32-20 hand eject

P

Pawli

Inactive
I recently acquired a 32-20 hand eject from a relative with the wrong ammo
after research I purchased some correct cowboy action ammo. the gun fires fine and locks tight. I would like some help to see if this is a valuable piece
or just a good shooter. The serial number is 851xx and caliber is 32 WCF
I will post some pictures, also the front sight features a Jefferson dime :)

Thanks in advance.
Pawli
 

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I'm not an S&W collector, but to my untrained eye, I'd say shoot it. Of course this assumes good lockup (as you've mentioned) and a decent bore. There were a lot manufactured, and it's definitely not a NIB specimen.

My only caution is that when looking for .32-20 ammo, occasionally an old box of high velocity rifle only ammo can still be found floating around at gun shows. It'll be marked "high velocity" or ".32-20 rifle" and should be avoided (at least for your revolver.)
It hasn't been produced in 40-50 years, and it's unlikely you'll find any, but you should still pay attention when buying old stock ammo.

Any of the modern factory loads marketed for cowboy shooting should be just fine.

Color me envious, as I've been wanting one of those for a while. I'm a bit of a .32-20 junkie.
 
Making "half-moon" sights from coins is pretty common; I have done it myself. The most common coin for the purpose is the nickel, which currently has a picture of Thomas Jefferson, and whose metal blends in well with a nickel plated gun.

The dime, which was once the smallest silver coin, never had a picture of Jefferson; the only President on the dime was/is FDR.

Jim
 
I would like some help to see if this is a valuable piece
or just a good shooter.
Click to expand...

No collector will be interested in a revolver that has had its front sight modified like that. Other than that, can't comment on the condition of the gun, not enough detail in the photos.
 
I like it . . and i'd shoot it! I have been looking for a 32-20 wheelmen for a while and haven't run across anything yet. That one looks like it is in decent shooting shape. I'm all set up with molds, dies, brass etc. to reload 32-20 . . . not to track a good shooter down that I can actually hold and inspect before laying the green down. Enjoy that Smith! The 32 WCF has a great history to it! :)
 
I am having good luck with a plain base bullet that looks much like Lyman' s 3118. Using Winchester 231. Accuracy in my Colt OP and a Marlin 94 is excellent. Another good bullet is Hornady's HBWC with the same powder. The 32/20 is one of my favorite cartridge, from plinking to small/medium game.
 
Not a collector so i dont know about value. But yours is sure prettier than mine.

Fun little shooter.

101_9594_zps839cd7d8.jpg
 
Before shooting one of those, make sure it IS an S&W or Colt. Many Spanish copies in that caliber as well as .38 Special were made of cheap cast iron and imported in the 1920's and 1930's. Not all have blown up yet.

Jim
 
Nice, shootable handgun, but not a collector's item. Not sure why someone replaced the front sight, other than maybe they didn't like the stock sight.

I have an older HE and a Colt Police Positive Special in .32-20. I've had some issues reloading the rounds using Trail Boss... Not sure what it is, but I'll get intermittent low-pressure burns that stick a bullet in the bore.

I'm going to shoot up the last of my Trail Boss-loaded .32-20 and move to a different powder, probably Universal.
 
32/20 HE

From pics it looks to me like a Spanish copy of S&W HE. What does it say on
barrel? Even though it is Spanish it might be good plinker. I have a few S&W
and Colt 32/20s. I load a 100gr cast FN, RCBS mould over 5gr of Unique.
The bores on the Spanish guns vary a good bit. I cast bullets soft, 9:1. Lead/tin.
Size mine .312" I use same bullet in my rifles, cast hard, and 6 1/2gr Unique.
 
I'm pretty sure that it's a real S&W.

All of the screws and studs are in the right places, which is almost always not the case with a Spanish clone.
 
The "SMITH & WESSON" on the LH side of the barrel is a pretty good clue.
Click to expand...

For this era, yes. However during the late 19th Century there were a lot of cheap knockoffs of S&W revolvers being made in Europe. And some of them had the nerve to stamp misleading information right on the guns. Some even had Smith and Wesson, or S&W stamped right on the gun. Since they were being produced outside the USA there was little S&W could do to stop production of these fakes, although they did manage to get one Belgian company to cease and desist.
 
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