The .32-20 Hand Ejector Thread

[Muley Gil]

"Any idea what the ballistics are on the old HV stuff to compare?"

I checked Cartridges of the World by Frank Barnes. It showed some Winchester High Velocity loads; however, these show the standard 115 grain bullet. I believe this is a misprint. These loads are: 1575 fps & 633 ft-lbs, and 1640 fps & 690 ft-lbs.

I also found reloading data for the 80 grain bullet that shows the following: 1845 fps & 608 ft-lbs, and 2220 fps and 876 ft-lbs.

The test firearm was a Winchester 1892 with a 24" barrel.



ColbyBruce,

The velocity listed is for a rifle.

[ColbyBruce]

Thank you for your efforts. I was not sure which neighbor I was going to loan the gun to for test fire purposes, LOL!!

[Muley Gil]

I just checked with a friend of mine about his .32-20. We found it in a store in Opelika, Alabama in late 1977 or early 1978. It is a 5" with an aftermarket chrome finish. It was originally shipped blue.

IIRC, it was bought with imitation pearl grips.

The serial number is 144611 and it shipped in 1939.

[Dr.-d]

Here is my 32 WCF 1902 First Change I just recently lettered. Shipped November 15, 1902 to Powell and Clement in Ohio. Sent back to the factory 10-21.

Here's my newly acquired 5" 32-20 in the 134xxx range. A real sweetheart to shoot.
Bullets and mold are Ideal 311316. Brass from Starline currently runs $175 per 1000. After the initial investment, shooting becomes cheap.

Great thread, thanks to all!

[N7BLW]

FYI, s/n 76910 shipped 8/9/1917, per info in my database.
Jim

[N7BLW]

The lowest s/n in my database that I've personally inspected is #38. When I saw it in 1992 it was owned by Ray Shoemaker, since deceased. I have #207, a badly reblued 4 inch piece.

Jim

[rburg]

Originally Posted by Dr.-d

Shipped November 15, 1902 to Powell and Clement in Ohio.

Powell and Clemmens was still up and operating back in the 1970s. It was owned by Frank "somebody's" wife. He was a city employee and for some reason couldn't own a gun store. He's still alive an kicking, appearing at all the OGCA shows at his tables on the front wall (the only tables on that wall.) Back when I worked nearby, I used to walk up to window shop at lunch. That was all I could do because the guns he had were always top notch. Engraved Brownings and the like. The guy's last name will come to me..maybe.. He's a past president of OGCA, too.

[ColbyBruce]

Does anyone know if there is a speedloader that works for a K frame .32/20?

[Hondo44]

Originally Posted by ColbyBruce

Does anyone know if there is a speedloader that works for a K frame .32/20?

Colby,
I think your in luck. When I look at cartridges that speedloaders are commonly made for, the closest size to 32-20 is 9MM which fortunately has a base slightly smaller than 32-20. Therefore it might work as is depending on brand of speedloader or worst case you'd have to trim slightly with a dremel tool.

Good luck and if you try it, let us know if it works.

[shooter7]

For those that are interested in the original Winchester H.V. 32-20 ammo velocities, etc., go to this website, that has owner's manuals on it, page7b and look up the Remington model 25 manual. In the manual, there is information regarding the ballistics of some 32-20 ammo of the time. Whether it is accurate or not, I don't know.

[rburg]

Bump...BTT

This is a good thread, it needs to be somehow linked so its easier to find when we need it or someone comes along and asks a question already answered 5 ways from Sunday.

[Muley Gil]

Originally Posted by rburg

"This is a good thread, it needs to be somehow linked so its easier to find when we need it or someone comes along and asks a question already answered 5 ways from Sunday."

Dick,

Can't we put it here:

Notable Thread Index

[handejector]

Muley,
There is a "Quote" button at bottom right that makes it easy and quick to quote a post and then comment.

Originally Posted by Muley Gil

Dick,

Can't we put it here:

Notable Thread Index

Duhhhhh, guys!
It's been in the Notable Thread Index since it was started in Dec, 2010!
Do y'all need an index to the index?


(I know Dick's old and feeble, but I thought Muley could still see.)

