Shooting the .32 rimfire Smith & Wesson

[Oyvind]

Some time ago I got an Smith & Wesson Model 1 1/2 Second Issue as a gift. It's made in 1869 or 1870 and in good shooting condition. As I only have five original .32 rimfire long cartridges I purchased new brass from H & C Collection in France (Dixie has brass too). The cases utilize .22 starting pistol blanks as primers and the flash hole is bored off center and thus allows the hammer to hit the rim. The heel base bullets are also from H & C and were cast from an old Hensley & Gibbs mould.

Here's a video I put together during the first test of the revolver:



The cartridges was loaded with 8 grains of Swiss No. 2 which is maximum. The .22 blank adds quite a bit of power, so it's probably a good idea to use .22 CB (6mm Flobert) as primers instead.

So to my question: Can anyone recommend a bullet mold for the .32 rimfire that will work without altering it?

 

[72coupe]

Is that your everday carry pistol?

 

[kBob]

I wonder if removing the blank powder from the blanks ( assuming they are the type blank with a card wad rather than crimped) might provide for a less robust primer and keep pressures down?

Thanks for sharing this with us and nice S&W.

-kBob

 

[KeithL]

I got some of the cases from Dixie with RWS blanks they sell. I am going to use them in a Remington Rolling Block #2. I ended up getting some Winchester black powder .22 blanks. The RWS were to think and protruded above the case so far I couldn't close the breach. I haven't used them yet so I can't comment on power, but black powder blanks seem like they might be more prudent besides fitting.

 

[rodinal220]

http://32rimfire.blogspot.com/

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Great posts from Oyving and rodinal220.

 

[OilyPablo]

Now that is a gun! Neato.

 

[Smokin'Joe]

Very interesting Oyvind. Thanks for sharing and Welcome to THR!

 

[bigdaa]

Fascinating stuff. Sorry I can't add any answers.

 

[Oyvind]

Thanks for your comments. I use the crimped blanks, by the way. Here are some more pictures of the original and modern cartridges.



And spent cases in the cylinder:

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Oh, this is very cool. I just bought a S&W #2 Old Army that would make a good shooter. I am definitely going to look into this.

 

[OilyPablo]

The pictures of the rounds on a large crisp monitor are amazing.

 

[dickydalton]

Lucky me

I managed to pick up some 32 short and long rimfire ammo a few years back at a reasonable price. Now every time I see any it's over $100 a box.

 

[Busyhands94]

Outstanding video, welcome to THR!

 

[sltm1]

Nice presentation !!! I have the 1 1/2 model 3 which uses centerfire carts. Lee sells a 32cal RN mold that would work well (you'll have to look the company up to get the # as I haven't needed to reload with mine yet).

 

[tomsp8]

I just received a Stevens Favorite 1894 in .32 long rimfire and was also looking at the stuff from H&C in order to fire the gun. I have taken it completely down, inspected, cleaned, etc. Appears to be good to go.
Oyvind, can you tell me if the dies are necessary? I have heard that the case walls are
much thicker on these modified versions, and was wondering if I could get away without
them. Only plan on firing several rounds through it anyway before retiring it to the wall, but you never know, I might want to shoot it again occasionally!
Great photos by the way!

 

[dogrunner]

I see no reason that Lee's 100 gr. cast would not do the trick in that caliber. I've had a favorite in .32 RF since I was around 14 or so and I've always considered it to be a rather accurate round.

Ammo, when I was a kid......way back in the 50's, was still somewhat available in both short and long versions....the long version bullet weight was 90 grains as I recall.....and that relatively heavy bullet penetrated quite well on medium small game such as 'coon's and groundhogs......thru and thru as I remember.

I mod'd the block on the Favorite to shoot .32 Long Colt CF ammo, but later switched back and managed to lose that mod'd block......ran out of the very last of my .32 RF just last year, but that rifle would still cut cloverleaves at 40 plus yards! Both the .32 and the .25 RF's had, in my opinion, substantial advantage over the .22's...........including the .22MRF!......Quiet being not the least of advantage.

I intend picking up some of the blank initiated cases, likely they'd work well with a very light version of some fast smokless, as the latter RF versions used the stuff to good effect.

Try the Lee bullet....perhaps 1 to 1.5 of BE for a starter....certainly in that old S&W I'd keep it down very low, but I've seen those guns eat HV .22 in that caliber quite well even tho it is not at all recommended.

 

[Dan D]

Very neat project. I love the innovative
way you solved the problem.
Dan

 

[Jim K]

Those converters are a neat idea. I never tried them because I have a fair amount of RF ammo, but they seem to really work.

FWIW, my No. 2's and 1 1/2's are much more accurate than that; I get around 3" at 10 yards. It is actually surprising; given the way the guns are made, I would expect poor grouping. I suspect that with more practice, the groups will tighten up.

The sights are poor but actually no worse than those of most handguns of that and later times. It was not until the days of the target shooters, like Paine, that handgun sights became what we would call usable, and not until the post-WWII period that Patridge sights became common.

Jim

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Cool I need to find one.

 

[Oyvind]

I just received a Stevens Favorite 1894 in .32 long rimfire and was also looking at the stuff from H&C in order to fire the gun. I have taken it completely down, inspected, cleaned, etc. Appears to be good to go.
Oyvind, can you tell me if the dies are necessary? I have heard that the case walls are
much thicker on these modified versions, and was wondering if I could get away without
them. Only plan on firing several rounds through it anyway before retiring it to the wall, but you never know, I might want to shoot it again occasionally!
Great photos by the way!

Oyvind, can you tell me if the dies are necessary? I have heard that the case walls are much thicker on these modified versions, and was wondering if I could get away without

For a revolver you will need the dies for crimping the bullets to the cases, but for a single shot rifle you can probably do without - alt least until you need to size the cases.

 

[swopjan]

Thanks for the video, I wondered what that rod was for at the beginning (the extractor). Old revolvers are amazing sometimes with how simple their solutions are.

 

[tomsp8]

Well, having some problems with my Stevens 1894 32 rf, hoping someone else can chime in.
I have a complete box of old factory ammo, but I want to keep it intact for collectible purposes. So I ordered 10 cartridges from H&C, these are the cases with the bullet already seated in them. First problem was the cartridges fit too snug in the chamber, it appears the bullet is oversized. Factory loads chamber fine. With no way to resize the bullet conventionally, I wrapped emory cloth around the bullet an "sanded" the bullet diameter down about .002/.003. They now chamber smoothly, that problem appears solved. Second, and most frustrating problem is that I'm not getting reliable ignition. I'm using trimmed down 22 cases for ignition. The firing pin appears to be striking the case rim but only on the very edge. I'm thinking that I need to acquire a few loose factory loads to try out. Maybe related, my firing pin appears to be a rounded tip. From what I've been able to determine, mine should have a chiseled tip. Perhaps a model 1915 pin has been installed in this gun at some time? Perhaps the pin is too short? Anyone else try these modified cases in a Stevens Favorite?
Thanks

 

[witchhunter]

If you are interested in some .32 rf ammo, there is some for sale on Nevadashooters.com in the private sales forum. Remington or Union Metallic I believe. PM me if you can't find it. I think it is in Vegas area.

 

[303tom]

That`s pretty darn cool, thanks for showing it..................