Question about newly aquired H&R 733

N

nikogto

Inactive
Hello, new to this forum and new handgun owner. I just aquired this Smith and Wesson H&R 733 model. I traded a couple old speaker boxes for it. It seems to funciton smooth. I don't have any ammo for it. I've read they have long and short .32 rounds. Can anyone help me with the right rounds this takes, proper maint. and cleaning, what to look out for? How old this model is? Thanks in advance. Here are a couple pics of it.

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It's not a Smith & Wesson.

It's a Harrington & Richardson that is chambered for a cartridge known as the .32 Smith & Wesson.

.32 S&W is an old, originally black powder cartridge that was once exceptionally popular in these small "belly" or "hide out" guns, but which has slowly lost steam over the years.

It is still loaded, but it's getting a lot more expensive and a lot more difficult to find.
 
I believe you might find that this little H&R revolver is chambered for the .32 S&W Long cartridge. Look in the cylinder and see if you can see a shoulder in the chamber that is more than 3/4" from the loading end. Then if you can get a .32 Long round to try, and it fits the chamber, the gun will safely fire it. Both short and long rounds are still available and both are loaded to very safe pressures because a lot of older, weaker guns are still in firing condition. I think the 733 dates from somewhere in the middle of the 20th century and is definitely a smokeless powder gun. It has a solid frame which makes it stronger than the old top break revolvers from earlier times. There really is no reason to fire the short rounds in a gun chambered for the long because the shorts are less accurate and often even more expensive than the longs. It really won't need much maintenance. Just wipe it off with a soft cloth with a tiny amount of oil or furniture spray wax on it after you have fired it. The bore can be brushed out now and then - you can get a pistol cleaning kit for the tools - and put a light coat of oil in the bore. A thirty caliber brush will work if you can't find a thirty-two. I think you will have some fun with this one.
 
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I've always had a soft spot for these. I gave one to my MIL a year or so ago.
She's is quit recoil sensitive.

In my experience, they are more accurate than I.
 
Got another ?. I ordered up some ammo from ammo to go. 50rds - 32 S&W Long Fiocchi 97gr. Full Metal Jacket, i took one round today to make sure it fit in the chamber, which it did. But the bullit itself wont fit in the barrel, should it? It may be a dumb question, maybe it is forced through it from the pressure of the blast, having not fired this gun ever and being a new gun owner I wanted to be safe. Did'nt want it exploding in my hand cause the round did not fit through the barrel. I pulled the round out of its casing and it won't go in either end. Dumb ? or not. Thanks for shedding any light on this for me.
 
The bullets are sized to fit the grooves in the rifling,and the lands swage the bullet to create the gas seal,and spin the projectile.
 
You'll want an interference fit on the round, basically. It creates a seal against the barrel "walls" so the gas isn't blowing around the bullet when the round is fired. That's why it's possible, when reloading, to load a round too light and get a bullet stuck in the barrel.
 
I did some searching on google last night after posting this. So I learned how that works. Just worried me for a bit thinking the rounds were not going to go through and cause injury. I was thinking about how .177 or even .22 bb's could just slide down the barrel without resistance. Hopefully get a chance this weekend to shoot off some rounds to see how the gun feels and what kind of recoil it has. Thanks for the info.
 
I would like to get a couple speed loaders for this gun. From what I've found there are "K" and "J" frames. Can anyone help me on this one? Or a link to the right speed loader? I did finally pick up some rounds and got a chance to fire this, works great. Got my trigger lock and want to have a speed loader also locked with the gun so that in case of an issue when I need the gun, I don't have to load 6 rounds one at a time while an intruder is coming into my home.
 
I have one. It was the first firearm, that I bought online. It's also the only pistol my wife is comfortable shooting. She has small hands and doesn't like the re-coil, even from my Bersa .380. I know it's not much for home defense, but she's pretty accurate with it, and it's better than nothing. Just my $.02

as for the speedlader, i remember seeing them at one f the Houston gun shows and IIRC on Gunbrokers.
 
Doubt you'll find a speedloader that matches, none were made for it.
Would strongly suggest you get a better defensive gun, by the way.
Very underpowered & inefficient round to bet your life on.
Denis
 
Smith & Wesson really doesn't make em like that anymore... ;)

I'm with DPris, money permitting you'd be far better off with a modern gun firing nice defensive ammo. A S&W .38 J or K frame would do nicely.
 
I like that one. I would carry it no problem, Not with round nose bullets though. Flat point like WC or SWC loaded reasonably quick. Is that a 3" barrel? It looks longer than 2".

mike
 
It's a 2" barrel. I will get somthing a little more powerful when $ is not such a problem. But it is better than having nothing at all. I bought FMJ rounds for it, shot about 18 through it last weekend to make sure it fires good, especially when you need it.
 
dont let caliber snobs cause you stress, practice until you can put them where you are aiming, if you can put them all in a standerd playing card from 10 yards nobody can take that kind of punisment even from a .22. shoot what you are comfortable withnot what sombody else thinks you should shoot.
 
If you are unable to load your own or find good flat point rounds there is a viable trick. Some may scoff but you can improve the terminal performance of factory lead round nose (the easiest stuff to find in .32 S&W(L)) by filing the the nose down so that you have a flat point of about 1/2 caliber. (0.15" in this case). Just be careful about ingesting or breathing in lead dust. You can make up a jig to make it easy to get consistent results.

As to legal ramifications of modified ammo you can make your own call but my feeling is that it would not be a problem in a justifiable shooting especially when you are using such a mild caliber to start with.

Folks have been doing this kind of thing (or using swaging jigs for the same purpose) for years with .22 LR.

mike

P.S. in case you haven't guessed, even though I am a big fan of big bores, I am not of the "anything less than X is worthless" school either. Enjoy you gun and gain as much proficiency with it as you can.
 
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