H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

More than likely people who had rifles in the caliber. I'd guess that they were primarily used for varmint control and maybe small to medium game hunting. Back in the day, .32-20 was considered suitable for deer, for example. I doubt it was many people's primary defensive caliber, but I'd be surprised if at least a few people didn't use it for that. The caliber had a reputation for excellent accuracy, so perhaps some target shooters as well. I've seen for sale, and own 2, .32-20 Bisleys, which was a target gun, for example.

Who can short stroke? We can short stroke. If you dare go short stroke We will short stroke You.

There are a couple of 1888's on Gunbroker right now, for reasonable prices at the moment. In fact, if I didn't already have one, I'd be going for one of them. I will confirm that the magazine tube on the Uberti 66 looks to be the same size as the ones on the .44's and .45's. Haven't loaded it up yet to see how it works.

Well, maybe obsession is the wrong word, but I really like the .32-20 caliber, and would like to increase examples of it in my collection. Here's what I have. Pistols (SASS Type) Colt SAA 1st Gen Antique Colt SAA 3rd Gen Colt Bisley x2. Pistols (Non-SASS type) S&W M&P Going forward, I think the most logical things to obtain would be a non antique 1st Gen SAA, and a 2nd Gen SAA. If I can ever find one that's legal for sale in Massachusetts, that scaled down SAA clone marketed by Cimarron and other that comes with dual .32-20 and .32 H&R Magnum cylinders is attractive. I suppose a generic SAA clone in the caliber is also an option, especially if it's not very expensive. But finding one in Massachusetts would be hard. I think that if I can find a Colt 1878 in the caliber, I'd be hard pressed to pass on it. I know there have been more than a few DA revolvers made for the caliber by Colt, S&W and others, but that's more peripheral interest. I'm more interested in stuff I can use for our game, or at least peripheral to it. I'm not really interested in the Ruger. Well made guns, but not of personal interest. I assume they offer it in .32-20, but don't know. Can anyone confirm? I know that S&W never chambered the Model 3 for the caliber, and in fact, as far as I know, only Colt did anything in pistols with it back in the day. As far as modern made guns go, when I first got into CAS, I believe it was Taylors who was marketing a 58 Remington "converted" to the caliber, but I never actually saw one anyplace other than on their website. Anybody ever see/obtain one of these? Or perhaps any other "conversions?" Now, for rifles, it's far more interesting. I don't yet have any single shot rifles in the caliber, but I am interested in one of the BSA rifles that started out as a .310 Cadet rifle that has been rechambered to .32-20. They are not hard to find, and fairly inexpensive. Also the Remington Rolling Block would be on my list. But I don't know if anything else was chambered for it, or if any single action pistols were. Anybody know? For SASS type rifles... Winchester 73 Colt Lighting Winchester 92 Uberti 66 Marlin 1888 I guess the most obvious "gap" here would be a Marlin 94. Don't know if anything else was ever made, or if any replicas in a caliber that originals, like the 66, didn't have are out there. Something else I'd like to find is a short barrel Winchester 92, but dang, those are expensive! I did see one at auction a couple of years ago, but I lost out when it got too expensive for my wallet. Not seen another one since. Now, granted, I am mostly a .45 Shooter, but for some reason, I find breaking out the .32-20 now and again to be "fun" for some reason. Maybe it's cuz the guns I have for are all wicked cool. I don't know. Okay, with all of that in mind, who else finds .32-20 to be strangely addictive? What else might be out there to add to the collection that I am unaware of. An inquiring mind who's currently loading up truckload of brass for the caliber wants to know.

If they don't charge a fee for the credit card, I'll use that. If they do, I'll get a bank check/money order. This also gives me a receipt from the bank, which I like having. Sometimes I'll do a personal check if they say they will take one, But I usually don't because of the wait for it to clear. Obviously, all purchases. I've not sold anything.

F&F?

I have a large collection of that brand of snap caps, including .44-40's that I run in my Uberti Henry, Uberti 66, AWA Lightning, Colt Lightning, and Uberti 73. Never had any trouble in any of those guns, or with the caps in different calibers in others. Either I am lucky, or I think there may be something "off" with your Henry's extractor, but that it does not bother brass, just the weaker aluminum of the caps.

