I picked up this HE today.LATEST UPDATE:Range Trip

[Rickkster]

Check to see if your ejector rod has worked its way out a bit. Yours will have a right-hand thread. Open the cylinder and see if you can tighten the rod into the ejector star by hand. If it has un-screwed a bit it is longer and will drag the lug as described. I bet this is the problem.

Also, while it's impossible to make an evaluation from the photos, I don't see any obvious rings, waves, or bulges on the outside of your barrel. That's encouraging!

CptCurl,

You nailed it! I guess I have been just thinking a little fuzzy since yesterday, and I completely forgot to check to see if the ejector rod had worked out. That was it! I put three empty cases in the cylinder, and turned the rod with just finger pressure. It felt like it turned 1.5-2 turns maybe. The cylinder opens and closes normally now. Thank you!

Now to wait and see what the Gunsmith says.

Cheers,

Rick

 

[Art Doc]

I do not believe you have bulged the barrel. The line of reflected light running down the side is a good way to check. Any bulge shows up in the reflected area and I see none on yours.

That's wild about the bullets stacking up like that. You didn't notice the first one not firing properly? A 2.7 grain charge is very light. I wonder if it was too light and a bullet could not clear the bore?

When I was looking for a 32-20 I found a huge number had a bulged barrel or had been chopped suggesting it was bulged at one time.

 

[Rickkster]

I do not believe you have bulged the barrel. The line of reflected light running down the side is a good way to check. Any bulge shows up in the reflected area and I see none on yours.

That's wild about the bullets stacking up like that. You didn't notice the first one not firing properly? A 2.7 grain charge is very light. I wonder if it was too light and a bullet could not clear the bore?

When I was looking for a 32-20 I found a huge number had a bulged barrel or had been chopped suggesting it was bulged at one time.

SP,

No, I have been beating myself up over the fact that I didn't notice anything. These were actually loaded with a 2.4 grain charge of Trail Boss. Hodgdon's starting load with 100 grain bullets is 2.2 grains.

Accuracy was poor, and bullets were not grouping well at all. In hindsight I should have shot at a clean target for every cylinder full, but did not. At first I thought I was just missing the target because I was trying to figure out where POI was in relation to POA.

I am pretty confident that the last cylinder full stacked the bullets in the bore. My thinking now is to pull all the bullets from my handloads, dump the charge and start over.

Edited to add: Hodgdon's lists 2.5 grains of Trail Boss as a starting load with a 90 grain cast bullet, and 2.2 grains as a starting load with a 115 grain cast bullet. I loaded these with 100 grain Rainier plated bullets. So I went with a starting load between the two that Hodgdon has listed.

Cheers,

Rick

 

[CptCurl]

SaxonPig is seeing the same thing as I.

If this were my gun I would certainly throw a little heat on the barrel by way of a propane torch before I would head to the gunsmith. You can use normal electrical or plumbing solder to check your temperature. When the outside of the barrel will melt the solder you are there.

 

[H Richard]

Did I recall you had loaded with jacketed bullets? It may have been possible the added drag of the copper plating was enough to keep the bullet from exiting with the very mild load.

I had a similar situation happen to me. I was loading .38 Special with 148 gr WC (swagged) over 3.0 gr 231 and 2.7 gr bullseye for a comparison shoot to see if there was any difference in accuracy. I was using a Colt Officers Model Target. When I got a squib (luckily I noticed it and had a range rod with me and easily tapped it out, it had barely gotten past the forcing cone. Then I got a second squib. I know something was wrong, so I went home and pulled the bullets and only 4 of the 25 rounds I had loaded for the test had any powder. I was mystified. I had loaded on my Dillon 550, and have never had a squib loading on it until now. I did remember I had gotten busy a week prior and did a tear down and thorough cleaning of the Dillon. I went back inspecting everything. The little spacer bar on the top of the powder measure powder bar has a little groove in it to clear the square nylon part when you activate the powder measure. Well, I had put the bar in backwards, and the groove was on the other side where it did no good. I corrected the situation, and have not had a problem since.

 

[boatbum101]

My friend get rid of those plated bullets . Plenty of good cast bullets available . Especially if you're going to shoot light loads . I saw an extractor get blown out of a pristine Model 52 from 3.3gr Bullseye & a Berry's plated 148HBWC . They take a hotter load to get them out the barrel . Plenty of casters offer cowboy action softer alloy bullets in 32 caliber . I hope you come out OK & barrel isn't bulged .

