Hand Ejector .32 Long questions?

[stantheman86]

I'm a long time S&W nut, mostly .38 and .357 revolvers.

I'm new to the S&W .32 Long revolvers. I just got a 31-1 4" and I'm looking at a 1920's era .32 Long K-frame HE.

Am I correct to assume these receive the same heat treating as the .38 revolvers? Basically a .38 bored for .32?

I was just wondering because I was telling a friend that I just bought a used .32 Long S&W 31-1 and that it would be virtually impossible to "shoot it loose" since it's pretty much a .32 built on a frame made for .38.....in effect a "32/38 HD" lol

 

[Hondo44]

You are correct, the 32 K frame was a frame designed for the 38 with smaller chambers. Heat treated cylinders began with the Model 1917 military and by 1920 all S&W revolver cyls were heat treated the same until the N frame 357 Magnum with it's special heat treating.

And true the 31-1 albeit not a K frame, it's a J frame, was also originally designed for a 38 but a 5 shot 38. Still, the 6 shot .32 31-1 is virtually impossible to shoot loose. Heat treating improved in it's time period and in fact virtually the same gun has been chambered in not only the 32 H&R Mag but eventually also the 327 Fed Mag.

I own a 1966 vintage 31-1 that I have shot for years after extending the chambers for the 32 H&R Mag.

 

[murphydog]

I'm looking at a 1920's era .32 Long K-frame HE.

I presume you mean a .32/20 K frame? There were a few pre-war K-32 Targets but not from the 1920s, I think.

 

[Skeetr57]

You say you are looking at a 1920's era, K frame, .32 long HE. I think that is highly improbable. The first .32 long K frame that I'm aware of was the K .32 of 1940, ad only 90 odd were built before the war shut down production. After WWII the K.32 Master piece was made in small quantities until it was finally dropped from production due to lack of sales. There was also a .32 Long M&P made after the war, but most went overseas and they are more scarce than the target guns in the US.
The only K frame .32 made in any quantity was the .32-20 M&P made from 1899 to 1940.

 

[stantheman86]

I'm not up on the .32's at all, I've been a .38 guy since the early 1990's
.32 S&W's are new territory for me which is kinda exciting

It's a 4" K-frame round butt, Hand Ejector with hard rubber stocks. It's definitely not the I-frame. I like revolvers that are over built for the cartridge so these appealed to me.

Even if I don't get this particular gun, I'd definitely like to use my C&R to pick up some .32 S&W HE's.

 

[Hondo44]

You need to confirm if it's a 32-20 or 32 Long. If it has the mushroom extractor rod, it's a 32-20 K frame. If it's a pre war with barrel knob it could be a 32 long. If it has the straight rod, it's a post war and can only be a 32 Long but that's not correct with hard rubber grips.

Pre c.1927 (the order to drop 'mushroom' style was 1/22/27):

Post 1927, Pre war extractor knob ‘barrel’ style and barrel notch shown.

 

[glowe]

32s are a tricky thing to learn about since S&W used 4 different cartridges in that caliber and all were introduced before 1900. When you mention 32 S&W, that is actually one of the calibers used, plus 32 Long, 32-20 (32 Winchester), and the obscure 320 Revolving Rifle cartridge.

The pictures below show the relative size of each cartridge. The 32 S&W was an 85 grain RN bullet and factory loads ran 700 fps. 32 Long typically carried a 98 grain RN, plus can be loaded with a 96 grain SWC will run 780 fps. The 32-20 is a snappy round when loaded with the standard 100 grain RN that will get close to 1000 fps. The 32-20 was originally a rifle cartridge that was loaded to over 2000 fps, so you had to be careful in the first half of the twentieth century to get the right factory loading.

The good news is that all but the early revolvers were stamped with the calliber, so identification is quite easy on most post-1900 guns.

 

[Skeetr57]

Gary: I think you skipped one cartridge, the .32-44 target round for the New Model 3. It has a cylinder length case with the bullet seated below the case mouth. So far as I know, it was never chambered in a hand ejector.

 

[glowe]

Gary: I think you skipped one cartridge, the .32-44 target round for the New Model 3. It has a cylinder length case with the bullet seated below the case mouth. So far as I know, it was never chambered in a hand ejector.

I have always been confused by that cartridge. I assume it is different than the 320? I do remember that the 32-44 target was loaded by inserting the bullet totally inside the case as with the 320, but never knew if there was a difference between the two. There is practically no information out there on either cartridge. Barnes book has no information on either caliber.

 

[Skeetr57]

Gary: I had to get out my NM 3 in .32-44 and another .32 to do some checking, as I don't have a .32-44 cartridge. Here are the measurements I got using a set of plug gauges:

.32- 44
Chamber 0.350" (no taper)
Chamber mouth 0.320"
Bore across lands 0.309"

1903 .32 Target
Chamber 0.340" (no taper)
Chamber mouth 0.314"
Bore across lands 0.302"

There is a shoulder in the .32-44 chamber, and it appears to be at approximately the same length as the .32 long shoulder, so I was wrong about the case for the .32-44 being cylinder length.