Yeah, and he will. I'll give him a call and explain what's happening.

Found a box of factory Short Colts. Same problem as the Longs. So, it's gotta be some sort of problem with the action. In general, I DO take backups with me to big shoots, but not locals. Oh well.

Never thought you were rude. To be honest, I should have brought along another, proven, gun in case their were any problems with the Marlin. I guess I just figured that after a hefty gunsmith bill from a guy who has done complicated and excellent work for me before that there would not be any issues.|| Oh, I tried the Short Colts. An empty case drops right in to the chamber, but my reloads would not. I have a feeling that loading those heeled bullets doesn't leave as much room for error. I'll have to start from scratch there. If I can at least get the shorts to chamber, but they have the same problem with cycling, that'll give me a better clue as to what needs to be fixed. I suppose I should also experiment with some rimfire cartridges that I have.

I think the real question, as some others have alluded to, is how much of a performance boost would .357 Magnum loaded with black powder have been over the .38 Long Colt. It is worth noting that the .38 Special started out as a black powder cartridge, and it was an improvement over the Long Colt. So it is not unreasonable to say that the .357 would have had "significant" improvement as well, whatever that means. And, since it would have been loaded with black powder, the guns of the day could have handled it. But, would it have caught on and been popular? That's where it get's harder to say. It could be said that while a black powder .357 would have been "better" than a black powder Long Colt, I'd guess that it would still not be as potent as a black powder .45. (Anyone here load both cartridges with black for a comparison?) And there's the rub. Back in the day, I'd say it is reasonable to assume that, like today, people choosing the .38 did so because they wanted a less powerful pistol for whatever reason. Those who wanted something more powerful went with the .44's and .45. Things like .41 Colt and .38-40 also existed, so there was already a range of cartridges from the more mild .38 to the more strong .45. Where would a black powder .357 have "fit" in comparison to other rounds of the day? Since there would already other rounds of that level of "power" there might have not been a place for it. Unless, you want to consider the idea that people would get it so they could use the more powerful round when they wanted to, but still dial back to the Long, or even Short Colt if they felt they didn't need the extra performance. It's a more complex question than it would seem to be on the surface.

Went to my first shoot of the year today. Or at least, it was supposed to be. Technically it was supposed to be my second, but the one held a week ago was rained out. But today, today I had "plans." First of all, I was gonna try out my "new to me" Marlin 92 in .32 Centerfire. I got the gun for a really inexpensive price. It was just too good to pass up. (And the reason I was looking in the first place was that someone gave me, for free, a couple of boxes of .32 Long Colt ammo, and some .32 Short Colt brass.) Anyway, got the gun. And there was a reason why it was being sold for such a low price; it was a mess. Long story short, a few weeks with my gunsmith and a thousand dollars later (which brought it to what these guns seem to be usually going for in shootable condition) I took it to the range today. And it promptly jammed as I tried to chamber the first round of the day. Took it over to the unloading table to clear it, and after I took the side plate off, a piece fell out of the action. No idea where it came from. Anyway, I got the thing unloaded, but could not figure out how to get it back together. For pistols today, I was using my Colt Bisleys in .32-20 cuz I I wanted to practice with them. As I went to unload one of them, the ejector rod fell off. Sigh... THAT I was able to fix, but at that point, I was just too rattled to feel comfortable shooting, so I packed it in, and just spotted for the rest of the day. (We had 9 shooters today. The Danvers Desperados put on a great shoot, and many kudos to Monsieur Gunner for writing some excellent stages.) For shotguns, I was gonna use for the first time a Hopkins and Allen single barrel that I recently got for $50, and my recently repaired Martini Greener single shot. Oh well. I mean, it was nice seeing a handful of pards I'd not seen since last year, and I enjoyed what I DID get to do, but it was kind of a bummer that everything went south. Anyway, I did get the Marlin back together, and I think I figured out what might be the problem with rifle is. At first, I thought that maybe the cartridges were maybe a couple of a thousandths of an inch too long. But I am not so sure. Now, I was running legitimate factory ammo, both Winchester and Remington. Some rounds cycled, some didn't. But, I noticed that sometimes, not every time, just the rim of the next cartridge came out of the magazine, apparently causing the jam. Part of me is wondering if the magazine spring, which is new, might be too strong and it's pushing out the cartridges too fast or something. (A wild guess.) I noticed that up to 4 rounds in the magazine don't jam, but 5+ do. But... There also seems to be the reality that the rounds that jam jam all by themselves, and the ones that don't jam, can do a full magazine, which makes me wonder if OAL is the problem after all. I mean, even with factory ammo, there are minute variances. (Grasping at straws here, I know.) Anyway, I plant to load up some Short Colts and see if they work better. If they do, I guess I'll leave it at that. If they don't, I might be calling my gunsmith... I guess I should just stick to the Lightning and the .45s.

