Prohibition era rescue.

[Dagga Boy]

Very cool rescue. S&W 32-20 frame. Nothing else from the gun could be saved. 5" Victory model barrel in .38 S&W. Fitted with a latter .38 special cylinder, and I had a set of 1920's correct grips for the frame. Built, Parkerized and tuned by a Smith & Wesson gunsmith who works at a big surplus parts place. I think it was a great save of an old gun that was destined for the trash pile and rebuilt to shoot modern cheap and available .38 special. It was like a getting a great mutt from the pound.

[SecondsCount]

I can't blame you for the effort, it came out nice.

[Dagga Boy]

I can't blame you for the effort, it came out nice.

I just pulled the credit card out to save it from a heathen when the gunsmith was putting it in the case. In talking to him he likes saving old guns that are essentially ruin through neglect, negligence, home gunsmithing or a combination of the above. He turns them into shooters. He said he just did a similar build on a beat to death 38/44 HD that he gave to a wheelchair bound disabled vet. I am a sucker for cool stories and neat things.

[Hambo]

Good for you. I'm not interested in collecting, but a shooter like this gets me fired up. A shooter 38/44 makes me drool just thinking about it.

[Dagga Boy]

Just need to find an SD Myres holster for it.....:cool:

[Hambo]

Or a full flap duty holster. :cool:

[Tamara]

Cool roscoe! :) (I'll not lie about mourning the loss of a .32 WCF gun, though. :( )

[Dagga Boy]

Cool roscoe! :) (I'll not lie about mourning the loss of a .32 WCF gun, though. :( )

Yea, the .32 WCF would have been neat. Apparently this was shot with a bunch of old corrosive ammunition and never cleaned. It also got wet or was left in wet holster. Someone decided to "fix" this with judicious use of things attached to drills and tried to polish the rust off the side plate.....making the side plate SUBSTANTIALLY thinner. The current guy got it and only the frame could be saved. The new side plate has no S&W logo, which actually adds to utilitarian look. It left the shop with huge Pachmayers (I need to have a sale on these at some point), but the period correct grips really "make it". A new properly hardened and actual .38 special cylinder makes me feel good about shooting it with generic type .38's to my hearts content. It also locks up really nice and has the kind of fitting we expect of the older guns. I like shooters, and this is a cool way to be able to take a honest to goodness "old" gun to the range with zero worries about wrecking something.

SD Myres did make a great flap holster for these and I would love to find one, or a reproduction. A tanker rig would also be kind of cool.

[ACP230]

I like it.
I have some old revolvers around here. Nothing like that,
however.

[Dagga Boy]

Here is the other side and a better representation of its actual color.

[Lyonsgrid]

I very much approve this rescue.

[Al T.]

Neat. I ever get out there or you here, I'd love to show you my Granddads service revolver - basically a twin, in .32-20, and a five inch barrel.

[Chuck Haggard]

I'll bring some light WCs next time I am down, I want to shoot that gun

[Dagga Boy]

What is kind of cool for me, and the attraction (like a magnet) to this gun was this is the type of revolver that would have rode in the duty holster of 1920's cops in places like St. Louis and Chicago. I like things like this from the standpoint of a student of cop gunfighting. The first thing I noticed was that you cannot get any kind of sight picture (even with crappy sights) until the hammer is cocked. You can see where training was geared around equipment, and vice versa. Apparantly, point shooting in DA, and then cocking into SA for longer range and most likely range use only. What it also shows is how long "that is how we have always done it" in law enforcement lasts. When I was in the police academy in 1988, we were not allowed to use sights till we were past the seven yard range, so essentially only at 10, 15 and 25 (and occasionally at 50). You essentially went from the old FBI type point shooting at 3, 5 and 7 yards, and then transitioned to PPC and Bullseye work after that. You see the history of how various issues drive training. It is one thing for me to be reading all the old books from the old days, to actually getting the equipment in your hands to really get an actual feel.

[okie john]

5" Victory model barrel in .38 S&W.

Great save. How does it shoot? I thought 38 S&W barrels were .360"-ish rather than .358".


Okie John

[Dagga Boy]

Great save. How does it shoot? I thought 38 S&W barrels were .360"-ish rather than .358".


Okie John

Haven't taken it to the range yet. Likely next week.

[Tamara]

Yea, the .32 WCF would have been neat. Apparently this was shot with a bunch of old corrosive ammunition and never cleaned.

Sadly, most .32-20s I've seen have bores that look like mineshafts in coal country. :(

[Dagga Boy]

Shot a few cylinders of .38 lead round nose today. Shoots okay. Tough to work with the sights. Not great,not horrible. It will serve its purpose of "an example" gun of what a 20's city patrol cop would have carried.

[mtnbkr]

Is the frame strong enough for 38special? I didn't think any of the old 32-20s were heat treated to that strength level (the older ones not at all!). I have a similar vintage 32-20 given to me by a friend. It needed work, but I had Jim Stroh sort it out, but leave it cosmetically as it was given to me (character!). It shoots well enough for my needs, but I'll never use it for small game hunting. ;)

Chris

[Dagga Boy]

It is a newer properly heat treated cylinder for .38. The frame should be the same as the .38's of the era. I just finished cleaning and lubricating it. May be the last time it get shot for a long while. I have guns with locks to shoot the crap out of with warranties.

[Lester Polfus]

What is kind of cool for me, and the attraction (like a magnet) to this gun was this is the type of revolver that would have rode in the duty holster of 1920's cops in places like St. Louis and Chicago. I like things like this from the standpoint of a student of cop gunfighting. The first thing I noticed was that you cannot get any kind of sight picture (even with crappy sights) until the hammer is cocked. You can see where training was geared around equipment, and vice versa. Apparantly, point shooting in DA, and then cocking into SA for longer range and most likely range use only. What it also shows is how long "that is how we have always done it" in law enforcement lasts. When I was in the police academy in 1988, we were not allowed to use sights till we were past the seven yard range, so essentially only at 10, 15 and 25 (and occasionally at 50). You essentially went from the old FBI type point shooting at 3, 5 and 7 yards, and then transitioned to PPC and Bullseye work after that. You see the history of how various issues drive training. It is one thing for me to be reading all the old books from the old days, to actually getting the equipment in your hands to really get an actual feel.

I cut my teeth on handguns in the early 90s. You know that head tilt thing that German Shepherds do?
When somebody would mention "point shooting," I would do that.

Then one day I got to shoot a 1917 revolver and am original 1911 (not 1911a1) and realized if I had to get work done in a close range, fast moving fight, with one of those guns I would want to get real good at point shooting too. The sights on those guns were nonexistant compared to the Novaks on my 5906.