Favored Bullet Weight in S&W .32-20 Revolvers?

[Dave Markowitz]

This afternoon I won an auction for a pretty nice looking S&W Model 1905, 4th Change in .32-20, with a 4" barrel. The seller is local and I plan to pick it up tomorrow morning.

Gunbroker auction pic:



It's 1920s production, made after they started heat treating the cylinders. I am not planning to hot rod the gun but would like to load ammo in the 850 - 900 FPS range if that's reasonable.

Powder-wise, I have Bullseye, Red Dot, Unique, HP-38, and Autocomp on hand. I've been up on load data and I'm looking forward to experimenting with it, since I've wanted a .32-20 for awhile.

I have some Starline brass along with some bullets, both 96 grain RNFPs from Desperado Cowboy Bullets some and 120 RNFPs from Matt's Bullets. I don't have a suitable mold yet. I also have a set of Lee dies and a Lee factory crimp die on order.

For those of you with this model, do you find that it shoots closer to point of aim with the ~100 grain or heavier 115 - 120 bullets, and at what distance?


As an aside, since Pennsylvania banned the use of centerfire calibers for small game hunting around 15 years ago, this will be restricted to target shooting and plinking. I could shoot varmints with it but that would be frowned upon in my subdivision, to put it mildly.

 

[mavracer]

I use Missouri Bullet's hi tech coated I think they're 115gr with 5.0 gr of unique in both rifle and pistols

 

[Walkalong]

Coated 98 Gr WC. Takes up case space and makes powder burn a little more efficient. I used to shoot the Berrys 83 Gr WC in it
with excellent results as well, but those are no longer available. I bought all they had when they found a stash after not having
them on the website for several years during the craziness. I tried a number of bullets and powders. W-231 is good. AA # 2 is
good. WST is good. Competition is good. The WC really does help even out the numbers as far as powder position goes by
filling up empty space. I do love me a Model of 1905. I have them in .32-20 & .38 Spl.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Thanks.

I also have some Speer .314 98 grain HBWCs for loading .32 S&W Long. Might try them in the .32-20. Also, I forgot to mention I have a pound of Herco that might work.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

This afternoon I won an auction for a pretty nice looking S&W Model 1905, 4th Change in .32-20, with a 4" barrel. The seller is local and I plan to pick it up tomorrow morning.

Gunbroker auction pic:

View attachment 1200893

It's 1920s production, made after they started heat treating the cylinders. I am not planning to hot rod the gun but would like to load ammo in the 850 - 900 FPS range if that's reasonable.

Powder-wise, I have Bullseye, Red Dot, Unique, HP-38, and Autocomp on hand. I've been up on load data and I'm looking forward to experimenting with it, since I've wanted a .32-20 for awhile.

I have some Starline brass along with some bullets, both 96 grain RNFPs from Desperado Cowboy Bullets some and 120 RNFPs from Matt's Bullets. I don't have a suitable mold yet. I also have a set of Lee dies and a Lee factory crimp die on order.

For those of you with this model, do you find that it shoots closer to point of aim with the ~100 grain or heavier 115 - 120 bullets, and at what distance?


As an aside, since Pennsylvania banned the use of centerfire calibers for small game hunting around 15 years ago, this will be restricted to target shooting and plinking. I could shoot varmints with it but that would be frowned upon in my subdivision, to put it mildly.

Mine works best with 115gr plain base RFN and 4.5gr of Unique. I like the Meisters bullets because they’re a flat base vs a bevel base and can be ordered in .313”. Unfortunately they’re out of stock.

 

[StrawHat]

Years ago, I was able to join a group buy for a 100 grain SWC Keith bullet. In the two Winchester Model S&W revolvers I had, it was a good choice. It dropped .314 diameter from my alloy, 20/1. I have heard others use the same weight to good advantage.

Kevin

 

[W.E.G.]

Lyman #3118 115 gr.

Lyman #3118 115 gr.

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[Dave Markowitz]

This morning I picked it up. For a gun that's a century old it's in pretty good shape. The sideplate has some minor pitting and looks like it was lightly sanded at some point to remove rust, and then reblued, and has turned a plum brown (this was disclosed in the auction). The crane has also turned plum brown. All the screws turned freely and none are boogered up, which is nice.

I removed the sideplate and it was pretty clean inside. I just blasted it with Remoil and then compressed air, then lubed the contact points with some FP-10 and closed it back up. The right grip has quite a bit of wear so I think this gun was carried a lot. Or maybe a prior owner shot it so much he wore the right grip panel down. Anyway, one of the grips has the gun's serial number penciled on the inner surface.

The bore and charge holes had some crud in them and there's a little bit of very minor pitting in the bore, also as described in the auction. Nothing that should prevent it from shooting well, though.

I had a suitable Pachmayr grip adapter in my stash.

The timing and lockup are excellent and there's no end shake to speak of.







A 500 count box of Starline brass should arrive today while my dies should come tomorrow, so I plan to load up some ammo next week so I can shoot it next weekend.

Thanks to everyone who suggested bullets and loads.

 

[Riomouse911]

A bit late, just saw the thread.

IMHO, one just can go wrong with a box of these and a pound Unique powder for stoking a .32 H&R, a .327 Federal or a .32-20 revolver.





Stay safe.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

The right grip has quite a bit of wear so I think this gun was carried a lot. Or maybe a prior owner shot it so much he wore the right grip panel down.

I’ve seen that quite often with patrol officer weapons. Not as much since the open top holsters were deprecated.

My wife’s Cobra has a wear mark from being tucked between the seats in my old truck. The original grips were worn on the left where they rubbed on something like a belt. We figured it was from being stuffed into a cross-draw shoulder holster and hanging down.

 

[Riomouse911]

I’ve seen that quite often with patrol officer weapons. Not as much since the open top holsters were deprecated.

My wife’s Cobra has a wear mark from being tucked between the seats in my old truck. The original grips were worn on the left where they rubbed on something like a belt. We figured it was from being stuffed into a cross-draw shoulder holster and hanging down.

Ya. For right handers, the right grip will often get nicked and chipped hitting the door frame while the driver is getting into patrol cars, scuffed if the fight goes to the ground, and might even get rubbed smooth against the hard seatbelt latches in the drivers seat. Then the left one gets rubbed against the gun belt in low-slung holsters or the shirt/vest in higher-ride models.

Add in weather rusting finishes and innards if it is a stretch of rough weather and salty sweat on the exterior in the summertime.

Duty can be rough on guns’ cosmetics sometimes.

Stay safe.

 

[gwpercle]

Congratulations on an Awesome Score ... that 32-20 is Sweet !
The fixed sights are probably regulated for the standard 115 gr. 32-20 bullet weight .
My mould choice would be the Lyman #311008 , 115 gr. flat point or a copy of it as made by NOE .
and some nice mid-range loads ... Mais Yeah ... you gonna be happy happy !
Gary
Certified Louisiana Cajun