[jcook75]

A 32-20 w/6" barrel, round grips was handed down to me by my father yesterday. It was my great grandfathers. The SN is 11112X. No * and everything appears to be true (I will need to check behind the grips) There were no papers passed down so I don't know if my great grandfather was the original owner or not.
Unfortunately it was stored in a sheepskin holster and it did acquire pitting.
I was wondering if anyone could provide any further information on the production timeframe based on SN. I have very little knowledge about these guns except what I have been able to find here and a couple other places.
Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Jason

[shooter7]

Originally Posted by jcook75

A 32-20 w/6" barrel, round grips was handed down to me by my father yesterday. It was my great grandfathers. The SN is 11112X. No * and everything appears to be true (I will need to check behind the grips) There were no papers passed down so I don't know if my great grandfather was the original owner or not.
Unfortunately it was stored in a sheepskin holster and it did acquire pitting.
I was wondering if anyone could provide any further information on the production timeframe based on SN. I have very little knowledge about these guns except what I have been able to find here and a couple other places.
Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Jason

Jason,
Based on another 111,000 range gun I have a letter on, this gun could have been shipped out late 1922 or in 1923, but with the 32-20s, you never know how long some sat before being sent out for delivery.

[Muley Gil]

Originally Posted by handejector

(I know Dick's old and feeble, but I thought Muley could still see.)

See? See what?????????????????

[DrMark]

Mine. Re-finished. Serial Number 324XX

Is this a Model of 1905 - 1st Change, circa 1907?

Thanks.

[rburg]

Originally Posted by handejector

Muley,

(I know Dick's old and feeble, but I thought Muley could still see.)

Dern it Lee, if yer gonna describe me, at least get it right. You left out the most important part, GRUMPY.

Sometimes it changes to really grumpy. I'd expect you to know that by now.

[TimW]

Hello. I found this site and enjoyed reading all about the 32-20's and other related questions and answers.
Nice to see all the S&W revolver line living on and appreciated
by young and old alike.
Having owned two other 32-20's in the past prompted me to obtain a 3rd. It is a fine Hand Ejector with blue finish and all matching numbers in the 76000 range. I figure it must be close to a hundred or so, but the quality built into it is marvelous and very much appreciated by me and my son. Hard to believe they had that in the day, but I'm glad they did.
Somebody earlier had mentioned heat treated cylinders.
I don't think this model does. I would be thankful for some info on that as far as what to expect when shooting and reloading ammo for this revolver.
Thanks.
Tim.

[boatbum101]

OK I'll play . Was recently able to aquire this beauty . Paid more than I wanted to & really had to think about it . Truth be told it's the best looking 32-20 I'd ever seen . I couldn't resist temptation . Here she is enjoy y'all .
Andy

[aqualung71]

here is my grandpa's .32-20, serial # 27182. It's rough with broken hammer and modified barrel, but worth a mint to me in sentimental value.

[Hondo44]

Originally Posted by aqualung71

here is my grandpa's .32-20, serial # 27182. It's rough with broken hammer and modified barrel, but worth a mint to me in sentimental value.

Welcome to the forum. I wouldn't sell it at any price either! It's a family heirloom!

Do you shoot it? I wouldn't hesitate to w/standard ammunition and/or mild handloads. Hammers for those are not that hard to find if you want to make it a little more convenient to shoot single action.

[aqualung71]

Originally Posted by Hondo44

Welcome to the forum. I wouldn't sell it at any price either! It's a family heirloom!

Do you shoot it? I wouldn't hesitate to w/standard ammunition and/or mild handloads. Hammers for those are not that hard to find if you want to make it a little more convenient to shoot single action.

I haven't shot it yet, there is an issue with the ejector rod not locking up. Thanks to the advice of the great guys on this forum, i plan on taking some time this weekend to do a good thorough cleaning and see if that cure what ails it. Also been looking around for some ammo. I'll probably just order some black hills so i will have a cool looking box to display with it.

[mi2600]

Four S&Ws and two Colts:

S&W HE1898 5" 14XX Nickle
S&W HE1902 4" 121XX
S&W HE1905 4" 557XX
S&W HE1905 4" 1384XX

Colt Army 4" 4531XX
Colt Police Positive 4" 1647XX

I started buying 32-20s because I already had brass and dies from my '73 Winchester. You have to be very careful reloading because of the very thin necks. Fun to shoot the handguns with 115gr LRN bullets in front of 2.5gr of Bullseye.

Added 12-31-11:
S&W HE1914 4" 755XX

[Mel1200]

I was looking at the S&W that belonged to my Great Grandfather. Couldn't see a serial number until I removed the home made grips and was shocked to see only 4 digits (55XX)! What do I have, and any guess year of manufacture?

[Muley Gil]

Welcome to the Forum.

You have a Model of 1899. Yours was probably shipped in 1902. I presume this number came from the butt of the revolver. The same number should be on the rear of the cylinder and underneath the barrel.

