32 SW Long in a French 1892 Revolver

Sir Plus

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 99.7%
307   1   1
This is my shooting review of the 1892 French Ordnance Revolver.
My example is in very good condition, and the bore looks perfect. Lockup and timing perfect.

I have read about using 32 sw long in the revolver, which has the benefit of being cheaper than the correct 8mm, so I purchased one 50 round box of PPU unjacketed RN. However upon receiving the ammo it didn’t seem like such a good idea. The rounds are much shorter than the 8mm round, leaving more space before the forcing cone, and the rounds are too small in diameter and fit very loosely in the chambers. So much so that when gravity pulls them down to one side you can see the light of day between the top of the cartridge and the chamber wall.
I decided to fire 6 rounds anyway, and the results were predictable. I got a shotgun pattern (a spreader choke pattern no less) at 10 paces, and half the bullets hit the targets sideways.
I say predictable because in addition to not being a good fit for the chambers, this round fails the bullet test spectacularly, while the original Fiocchi 8mm engages the rifling as it should (see pictures).
When ejecting the spent casings, every shell had swelled and some un identified deposits were left around the barrel and cylinder. The barrel is also very fouled with lead.

Anybody want to buy a box of 44 rounds of 32 SW Long?


VUHAx1Y.jpg

xZn16k5.jpg

etvbYw2.jpg

oNgm9Uj.jpg

PL4Oeq7.jpg
 
Last edited:
It's an easy cartridge to reload. Jetbullets has the correct lead and Hornady makes dies. A couple boxes of ammo will cost the same as buying the gear.
There's a good thread about it in this forum.

Bloke on the Range did a video in using the 32 S&W ammo too. Don't think his results were as bad as yours but still not great.
 
Remington Round Nosed 32 S&W Long works well in the slightly oversized bore of the 7.5 mm 1882 Swiss revolver. I have never tried PPU.

You must be close to sea level, your cases are barely bulged. At 4000 feet, about half of the 32 S&W Long cases will split in the Swiss revolver. I have not tried the load in my French 1892, but that's because I have proper ammo for that one. The Swiss ammo is insane, I last saw it offered at $75 for 20 (it's "vintage") while the 1892 French Ordnance Fiocci ammo goes on sale from time to time and reloads are reasonable.

It's still great to hear what works. Before you give up, you might try a few rounds of Remington 32 S&W Long Round Nosed. The softer, the better, for the under-sized bullet.
 
I bought 100 rds of French ordnance reloads for 240$ a few years ago. It’s expensive stuff and doesn’t resell very well.
 
Remington Round Nosed 32 S&W Long works well in the slightly oversized bore of the 7.5 mm 1882 Swiss revolver. I have never tried PPU.

You must be close to sea level, your cases are barely bulged. At 4000 feet, about half of the 32 S&W Long cases will split in the Swiss revolver. I have not tried the load in my French 1892, but that's because I have proper ammo for that one. The Swiss ammo is insane, I last saw it offered at $75 for 20 (it's "vintage") while the 1892 French Ordnance Fiocci ammo goes on sale from time to time and reloads are reasonable.

It's still great to hear what works. Before you give up, you might try a few rounds of Remington 32 S&W Long Round Nosed. The softer, the better, for the under-sized bullet.

I was hoping that the take away from my write up would be that the 32 shouldn’t be used in this revolver. That’s no way to treat an antique. Not all cases bulged the same, some significantly. High pressure events can happen with weak ammo. If the bullet was jacketed I would not have shot it. I sure won’t advise anybody to use it.

Site sponsor Tradex has 8mm in stock for $60.00 a box

I have many boxes of Fiocchi, I am slowly shooting through them, mainly to get the brass to reload it later since the accuracy is pretty bad.
 
Last edited:
There is a kit for match 22 ammunition manufacture, which lets the user expand the .22 bullet to it's maximum rated size by opening up its hollow point.

I'm a grown up (more or less) and have some experience with bad decisions. On my next range visit I'll take a French 1892 Ordnance revolver and some soft Remington 32 S&W ammunition, in which I will install a hollow point to deliberately expand the bullets so they fit the Lebel bore.

I fully expect to come back with all my fingers and a report on accuracy. If I was anxious, I'd use a Ransom rest. I also have some soft cast reloads to compare to.

My point was, this "wrong ammunition" works surprisingly well where there are not many thousandths of a gap, and soft lead projectiles. The bullet would need to grow in diameter by about 15 thousandths for any kind of accuracy. In the end, six modified 32 S&W factory loaded bullets will more or less settle the question, but I expect most or all of the brass to split. Swelling is not bad, I have seen worse "fire formed" antique ammo.

I've already designed the fixture to hold the bullets while they're expanded, so it's not like I can stop now. We'll say "don't try this yourself" and report later. Like the man says, don't use 32 S&W in this revolver.
 
Back
Top Bottom