Dangers of shooting .32 Top Break?

[Powerslide]

While looking for some .32 S&W ammo for my Top Break I was warned by the guy on the phone that I shouldn't shoot this gun. His reason was that the frame and cylinder from that era were cast and that they could blow apart. Visually the gun is in very good shape and, based on information from this fine forum, dates from around 1897-1900 or so. The Ammo I ended up buying is Remington .32 S&W 88 grain lead round nose, Target. Has anyone ever heard of this? If so, what should I look for to make sure the gun is safe to shoot?

 

[glowe]

You have a pristine 32 Double Action revolver that would be capable of firing any standard made ammunition in 32 S&W. The original loading was 88 grain cartridge that would was about the same power as the 85 grain target load today.

The frames of these revolvers were made into the twentieth century and would have spent their entire life shooting smokeless powder. The image of "cast" to most people would mean cast iron, which is a brittle and weak material. 32 DAs were made of steel that was forged and not cast. The steel of the late 1800s was certainly not as strong as twentieth century alloys, but more than sufficient to handle any standard loads made by ammo manufacturers today.

 

[DWalt]

Many believe the myth that only black powder cartridges should be used in the old top-break revolvers, and that use of smokeless powder cartridges in them will blow your hand off or worse. Most of the old calibers of the black powder era (such as .32 S&W and .38 S&W, and a few others) are still available from the ammunition companies. Even though they are factory-loaded with smokeless powder, the loadings are very light, and duplicate the ballistics of early black powder loads. Many may not realize that smokeless powder loadings for handgun cartridges were available at least as early as 1896, and many of the old so-called "Black Powder" revolvers have probably never fired anything but smokeless powder cartridges. Of course, no old revolver which is in poor condition should be fired at all using any ammunition. But your .32 DA looks pretty good, and should be safe to shoot.

 

[Powerslide]

Thanks for the information guys. That is good to know. I look forward to going out and shooting it tomorrow if we don't get to much snow tonight.

 

[Otreb]

Rem loads that pretty light ~ 650fps in my 1& 1/2.