[w10085]

The two revolvers aren't much to talk about. The round butt is sn 44,530 and the square butt is sn 134,742. Two shooters but they are sitting on 400 rounds of fresh reloads. I'm looking forward to making them into 400 empty cases!

[walnutred]

So what do you think the attraction of 32 WCF revolvers were “back in the day”? I’ve heard the old saw about having a rifle/pistol combination in the same caliber but I’m not sure that holds up if you look at the numbers. I know of only two “cowboy” rigs that stayed together which is admittedly a small sampling. One consisted of a 32-20 rifle for range varmint control and a 44 revolver for personal defense. The other was a 56 Spencer/44 revolver combo. If you discount military sales 32 WCF was the second most popular caliber in the SAA. After the turn of the 20th Century both Colt and S&W offered 32 WCF handguns in DA revolvers, though Smith at least seemed to have a hard time selling them.

I wonder if the 32 revolvers were more common in the east. While I have always liked the 32-20 and usually have had a couple around for me the attraction has simply been that they are fun to shoot. If I was purchasing a handgun for self-defense, even in the early 20th century, it would be hard to make a case for the 32-20. Which may be why S&W had such a hard time selling them.

[bmcgilvray]

I've heard the .32-20 chambered revolvers, both Colt and Smith & Wesson were somewhat popular with lawmen in the mid-South and Appalachia. Pretty Boy Floyd was supposedly taken down by a .32-20 though this was fired from a rifle.


It's only anecdotal but seems that some thought the .32-20 was a hot number in a revolver compared with the .38 Special. Don't know if this is really true. If it was, perhaps .32-20 owners were resorting to using the .32-20 "rifle only" loading in their revolvers as an effort to gain effectiveness.

Would love to see more about the use of .32-20 revolvers back in the day.

[Hondo44]

Skeeter Skelton was a fan of the 32-20 as the flattest shooting cartridge in the old days and also of the 38-40.

[w10085]

I thought that around the turn of the century, many police departments were armed with .32 S&W Long revolvers. If you compare the .32-20 to .32 Regulation Police then it was a hot cartridge.

[walnutred]

Originally Posted by Hondo44

Skeeter Skelton was a fan of the 32-20 as the flattest shooting cartridge in the old days and also of the 38-40.

Yes, I became interested in the 32-20 from reading a few of the gun writers like Skelton speak so fondly of it. From what I recall though most talked of it as being a small game ctg, not a self defense ctg.

W10085, that is an interesting point. Compared to 32 Long and even 38 S&W it seems hot. However but just about every revolver that was available in 32 WCF was available in 38 Special, at least in the US.

Though in the late 19th Century countries like Russia and France actually adopted ctgs similar to the 32 WCF as military ctgs.

[Muley Gil]

Don't forget that Elmer Keith was also fond of the .32-20 revolver.

In Skeeter's writings, he stated that the .32-20 was always considered a Westerner's cartridge. It probably accounted for a fair number of deer and jack rabbits.

In my experience, the .32-20 shoots a lot flatter than a .38 special.

[FastRedPonyCar]

Hey guys. A friend of mine pointed me to this thread. I inherited my grandfather's old .32-20 and I was hoping you guys could give a ballpark estimate of when it was made.

also, whether or not the gun can (or should) be cleaned up and polished back to it's original luster? One side is clean with typical scratching but the other side is corroded and the inside (cotton or wool) lining of the bag it's been stored in for who knows how long is green from the corrosion.

Thanks for any info

[Hondo44]

It'll look a lot better by polishing with Flitz or Mother's polish (for auto mag wheels). It'll do a great job on the corrosion and all the small scratches.

[N7BLW]

It probably shipped around 1909 or 1910. The nearest serial numbers with confirmed ship dates I have in my database are:
43039: 10/14/1909, 45051: 4/7/1910.

[Muley Gil]

While not a S&W, there is a thread on the Colt forum concerning Mike Malone, the IRS agent that took down Al Capone. Agent Malone carried a Police Positive Special chambered in .32-20:

The gun of the man who brought down al capone

Mods, please remove if I have violated a rule.

[Delerius]

Recently received this SW and was wondering if I would be correct in believing that it's 1905 4th change based on the serial? Also what would the value of this gun be in it's current condition?


