Old Colt 32-20

[Burnston]

I had an especially delightful Thanksgiving this year when my father pulled this gem out of his safe and handed it to me. Apparently, this pistol was accepted by my late grandfather from a customer who could not pay for some auto work. It is a 32-20, whose serial number indicates a 1912 date of manufacturing. 




Obviously, I was thrilled at the gift, (which actually turned out to be a trade.) While the pistol does in fact shoot, there are a few obvious issues that may or may not be resolved. Those of you with a more qualified eye, take a look and feel free to make comments regarding what (if any) steps might be taken to turn this into a more usable shooter. 

Picture A- 
As you can see, there is some serious pitting taking place at the cylinder throats. 

Picture B-
 Though difficult to see, there is a small hairline crack on the most obvious chamber. 

Picture C- 
Being unfamiliar with pistols of this age, I am having difficulty to determining whether this slight indention on the top strap just above the forcing cone is factory, or a result of abuse. 

Picture D- 


As you can see, significant pitting in the rifling. 

It goes without saying that this is a wonderful acquisition. I do intend to have it examined by a qualified gunsmith, but in the meantime I am very interested in your preliminary opinions; am I looking at an heirloom wall hanger or a realistic shooting prospect? 

[bigbrowndog]

If it checks out safe to shoot, I’d shoot it first. You n3ver know what kind of accuracy you’ve got until you shoot it first. I had a Browning hi power that got shot with corrosive ammo and the barrel got pitted but it still gave reasonable service pistol accuracy. The cracked chamber is my biggest concern, if the others are in no danger of being exposed to it, I’d think you might be able to simply avoid that chamber, if the others are in danger a replacement may be made or found fairly reasonably???

Very old school cool though,...I’m kindof in your shoes with a Win 94 TD from the 40’s, My father gave me last year, I want to restore it to shooter status but don’t know how much it’s going to take.

Trapr

[sagebrushburns]

Picture "C" shows a standard feature of Colts of that time frame. "A" and "D" look like the result of not cleaning properly after shooting black powder and/or corrosive primers. You can't eliminate it but you can prevent it getting worse. Hard to see "B", is it really a crack or perhaps just a surface scratch... Unless that really is a serious crack, it should be fine to shoot.

[potatojudge]

That gun will be worth more unmodified. Have a gunsmith see if the cylinder is actually cracked, make sure the rest is functioning as it should, and see if you can find a load that'll shoot.

There's all kinds of ways to fix the cylinder face, throats, bore, etc, but you'd be money ahead not doing all that.

If the cylinder is bad you're looking at a replacement. I wouldn't like to shoot a gun with one bad chamber not knowing what issues led to that condition.

If you can't get that bore to shoot, it could be rebored to a larger caliber along with the cylinder getting rechambered or you could have the barrel sleeved and see if that doesn't solve any accuracy issues.

Lots of directions you could take with it, but again, I'd start with checking out that cylinder, basic functioning, and seeing how it shoots as-is.

[Cholla]

Very nice. I very seriously doubt the cylinder is cracked, it's likely a scratch.

I have a 1903 Colt SA in 38-40. The bore looks like hell, but the old girl shoots quite well. So like others have said just shoot it.

Cholla

[cubrock]

I agree - check its function then shoot it. Sometimes, pitted bores produce acceptable, even great accuracy. They take longer to clean properly, but that is okay on a gun like that.

[Burnston]

I failed to mention that I have fired the pistol, from all chambers save for the damaged one. Not extensively, mind you, (only about thirty rounds.) Shooting from a table at a reasonable distance, using half-jacketed soft nose bullets in front of 5gr of Unique, (I srtuggle to remember the bullet weight), patterns were quit erratic, to the point where I would feel uncomfortable shooting at a living varmint. This of course could be from the load itself. Mechanically, the pistol is perfectly sound, in spite of its hairline trigger that I am still getting used to.

The chamber is in fact cracked, or chipped; it is too small to tell. However, I can get the tip of my finger nail into it. Suffice it to say, material is gone where material once was.

