Category: Ammo
I bet that you REALLY had to be on the ball there, all the time or lose a body part REAL Quick!! Grumpy
PS My Dad saw what a T.O.T. of such shells like this could do in Korea. He said that an entire hill was just lifted up and dropped. needless to say we took that hill fairly easily.
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THE .32 WCF
DUKE RE-THINKS HIS PLINKING GUNS
Duke’s .32-20 Colt SAA and Cimarron Arms Short Rifle. Duke pronounced them great fun to shoot!
Of all the popular Old West cartridges the .32 WCF/.32-20 has lacked popularity with me. I don’t know why exactly. Perhaps it was because I never had a raging miniature poodle that needed shooting. Or maybe it was because the concept of mating such a tiny cartridge to such heavy guns as Colt SAA revolvers or Winchester lever guns seemed illogical.
Whatever the reason, while I’ve owned dozens of big bore Colt SAAs and likewise with Winchester (and replica) lever guns, I’ve owned precisely four .32-20s. One was a Colt SAA with 4-3/4″ barrel, one was an Italian SAA replica with 7-1/2″ barrel, one was an original Winchester Model 1873 on which someone had shortened the barrel and magazine tube to 20″, and one was a Japanese made Browning replica of Winchester’s Model 53 with 22″ barrel.
All were decent guns. None stuck around very long. Now in 2021 matters have changed. First, in 2020 I found a 3rd Generation Colt SAA with 7-1/2″ barrel made about 10 years ago. As with all Colt SAAs I’ve seen in recent years it’s a beautifully crafted revolver. Because its previous owner decided to “erase” its color case hardening due to some surface rust it was priced very attractively. Its blued surfaces were untouched. I’m going to have it re-color case hardened but that will be a future column.
That Colt has been a fine shooter and just plain fun for popping empty soda cans and chunks of firewood. I shoot on my own property so the cans are policed and the splintered firewood left to make its way back to nature. Over the winter and spring of 2021 I’ve loaded hundreds of .32-20s, all with cast bullets either of my own making or commercially cast. Luckily when I launched on my full auto kick a dozen years back I laid in thousands of suitable primers for each purchase. Therefore current shortages have not plagued me.
This lineup of cartridges contains the Winchester Centerfire pistol size cartridges
that were chambered in Models 1873 and 1992 lever guns in the late 1800s.
From left: .44-40, .38-40, .32-20 and .25-20. The latter one was only in Model 1892s.
Plinkers
Mostly .22 rimfires have been the ultimate plinking guns, but this shortage has raised ammo prices significantly. The .32-20 might actually be cheaper now. A powder charge of 3.0 grains of Bullseye will net 2,333 loads from a 1-lb. can! Another fine load is 3.5 grains of Titegroup. That makes for 2,000 loads per pound. Most .32-20 bullets run from 100 to 120 grains. That’s 70 to 58 bullets per pound of lead alloy.
There was one problem when I returned to .32-20 reloading. My RCBS and Lyman .32-20 molds had disappeared since last used in the 1990s. Have you tried to buy RCBS or Lyman molds during this time of shortages? None available! However, I did find an outfit called MP Molds that had in stock a brass four-cavity “convertible” mold capable of making 115-grain hollow point or 120-grain solid bullets by changing a few parts. Of all places it was in Slovenia! I prepared for a long wait but it arrived in one week. Talk about service! Closer to home in Utah I found a company named Arsenal Molds. They offered a clone of RCBS’s 98-grain SWC so I ordered a brass four-cavity mold there too. It also arrived in a week. I was set to go.
Duke got this four-cavity .32 caliber bullet mold from Arsenal Molds in Utah.
The Bug Strikes — Again
With enthusiasm building for .32-20s I just had to start looking at lever guns. I didn’t want original Winchester or Marlins unless I could examine their bores for condition, and unfortunately Montana’s gun shows have been curtailed severely by COVID-19 problems. So I turned to the Internet searching for Italian Winchester replicas. What I desired was a ’73 carbine because it would be lighter. Even on the Internet they weren’t all that plentiful.
One afternoon while Yvonne was in a store and I was sitting outside with my iPad, I located a few Cimarron .32-20 carbines and short rifles. Before my wife returned I had bought and paid for one. Only when it arrived did it dawn on me I had bought a short rifle instead of a saddle ring carbine. Short rifles are configured as normal length rifles but only have 20″ barrels. When I told Yvonne of my mistake she said, “Duke, sometimes I think you need constant adult supervision.”