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[trauma1]

just put my first 32-20 on layaway today. A 85% handejector with a 5 digit serial number. probably paid too much for it, but less than the 5" 38spl hand ejector($700).They do not come up for sale often around here so I jumped on this one. It is tight all the way around with a little bit of pitting here and there but nothing major. Has the factory grips numbered to the gun. All in all a perfect shooter and fell into my self imposed $500/gun limit for the year. I will post some pics when it is out.

[Muley Gil]

Delerius,

Welcome to the Forum.

Not sure how I missed your post, as I'm a HUGE .32-20 (and I like the caliber too. )

Yes, it is a 1905 4th change. Unfortunately, the condition isn't the best. The finish is pretty worn and the head of the ejector rod is really bugged by somebody with a pair of pliers.

Depending on your location, I'd put the value around $225.

[blitzedrx7]

Hey there guys... New here, first post. Friend pointed me over here when I was passed down some old S&W revolvers..

One happens to fit this thread...

Barrel is stamped "32 WINCHESTER CTG" and serial number is 75XX. Any ideas on about when it was out and about. It's in great shape.

Here's what ended up being passed down to me...

[Hondo44]

Hi and welcome to the forum! You sure came to the right place.

The 1st thing you should do is start a new thread. You have five prizes and you will not get the reading exposure limiting it to only those reading about 32-20s. You have an I frame, at least two K frames and two N frames I think. Post the serial # from the butt of each gun and the caliber of each from left to right and you'll get more info than you ever dreamed.

Go back to the list of threads for this category and click on the "New Thread" button at the top of the list.

[Kinman]

I am glad to see the number of beautiful pistols in this caliber, I hadn't seen alot of posting regarding 32-20. I just bought my first one on GB and am anxiously waiting its delivery, I really got interested in 32-20 when I bought an old 1895 Winchester from a friend and found what an interesting little cartridge it is. I've reloaded a fair number of different bullets and found that the main problem with crumpling the cases, at least from my experience was due to catching the lip of the cartridge with the edge of the deprimer stem. The cartridge needs to be firmly positioned in the case holder, like many small base cartridges and fed into the de-primer/resizer die. I also beveled the edge of the de-primer stem so that it would be a smoother transition rather than a blunt surface for the cartridge edge to catch on, haven't had a problem since and have resized at least 200 rnds.
I have a question among those that would go to the effort of re-plating a nickel pistol, who would you use. I called S&W and they informed me that they wouldn't work on a pistol that old, I've looked at a few on-line and some charged prices that I felt were ridiculus considering the probable devaluation of having the process done to an original pistol. Is it better to keep the original finish that is marginal, or have it professionally re-nickeled in terms of collector value. Or is it something one has done to satisfy their personal desire to have it looking as good as possible with no intention of letting it go having learned from previous mistakes. Thanks for all your pictures...

[Senor Chisme]

I just picked this up this weekend at the Tulsa gun show. I know it's a Hand Ejector of some sort, just don't know which model. Bore is nice and shiney with strong rifling. The finish is commensurate with a well used firearm of this vintage. The only major wart is chip out of the bottom of the left grip panel. I'll get a chance to shoot it this Friday but in the meantime, can anyone tell me what I have? Thank you.

[Russell Cottle]

Here's mine, serial no.43321

[Kinman]

32 WCF, is 32 Winchester Center Fire or 32-20. Be careful about the ammunition you fire through these old timers original factory stuff cleared the barrel with only 20 grains of black powder. Winchester Western and Remington still manufacture ammo, best prices are from "Cheaper than Dirt". That stuff is moving around 1200fps and is a 100grn lead bullet, that should be considered the maximum and only in a pistol with a clean bore. I haven't reloaded for my newly aquired 4th model but plan on using 115grn SWC and starting out around 1000fps, there are also jacketed hollow points available from Hornady in 85 and 100grn. An 85grn JHP at 1000fps would also be a good start at least from my perspective.

[SG-688]

This lump-of-rust 1899 has been my grip fitting mule for 40 years. I took it to the usual Friday night meeting to show my newly acquired pair of mid 1970's Hogue grips, but H. Richard was more interested in my mule.

To the naked eye, the serial number appears to be 01, but, as nice as that would be, I think it is probably 91.

Please excuse the saw dust.











P.S. The lockwork is OK. It's the bore and chambers that are all rust.

[Hondo44]

You have a 32-20 Hand Ejector 1st Model built on the K frame in 1899 (1st year of production) according to the 91 serial number. The star after the # on the butt shows that it was sent back to the factory for rework of some kind, probably for refinish. The date stamped on the grip frame shows this was done Sept. 1912.

[C&R Bill]

What a great thread!!!! Some absolutely lovely guns!!