I certainly appreciate all of your contributions. It should be known that the "value" in this pistol is strictly personal. As I never intend to part with it, I have no interest in collector's or dealer's value. That said, I am not opposed to modifying it's original condition to make a more reliable, safer shooter, from a new barrel to a new cylinder if necessary. This of course is not to say that I will not leave it as is. My primary intention is to own a usable, safe piece of family history. If that means modification or leaving it as is, so be it. 

 As a point of clarity, here is a closer view of the abrasion in the chamber. 

[cubrock]

A little nick at the rear of the cylinder wouldn't concern me with .32-20. There is still lots of meat left in that chamber.

The only way to "cure" a pitted bore is to replace the barrel. Same with the cylinder. You can also have them relined, but I doubt that would be any cheaper.

[bigbrowndog]

I would hone/lap the bore and chambers, and if need be use slightly oversize bullets to offset any enlargement to bore and throats. To me the “crack” appears to be only a nick, if so honing can remove or greatly minimize it.

Trapr

[Cholla]

Nov 28, 2018 8:39:50 GMT -5 Burnston said:

I failed to mention that I have fired the pistol, from all chambers save for the damaged one. Not extensively, mind you, (only about thirty rounds.) Shooting from a table at a reasonable distance, using half-jacketed soft nose bullets in front of 5gr of Unique, (I srtuggle to remember the bullet weight), patterns were quit erratic, to the point where I would feel uncomfortable shooting at a living varmint. This of course could be from the load itself. Mechanically, the pistol is perfectly sound, in spite of its hairline trigger that I am still getting used to.

The chamber is in fact cracked, or chipped; it is too small to tell. However, I can get the tip of my finger nail into it. Suffice it to say, material is gone where material once was.

I certainly appreciate all of your contributions. It should be known that the "value" in this pistol is strictly personal. As I never intend to part with it, I have no interest in collector's or dealer's value. That said, I am not opposed to modifying it's original condition to make a more reliable, safer shooter, from a new barrel to a new cylinder if necessary. This of course is not to say that I will not leave it as is. My primary intention is to own a usable, safe piece of family history. If that means modification or leaving it as is, so be it. 

 As a point of clarity, here is a closer view of the abrasion in the chamber. 

Again, that is unlikely a crack at the rear of your cylinder. The weak area of Colt cylinders is underneath the bolt notch, where the metal is thinnest.

Regarding the erratic accuracy, it may be your choice of bullets. You stated you were using half-jacket bullets, which I presume to be Hornady's. 30 caliber short jacketed bullets. If this is the case, be advised that these are .308" bullets. 32-20 barrels typically have .311" - .312" groove diameters and the cylinder throats are probably .312" - .313". If my suspicions are correct these bullets would likely give poor accuracy due to being undersized. For my 32-20 I ordered some Hunters Supply .313", 115 gr. lead bullets from MidwayUSA.com. There about a dime apiece and have been wonderfully accurate for me.

Cholla

[z1r]

If otherwise it is mechanically sound, it might be easier to convert to something like 38 Spl. They are suitable for varmints and pretty inexpensive.

A 44 spl would be the bomb.

[potatojudge]

For an example of how far this can be taken:

Jim Stroh built 1905 Bisley originally in 32-30 now line-bored to 45 Colt, new endshake bushing, oversized base pin, oversized bolt, action work, new barrel drilled and tapped for scope bases, Bowen front sight, S&W rear sight, walnut grips by LSCG, auxiliary cylinder in 45 ACP. Slick gun, rock solid action and lockup.



I'd do all I could to get it running well in it's original configuration. If you wanted to have a period correct cylinder and barrel installed in another caliber and set the originals aside, that would preserve it's value and make it a more useful gun for you as well.

[bullseye]

It'd be an easy decision for me, I hunt down a 1st gen cylinder & barrel in better condition in either 44 WCF or 45 Colt & install them on that frame, & shoot it frequently! Just keep ahold of the old parts as you can always return a Colt SAA to it's original configuration on down the line if you so choose.

[Burnston]

Beautiful and extensive work. I would prefer keeping it's original caliber, but I am not opposed to tracking down and installing a new 32-20 barrel and cylinder if necessary.

[Cholla]

If a man is going to replace parts, why not just get a 32-20 cylinder? There's one on ebay right now for $100. I personally think the barrel will be fine.