red dead Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I picked up a h&r top break in 32 s&w long serial number 196xxx Any info would help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dead Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 Also the gun is in good condition can i shoot modern ammo in it or do i have load black powder loads? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Rich Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Post a picture there are pards on here that can tell ya what to look for. With a BT original I would only shoot BP loads in it, but that's my personal opinion. kR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Also the gun is in good condition can i shoot modern ammo in it or do i have load black powder loads? Got a pic? Not much info to go on here. Are you SURE it is .32 S&W Long, and not .32 S&W? There are more than a few guns out there that were made for .32 S&W that will chamber the longer load, but that are not made for it. I know, I have one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Bullweed Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 My Iver Johnson Model 1900 is a .32 short that will chamber long cartridges. I suggest BP or Trail boss only for an old gun like this. These were limited quality guns when they were new. They have not gained in quality by being 1oo-plus years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dead Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 How can i post a picture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dead Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 Its made for 32 s&w long Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dead Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dead Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dead Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 Ok got it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dead Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 It says 32 l ctg auto ejector Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oklahomabound Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 I'd go to the h&R firing line and ask Bill Goforth for sure... ...your serial number is probably early 1900's less than 1920, Mr. Goforth can tell you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Unfortunately, Bill Goforth died a couple of years ago. :( Here's a note from his daughter - he died almost exactly three years ago. http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=496306 You might be able to find a copy of his fine book (published not long before he passed) on H&R - H&R Arms Co 1871-1986. Here's one spot for certain: http://www.gunshowbooks.com/cgi-bin/webc.exe/st_prod.html?p_prodid=GS44305 Take off the grips (carefully, they are probably brittle), and look for a what type of hammer spring is there - coil or leaf. The coil spring usually means on a pocket pistol that it was made for smokeless, but that is just a rough guide. Are there any patent dates on the barrel or under the grips? What is the latest date that you find, if any? Anything after 1908 or so is usually good for smokeless - the pocket guns were slower to move to better steels than the big single actions were. Your picture shows long bolt-drop leads into the locking slots on the cylinders. That is usually an indication on some pocket pistols that it was a BP gun. Here's a very interesting thread on another forum that helps explain the H&Rs a little better.... http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/threads/h-r-top-break-date.130477/ And here's a thread that gives an even better tip on the design period of these top breaks. http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/threads/help-interpreting-h-r-serial-number.46795/ Bill Goforth himself wrote the best answer to YOUR specific question in it, and he said, "Caliber markings on the side of the barrel ALWAYS indicate 1905 or after manufacture. When H&R made the switch to smokeless powder in 1905 they started marking the caliber on the left side of the barrel of all their handguns. No caliber markings = black powder, caliber markings = smokeless powder." In this thread, he pins down a gun with long leads on the cylinder to being a smokeless gun. So, it appears H&R kept using the long leads on cylinders during the smokeless period. And finally another post covers the chambering you have in this gun, and says it WAS made as a .32 S&W Long (assuming this is a six-shot revolver.) Goforth wrote: "By the time H&R got around to marking the caliber on the left side of the barrel in 1905 to their way of thinking both the 32 H&R and the 32 M&H were obsolete cartridges. In 1905 when they made the change to smokeless powder they lengthened the cylinders of both the large frame auto-ejector's and the large frame American double action and the model 1904 to handle the newly introduced 32 S&W LONG even though they marked these with 32 S&W CTGE. any six shot H&R with the caliber marked on the barrel as 32 S&W CTGE is actually chambered for the 32 S&W LONG." From this post: http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/threads/32-h-r-and-32-m-h-long.71902/ All the info you have presented so far says pretty strongly it is probably safe for smokeless loads in a 32 S&W long case. I would be loading it light, though, and not shooting factory loads myself. As an aside, I shoot my Iver Johnson's with BP loads, even though only one of several is a BP era gun. The top breaks of all of the manufacturers except perhaps S&W are pretty weak and it does not take much to shoot the frame loose and no longer be able to shoot the gun. Good luck, GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dead Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 It does have markings on the barrel it says (32 auto ejector) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dead Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 The gunsmith who sold it to me said it was made for smokless powder but am still scared it seems solid i only paid $99 for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dead Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 I also have s&w 32 pistol that was giving to me a gift i use Remington 88 grain smokless factory loads from bass pro shop and it runs like a champ but am now loading BP loads its a second model Smith serial number 153xxx in great functioning condition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Foot Johnson Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 I think one of my four pocket pistols is the same model you've got. I shoot smokeless in this one; less than one grain of the chosen powder in the shorts, and just over one grain in the longs. S/N 309XXX I paid $150 nine years ago, but it appeared to be new and unfired when I bought it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dead Posted January 13, 2015 Author Share Posted January 13, 2015 Nice pistol i like these guns mine was made around 1902-1909 so do you think it's ok to shoot modern ammo?it handles it just fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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