Greetings. Brand new to the forum. I inherited a 1905 .32/20 Hand Ejector (Fourth Change) from my dad, who got it from his step-dad. I have never fired it, and I don't believe it has been fired for over 50 years. I did have a gunsmith check it out, and it is serviceable. I want to make sure that I put the right kind of round through it when I start shooting it, so am asking for advice from you folks who are familiar with this gun. I have received a letter of authenticity from the S&W Historical Foundation, so I know it is not one of the Spanish copies I have heard about. The revolver was manufactured in January 1920. Any recommendations for specific ammunition to purchase for use with this gun will be appreciated. Thanks.

Welcome! Any modern factory .32/20 ammunition will work fine, it is lightly loaded for use in older guns but not cheap. One of my usual Internet sources has Remington 100 gr lead but at $47/50 rounds...careful shopping will find you some for less.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Welcome to the forum Any 32-20 you can find made today will be perfectly fine I have bought HSM 32-20 Cowboy from Cabelas that works fine. I see you are in Tn depending where you live Cabelas might be a good option. I have ordered it from them and had it shipped to the Bowling Green Ky store saving me shipping. I have three S&W's chambered in 32-20 so I have set up to reload it.

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Randy

I have a 4" S&W 1902 model made in 1902 and a 5" Colt Police Positive Special, made in 1919. Both shoot best with non-jacketed bullets (like required in cowboy action shooting.

The 1920's "High Speed" rifle ammo is of a higher pressure and considered to be unsafe in these old double action revolvers. All M&P revolvers in 32-20 were made in 1929 or before! But may not have been shipped until as late as the 1950's

Ivan

Welcome to the Forum. Any standard manufacture 32-20 ammunition will be fine for your revolver as long as it is in good condition and functions properly. Remember that these guns were made on standard K frames that were designed for 38 Special ammo, so the metal surrounding the chamber walls and the barrel thickness is increased substantially. This model in 32 caliber has all kinds of strength, so no worries in shooting them.

Photos of a couple of my shooters, 32 & 38 HEs.

Attached Images

	P1010001.jpg (91.0 KB, 90 views)
	P1010003.jpg (75.5 KB, 72 views)

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Georgia Arms sells 32-20 ammo that works well and is reasonable in cost.

Welcome to the S&W Forum, (and thank you for your service). Older S&W's are lots of fun to shoot. Even the pre-1900 stub triggers.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

The 32-20 is one of those calibers that demands loading your own as ammo is hard to find and pricey when you do. Think about getting started with a simple press. I did in 1976 and now I load 30 calibers including the 32-20. I can make a box for about six bucks.

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No life story has happy end.

The .32-20 high velocity load, which used a lightweight metal-jacketed hollow point bullet, was intended for use in rifles only (and not even all rifles), but many also used it in revolvers. The risk was the possibility of splitting the barrel in the forcing cone area just ahead of the cylinder. HV ammo has not been factory loaded for over 50 years, so it is unlikely you will find any for sale today. If you plan to shoot your M&P much, it is best that you consider reloading.

Just in case you happen to find some of these, (ammunition with this bullet) at a gun show, do not shoot them in a revolver, this is the "Hi-Speed" load. Click on or "mouse over" the thumbnail to enlarge.

Attached Images

Hi-Speed .32-20.jpg (97.3 KB, 133 views)

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Gunsmithing since 1961

Is that the ammo that has the "HV" head stamp? If so, can you show a picture of it?

Welcome to the Forum, jbryant916. Please avoid anyone's reloaded ammo except someone you trust. Sometimes, you find reloaded ammo at gun shows. Make sure it comes from a reputable manufacturer, like Georgia Arms. They make good stuff.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Thanks to you all for the information. Although I did some target shooting as a kid and was .38 qualified in the service, it's been so long since I did any shooting I'm essentially a beginner at this point. So, it might be a while before I'm loading my own ammo, as I think I need to get comfortable even shooting first. But, as you good folks are mostly saying the ammunition can get expensive, maybe I will get into that at some point. One of my friends/neighbors does that, so I am sure he can give me some pointers on it.

Again, thanks for the warm welcome and for all your responses. I am looking forward to shooting my .32-20!

I see that Georgia Arms has both Remington and Winchester .32 S&W 85 grain lead round nose available for $32 per box. Will either of these work ok in my .32-20 Hand-Ejector, and is the price about as reasonable as I could expect? Thanks for your responses and expertise.

Oops. They are both out of stock. Cabelas has Winchester .32-20 available, but it's 115 grain--same price. Would that work?