 

[Rickkster]

My four inch HE is at the Gunsmith. I did consider trying my propane torch, but decided to take the gun to him instead. He was not as far away as I first thought. I stayed and chatted with him a while and he is a personable guy. I guess I will see how he does. It would be nice to know of a good 'smith not too far away from me. He told me that with the work he has there now, it could take a couple of weeks before I get my gun back. That is fine with me.

Also, I have used plated bullets in a number of different loads and calibers with no issues. However, all of them were loaded more robust than these. Not hot; but peppier. I generally use the plated when I don't have any of my cast on hand. I think there are two possibilities on what happened, either a squib that I didn't hear or feel the difference on, or these were just loaded too light. I will be breaking down all of my .32-20 handloaded rounds and starting over.

These bullets have worked well in my 1895 Nagant in reformed .32-20 cases. I also use Trail Boss in those but the powder charge is higher. The Nagant just eats them up, and is relatively accurate. It just has an extremely heavy trigger pull and I wanted a S&W in this caliber to own and shoot.

The RCBS 32-98-SWC mold I ordered is here now and I will be using 1/20 alloy. I might get some cast today since it is a "dark & stormy" day out there.

Thank you everyone again for all of your replies! This forum is a great place to spend time on!

Cheers,

Rick

 

[mikepriwer]

Rick

Be sure to let us know how the gunsmith does, on cleaning out the barrel. Two or three
week turnaround is very fast.

Regards, Mike Priwer

 

[Alk8944]

One of these three drill bit sizes ought to clean that barrel out .

8mm .315"
8.0264mm .316" O
8.2042mm .323" P

I would think that a jobber "O" bit might be just what you need. I don't know what the
exact dimensions of a 32 caliber barrel are.

Mike Priwer

Obviously! The groove diameter of a .32 S&W, any cartridge, runs .311-.
314, usually no larger than .312. Any of the drills you have suggested will leave the man with a rough, oversized, smoothbore!

 

[H Richard]

I would think the gunsmith would drill a "small" hole, then screw a worm into the bullet, and using a "puller" extract one at a time.

 

[jmcghee]

removing stuck bullets

I know you took the gun to the smith.In the future if you stick bullets there is an easy way to remove them.Prop the gun barrel up.Fill it with bore cleaner.It will work its way down the bore and loosen the bullets.Sometimes takes several days, and fillings of cleaner.The cleaner gets between the bore and bullets,it dissolves them, mostly in that crack. Push the bullets out with a brass rod and maul.The key is patience.

 

[Texas1941]

I would think the gunsmith would drill a "small" hole, then screw a worm into the bullet, and using a "puller" extract one at a time.

My passport really isn't good for this part of the forum, but it's hard not to follow a thread like this involving such cool revolvers.

Though largely forgotten now, it was once very common for FMJ factory bullets to stick in the bore on M1917 revolvers. For some reason, this was thought to be more likely with ammunition made in the teens and twenties.

I saw this happen about 1963. The bullet was removed with a worm after the jacket was breached with a drill. As I recall, the whole thing was done in a drill press and took about two minutes.

I do remember the "gunsmith" (he had a feed store in Alvin) said that he made the worm because people kept showing up with stuck bullets, asking for help.

Good luck with what I hope will be a small problem.

 

[Rickkster]

No update on my HE at the Gunsmith, but I did cast 300 of the RCBS 32-98-SWC's on Saturday. I just sized and lubed 50 of them that I will try in my HE with the five inch barrel. Also, I pulled the bullets out of the 44 rounds I had left that were loaded with the 2.5 grain charge of Trail Boss.

The remaining rounds loaded with the 2.4 grain charge, are at the Gunsmith's. He said he won't be shooting them, but wanted to see what I had shot in the gun. I also left a partial box of the Rainier plated bullets with him, plus a full box of Ultramax factory Cowboy loads in .32-20.

Now I need to decide on a powder charge for the next handloads. I grabbed my old copy of "Pet Loads", and have been reading Ken Waters' article on loading the .32-20 for revolvers. I would still like to use Trail Boss and will also probably load some with Unique. Ken Waters' pet load was with SR-4756, but I don't have that powder. Also, I ordered Handloader #252, since Brian Pearce did an article on loading the .32-20 in that issue.

