Help with vintage Colt revolver?

I have a slightly "newer" one, an Official Police made in 1923. I shoot 0.312 115 gr cast FP bullets over Unique. You can look up safe loads. And this is one round that is certainly worth loading your own. It is also a round where the "rifle" loads diverged from the "six-gun" loads. It is by no means a weak revolver, but there are published rifle loads that are definitely too hot.

I would not use it for a house gun. You can load modern JHPs intended for the 32 H&R, but their performance has been disappointing to me. Just enjoy an old classic. Hey, Robert Johnson wrote a blues ballad about it.
 
I’m a S&W guy but also a 32/20 nut. As far as I know the ammo being loaded by major companies is all ok to use in revolvers. They did load rifle ammo and boxes were marked with warning not to fire in revolvers or 1873 Winchester’s. Later with liability concerns they dropped rifle loads. A lot of Spanish knock offs and older Smith and Colts that weren’t heat treated were floating around that could burst. Many cartridges that made transition to smokeless are loaded down for the weakest gun they could be fired in. A 32/20 is close to 32 mag in power. The old timers considered 32/20 a fine people shooter.
 
My grandmother used to keep a Webley Mk. I, loaded with (improper) Canadian .455 ammo of WWII vintage, on her nightstand.
I'd be surprised if she ever fired it, but it did "house gun" duties for 20 years.
For a just-in-case piece, that sits, loaded, your old Colt should do fine.
If you are going to the range every weekend with your house gun, then you should probably get something that won't suffer for the use.
 
I would recommend against using it as a house gun, if you have other pistols.

Not for any of the reasons already mentioned, though.
First, if the gun checks out as mechanically sound, the age doesn't matter.
Second, there is no "self defense" ammo for the .32-20. A lead flat point bullet is nothing to sneer at, and put in the right place, it absolutely will work. I meant there are no JHP loads "optimized" for self defense in that caliber.

Even the "handgun" load .32-20 is the most powerful of the old .32 caliber pistol rounds, by a significant margin and also beats .32ACP. Original handgun loads were advertised as 1200fps, "rifle" loads were listed as 16-1700fps.

COWBOY loads are NOT the same. "Cowboy" loads are for playing the Cowboy Action shooting GAME. They are loaded very light (for least recoil) some people describe them as "cat sneeze" loads. Suitable for the game, and plinking, not a good choice for anything else.

And, just FYI, full power .32-20 loads are very LOUD from a pistol. I would not fire one inside a closed room, except in gravest extreme.

The main reason I would not recommend using your gun as a house gun is, if you ever DO need to use it in self defense, the police WILL take it. And, to them, it isn't a valuable firearm, its a piece of evidence. One they will keep until all legal matters are settled. This could be weeks, months, or possibly even years, and they are under no requirement to give the gun proper treatment or storage.

You will, eventually get the gun back, but it could be chipped, cracked, dinged, damaged or even rusted, which would be a true shame.

If possible get another gun to keep as a defense gun, one of lesser historical value. A modern .38 DA would do the job, and be easier to repair or replace if something should happen to it.
 
Interesting discussion and some useful information provided.

That said, it's probably worth pointing out that this thread was started in 2015 and the OP hasn't logged in to TFL in half a decade.
 
I’m bumped the old thread intentionally because it came up first in my search. I was looking for info on the gun in the pic above and I surely know much more than I did before, turns out it’s semi-rare and worthy of keeping around.

I found it in a box headed to the dumpsters while helping my dad clean out a friend of his’s storage locker after his passing.
 
Sure, and like I said, there's been some good information provided. Just wanted to let folks know the score--mostly wanted it known that responding to the original poster as if they are likely to see the answer probably isn't warranted.
 
If it's in good condition it may be the most valuable thing laying about in your house... value of at least $500 and probably more. It's a desirable item to the right collector and any pistol is valuable on the street.

If stolen by a hooligan or stupid teenager, they probably can't find ammunition for it, which is a good thing- although your pistol will be lost to you. On the other hand, ammunition is a special order item for you unless you are interested in the fun hobby of reloading ammunition (which many of us are in to.)

In terms of a field gun- something for taking on a hike in the woods useful for hunting rabbits, squirrels, woodchucks, rabid dogs, tin cans, pine cones and the like- .32 caliber is a marvelous thing that has been nearly forgotten in the modern world. Back in the day, 32-20 was considered adequate for deer hunting but ... well... that was over a hundred years ago and there are much much much better choices now. As for self defense from people.

As a sport caliber, it's frankly awesome. Bigger than .22 Rimfire but smaller than .38 it's gentle and easy to shoot as well as quiet- there is no need to load it to supersonic speeds to knock some sense in to a jackrabbit or tin can. Cowboy loads are for people that like to shoot because it's fun rather than because they feel they may need to shoot other people. It has a rather "elite" status for some of us because it's very inexpensive to reload for and rare and NOT about maximum power, John Wick discussions. or anything other than "that's a nice old revolver and it should still shoot great."

Don't sell that pistol for cheap- to the right fella, you may have a really desirable collectable or gun for walking about the woods with.
 
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