de-prohibiting a 32 sw revolver

KotKotofeich

KotKotofeich

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Has anyone ever been successful in taking a prohibited due to caliber (32sw) revolver and getting it into the restricted class? Simplest would be to ream the cylinder out for something else that uses a bullet of the same-ish diameter... but I'm limited in cylinder length (31 mm) otherwise one of the nagant cartridges would have worked. The barrel is long enough for restricted.

The revolver is a free donation so it's just an exercise in 'can I do it'. It is a H&R 1904 if anyone is curious.
 
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Tagging for interest.
I remember sitting at an auction about ten years ago and watching two prohib pythons go for $700 to a US bidder. Local retail of a restricted python was around 2k at the time. I'm shocked there hasn't been a market for such modifications.
 
KotKotofeich said:
Has anyone ever been successful in taking a prohibited due to caliber (32sw) revolver and getting it into the restricted class? Simplest would be to ream the cylinder out for something else that uses a bullet of the same-ish diameter... but I'm limited in cylinder length (31 mm) otherwise one of the nagant cartridges would have worked. The barrel is long enough.

The revolver is a free donation so it's just an exercise in 'can I do it'. It is a H&R 1904 if anyone is curious.
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How about sleeving the chambers and bore for a centerfire .22 based on a shortened .22 Hornet?
Don't know if it would be worth the effort, though.
 
tiriaq said:
How about sleeving the chambers and bore for a centerfire .22 based on a shortened .22 Hornet?
Don't know if it would be worth the effort, though.
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That might be more effort than the gun is worth to be honest... but I have considered it if the other option is to surrender for destruction (the gun is not 12.6 so cannot be sold or grandfathered).
 
If a gun gets found in an estate and was never registered or the registration is lost and can't be recovered, it can be registered as a generic prohibited gun under a business.

It cannot be sold to a 12.6 holder - there is a 12.x status grandfathering flag that prohibited guns have (or do not) in their records.

This gun is registered in such a way.

But back to the gunsmithing question of trying to change it to restricted please ;)

Prohibited estate guns and how they legally migrate into restricted is a legalese topic, comes up in there every now and again... (https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...who-will-register-a-prohibited-firearm-for-me - see my post #15 about how the process works in such cases)
 
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KotKotofeich said:
If a gun gets found in an estate and was never registered or the registration is lost and can't be recovered, it can be registered as a generic prohibited gun under a business.

It cannot be sold to a 12.6 holder - there is a 12.x status grandfathering flag that prohibited guns have (or do not) in their records.

This gun is registered in such a way.

But back to the gunsmithing question of trying to change it to restricted please ;)

Prohibited estate guns and how they legally migrate into restricted is a legalese topic, comes up in there every now and again... (https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...who-will-register-a-prohibited-firearm-for-me - see my post #15 about how the process works in such cases)
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Thank you for that explanation.

This list might help you get some ideas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_handgun_cartridges

You already mentioned the Nagant revolver cartridge. What about using that as a starting point, but shortening the case to fit your cylinder?
 
marshall said:
As in not registered.
Cost wise , guess if you did it your self, no gunsmith will touch it.
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[eye roll] have a picture of the registration certificate right here.

Suther said:
Thank you for that explanation.

This list might help you get some ideas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_handgun_cartridges

You already mentioned the Nagant revolver cartridge. What about using that as a starting point, but shortening the case to fit your cylinder?
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I have never done it with what is effectively a wildcat cartridge. There'd be a whole extra layer of proving it's not a .32 cartridge? Thinking it would be a lot more clear cut with an existing if obscure cartridge...
 
About the fastest easiest way that I can think of, would be to sleeve the cylinders and barrel down to make it a .22 Rimfire. Firing pin could be moved, modified, or the sleeves made off center enough to manage.

A little more convoluted would be to Open the cylinder up to fit .38 S&W, and source a barrel, or a rebore. What's a Chinese or East Europe rifling button worth? Not to say it's a cakewalk, or that you'd get a magic accurate barrel out of the deal, but running a machine reamer down the bore to open it up, then pressing a rifling button down the bore, does not seem all that hard a project. Serbu Arms has a couple videos up on youtube of really basic rifling. Not that it's even required, here in Canada. US side has some strange rules that they need to abide by as far as smooth bore short barrels goes...
 
Cylinder is only 31mm long. Both 7.5 swiss revolver and 8mm gasser (I did not think of this one, got excited for a second) are too long.

RCMP are tight lipped on the subject of what is and isn't a 32, I think they make it up as they go... (another reason to be careful with wildcats) but, generally, if there are restricted pistols in a particular caliber, then it should be good.

So once again the criteria would be:

Around .311 projectile.
OAL under 31mm
Over .335 case diameter (so I can ream and show 32sw is loose) or under (so I can plug and show 32sw not fitting)
 
KotKotofeich said:
Cylinder is only 31mm long. Both 7.5 swiss revolver and 8mm gasser (I did not think of this one, got excited for a second) are too long.

RCMP are tight lipped on the subject of what is and isn't a 32, I think they make it up as they go... (another reason to be careful with wildcats) but, generally, if there are restricted pistols in a particular caliber, then it should be good.

So once again the criteria would be:

Around .311 projectile.
OAL under 31mm
Over .335 case diameter (so I can ream and show 32sw is loose) or under (so I can plug and show 32sw not fitting)
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What if you used one of those cartridges but just seated the bullet farther into the case? Or is that still too close to being a wildcat for your liking? The 7.5 Swiss Ordnance is only ~2mm too long at its "normal" OAL. Although the case is .331 diameter though, which sounds like it might be difficult because adding such a tiny amount to the cylinder to prevent 32sw from fitting would likely be hard?

The Gasser has a base diameter of .339. But again, .320 bullet seems slightly too big, plus theres the length issue? There are 8mm Gasser revolvers that are restricted according to Armalytics, so at least its a legal option.

It looks like whatever you pick, its going to be a lot of work. Sounds like a cool project though.
 
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I just don't know. Was hoping someone has done a cylinder only conversion before and could advise.

For lack of that, it's going to be some trial and error... And I think the fewer 'irregularities' there are, the higher my chances of success are.

But reaming out a cylinder is super simple :) (compared to other things)
 
Someone asked which .32 calibres are permitted. I think the ammo isn't what's prohibited, it's the firearms in that calibre.
However, some pistols in .32S&WLong are used in ISSF "centre-fire" competition and are designated as not prohibited. But there's a difference between .32SW and .32SWLong. Guns in .32SW are prohib, match guns in .32SWLong are competition guns and not prohib. An example of a not-prohib match pistol is the Walther GSP - a modular firearm that can fit either .22 LR or .32SWLong upper receivers.

ISSF - International Sport Shooting Federation. Used to be called UIT - Union Internationale de Tir
 
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