - I was already a fan of the .32 H&R. I also REALLY like your 632.
Now I think I'll have to start reloading. With my .32 and .327 revolvers, and the .338-06 elk rifle I'm buying, it is clearly the next step for me.
Hello PoorKnight
I appreciate your kind words. My Model 16-4 has not been roll marked barrel stamped as Federal .327 By Bowen. I wanted to leave the factory stamps original so I Just supplied him with the cylinder & Crane assembly. He had to re-blue my cylinder twice once it was converted so that it's color and shine would match the rest of my gun. It came out nice in the end, but had to be redone by Bowen, which Frustrated him a Little as he does not like to be criticized for his work, but my cylinder did not come close to matching my gun as it looked more like it was Intended for a model 28 Highway Patrolman with it's rather low gloss bluing finish, one good thing was that I live only about 20 Minutes from his shop here in East Tennessee so I did not have to ship my part's or waste time in getting it refinished, as I returned the same day that I got it from him after our phone conversion, and the elapsed time that it took me to return to his shop this time with the gun & cylinder in hand he could see the major difference in the bluing finishes comparing gun frame to cylinder looks.
By selling me the 200 Round's of once fired Federal .327 Magnum Brass when I picked up the gun's cylinder, it allowed me to have it with me during my Deer hunting less than a week after it left his shop, which in turn allowed me to Harvest the large Bobcat with it. That Hunting day was one I will Never forget as the Federal .327 Magnum Cartridge really proved itself to me with it's Supreme accuracy and speed as that Big Cat never saw it coming at him, nor never moved once he was hit with the 90 Grain Sierra Sport's Master slug I had hand loaded for it.
To really see the Federal .327 Magnum cartridge Shine, one must hand load for it to Tailor the load to the gun that it is going to be fired in, I have found my Re-load's do far better than factory ammo in my gun.
I have No Regret's in having my Model 16-4 converted to the Federal .327 Magnum cartridge. It now can fire the following caliber's... .32 S&W, .32 S&W Long, .32 H&R Magnum and the converted Federal .327 Magnum cartridge. I can tell you that after Bowen finished my conversion that my gun actually Grouped tighter with all facet's of the rounds mentioned above and I called and asked him why this was now true of it's performance ? He shared with me that he Matches all of the cylinder throat's when he convert's these gun's to the Federal .327 Magnum and I feel this move alone that he perform's is what attribute's to the guns finer Tack driver accuracy now. Before I had my gun converted I had Taken the .32 H&R Magnum as far as I could go with it. In re-loading for it I was filling the cases to almost a compressed load state with Magnum powder and the load was so Hot that it was blowing the standard Small magnum Pistol primer's Out, so I had to switch over to small Rifle primer's in my starline cases to get further with my velocity of the load's. I can tell you that through all of my hand loading for the .32 H&R Magnum round, that it actually liked the load's hotter and responded with very high accuracy, as I slowly climbed the velocity scale with powder increases. I knew having it switched over to the Federal .327 magnum cartridge would allow me more case room for even higher yet velocity and accuracy potential out of this gun. Put Plainly the S&W model 16-4 can handle anything you load it with due to it's very thick cylinder wall's and it comes through with very accurate target results.
It has been asked several times in the past and even in this Thread if Bowen can convert a Previous .32 S&W Long cartridge revolver over to the new Federal .327 Magnum. I too asked MR. Bowen this question and he simply will not do it nor could he as the cylinder's in those gun's are not long enough to take the entire length of the Federal .327 Magnum. Even if they were long enough to accept the Federal .327 Magnum the gun could not withstand the Huge cartridge Pressure differences between the .32 Long Cartridge round compared to the Federal .327 Magnum. The .32 S&W Long Cartridge SAAMI Pressure is a Mild 15,000 as the .32 H&R Magnum is 21,000 CUP but as we look at the Federal .327 Magnum pressure it has a Huge Major difference being 45,000 P.S.I in case head pressure, so in my eyes an attempt to convert any revolver originally chambered from the time honored .32 S&W Long Cartridge would be a disaster and Major Liability... and the result's would more than Likely be..KA-BOOM...
