Anyone using the .32 S&W conversion cylinder?

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BigBadGun, yeah, I like your website. I really think you can make it work. Like I said, I'll have some business for you pretty soon. I'll post a couple of pictures of it when I get it and all. That might help you out a little to....
 
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Dr. Law, you won't have too much trouble learning to hit with it. One way to help you learn is to go rabbit hunting with it. Shoot at them on the run when you get a chance.
Matter of fact that's a good way to learn how to shoot any gun, right on up through your big game rifles. Help's you with your reflexes, timing, everything....
 
there is a world of difference between the Remington .31and the Colt .31....
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In what respect? The Pietta was crap, I expect Uberti to be better made for sure. But it won't be significantly different ballistically.
 
So how is the accuracy of the .32 S&W conversion?
Can anyone give an example of how one might perform group wise?
Will it hit a pie plate at 7 yards or is its accuracy any worse than the NAA mini .22 C&B?
 
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I have a similar question, only a different gun. Anyone have the .32 S&W conversion cylinder for the .31 1863 Remington Pocket?. Cabelas has the gun on sale and I am going to get one. I was just wondering how it works with the conversion cylinder Taylor's sells? From what I have read Remington had their Pocket Revolver conversions in production into the middle of the 1880's. Must have been a pretty good seller for them as Colt dropped production of theirs(1849) 10 years earlier.
 
Colt also continued to make cartridge revolvers based on the 1849 Pocket Model platform into the early 1880's They were in the process of using up surplus parts made during the Civil War era, and when they ran out of some critical ones they quit. In case of Colt's, the popularity of these revolvers was largely based on the practice of selling them at a lower price then newer models.

As I pointed out in an earlier post, problems with accuracy can occur if the bore is oversized for the metalic cartridge bullet. Dixie Gun Works lists a groove diameter at .326", where the .32 S&W Long's bullet is .312". Individual revolvers from different makers may not be the same, but as a rule of thumb you are likely to find an oversized bore.
 
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I'd take an accurate .22 over my .31. I can fill a quarter full of holes at 25 yards with my Ruger MkII. I can hit a pie pan most shots at 25 with my .31 CVA pocket Remington. Now, that's good enough to hit a torso, but the bullet packs .22LR energies and really needs to be a CNS hit. Fortunately, most altercations occur at close range. If all I'm left with, due to current politics, in the future is my .31 for self defense, I will surely carry it. If I can still get .22 ammo, I'll carry my Rossi M511 or if I need more concealment, my NAA. My NAA mini is almost as accurate as my .31, but not as pointable.
 
I wonder if anyone makes a hollow base bullet in .32 caliber?? That would solve the overbore problem.
 
Yes and no... :uhoh:

Factory .32 S&W Long cartridges generally have a smal hollow base, but the problem is that while they may or may not seal the bore, the bullet in a substantially oversized bore is going to not take the rifling, and many even be tipped by the time it gets to the muzzle.

The Colt and Remington conversions used cartridges such as the .32 Long Colt, which at the time had a heeled bullet, much like .22 LR ammunition does today. The front part of the bullet was the same diameter as the case, and outside lubricated - that didn't work too well. So they reduced the bullet diameter to the same as case inside diameter and adjusted barrel diameter to match.

Cap & ball replicas being made today don't take that into account - unless they are made in the cartridge-converted form in the first place.

Of couse the folks that make and sell the conversions cylinders seldom explain all of this.

Serious cowboy action shooters (and others) using cartridge-converted Colt or Remington revolvers sometimes solve the issue by having the cap & ball barrel bored out and relined with a correct-bore liner. This works, and sometimes results in a substantial incerase in accuracy. The two drawbacks are that it adds to the expense of making the conversion, and you usually can't go back and use the original cylinder in cap & ball mode.
 
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I think that if you reamed out the cylinders so they are the same diameter all the way through, then you could shoot the 32 S&W Long wadcutter cartridge which is more powerful. Anyone ever done that?
 
