Empire State Arms 32 Cal Revolver Help

[jim18655]

Disassemble inside of a large, clear, zip-lock bag or garbage bag and you should be able to contain the flying parts.

 

[pjf134]

I did finish getting it back together and it looks good and works good too. Now I need some 32 S&W short ammo to load some black powder into it for test fire. It was made around 1900 as far as I can tell and uses black powder. Meridian made these until 1915 and records seem to be gone so dating it is tough. No pat. # or caliber nowhere on gun so maybe late 1800's. So if anyone has some empty brass laying around let me know. I only need a few to try.
paul

 

[MarkDavis]

If it is centerfire I probably have some brass.
Likely most any .32 brass can be made to work in that pistol. .32 H&R mag, .327 S&W, .32 long can all be cut down to length to reload .32 short.
You can probably even use .32 auto because it has a small rim too.

 

[Lordbeezer]

Think I have some brass.let me know if you don't find some

 

[Dredb]

When unsure if springs will fly when taking something apart. I usually put the item in a box when opening them up. That way I have a better chance of everything staying in the box instead of flying around the room.

I use a large plastic bag, a transparent one is best.

Just noticed jim18655 does the same, another clever and resourceful person.

 

[Silverbullet]

You want to work on a gun with a million action parts , take a kreighoff shotgun and rebuild it. Extremely nice and very expensive but shoot and break targets for lots of top shooters. Perazzi my gun another top shelf firearm. My perazzi has drop out trigger and can repair it with new springs in about a minute. I too have used ways to catch flying parts I like a white towel over folded to stop escaping pins , ball detente , springs.
What helps is a parts breakdown exploded views , my library of gun part books is the first stop . Then it clears up and helps stop losses.
I think your 32 will be an alright shooter , pocket protection even more so. Your going the safe route primed empty shells will show if it will shoot , wax bullets next will prove its line up.

 

[pjf134]

When I started this project I did not know much about this gun and I have had it for decades and thought it was broke and did remember it costing more to fix than the gun was worth. No one looked at it and just gave a ball park price, so I decided to get into it and get it fixed. After checking into it on the net I did find some info, but not too much since the places making this type of gun went out of production a long time ago. This gun was made in 32 and 38 and I am almost sure it is a 32. A friend of mine was over and he had a 32 (I am pretty sure) and I tried to fit a shell and worked. I did give him a call and he is looking for some empty shells. I did not know it was a black powder gun until checking the net. I did learn a lot from some forums about the gun like taking a 32 S&W short and can load it with some smokeless, but very little. Company name and serial # is the only markings on it no caliber or pat. #'s. I did find a gun like it and was a 1915 model with caliber & patent no's all over it, but was a 38 with a lower serial no. than mine. I do have primers and powder once I get some empty shells I will have to make some plastic bullets or wads to try. The gun has no wear on it so it would be nice to shoot a few times then put it away. I do have many pistols to shoot and load, so buying dies & supplies to shoot a little would not be worth it. It seems no one around here shoots 32. I have a 9x18 that I like shooting and never found any empty shells at the range for years and did have to send away for some. I will see what empty shells come up in a week or two and let everyone know.
Paul

 

[AJB]

Paul,

I think the 32 S&W short is still be manufactured and as a general rule, the ammo makers keep pressure low for older rounds because there are millions of old revolvers floating around. I’m only suggesting that it might be worth more research on the pressure of new ammo compared to black powder rounds.

 

[Aaron_W]

If it isn't marked to a specific .32 be very careful until you are sure which one it was chambered for.

Colt and S&W both made .32 caliber ammunition prior to 1900, but they were not interchangeable. They measured the bullet diameter differently and one had a slightly larger bullet than the other. There were also a few foreign ".32 ish" revolver cartridges available at that time.

Adding to the confusion Colt and S&W both made guns chambered for the others cartridge. Not wanting to advertise a competitor they would sometimes market the cartridge under a new name, so you can't even be sure a Colt revolver is really chambered for a Colt cartridge or a S&W with a S&W cartridge.

You are basically looking at a generic revolver, so who knows which .32 they meant it to be used with.

 

[pjf134]

I did make a mistake. I was always told it was a 32 caliber so I did finally checked it with a dial caliber and it came out to be 0.380 so a 38. Now I have to find a length of the shell as I do have some empty 38 specials somewhere and maybe have to cut down to fit just not sure right now. I do have to look for them since I do not have a 38 just 357 mag. I guess I can measure the chamber depth and just use primers to test fire if the shells fit right. These were only made in 32 & 38 so 50/50 chance I could be right.
Paul