As I mentioned earlier in my response, I have had just about every handgun S&W Produced in the .32 H&R Magnum cartridge & at one time I had a Model 331 early on when they were available from the factory and bought it New for $475.00 shipped to my FFL Guy. Shortly after getting it about a Month to be exact, I had a barrel loosening issue with mine.
I had been carrying it daily and went to the range to fire some hand load's of mine through it. When I drew it out of my Holster I heard a weird Rattling noise. I found the actual barrel insert Loose and unscrewed it with my Thumb from it's outer shroud. I then went home and called S&W service to tell them about it and they had me ship it back into them for repairs. They told me that some of the model 331's had this barrel Loosening issue as the machine that Tighten's the barrel into the gun's frame had some issue in getting them tightly in Place & I sure was Glad that day that I did hear that rattle as firing it like that may have been the end of it's life with a Loose Barrel in it's outer shroud.
While it was at the factory for it's Barrel loosening issues they refinished it as Much of the silver finish had worn off Very prematurely, and I expressed to them that I was not impressed with the gun's finish.
Once it arrived back home I swapped it off for a model 631 Lady Smith, as a follow up conversation with them in S&W service revealed that these guns have a Machine sprayed on finish
I did not like the idea of carrying a Spray Painted gun, as the service guy told me that they had changed nothing in their guns finish application procedure when they refinished mine for me, so later on he said that I could count on it that the finish would flake off or wear very quickly again.
I had the Model 631 Lady-Smith stainless revolver for almost Five Years before I swapped it off and got my Model 431 P.D. Revolver which I still have and carry daily.
But The Model 431 P.D. Had a Problem with it as well so it too has been back to the factory. Shortly after getting it new in Box, I was cleaning it one day after firing roughly 300 Round's through it when I realized that it had some small Chunk's of it's cylinder Extractor star missing.
I again called S&W service and they sent a shipping label to me for the gun to be returned to them as these missing pieces would not allow proper lock up in battery mode. They replaced my extractor and returned the gun to me and it has been fine since it came back home back in the summer of 2009.
The Model 631 Lady-Smith was a fine shooter but given the fact it was made totaly out of stainless it weighed a Lot more than the Air-Weight's do so I much Prefer carrying my 431 P.D. revolver now, as I got spolied carrying that model 331 Ti-Scan revolver only weighing 11 O.Z. empty the exact same weight of my current carry gun the model 431 P.D. revolver. In the past I also had a Model 631 Kit Gun with a 4" Barrel. I got it brand new in the box as shown, but was Kind of disapointed with it's accuracy Issue. I hand loaded many different load's for it but could never get the gun to settle down to deliver good accurate tight shot group's on Target so it to was traded off, as I am as much a Shooter as I am a collector of these S&W's so if they don't shoot, & Shoot Good good they have to go.
There was a huge Magazine article written by John Taffin on these Model 631 Kit Guns where he Tested one when they first came out and he too had accuracy issues with the one that he had used for Testing & Evaluating in that article, so I know it was not just me as far as the gun's accuracy went.
I have found that the black oxide finish model 431's finish wears much less than the factory's silver finishes did after much carry time, so I am very Pleased with the durability of my Model 431... Here is how my model 331 Looked when I shipped it back to S&W for repairs... along with some Honorable Mentions chambered in .32 H&R Magnum that I have had along the way.
If you have any question's about these guns I have mentioned feel free to P.M. me here I would be more than happy to tell you how they faired and perhap's keep you from getting something you may not enjoy in the end. I have Liked all of The S&W's I have had chambered in .32 H&R Magnum caliber, but some have done far better than other's as far as shooting goes. Sorry for the Long winded response here, but as you can see I am Very Passionate about the .32 round, and I hope some of my information here is helpful to someone... Hammerdown
The S&W Model 331 Ti-Scan- Air-Weight Revolver
The S&W Model 631-4" Kit Gun Revolver chambered in .32 H&R Magnum
The Model 631 Lady-Smith Revolver chambered in .32 H&R Magnum