Well, okay. I have to admit I didn't know it could take so long. I agree that is not right.

How did I miss this? Sorry, but these things are just not worth it. Now THIS is the way to go...

This one bothers me a lot. I can't tell you how many times I've had a gun just left on my porch. It's a little frightening, to be honest. This has been things purchased on my C&R, and sometimes gun being returned to me by gunsmiths. What's even more disturbing is how I get the e-mail saying it was signed for. And this has included things that can be legally sent through the mail.

I have to say, of all the reasons stated, that's a pretty weak one. Seems like it would not take any longer than doing the NICS check for an in store purchase.

Got it. What's the "Pale Rider" category?

Broken link...

Is there going to be a Northeast regional/Guns of August shoot out in Ohio this year? I checked the club website where it was held last year, and while the registration for last year's event is still there, there is nothing listed for this year.

As a C&R holder, I feel that it is incumbent on ME to know what is and is not eligible. And I do find it distressing how so many C&R holders are ignorant of what they can do. No. The age of the design does not a C&R gun make. The age of the GUN does. Unless it's one of those rare ones "on the list" that are less than 50 years old. In cases like that, I will quote the listing in the book and ask the seller if they will accept. If they won't, I don't argue. I might be disappointed, but it's their Business, not mine. (For example, my recently acquired Patton commemorative. Obviously, they accepted it.) With regard to the sales tax, I will admit that a couple of times I have purchased in a brick and mortar shop, the dealer told me it was sales tax exempt. Others have said it's not. I don't know. I don't ask. I leave that up to the dealer. Their reasoning was that it was not a "sale" it was a "transfer" from one FFL to another. Since so many dealers have said different things, I don't know what the reality is. I don't blame you for only doing it in person, and you HAVE explained in understandable terms why some dealers are hesitant. It's rather sad that it's brought about by foolishness on the part of C&R holders. If I ever make it back to Nevada, I'll stop by your shop, Creeker.

For the record, over the years I have purchased several C&R type firearms and had them shipped to my house from several other states. I have also used it to purchase in brick and mortar stores in other states and cash and carry out the door. One of the reasons I got the C&R was because many of the guns useful in this game qualify, and are hard to find in my home state. There have always been a small handful of dealers who had misgivings about shipping to Massachusetts, even though they can, and to tell the truth, I don't blame them for their hesitancy. But this is a fairly new phenomenon that I am noticing, a lot of online sellers saying "No C&R Sales" at all of any kind to any location. (As an aside, it is not unusual to go into a LGS around here, and see the tag on a pistol say, "For sale only to C&R holders.) Again, I have seen the random place do this over the years, but it was a rarity. In the past year or so, it seems to be becoming more and more common.

I have noticed that more and more people selling things on Gunbroker, usually gunshops but not always, are noting right in the details that they will not ship eligible firearms to a C&R FFL anymore. On the one hand, okay, it's their FFL and if they won't do it, I can't force them. But I do wonder WHY they are acting this way. I've seen more than a few guns recently on Gunbroker, and other online sites, that were of interest to me, but they were all. "we don't ship to C&R holders anymore." Are their any regular FFL holders here that can shed some light on this? It's very "irksome."

Those are great pistols. Used to have one.

What kind of a choke?