Purchased my first true antique today ---》1882 Swiss Ordnance revolver UPDATED PICS !
- Thread starter The Kurgan
- Start date
The Kurgan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Steel Town and The Peg
Just an FYI, that if you use Winchester 32-20 brass, you will need to take a wee bit of material off the rim. The rim thickness is ever so slightly thicker than the Remington brass. The flip side is that the Winchester brass seems to be slightly better quality. I used a hand file and 2000 grit sandpaper. I removed enough material to just remove/almost remove the headstamps. Primer pocket depth was still fine, usually flush or just less than flush.
They shot absolutely perfectly, and with accuracy that blew away the "competition" at the range today. Always fun to outshoot the modern Glocks, S&W's and Rugers.
I am sticking with 3.1 grains of Trail Boss, .314 lead wadcutters and full size 32-20 brass... very mild, accurate, and clean. On the clean part... well lead is lead, but the wax coated LWC are pretty clean shooting with almost no lead fouling. However, I make a habit of finishing my shooting day with several FMJ's... and they really do "clean" the lead out of the barrel. No need for a bronze brush today, just a few oily pull throughs and the barrel shined. Sweet.
My recipe for my "barrel cleaners" are:
3.1 grains of Trail Boss
cut 32-20 Remington brass
Hornady .311 FMJ 72 grain "pills"
CCI or Winchester small pistol primers.
They shot absolutely perfectly, and with accuracy that blew away the "competition" at the range today. Always fun to outshoot the modern Glocks, S&W's and Rugers.
I am sticking with 3.1 grains of Trail Boss, .314 lead wadcutters and full size 32-20 brass... very mild, accurate, and clean. On the clean part... well lead is lead, but the wax coated LWC are pretty clean shooting with almost no lead fouling. However, I make a habit of finishing my shooting day with several FMJ's... and they really do "clean" the lead out of the barrel. No need for a bronze brush today, just a few oily pull throughs and the barrel shined. Sweet.
My recipe for my "barrel cleaners" are:
3.1 grains of Trail Boss
cut 32-20 Remington brass
Hornady .311 FMJ 72 grain "pills"
CCI or Winchester small pistol primers.
The Kurgan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Steel Town and The Peg
Well, I decided I needed a durable holster with a shoulder strap and a larger dual belt loop set-up for the field. These are very rare to find...
http://www.antiquefirearms.com/pages/215.htm
http://www.antiquefirearms.com/pages/215.htm
The Kurgan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Steel Town and The Peg
Yeah I know... that's what prompted me to look him up. We have to go shooting one of these Sundays. I want you to try out some of my new handloads.
The Kurgan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Steel Town and The Peg
I just want to retract some earlier statements I made regarding 32 S&W Longs... they are indeed dimensionally different than the factory ammo and should not be chambered. Most cases will bulge and some cases will split! The reason is that 32 S&W cases are straight walled (neck diameter = base diameter) and the factory 7.5 Ordnance cases are tapered. The wiki data on the factory 7.5 Ordnance ammo is WRONG and mislead me to believe it was similar enough to 32 S&W Long. The thin walled nature of 32 S&W only exacerbates this problem. Careful reloading is your only option.
The Kurgan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Steel Town and The Peg
Just to respond to a few questions:
The Winchester 32-20 brass is very nice quality, but the rims, unfortunately, require some grinding as they're simply too thick.
The Remington 32-20 brass is not quite as nice as the Winchester, as it tends to discolour quickly, and I've had a couple of splits. However, it just barely works without needing the rims thinned.
The Starline 32-20 brass is by far the better of the three brands. The rims are noticeably thinner, the brass seems to hold together well, and keeps its nice gold colour
My established load is 3.1 to 3.2 grains of Trail Boss behind a 100 grain lead wadcutter. It's producing about 865 to 900 fps. The revolver handles it in strides, and while quite mild, this combination is supremely accurate. The combo is also surprizingly clean burning, and because I use full length cases, there's no residue in the chambers.
The Winchester 32-20 brass is very nice quality, but the rims, unfortunately, require some grinding as they're simply too thick.
The Remington 32-20 brass is not quite as nice as the Winchester, as it tends to discolour quickly, and I've had a couple of splits. However, it just barely works without needing the rims thinned.
The Starline 32-20 brass is by far the better of the three brands. The rims are noticeably thinner, the brass seems to hold together well, and keeps its nice gold colour
My established load is 3.1 to 3.2 grains of Trail Boss behind a 100 grain lead wadcutter. It's producing about 865 to 900 fps. The revolver handles it in strides, and while quite mild, this combination is supremely accurate. The combo is also surprizingly clean burning, and because I use full length cases, there's no residue in the chambers.
Last edited:
The Kurgan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Steel Town and The Peg
Left to Right:
Factory 7.62x39 "Soviet", .311" 123 grain steel core FMJ (Barnaul) -- approx. 2300-2400 fps
***
7.5x33R handload (2.9 grains IMR Trail Boss, .314" H&N 100 grain LWC, full length 32-20 WCF Winchester brass resized in a 30 Carbine die, bullet seated with a 30 Luger die, brass rim thinned/filed) -- approx. 791-816 fps
***
7.5x33R handload (3.1 grains IMR Trail Boss, deep seated .314" H&N 100 grain LWC, full length 32-20 WCF Starline brass resized in a 30 Carbine die, bullet seated with a 30 Luger die) -- approx. 841-866 fps (max load)
Note: this is once-fired brass. All remnants of the 32-20 WCP shoulder are gone. Starline brass 32-20 rims fit without modification. This is my 'go-to' target load. It's no wimp either.
***
Factory 7.5mm Swiss Ordnance (10.2 grains of Swiss black powder, .319" 108 grain FMJ, thin waxed cardboard wad, Berdan primed) -- approx. 720 fps
1958 headstamp
***
7.5x23R handload (2.6 grains IMR Trail Boss, homemade .312" 98 grain LRNFP, cut to Swiss Ordnance spec 32-20 WCF Remington brass resized in a 7.5 Swedish Nagant die, bullet seated with a 32 S&W Long die) -- approx. 716-741 fps
***
7.5x23R handload (3.1 grains IMR Trail Boss, .311" Hornady 71 grain 32 ACP FMJ, cut to Swiss Ordnance spec 32-20 WCF Remington brass resized in a 7.5 Swedish Nagant die, bullet seated with a 30 Luger die) -- approx. 950-975 fps (max load, but not intended for the earlier "thin strap" variants... prior to serial 4301)
This is my "barrel cleaning" round. I usually end the shooting day with 6 of these screamers to get the lead out.
***
32 S&W Long handload (3.1 grains IMR Trail Boss, .311" Hornady 71 grain 32 ACP FMJ, Remington 32 S&W Long brass resized in a 30 Carbine die, bullet seated with a 30 Luger die) -- approx. 950-975 fps (max load, and not intended for top break 32 S&W revolvers!)
The rim diameter is just wide enough to fit without falling into the chamber. While not ideal, 32 S&W Long will fire, but most cases will exhibit bulging to varying degrees, and the occasional split. I DO NOT endorse firing this cartridge from a M1882 Swiss Ordnance revolver.
***
Factory standard velocity Winchester 40 grain 22LR
Note: All handloads use either CCI or Winchester small pistol primers, utilize a light roll crimp, are rated under 1000 fps, and provide excellent accuracy. HOWEVER, USE AT YOUR OWN RISK !
Last edited:
