CZ93X62
Official forum enigma
I have been involved with the loading and shooting of the 32/20 WCF cartridge since about 1981. This involvement was almost contemporaneous to my start-up of bullet casting, and the growth of both experiences at the same time is closely related.
My Dad had my great-grandfather's revolver on his closet shelf throughout the time I was growing up. It was the first revolver I had ever shot, and at a very young age. It left an indelible impression upon my young mind, and that impression remains today. This wheelgun is a 1906-made Colt Bisley Model single-action with 4-3/4" barrel, caliber 32/20 WCF. Condition is about "NRA Good". This revolver and a Winchester Model 1873 carbine in 44/40 WCF were ranch arms for a number of years for my family, they saw a lot of use and not a great deal of care. A family friend and my reloading/bullet-casting mentor--Leo Reyes--worked on the Colt's hair-trigger to make it safer to carry and shoot. It is still a light-triggered arm. My great-grandpa was a bit of a rounder, it seems.
I did some reading on the subject of 32/20 WCF reloading before launching into the project and buying tools. Career events and upheavals in my personal life from mid-1981 through 1983 put a damper on a lot of hobby activities well into early 1984, but I was still able to read and do research. I was casting bullets for the 38/357 revolvers I used at work, for my 30/30 levergun, and for a 32 S&W Long/Model 31-1 x 3" at that time. A Colt Police Positive Special in 32/20 WCF came my way, so I ordered and received a die set to process ammo for this new-to-me acquisition and for the Bisley Colt.
From my reading I gathered that the 32/20 WCF in revolvers had a reputation for sticking bullets in barrels. Indeed, several examples I was considering for purchase over the years have shown evidence of exactly that--the snake-swallowed-an-egg barrel swell-out. Writers explained this phenomenon's causes as being wrong powder for the application--wide flash gaps between cylinder throat and barrel forcing cone--and that tired old mantra of "Some calibers didn't make the transition from black powder to smokeless fuels as well as others". Another boiler-plate statement about the 32/20 in revolvers was that ballistics were highly variable, with large velocity swings and inaccurate downrange results.
Caca del toro! Leo Reyes saved me a whole lot of grief, very early in the casting game. "If the bullet doesn't fit, it is NOT going to shoot well. It will lead the barrel up." I never saw Leo slug a revolver barrel, but he darn sure slugged or pin-gauged cylinder throats. He also did slugging or Cerrosafe casting of rifle chambers. He called it "Polygraphing your gun".
I slugged the throats on the Bisley (.314") and the PPS (.313"). Not very different from my S&W 31-1 throats (.314"). In 1985 I had one mould for the mid-caliber revolvers, Lyman #313492--a strange little button-nosed 93 grain wadcutter with a bore-rider front band. I also have its 38 caliber counterpart, Lyman #358432. They both are SUPERBLY accurate when sized to fit well. They don't tumble after traveling 60+ yards, either--a fact that has caused permanent consternation to a number of jackrabbits and ground squirrels.
I should note at this time that factory ammo in the revolvers was everything the writers described the 32/20 WCF as being--inconsistent, inaccurate, and grossly over-priced. I didn't stick any bullets, and watched for that carefully. I had collected about 100 rounds each of R-P and W-W fired brass by the time the tools were all on deck. Now evident was another quirk of 32/20 chamber dimensions--they are Duesenbergs--"No two are alike". Within a given cylinder, the shoulder placement is pretty close from chamber to chamber, but from revolver to revolver? Fuggetaboutit. The shoulder isn't very prominent anyway, and the sizing die conforms to the SAAMI specs closely. Would that Colt and S&W follow suit.
The RCBS OEM expander spud in the 32/20 die set is .308" diameter. That ain't gonna work with .314"-sized bullets, no matter how thin the 32/20 brass might be. (It IS thin and weak--if looked at intently, it will warp. Light thumb/forefinger pressure can crush the case mouths flat. W-W and R-P 32/20 brass is useless. Starline is far better material--go Starline, and don't look back). W-W and R-P brass also stretches EVERY firing, and does so unevenly. It MUST be trimmed after every firing, just to get "square" case mouths for consistent crimping. My Starline brass, even when run hard with rifle loads, only needs a trim every third firing, and stretches evenly. Such much better brass.
I thiefed the expander spud from the 32 S&W Long die set (.3115") for processing the weak brass, and got to work. Knowing the data from the "Pet Loads" article, I started with 5.0 grains and 5.5 grains of SR-4756 powder and the lighter-weight Lyman #313492 castings sized at .314". What a difference from the factory ammo! Consistent report and recoil, and pretty darn good accuracy at 15 and 25 yards. This was with both revolvers. This course of activity and its conssitent outcomes have continued to the present day, almost 35 years and counting. Good things happen when your bullets fit your firearm--and bad things occur when they don't. Plain as that.
