32 rimfire

[Davem]

Doesn't get mentioned very much but in the old West not everyone was a cowboy. A lot of the towns people didn't want to be lugging a big hogleg so they carried 32 rimfires.  There were holsters and cartridge belts made up for this smaller revolver. In any event, anyone have any info, etc. on the topic?

[St. George]

These were essentially pocket revolvers - not belt guns.

Men's pockets were larger than those seen today.

Scouts Out!

[Books OToole]

When you collect pocket pistols; you end up collecting pocket pistol holsters.

Books

[Davem]

I have one (holster) that looks a lot like the upper left. Western Nebraska in the tri-state area WY,NE,SD. No, these little guns were carried in holsters, even if they fit in a pocket.  I think the rimfire aspect is why they are never considered these days- no ammo to shoot them.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Five shot Colt's Police .36 percussion and conversions (both rim and center fire) were even more popular than 1860 44s or even 1851/1861 .36 Navies.  I believe the margin was 2 to 1 over the full size Navy..

[Galloway]

Great topic and worthy of mention. While never portrayed in hollywood im sure many constables of the period went peaceably about their days with small frame 32 and 38 revolvers from smith remington and colt. Those numbers alone are in the millions compared to the 190,000 saa's made by 1900, yet portrayed 100 percent of the time by fiction. And some constables didnt carry guns at all? Hmmm

[Davem]

I guess that was my point.  During the percussion era I think the most commonly made Colt was the tiny 31 caliber dragoon- the Dixie Gun Works catalog used to list the numbers.  Later, during the cartridge era, there were a lot of smaller caliber guns, the 32 rimfire the most common choice.  These were self defense type weapons to deter an attack, not for serious gun fighting.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Great topic and worthy of mention. While never portrayed in hollywood im sure many constables of the period went peaceably about their days with small frame 32 and 38 revolvers from smith remington and colt. Those numbers alone are in the millions compared to the 190,000 saa's made by 1900, yet portrayed 100 percent of the time by fiction. And some constables didnt carry guns at all? Hmmm

True... I have an Iver Johnson cycle works top break .38 S&W given to me by an old lady (about 80ish) around 1990.  It was her grandfather's.  He was a constable (in Missouri, I think) in the late 1880s.  He had cut a crosshatched pattern on the butt with a sharp file, so when he used it to smack drunks in the head, it would lay their scalp open so they would remember the consequences of getting drunk and disorderly in his town!

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Consider that one of the guns used by the robbers in the Northfield Minnesota raid was a 7 shot Moore .32 rimfire!

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