Buy the .32-20 ammo from Cabela's. .32 S&W Long is incorrect for a .32-20 revolver. However, if that was the only ammo you had on hand, it will fire, but the cases swell and are unusable.

I have worked two homicides where the offender used .32 Long in a .32-20 revolver. Worked good enough to kill.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

No one will recommend using any ammunition other than .32-20. It is available from internet sources, but the shipping cost will be considerable for just one or two boxes. Problem is that it is not often stocked by retail stores as it's a slow mover. You might get a local gun shop to special order it for you, or you possibly could find some at a gun show. You can estimate your cost at close to $1 per round.

I ordered a couple of boxes from Cabela's. With tax, it came to $70.22. No shipping charge, but it will take about 10 days to get them, which is fine for me. Thanks much for the assistance!

Welcome to the forum. I got some 32-20, 115 gr Ultra Max from Sportsman's Guide last year for about $35 for 50 rounds shipped.
It may have been some kind of shipping deal, I can't remember, but
it worked great in my 1921 S&W. Some places have free shipping for 1st time buyers.

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Mike, AmVets Member, Navy Vet

Welcome to the forum, lots of good advice from previous responders. If you like to haunt pawn shops keep your eyes peeled for White Box Winchester and Green/Yellow boxed Remington, both work very well in your 4th change.
I have to agree that 32-20 is an excellent cartridge to get started reloading for, you can really get the costs down especially if you cast your own bullets...as was once told to me "Your not really reloading until you cast your own bullets."
If you get started loading something like 32-20 it will teach you to be "gentle" as the case mouth is very tender and will tend to crush if ham-handed while de-priming.
I put 32-20 right up there near the top of the list for "fun". If you can't have fun shooting it, take up golf.

Welcome from Va.

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Roger

Well, it is now two months later, and I will finally be shooting my .32/20 hand-ejector (1905, 4th Change) next week, as part of a class to bring me up to speed on handgun basics I'm taking at a local range (Range USA in Memphis, TN). I have purchased 32-20 WIN 115 grain, round nose flat point cowboy action lead ammo from Cabelas that was recommended here. A couple of rookie questions: 1) I have 13 rounds that were in the holster belt that I got when I acquired the gun from my dad. I suspect they are, at a minimum, 50-60 years old. The bottom of the shell says "REM-UMC .32-20 WIN." They are the same length, flat-nosed and look very similar to the Cabela's cowboy rounds I just recently purchased. They have been kept inside and dry for at least the last 30 years, I'm sure. Are they safe to shoot? 2) Way before I sought information from you fine folks who know this gun very well, I purchased some Remington UMC 32 Automatic 71 grain MC L32AP ammo. Should I shoot this with my 4th Change?
Thanks much in advance for your expertise!

The old 32/20 ammo should work fine. I wouldn't fire the 32auto in this gun. I'm not sure if it has enough rim diameter to fire. Accuracy would be
lousy since 32auto is generally smaller diameter bullet. Would most likely
split cases. So not really any point in doing it. I had a 8mm 1892 French
revolver back when I was young and dumb. In some article I saw they said
you could use 32 longs in it. I was young and dumb but did a cease fire after 2 or 3 shots. Cases were splitting, gun smoking and hit nowhere close to where I was aiming. This kind of thing may not damage the gun
but why do it? The only thing you are going to get is a bang.

Whenever a question about a 32-20 revolver is posted the usual "Don't use the high-speed ammo" warnings come out. I guess there must be instances of revolvers blowing up because of this ammo but I've never heard of any. Probably because the ammo is so rare.

But there is an ammo warning that is much more relevant... Shooting 32-20 ammo that is loaded too light. I think this is the number one caliber that suffers from bulged barrels due to a bullet stuck in the bore followed by another round. I have a Colt Army Special in wonderful condition that has a later "Official Police" 32-20 barrel, almost surely replaced due to a bulged barrel.


Others have noticed this too.

Model 1902 32-20 with bulged barrel

Bulge at end of barrel beneath sight on 1905_Ejector

Reloading Data 32-20 Needed

I still see the Hi Vel 32/20 at a lot of shows, I've got a few boxes myself.
I've never seen a S&W or Colt that had cylinder blown out or cracked but
have seen Spanish copies with damage. Not necessarily from HI Vel just
modern smokeless loads. Thin chamber walls along with corrodsion from
BP loads is accident waiting to happen. Steel is not the best either.