NO !!!!!! :what: :what: :what:

Don't ream that chamber! I believe it's chambered in .32 S&W Long as it comes, and in any case the .32 S&W Long doesn't use a heeled bullet. If you reamed the chambers straight through the throats at the front would be way oversized for the bullets.
 
The Kirst Converter for the 1849 Colt Pocket is made to fit the .32 S&W short.
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Then I stand corrected... :uhoh:

And that's what should be used in it. ;)

Incidentally there is no .32 S&W Short - It's just .32 S&W. There is however a .32 Short Colt, and .32 Long Colt. Some of the original .32 Colt Pocket Models of 1849 were converted to use the .32 Long Colt cartridge. It had a heeled bullet that would likely come closer to the groove size of today's replicas, but cartridges are next to impossible to find. :(
 
You're right, the name of the round is just .32 S&W. The website mislabeled it too, probably to clearly distinguish them from the .32 S&W Long, also known as ".32 Colt New Police".
 
Old Fuff,

The 32 S&W Long wadcutter cartridge is the same length as the 32 S&W cartridge. I don't understand why you say that is a big no no. Please explain why it would not work.
 
The 32 S&W Long wadcutter cartridge is the same length as the 32 S&W cartridge. I don't understand why you say that is a big no no. Please explain why it would not work.
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The cylinder length is longer then the cartridge.

The Smith & Wesson Long cartridge does not used a heeled bullet. A heeled bullet is one where the front part of the bullet is the same diameter as the cartridge case, where the back part is stepped down so that it will fit inside the case. The best example I know of today is the .22 Long Rifle round. So, in revolvers the chamber is bored straight through.

However in modern day center-fire revolvers the chamber is bored with a step toward the front, where the back part is bored to fit the case, while the front part is reduced to fit the bullet. The bullet itself is the same diameter as the inside of the case, not the outside.

In the present instance, the .32 S&W Long case diameter is .337". The bullet diameter is .312". The back of the chamber is .3395", while the throat (small size) at the front where it is stepped down is .314".

If you were to bore the chambers straight through as you suggested, the larger diameter would be .3400" (give or take) where the bullet would only be .312", a difference of .028". (Or .014" to the side.) Not good at all.

Your proposed solution would work if the cylinder length was exactly the same as the .32 S&W long wadcutter cartridge, but then you would have to reduce the length of the cylinder, and you'd have an excessive cylinder/barrel gap.

Clear as mud? :scrutiny:
 
Old Fuff,

Please bear with me. I'm not trying to be argumentative, I just want to know why this could not work. I think the conversion cylinder for the model 1849 Pocket is very close to the exact same length as the .32 S&W long wadcutter cartridge. I understand what you wrote about how having an oversized throat would make it inaccurate. Are you implying that this is a bad idea just because it will not be accurate? Or is it somehow not safe?
 
Please bear with me. I'm not trying to be argumentative, ...
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I understand that. No problem... :)

I just want to know why this could not work.
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I don't know that there is a safety issue, but if the chamber's throat at the front of the cylinder is substantially larger then the bullet, which it would be if you bored the chamber straight through, the bullet will not be concentric to the bore. In this case you might get away with it because the bore is way oversized too. But accuracy is going to be judged in terms of pie-plate groups at point blank range. When the chamber diameter is correct for the bore's groove diameter these guns can cut cloverleaf groups at 7 yards if the shooter does his part.

Why the cylinder maker picked the .32 S&W round is something I can’t explain, although I’m sure they could. I suspect that the .32 S&W Long’s overall cartridge length (not case length) had something to do with it. In a cartridge revolver it’s the throat that keeps the bullet aligned with the bore as the bullet passes from the chamber into the barrel. Having a throat that’s long enough and of the correct diameter is critical for good accuracy, and an inaccurate revolver isn’t much good for anything.
 
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