103 year old gun, finally found ammo, great book..a very nice Christmas

[cmansguns]

Indeed...a very nice Christmas. Not one..but three boxes of hard to find 32-20 WCF show up under the tree, along with a great book titled "Gun Barons", including a lot of info on early S&W's (author acknowledges Roy Jinks in particular). Info I never knew about the Walker Colt and the S&W Scofield.

So... finally get to shoot that 1921 Hand Ejector with some of this soft lead flat point cowboy action ammo.

Also now have enough brass to start looking at reloading. New hobby at 79 years old....but what the heck...don't want to spend another year plus looking for ammo that doesn't seem to exist.

Don't know what Ms. Claus paid for the ammo...all was said was "don't ask"

 

[rwt1405]

Merry Christmas to you!

Sounds like a wonderful Holiday season!

 

[Truckman]

Dang!...Now I have to look for yet another book...Congrats on your Christmas......Ben

 

[Birdhunter6]

Thanks for the heads up on the book!

Please give us a range report after you shoot it.

 

[dobegrant]

Very nice Christmas presents, another book needed

 

[JohnRippert]

I looked up that ammo online. She must love you.

 

[Muley Gil]

Starline isn't taking back orders on .32-20 brass at the moment, but you can sign up for a notification when they do have brass in stock.

Starline Brass | Rifle, Handgun, and Pistol Brass

 

[AlHunt]

You are never too old to be ammo independent. Especially with a boutique cartridge like that one!

That's going to be a lot of fun. Maybe someone here has the right mold and would cast you a few hundred bullets. I would, but don't have a mold.

 

[cmansguns]

Thanks for all the nice replies..SWCA Forum people are the greatest

Thank you all for the nice replies & likes. At this point in life, house, cars, college educations, med bills, etc. all settled up, both my wife and I are getting right comfortable with this retirement gig. Time to do some things we each may have wanted to do for 56 years since we said "I do".

I knew that she had always had her eye on a pair of diamond earrings, but with 9 kids and 13 grandkids, we just never could find the "surplus" money. She finally got them....this year from Santa. I really hope the 32-20 ammo wasn't the same pricewise, but no one is counting.

The boxes of HSM 32-20 115 gr soft lead are all headstamped with Starline markings, and listed as 850 fps. I read somewhere (and I cannot recall where) that the 850 is from a 5-1/2" test barrel.

Anyway.......range report coming, and I'll be heading over to the reload sub-forum to ask my usual dumb noobie questions before starting out.

 

[Hawg Rider]

Congratulations on getting some .32-20 ammo! I think you received the last 3 boxes known to exist. I was actually online yesterday looking for some .32-20 ammo and it's impossible to find. Every place is Out of Stock. It's about the same situation for .41 Magnum (unless you just want 20 rds. of "bear stopper" @ almost $2.00/round) and .44 Special. I was hoping that when COVID died down that ammo would start free flowing again...I guess not for the less popular calibers.

 

[JSR III]

A quick online check at Midway lists it at $45.99 per box but currently out of stock. So .92 per round not counting any tax or shipping. Might be available at Cabela's as well so if one is nearby you save the shipping.

Obviously that is one First Class wife when she feeds any portion of your firearm addiction.

I too have decided to get back into reloading which I haven't done seriously for over 40 years except maybe a few boxes of 12 ga.

So good luck and enjoy. At our age there is less sand in the upper section of the hour glass so it makes no sense to wait to do things that we enjoy. 3 kids and only 7 grandchildren.......

 

[Brooks]

Nice Xmas gift.
Midway has Winchester 32-20 right now. $70 for 50 rounds.....
and Winchester's crimp is better than that HSM crimp.....

 

[Brooks]

To Charlie B... the Original Poster,
Is that what HSM's crimp is like, or are those reloaded by someone else and put in an HSM box?

 

[LostintheOzone]

Starline isn't taking back orders on .32-20 brass at the moment, but you can sign up for a notification when they do have brass in stock.

Starline Brass | Rifle, Handgun, and Pistol Brass

That's how I got a bunch of 38 Short Colt brass. Took awhile but I was first in line when they opened the doors.

Nobody makes 38 Short Colt ammo anymore that I know of except one guy I know in ID. who makes boutique ammo.

 

[shawn mccarver]

Regarding the post about Midway USA having .32-20 ammo in stock today, 1-5-24, if I recall, there is a difference in .32-20 rifle ammo and .32-20 revolver ammo, and I believe the Winchester presently in stock at Midway USA as of 1-5-24 is listed as rifle, not handgun ammo. Some will not care, and I doubt the hand ejector will have a catastrophic failure (who knows), however, parts are a problem, and I would not want to harm one of those fine old revolvers.

 

[Brooks]

No, it's safe for rifle or handgun. 1210fps out of a rifle, about 300fps less out of a handgun. It's the standard load, safe for all 32-20 made.

 

[hkcavalier]

I would love to run across a target model and get set up to reload for it. Most of the .32-20s I find (and they're all fixed sight to this point) seem to have been general purpose tools for farmers and ranchers: hammer, meat tenderizer, drink mixer, rattlesnake basher, tractor starter solenoid engager, and occasionally shot some too. In short, they're in rough shape. Yours looks very nice in comparison!

 

[Muley Gil]

I would love to run across a target model and get set up to reload for it. Most of the .32-20s I find (and they're all fixed sight to this point) seem to have been general purpose tools for farmers and ranchers: hammer, meat tenderizer, drink mixer, rattlesnake basher, tractor starter solenoid engager, and occasionally shot some too. In short, they're in rough shape. Yours looks very nice in comparison!

I had an early model .32-20 target model. I sold it because I couldn't see those tiny sights.

Don't tell anyone here on our forum, but I shoot my 5" Colt Official Police in .32-20 much better because of the sights.

 

[4K2022]

",,,tractor starter solenoid engager,,,,!

I know it would work,, I wonder if it was ever done!

 

[cmansguns]

HSM 32-20 ammo crimp

To Charlie B... the Original Poster,
Is that what HSM's crimp is like, or are those reloaded by someone else and put in an HSM box?

@Brooks, I am not a reloader (yet...getting close) so I cannot really comment on various styles of crimp(s) and/or the dies that make them, but these three boxes came from 3 separate commercial sellers (companies), and months apart. All three boxes and the individual rounds in each box appear exactly the same with what looks like an "aggressive" crimp with 4 equally spaced "ridges" in the crimp. The Hunting Shack Munitions website indicates that the bullets are a SOFT lead.

I did a little looking around the I-Net and saw on the Colt Forum a post about this ammo some 3 or 4 years old that mentioned it chronographed at 820 fps out of a Colt Police Positive with 4" barrel. I also saw another post (but cannot for the life of me remember the site) where this ammo is 850 fps out of a 5-1/2" test barrel.

I can tell you that rounds taken at random from each box slide right smoothly into the chambers of my 1921 HE, so I am anxious to get to the range (indoor) and crank some out of this gun.

I'll run some through it, take note of any extraction issues or bullet "looseness" from recoil (doubt it), lead spitting or any other possible ammo related things and report back here.

Like Muely Gil said.......the sights are awful tiny to these old eyes, and the range I use is standup only, so off-hand position
I'll be looking for dinner plate groups at 10 yards if I'm having a good day

Any of you ammo, reloading experts please feel free to chime in about the "4 point aggressive" looking crimp on this HSM ammo.