I recently purchased a 1905 4th change Hand Ejector. DOB 1920-1925. It's chambered for .32 WCF. But with the double rings in the charge holes, I think its seen more than its share of .32 S&W Longs. I know it will take a lot of work to clean the charge holes but do you think the .32 Longs did any permanent damage? If .32-20 will chamber after it is cleaned up is it safe to shoot? I don't have any .32-20 currently to try.

For future reference, can .32 S&W Longs be used if cleaned well after shooting?

I am still trying to get a good pic of the double rings but no luck yet.

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a cruce salus

This has been covered here before. Read all the comments and take note of the comments on the chambering. You may need to make sure it is still a .32-20 or has a .32 SW Long cylinder dropped in place.
Shoot .32 long in .32/20?

The "double rings" you see are the end of the chamber just like any other caliber, and the shoulder of the cartridge. .32-20/W.C.F. is a bottlenecked cartridge. It is not from shooting .32 S&W Long cartridges in the revolver.

As much as many believe .32 is a .32 when it comes to neck diameter, it just isn't so. The neck of the .32 S&WL is several thousandths larger than the neck of the .32-20, and in most cases a .32 S&WL will not chamber in a .32-20 unless it has a grossly oversized neck area.

What I didn't mention is that I own a total of 11 .32-20 guns, all revolvers except one Marlin. Having never had a reason to try a .32 S&WL in any of them the above was based strictly on what "should be". I have since checked all of them and some will chamber a .32 S&WL and some won't. It seems the neck of most of my revolvers is quite generous!

And, finally, if you see both the shoulder and case mouth areas in the charge holes the cylinder has not been changed.

I really don't understand the logic (?) behind Maximumbob54's remark of "You may need to make sure it is still a .32-20 or has a .32 SW Long cylinder dropped in place." If a .32-20 will chamber it's a .32-20 cylinder, just that simple. Not to mention all you need to do is check the cylinder and frame serial numbers! Somewhat of an inane remark.

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Gunsmithing since 1961

clean it the best you can and shoot it...they are fun little revolvers....I like mine a lot.....great little gun

The logic is that he doesn't seem to have any. 32-20 ammo on hand and guys seemed to used to like swapping out the cylinder. So he may have a. 32 long cylinder in it and not know it.

"DOB 1920-1925."

Are you sure about that? The .32-20 S&Ws were in their own serial number range of about 1-144000 or so. It appears that most were shipped pre 1920.

"32-20 ammo on hand and guys seemed to used to like swapping out the cylinder. So he may have a. 32 long cylinder in it and not know it."

If this poster's cylinder has the double "rings", then it is a .32-20. I don't believe S&W made many spare K frame cylinders chambered in .32 Long to swap into .32-20s.

A lot of folks have shot .32 Long cartridges in their .32-20 revolvers, due to .32 Long being more common than .32-20. I have personally investigated two murders where the perp used a .32-20 revolver, loaded with .32 Longs.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Thanks for all the helpful input. I think I am about to get a handle on the situation. I have not been able to get a picture good enough to post of the charge holes but I will give you some more details.

I own six Smith and Wesson revolvers in three calibers but nothing older than a Terrier DOB '57. I had never seen a Hand Ejector other than in pictures until I bought this gun. It was sold to me as a Model 1903 2nd change chambered in .32 S&W Long. When I inspected the gun I looked in the charge holes (with out a bore light) and saw the first ring everything looked O.K..

When I got home and looked the gun up by the serial number (913XX) to my surprise it was a Model 1905 4th change chambered in .32 WCF. I know there is a roll mark on the barrel with 32 WCF but the guy said it was a .32 S&W Long and without my reading glasses I saw 32 and that was good enough at the time.

So, I cleaned it up and while inspecting everything with a good light to my surprise there were two sets of rings in each charge hole. My first thoughts were since it was sold as a .32 S&W Long the second ring must be from shooting .32 S&W Longs. I though the rings were basically cut into the metal by the shorter cartridge over time. Also, I thought there would be a crud build up from shooting the shorter cartridge. I did not know until reading the replies to my post that the .32-20 was a necked cartridge.

What I have learned is that both sets of rings should be there and that shooters have varying opinions on shooting .32 S&W Longs in a gun chambered for .32-20.

My LGS should have a box of .32-20's for me by the weekend and I will give the old gal a whirl. As for shooting .32 S&W Longs in the gun, I probably won't but I don't think it would hurt since that's what the previous owner shot.

Thanks to all who replied.

__________________
a cruce salus

This isn't logic, it is unwarranted supposition/conjecture. The OP describes what is seen in a .32-20 charge hole. Read Muley Gil's comments. If you have ever seen a K-frame .32 supplied by the factory with two cylinders I am sure the entire forum would be interested in this information.

Further, the OP makes it quite clear that he has not shot the gun yet.

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Gunsmithing since 1961