These were valuable lessons. They continue to influence my hobby activity to this day.
My Dad had my great-grandfather's revolver on his closet shelf throughout the time I was growing up. It was the first revolver I had ever shot, and at a very young age. It left an indelible impression upon my young mind, and that impression remains today. This wheelgun is a 1906-made Colt Bisley Model single-action with 4-3/4" barrel, caliber 32/20 WCF. Condition is about "NRA Good". This revolver and a Winchester Model 1873 carbine in 44/40 WCF were ranch arms for a number of years for my family, they saw a lot of use and not a great deal of care. A family friend and my reloading/bullet-casting mentor--Leo Reyes--worked on the Colt's hair-trigger to make it safer to carry and shoot. It is still a light-triggered arm. My great-grandpa was a bit of a rounder, it seems.
I did some reading on the subject of 32/20 WCF reloading before launching into the project and buying tools. Career events and upheavals in my personal life from mid-1981 through 1983 put a damper on a lot of hobby activities well into early 1984, but I was still able to read and do research. I was casting bullets for the 38/357 revolvers I used at work, for my 30/30 levergun, and for a 32 S&W Long/Model 31-1 x 3" at that time. A Colt Police Positive Special in 32/20 WCF came my way, so I ordered and received a die set to process ammo for this new-to-me acquisition and for the Bisley Colt.
From my reading I gathered that the 32/20 WCF in revolvers had a reputation for sticking bullets in barrels. Indeed, several examples I was considering for purchase over the years have shown evidence of exactly that--the snake-swallowed-an-egg barrel swell-out. Writers explained this phenomenon's causes as being wrong powder for the application--wide flash gaps between cylinder throat and barrel forcing cone--and that tired old mantra of "Some calibers didn't make the transition from black powder to smokeless fuels as well as others". Another boiler-plate statement about the 32/20 in revolvers was that ballistics were highly variable, with large velocity swings and inaccurate downrange results.
Caca del toro! Leo Reyes saved me a whole lot of grief, very early in the casting game. "If the bullet doesn't fit, it is NOT going to shoot well. It will lead the barrel up." I never saw Leo slug a revolver barrel, but he darn sure slugged or pin-gauged cylinder throats. He also did slugging or Cerrosafe casting of rifle chambers. He called it "Polygraphing your gun".
I slugged the throats on the Bisley (.314") and the PPS (.313"). Not very different from my S&W 31-1 throats (.314"). In 1985 I had one mould for the mid-caliber revolvers, Lyman #313492--a strange little button-nosed 93 grain wadcutter with a bore-rider front band. I also have its 38 caliber counterpart, Lyman #358432. They both are SUPERBLY accurate when sized to fit well. They don't tumble after traveling 60+ yards, either--a fact that has caused permanent consternation to a number of jackrabbits and ground squirrels.
I should note at this time that factory ammo in the revolvers was everything the writers described the 32/20 WCF as being--inconsistent, inaccurate, and grossly over-priced. I didn't stick any bullets, and watched for that carefully. I had collected about 100 rounds each of R-P and W-W fired brass by the time the tools were all on deck. Now evident was another quirk of 32/20 chamber dimensions--they are Duesenbergs--"No two are alike". Within a given cylinder, the shoulder placement is pretty close from chamber to chamber, but from revolver to revolver? Fuggetaboutit. The shoulder isn't very prominent anyway, and the sizing die conforms to the SAAMI specs closely. Would that Colt and S&W follow suit.
The RCBS OEM expander spud in the 32/20 die set is .308" diameter. That ain't gonna work with .314"-sized bullets, no matter how thin the 32/20 brass might be. (It IS thin and weak--if looked at intently, it will warp. Light thumb/forefinger pressure can crush the case mouths flat. W-W and R-P 32/20 brass is useless. Starline is far better material--go Starline, and don't look back). W-W and R-P brass also stretches EVERY firing, and does so unevenly. It MUST be trimmed after every firing, just to get "square" case mouths for consistent crimping. My Starline brass, even when run hard with rifle loads, only needs a trim every third firing, and stretches evenly. Such much better brass.
I thiefed the expander spud from the 32 S&W Long die set (.3115") for processing the weak brass, and got to work. Knowing the data from the "Pet Loads" article, I started with 5.0 grains and 5.5 grains of SR-4756 powder and the lighter-weight Lyman #313492 castings sized at .314". What a difference from the factory ammo! Consistent report and recoil, and pretty darn good accuracy at 15 and 25 yards. This was with both revolvers. This course of activity and its conssitent outcomes have continued to the present day, almost 35 years and counting. Good things happen when your bullets fit your firearm--and bad things occur when they don't. Plain as that.
These were valuable lessons. They continue to influence my hobby activity to this day.