The .32-20 Hand Ejector Thread

[boatbum101]

OK I'll play . Was recently able to aquire this beauty . Paid more than I wanted to & really had to think about it . Truth be told it's the best looking 32-20 I'd ever seen . I couldn't resist temptation . Here she is enjoy y'all .
Andy

 

[aqualung71]

.32-20

here is my grandpa's .32-20, serial # 27182. It's rough with broken hammer and modified barrel, but worth a mint to me in sentimental value.

 

[Hondo44]

here is my grandpa's .32-20, serial # 27182. It's rough with broken hammer and modified barrel, but worth a mint to me in sentimental value.

Welcome to the forum. I wouldn't sell it at any price either! It's a family heirloom!

Do you shoot it? I wouldn't hesitate to w/standard ammunition and/or mild handloads. Hammers for those are not that hard to find if you want to make it a little more convenient to shoot single action.

 

[aqualung71]

Welcome to the forum. I wouldn't sell it at any price either! It's a family heirloom!

Do you shoot it? I wouldn't hesitate to w/standard ammunition and/or mild handloads. Hammers for those are not that hard to find if you want to make it a little more convenient to shoot single action.

I haven't shot it yet, there is an issue with the ejector rod not locking up. Thanks to the advice of the great guys on this forum, i plan on taking some time this weekend to do a good thorough cleaning and see if that cure what ails it. Also been looking around for some ammo. I'll probably just order some black hills so i will have a cool looking box to display with it.

 

[mi2600]

Four S&Ws and two Colts:

S&W HE1898 5" 14XX Nickle
S&W HE1902 4" 121XX
S&W HE1905 4" 557XX
S&W HE1905 4" 1384XX

Colt Army 4" 4531XX
Colt Police Positive 4" 1647XX

I started buying 32-20s because I already had brass and dies from my '73 Winchester. You have to be very careful reloading because of the very thin necks. Fun to shoot the handguns with 115gr LRN bullets in front of 2.5gr of Bullseye.

Added 12-31-11:
S&W HE1914 4" 755XX

 

[Mel1200]

Great G-Pa's .32-20

I was looking at the S&W that belonged to my Great Grandfather. Couldn't see a serial number until I removed the home made grips and was shocked to see only 4 digits (55XX)! What do I have, and any guess year of manufacture?

 

[Muley Gil]

Welcome to the Forum.

You have a Model of 1899. Yours was probably shipped in 1902. I presume this number came from the butt of the revolver. The same number should be on the rear of the cylinder and underneath the barrel.

 

[w10085]

Revolvers plus ammo!

The two revolvers aren't much to talk about. The round butt is sn 44,530 and the square butt is sn 134,742. Two shooters but they are sitting on 400 rounds of fresh reloads. I'm looking forward to making them into 400 empty cases!

 

[walnutred]

So what do you think the attraction of 32 WCF revolvers were "back in the day"? I've heard the old saw about having a rifle/pistol combination in the same caliber but I'm not sure that holds up if you look at the numbers. I know of only two "cowboy" rigs that stayed together which is admittedly a small sampling. One consisted of a 32-20 rifle for range varmint control and a 44 revolver for personal defense. The other was a 56 Spencer/44 revolver combo. If you discount military sales 32 WCF was the second most popular caliber in the SAA. After the turn of the 20th Century both Colt and S&W offered 32 WCF handguns in DA revolvers, though Smith at least seemed to have a hard time selling them.

I wonder if the 32 revolvers were more common in the east. While I have always liked the 32-20 and usually have had a couple around for me the attraction has simply been that they are fun to shoot. If I was purchasing a handgun for self-defense, even in the early 20th century, it would be hard to make a case for the 32-20. Which may be why S&W had such a hard time selling them.

 

[bmcgilvray]

I've heard the .32-20 chambered revolvers, both Colt and Smith & Wesson were somewhat popular with lawmen in the mid-South and Appalachia. Pretty Boy Floyd was supposedly taken down by a .32-20 though this was fired from a rifle.


It's only anecdotal but seems that some thought the .32-20 was a hot number in a revolver compared with the .38 Special. Don't know if this is really true. If it was, perhaps .32-20 owners were resorting to using the .32-20 "rifle only" loading in their revolvers as an effort to gain effectiveness.

Would love to see more about the use of .32-20 revolvers back in the day.

 

[Hondo44]

Skeeter Skelton was a fan of the 32-20 as the flattest shooting cartridge in the old days and also of the 38-40.

 

[w10085]

I thought that around the turn of the century, many police departments were armed with .32 S&W Long revolvers. If you compare the .32-20 to .32 Regulation Police then it was a hot cartridge.

 

[walnutred]

Skeeter Skelton was a fan of the 32-20 as the flattest shooting cartridge in the old days and also of the 38-40.

Yes, I became interested in the 32-20 from reading a few of the gun writers like Skelton speak so fondly of it. From what I recall though most talked of it as being a small game ctg, not a self defense ctg.

W10085, that is an interesting point. Compared to 32 Long and even 38 S&W it seems hot. However but just about every revolver that was available in 32 WCF was available in 38 Special, at least in the US.

Though in the late 19th Century countries like Russia and France actually adopted ctgs similar to the 32 WCF as military ctgs.

 

[Muley Gil]

Don't forget that Elmer Keith was also fond of the .32-20 revolver.

In Skeeter's writings, he stated that the .32-20 was always considered a Westerner's cartridge. It probably accounted for a fair number of deer and jack rabbits.

In my experience, the .32-20 shoots a lot flatter than a .38 special.

 

[FastRedPonyCar]

Hey guys. A friend of mine pointed me to this thread. I inherited my grandfather's old .32-20 and I was hoping you guys could give a ballpark estimate of when it was made.

also, whether or not the gun can (or should) be cleaned up and polished back to it's original luster? One side is clean with typical scratching but the other side is corroded and the inside (cotton or wool) lining of the bag it's been stored in for who knows how long is green from the corrosion.

Thanks for any info

 

[Hondo44]

It'll look a lot better by polishing with Flitz or Mother's polish (for auto mag wheels). It'll do a great job on the corrosion and all the small scratches.

 

[N7BLW]

It probably shipped around 1909 or 1910. The nearest serial numbers with confirmed ship dates I have in my database are:
43039: 10/14/1909, 45051: 4/7/1910.

 

[Muley Gil]

While not a S&W, there is a thread on the Colt forum concerning Mike Malone, the IRS agent that took down Al Capone. Agent Malone carried a Police Positive Special chambered in .32-20:

The gun of the man who brought down al capone

Mods, please remove if I have violated a rule.

 

[Delerius]

Recently received this SW and was wondering if I would be correct in believing that it's 1905 4th change based on the serial? Also what would the value of this gun be in it's current condition?

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[trauma1]

first one

just put my first 32-20 on layaway today. A 85% handejector with a 5 digit serial number. probably paid too much for it, but less than the 5" 38spl hand ejector($700).They do not come up for sale often around here so I jumped on this one. It is tight all the way around with a little bit of pitting here and there but nothing major. Has the factory grips numbered to the gun. All in all a perfect shooter and fell into my self imposed $500/gun limit for the year. I will post some pics when it is out.