There is no definitive documentation to support or refute the theory that shooting 32-20 rifle ammo will cause catastrophic damage to a handgun. Also, it is practically a given that, in the old days, HV ammo was shot in these guns without issue. The only reference for pressure of this caliber is found in SAAMI, stating that the maximum pressure for 32-20 in rifles is 16,000 psi. SAAMI does not document pressures for revolvers, but do state HV is unsafe to use in revolvers. There are other sources out there that state higher pressures than SAAMI for certain loadings.

Looking at published load data, it appears that a 100 grain bullet loads run up to 1100 fps in revolvers and up to around 1700 fps in rifle loads. A 1955 Lyman Ideal Reloading Handbook has many loads for 32 Winchester in both revolvers and rifles. The manual is pre-model S&W era and so would have been published for use in vintage S&Ws and high powered rifles as well. Rifle velocities for 100 grain GC Lead bullets ran from 1415 fps to 1730 fps with 2400 powder and from 1500 fps to 1600 fps with 5.5 to 6.5 grains of Unique powder. Compare these rifle loadings to Lyman’s published loads for revolvers and you will find 100 grain bullet with 5.5 grains of Unique powder as a 1065 fps load. It is interesting that the slowest load for revolvers was listed as 850 fps and most loads were in the 900 to 1050 fps range.

I am sure that many of us have shot revolver ammo in rifles and the results are typically much higher velocities for the same load in the rifles. I load for my 44-40 revolver at around 750 fps and it shoots over 1300 fps in my Uberti Henry, of course the pressure will be higher in the rifle as well. If one reviews the data available, you have to ask yourself just how much more pressure is there in shooting HV rifle loads in revolvers??? I will say that I have never, nor would I ever recommend shooting FMJ or 1000 fps loads through handguns, but I believe in the old days it was done without issue.

The image posted earlier in this thread compare the barrels and chambers of a 38 Special to a 32-20 and it is obvious that the 32 Winchester will handle more pressure than the 38 Special revolver. 38 Special has a listed maximum pressure of 17,000 psi, which is higher than stated pressures for rifles by SAAMI. Even with this information and comparisons, I still will never shoot “rifle” ammo in my revolver and as a matter of fact I do not load 32-20 above 750 fps today.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

For the most part, the "REM-UMC" headstamp was replaced by "R-P" in the early 1960s. So your old ammo is at least that old. While you might be able to get .32 ACP cartridges to fire in a .32-20 revolver, it's not recommended. I have fired quite a few .32 ACP rounds in solid-frame .32 Long revolvers without incident but there are at least a couple of reasons why that is something you probably shouldn't do unless in an emergency. I have seen references to firing .32 S&W Long cartridges in .32-20 revolvers and rifles, but again, the .32 Long cartridge diameter is undersized for a .32-20 chamber and it is possible (if not likely) that the case might split. Probably is not dangerous to do so, but it's something that I have not personally attempted. Maybe I should just to see what happens. Perhaps if someone here has done that we could get more information. I do know that a .32 H&R Magnum cartridge will not chamber in a .32-20 revolver.

I think ammo is tricky as there are many platforms for this cartridge. The older pre heat treating are an issue unto themselves. Add rifle ammo produced only for the rifle and confusion arises. Now we add in new modern handguns and the risk increases.

The 32-20 in Freedom Arms and/or the Thompson Center Contenders is like an entirely different animal. Runs right beside the 327 Federal Magnum.

Both of these are modern handguns with serious steel and can make that caliber sit up and take notice.

Made damn sure you label everything you handload !!!

I grew up the 50's in Texas shooting this caliber in Colt SAA and have loved it every since. We had the matching Winchester and what a GREAT combo.


Prescut

Thanks everyone, for the info. Must admit to not understanding everything that was written in all the replies, but I get that shooting the non-Cowboy ammo isn't a good idea. Thanks again.

Nearly all .32-20 ammunition which is factory loaded today is essentially "cowboy" loadings.

If you don't understand something, go ahead and ask. We were all beginners at one time or another.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Some of us are shooters with 20, 30 or more years of experience. Some of us have 1 year of experience, 20, 30 or more times. All if us need to be reminded from time to time of things we either don't know or have forgotten (it amounts to the same thing.) The only dumb questions are either unasked ones or the ones you don't listen for an answer. I think you will find many of us on here eager to share our knowledge, to whatever degree it exists, then profit from further discussion by the guys who know more. Enjoy your 32-20!

Froggie

I have seen more modern guns blowed up than vintage models. Most were
357s and were blow up with handloads. Most a result of double charges. I
have seen a few old black powder guns that should have never been shot
because of deep pitting, blow out the cylinders. Guns in this shape could
very well blow up even if BP loads were used.

These pictures are worth a thousand words.