Another new guy with an oldie

[Mr. Rearden]

Inherited this recently and would very much like to know when it was made and any other information about it.

The Serial Number is 31XXX (only 5 digits)

One thing I noticed was that it didn't have the caliber printed on the side as others I saw online did, does this hold significance?

All I know is that it is a safety hammerless(not sure which model) and I am pretty damn sure it's in .32 S&W (Short).

Edit: is this safe to shoot with modern smokeless powder cartridges?

 

[murphydog]

Hi, and welcome! As you already know, a .32 (short) Safety Hammerless, 1st Model by the SN, best estimate on production about 1893 (others who specialize in this model will probably have a more specific date). Unusual in blue, many more were nickel. Looks like a nice one! Hope this is helpful.

 

[Mr. Rearden]

Thanks for the quick response Murphydog, and thanks for the info. The production date is a great help, I did notice that many were nickel and have only found one or two others in blue.

 

[murphydog]

Edit: is this safe to shoot with modern smokeless powder cartridges?

It was originally made in the black powder era, but if it is mechanically sound, modern (read: lightly loaded for liability purposes) ammo should not damage it. Ditto on the opinions from the SH collector crowd.

 

[flagman1776]

Mr R,
32 S&W Short was, I believe, originally a black powder cartridge. I shoot repro black power muzzle loaders... black powder is very corrosive but also has a very different power curve from smokeless. When "smokeless" (smoke being a realitive term) also smokeless powder is grey or black so do not be confused... anyway, when ammo makers began loading smokeless powder into existing black powder calibers, they had to keep the pressure levels below what the black powder pressure level was to prevent everyone from blowing guns up which would have been unsafe & very bad for business.

If your gun is sound... functions correctly... it should be safe to shoot with factory rounds. These tiny rounds can be reloaded but you would need the tooling to do so & need a loading manual. The loads you should select should be a starting load. Tiny cases are tough to work with. Most folks don't shoot them enough to bother reloading.

It's a neat old gun. Thanks for sharing.
Russ

 

[H Richard]

Looks a lot like this which is a Safety Hammerless 3rd Model and dates to March 1921. S/N 22493X. I paid a little more that I wanted to because as you said, it's Blue, and it was nearly unfired.

 

[cflier]

Welcome to the forum MR.Reardon,
Nice old lemon squeezer. I believe Alan is pretty close on his estimate of 1893 as the date of production.
Alan, I don't believe that the blue guns are as unusual as most people feel that they are. In the data base I have been building on them the Nickel guns show up about twice as often as the blue ones in the first model Safety Hammerless. By the middle of production of the 3rd model blue guns out number nickel by the same margin , two to one. Approximately the same ratio shows up starting with the 2nd model 38 Safety Hammerless to the 5th model.
Another indicator is the boxes I have been gathering for a number of years. I've owned 9 1st model 32 boxes and 5 have been blue. That's a very small sample and doesn't prove anything but It adds to my feelings that the number of blue guns is vastly undercounted. I don't know where ideas like the number of blue guns originate, but once they start, they are passed on by books and word of mouth and become iron clad rules. I suspect all of the blue book type publications do the most to cement it as truth.
I know that several of the values they give for scarce barrel length Safety Hs havn't got much to do with real numbers.
Sorry to get on my soap box and hijack your thread Mr.Reardon. There may be more blue guns than most suspect, but few are in as good shape as yours.
cflier
#1781

 

[Mr. Rearden]

Don't worry about it, I don't feel like you hijacked it, all it was about was trying to get information about this old gun, I am actually glad you brought your soap box and hope you stay on it for a while.

 

[murphydog]

Mark;

Thanks for the info, always good to know someone is studying these assumptions in a systematic manner.

 

[Mr. Rearden]

Update: Found some ammo online and put a few rds through it, functions flawlessly.

 

[Doug DeGraves]

Greetings all! Being new to the forum and not having explored it very much I though joning this thread better than starting a new one, since I'm a "new guy" and want to talk about an oldie. I found a triple lock in a local shop and have become intrigued by it. It's in rough shape in my opinion but then what do I know? It has a three digit serial number. The barrel has been hacked off to about 3 1/2 inches and a hideous rifle sight stuck on the barrel. This was done long ago as the patinas all match. The barrel is stamped 45 A.R. and the cylinder has British proof makes by every flute. I could not find any other proof marks on it. It has a hole in the handle for an lanyard ring but the ring is missing. The end of the ejector rod is also missing and I think it's the mushroom type (if I have my terminology correct). It has a some other problem with the ejector as when you tip the gun back with the cylinder open, the ejector star falls backward, so it must be a spring issue. So, what can be done to this gun? Does it have any collector value as it is? Would it gain or lose by fixing it up? Does any one still shoot triple locks? I never thought myself as a collector but I have less time to shoot, some I wouldn't having some thing nice to look at that I might be able to shoot. How much modernization will it stand? Since it has no real front sight, something will have to be put there, so why not add adjustable sights as I've seen on some 1917 45ACP guns? Thoughts?