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This wee little thing was made in 1891.
It still locks up tight as a drum.
The only thing "wrong" with it is it was made before they began making them for smokeless cartridges.
In fact, in the process of looking up when .32 S&W Long changed from black-powder to smokeless, I discovered that this gun cannot be chambered for .32 S&W Long.
.32 S&W Long wasn't developed until 1896.
This would have to be chambered for .32 H&R (aka .32 Merwin & Hulbert Long). Try finding information on that round! .32 H&R is nearly identical in dimensions to .32 S&W Long, it's just 0.045" shorter and the base diameter is 0.337" instead of 0.335". You could make H&R rounds from S&W Long brass! No idea what the powder loads are.
I'd ask the expert, but I think Mr Goforth up and died on us. His book is a bit spendy.
I'm certain my Grampa loaded it with S&W Long, that was probably a bad idea but he got away with it.
I now own two guns I can't get ammo for!
load it with round ball in a 32S&W case
ReplyDeleteI have specifically avoided guns in old calibers like that since I shoot all of my guns and ammo such as this is obsolete, and all .32 or .38 S&W are expensive when you can find it.
ReplyDeleteThis was my Granpa's gun. It lived in a drawer under the cash register of the gas station he owned. I don't think I would ever have BOUGHT this gun, but it's got sentimental value because of its provenance.
DeleteWhen he bought it, you could probably buy cartridges for it too.
Or he just used .32 S&W Long and didn't know any better.