I didn't ask the Gunsmith how he was going to remove the bullets, however the small drilled hole with a worm seems likely to me. But, I really am not certain. Once again, thank you everyone for your replies and interest.

Cheers,

Rick

 

[Rickkster]

Bore Pics as best as I could get.

Well, it's back home. They don't show up much at all in the pics and I tried from a lot of different angles, but I can now see some rings in the barrel when I look through the bore with my bore light. They are in about two or maybe three areas. When I look down the bore, the rings look like "shadows".

I am going to try to get to the range this week, but we have a family outing on Saturday so I'm not sure if I will be able to get out. Depending on how it shoots, I might start looking for a barrel.....or maybe not. Currently just pretty unhappy with myself.

Cheers,

Rick

 

[Wiregrassguy]

Cheer up, Rick. It doesn't look that bad to me. You should see the bore of some mil surp guns and they still shoot accurately. How did the gunsmith remove the bullets? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Rickkster]

Cheer up, Rick. It doesn't look that bad to me. You should see the bore of some mil surp guns and they still shoot accurately. How did the gunsmith remove the bullets? Inquiring minds want to know.

Guy,

It's funny, but I never asked him how he got the bullets out. There were five in the bore though. Yeah, that really makes me feel like a dummy! I left the bullets at his place, I am trying to get back in touch with him to see if he still has them.

You are right about the mil surps. I have had some that the bores were absolutely horrible looking that shot fairly well. I think what bothers me the most this time is that I caused this problem. Sure, I'll get over it....eventually ;-)

I have a box of 50 rounds loaded up for each HE. I used a 2.7 grain charge of Trail Boss this time under the RCBS 32-98-SWC's. They weigh 103 grains with my alloy. I am going to try and get to the range tomorrow if I can. Whenever I do, I will update here. Thanks!

Cheers,

Rick

 

[Wiregrassguy]

Look on the bright side. You now have a conversation piece for the local gun club.

 

[Rickkster]

Look on the bright side. You now have a conversation piece for the local gun club.

Haha, but Guy, I have never wanted to be that guy.... ;-)

Cheers,

Rick

 

[Hondo44]

I don't see a thing and I don't feel you'll be able to tell one iota of difference in accuracy! You "dodged a bullet".

 

[Rickkster]

Range Trip Info

I don't see a thing and I don't feel you'll be able to tell one iota of difference in accuracy! You "dodged a bullet".

Hondo,

That same thought went through my mind, haha. Below are the results of my trip to the range this morning. It was a beautiful morning (still very nice outside here), sixty-three degrees and sunny. Beautiful blue sky with the giant white "cotton ball" clouds.

I got to the range early so I could set up my chronograph. With me I brought the two boxes of my handloads with the RCBS 32-98-SWC (103 grains), over 2.7 grains of Trail Boss, and a box of Ultramax 115 grain Cowboy loads. It was an interesting time. No problems! That was a very nice difference from my last range trip with these two HE's.

Below are some targets and velocity details. It is funny, but the 4" HE (the one that has had a rough life for the short time it has been with me) shoots my handloads a little faster than the 5" HE.

I know that can happen, but this is the first time I have had these results with a shorter barrel being faster than a longer barrel using the same loads . I will probably continue to develop my loads for this caliber. Right now I am thinking some different powders and probably a heavier RNFP. The five inch HE shoots more to the left for me, and the four inch slightly more to the right. Practical accuracy is very similar.

I did use a ten shot average with my handloads since I had two boxes, but only used a six shot average with the Ultramax since I just had the one box.

Thanks for sticking with me this far everyone! (Btw, I can't explain why the carpet I had the targets on, looks different between the handload targets and the Ultramax targets. The carpet is tan, go figure.)

Cheers,

Rick

4" HE with my handloads:

4" HE with the Ultramax Factory Cowboy loads:

5" HE with my handloads:

5" HE with the Ultramax Factory Cowboy loads (the hole off to the left was a called flyer):

4" HE Velocity:
Handload= 665.20 Ten shot average
Ultramax= 746.05 Six shot average

5" HE Velocity:
Handload= 651.86 Ten shot average
Ultramax= 754.27 Six shot average