Anyway, the Cimarron .32-20 also shoots fine. With the mentioned powder charges and bullets my 7-1/2″ Colt SAA gives about 850 fps and the 20″-barreled lever gun breaks 1,200 fps. I’m having great fun with both.
PS: I haven’t told Yvonne yet but I just ordered a Cimarron .32-20 saddle ring carbine. Shhh …
Above: Samples of revolvers chambered for all three .44s. On the left
is a Navy Arms replica of a 3rd Model S&W .44 Russian. Below, from left
to right: .44 S&W Russian, .44 S&W Special and .44 Remington Magnum.
It amazes me how many shooters — young and old — talk about their .44 Specials or .44 Magnums without having a clue as to their ancestry. Neither arrived on the revolver scene as full-blown innovations. They were derived in a stair step fashion.
Their story started in 1872 in what might be called an instance of Russian collusion. S&W introduced their first metallic cartridge-firing revolver in 1870. Named Model #3, it was chambered for the .44 Henry, same as used in Winchester’s Model 1866 rifles and carbines. Hoping for army contracts S&W submitted the new Model #3 to the U.S. Government for testing. It was almost immediately rejected because .44 Henry was rimfire — the government wanted only centerfires. So, S&W remodeled the .44 Henry cartridge to centerfire ignition and called it .44/100.
Colluding for Gold
A Russian general serving as a diplomat in America took note of the Model #3 and thought it would be an excellent sidearm for the Czar’s cavalry. Except he disliked the two-diameter heel-type bullet used in .44/100. The general had this crazy idea a bullet’s body should be the same diameter and fit inside a cartridge case. Since the Russians promised to pay for their S&W Model #3 in gold, the company was happy to accept their idea. Thus was born the S&W .44 Russian, and henceforth the .44/100 was called .44 American.
Early on factory .44 Russian loads contained roundnose bullets as heavy as 275 grains. Winchester’s 1899 catalog listed them at 255 gr., still roundnose. Some of these early factory loads had lube grooves exposed. Later all lube grooves were covered as would be right and proper with lead alloy bullets. Case length was 0.97″ and velocity was likely a bit over 700 fps. The black powder charge was 23 grains.
As matters progressed, the Russians wanted changes in the Model #3 and the allure of gold was incentive for S&W to make them. First model .44 Russian Model #3s looked identical to the company’s .44 Americans, but soon the Russians wanted some changes. Most notable were humps at the top of Model #3’s grips and odd-looking spurs extending from trigger guards. Barrel lengths were reduced from 8″ with the First Model Russians to 7″ on the Second Model Russians. Then there was a Third Model .44 Russian with 6.5″ barrel. It’s recognizable by a large thumb screw on the topstrap. A little-known fact is S&W sold about a quarter million .44s to the Russian Government.
These three .44s — Russian, Special and Magnum —
can be handloaded with the same bullet.
All-American .44 Special
Now jump to 1907. S&W wanted to enter the large frame, swing-out cylinder market. As a cartridge for the Hand Ejector, First Model .44 (nicknamed triplelock) they introduced a wild and crazy idea. They lengthened .44 Russian’s case to 1.16″, using the exact same 246-gr. bullet at a similar velocity of about 750 fps. It was named .44 S&W Special. Factory loads carried either smokeless or black powder. S&W carried the .44 Special through four remodels stopping in 1966. In the 1980s they reintroduced Model 24s (Hand Ejector, Fourth Model) and Model 624s (stainless steel) and in the 21st century there have been some .44 Special limited editions.
Then in 1956 S&W knocked the gun world on its ear by introducing the .44 Remington Magnum with its introductory vehicle being a strengthened N-Frame. In 1957 the company went to model numbers with .44 Mags getting Model 29. Again, the new cartridge was a wonder of innovation (sarcasm intended). The new magnum case was the .44 Special stretched to 1.29″. However, bullets changed from 246-gr. RN to 240-gr. SWC with a gas check. Velocity changed also to nominal 1,470 fps. Those factory loads leaded like the dickens! I know — 18 such rounds came with my first S&W .44 Magnum in 1968.
Personally speaking, I’ve owned and handloaded for a multitude of revolvers for all three of these .44s. Of course, Russian and Special .44s can be safely fired in .44 Magnum revolvers, but I freely admit nowadays I’m far fonder of shooting the Russian version from Navy Arms replica 3rd Model No. 3.
Like me, it’s big but gentle.
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