Firing Pin on S&W 32 Safety

James K

James K

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 12, 2020
Messages
270
Reaction score
589
Location
Costa Mesa, CA
Just picked up this 32 Safety 3rd Model Hammerless from auction. I was not able to preview so I went with the pix and description which states at the end: "Action is crisp, bore is brilliant with sharp rifling, perhaps unfired."

The bore is brilliant with sharp rifling but when I cycle the DA, the firing pin never appears. I make sure I have the 'lemon squeezer' bar depressed but never see the firing pin protrude to the cylinder.

I'm not ready to cry foul with the auction company because they have a good rep but before I dismantle this guy(which I've never done on an one of these) I was hoping someone would have some guidance or opinion about what's up with this gun.

Any thoughts are appreciated.
 

Attachments

  • 20200814_125239.jpg
    20200814_125239.jpg
    111.1 KB · Views: 34
Take a pencil or wood dowel that will fit down the barrel and through the cylinder. Hold the gun up right, Barrel up and drop the pencil down into the the gun until it hits the recoil Shield. Pull the trigger and see if it gets launched. The hammer is a rebounding type and you may not be seeing the hammer nose when it comes through the hammer nose bushing.

Guy
 
There are three pieces to the firing pin assembly on both 32 and 38 Safety revolvers. A small pin holds the bushing in the frame and inside that is a small coil spring and firing pin. The spring holds it in a rearward position so it will not be damaged by the cylinder when opening the gun. Pictures of these parts are below. The pin should not be visible, so hold your finger over the hole with the gun broken open and pull the trigger. If you feel a finger prick, it is there, if not, you need a new one.

Simple replacement and I believe that parts for the 32 and 38 are the same. gunpartscorp.com had 38 firing pin parts that are both original used and reproductions, but claim that the 32 firing pins are out of stock. If you like the revolver and the only thing missing is the pin, just get and install a new one.

Hopefully someone will comment on whether the 32 and 38 Safety firing pins are the same or not before you order.
 

Attachments

  • Firing Pin Bushing.jpg
    Firing Pin Bushing.jpg
    39 KB · Views: 11
  • Firing Pin Spring.jpg
    Firing Pin Spring.jpg
    25.5 KB · Views: 11
  • Firing Pin.jpg
    Firing Pin.jpg
    20.7 KB · Views: 16
Last edited:
The pin should not be visible, so hold your finger over the hole with the gun broken open and pull the trigger. If you feel a finger prick, it is there, if not, you need a new one.

BRILLIANT! I yelled and scared my wife but it's the best feeling I've had since this morning! Thanks Gary!
BTW, I have a 38 Perfected and that pin you can see but I realize they are 2 different designs.
I'm happy again.
 
If you need to replace, once you remove the cross pin (making sure the handgun is unloaded) squeeze the trigger once or twice, and that will normally drive the bushing out far enough to get ahold of it and pull forward so you can remove the old pin and spring and replace. In my case, the new firing pin was a hair too large (the pin itself) to go through the bushing hole. I put the new pin in a drill press, and running at slow speed held 600 grit emery paper against the pin shaft and just polished it . This allowed the pin to correctly pass through the bushing hole.
 
Can anyone recommend a written or video tutorial for disassembly and reassembly of this model? I watched one for a 32 Safety but the grip frame bushing looked different.
According to the auction house this as a 32 Safety 3rd Model "Hammerless New Departure" Double Action Revolver. I was thinking of a re-blue.
 
Wiregrassguy said:
@JamesK --> check out Chicoine's book on Assembly/Disassembly of Antique firearms. I believe it covers all the old top breaks.
Click to expand...

I looked it up on Amazon and a few other resellers. Hot item!
Amazon wants $150. Most others are over $100.
 
Gun show Report

That’s not the only thing that’s going up. I just got home from my first gun show this year! Every show has been cancelled over and over due to the virus but this show out in the Valley went on so I decided to check it out. IT WAS PACKED! With people of all ages and races! All buying guns at unbelievably inflated prices! Mostly hand guns but also some rifles.
All attendees were wearing face masks. Plus it was 102 degrees in multiple barns with just fans running.

It was GREAT to see in California!!!


Murph
 
Get the Kindle edition for 14 bucks and put it on your cell phone. You can also put it on your laptop and your desktop. It's searchable so you can find whatever you want without having to thumb through a bunch of pages.

Guy
 
Wiregrassguy said:
Take a pencil or wood dowel that will fit down the barrel and through the cylinder. Hold the gun up right, Barrel up and drop the pencil down into the the gun until it hits the recoil Shield. Pull the trigger and see if it gets launched.
Guy
Click to expand...
Yep. I've launched many a pencil, BUT, you CAN'T drop it in and THEN pull the trigger cause the cylinder won't rotate! You have to pull the trigger till the cyl turns, drop pencil, and finish the pull.

32 Safties are notorious for breaking firing pins, so don't dry fire them!!! Even with the pencil and finger test, they can break, so use sparingly. ;)
 
Wiregrassguy said:
Get the Kindle edition for 14 bucks and put it on your cell phone. You can also put it on your laptop and your desktop. It's searchable so you can find whatever you want without having to thumb through a bunch of pages.

Guy
Click to expand...

I was hoping I could put it on my laptop. Never bought Kindle but that will work.
Thanks, Guy/Wiregrassguy.:)
 
Bought the Kindle version yesterday on Amazon for $15.
Works great. Would love the book but.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
New Departure 2nd Model firing pin question
Replies
6
Views
483
mojave30cal
mojave30cal
W
Grandpa's S&W 32 Revolver, Help Identifying ??
Replies
5
Views
712
45NUTT
45NUTT
M
32 S&W Top Break info needed
Replies
6
Views
507
Mariners
M
R
32 S&W Lemon squeezer
Replies
11
Views
803
raljr1
R
A
32 S&W short revolver
Replies
4
Views
811
glowe
glowe

Latest posts

Back
Top