Colt tells me my Colt Pocket Positive takes .32 Long ammo. But I've tried that from at least three different manufacturers, and none of them fit. They're all just a bit too wide to fit into the cylinder. Does anyone know whether there's any current ammunition for this piece?
What Ammunition for Colt Pocket Positive?
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You may be trying .32 S&W Long which is different. The diameter is slightly larger with the S&W Long. .32 Colt Long may be tough to find (I don't know that for a fact). Maybe some vintage suppliers or handholds may be the way to go.
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My Police Positive (marked "32 Police Ctg") takes 32 S&W long very happily, plus the wadcutter versions. The main difference, as I understand it, between the Colt and the S&W is the length of the boolit involved (VERY dubious claims about stopping power between them) but the cases are essentially identical.
Have you cleaned the cylinder to within an inch of its life? Yeah - silly question - but it's like asking "Did you plug the computer in?" before fault-finding.
Have you cleaned the cylinder to within an inch of its life? Yeah - silly question - but it's like asking "Did you plug the computer in?" before fault-finding.
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And now I notice my post was redundant, so to atone I'll offer this link to 32 Colt Long ammo.
https://www.buffaloarms.com/32-long-colt-80-grain-lead-heeled-rn-ammo-box-of-50-amo32longcolt
https://www.buffaloarms.com/32-long-colt-80-grain-lead-heeled-rn-ammo-box-of-50-amo32longcolt
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Here's a .32 S&W Long flanked by a .32 S&W (left) and .32 Long Colt (right).
Years ago I brought home a little Colt New Pocket from the Dallas Market Hall gun show thinking I could shoot it with supplies of .32 S&W Long on hand. The New Pocket's slightly smaller camber diameter required hunting down correct ammunition in order to shoot it. I had never realized that there was any difference before that.
Years ago I brought home a little Colt New Pocket from the Dallas Market Hall gun show thinking I could shoot it with supplies of .32 S&W Long on hand. The New Pocket's slightly smaller camber diameter required hunting down correct ammunition in order to shoot it. I had never realized that there was any difference before that.
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If you really want to shoot this a lot, the simplest thing to do is have the chambers reamed to accept .32 S&W Long. Not a big deal, matter of thousands”.
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No snark involved, just my stupid sense of humor, but did you means thousands of $$, or thousandths of inches?
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The 32 short and long Colt cartridges were centerfire adaptations of the old 32 short and long rimfires. The earliest versions used a "heeled" type bullet with external lubrication grooves. In fact, some of the single shot breech loading rifles could shoot either the rimfires or the center fires just by changing the firing pin. The same applies to some of the early Marlin lever action rifles in 32 caliber. A bit later, Smith and Wesson brought out the 32 S&W short and long cartridges using a slightly larger diameter case and bullet. Since Colt did not want to put the S&W name on their revolvers, Colt came out with the 32 Colt Police cartridge. It was the same diameter as the S&W cartridge but used a flat nose bullet instead of a round nose bullet like the Smith. From the end of the Civil War thru about 1930 the cartridge design and naming conventions could be really confusing!
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Nope, 32 Colt short and long ammo is quite scarce. You will have to pay collector prices for it, usually $2.00-3.00 per round (or more!).
32 Colt is also interchangeable with .320 revolver ammo that thrived in Europe about a hundred years ago. The "Webley Pocket" was almost always chambered for the .320 but they also offered it in their catalog as an alternative "regulated for the 32 S&W cartridge".
If you don't mind reloading you can get a kit from France here:
32 long colt, 32 long webley, 32 long CF, 32 long Tranter
Not cheap but you'd be lucky to find a box of them at your LGS.
32 long colt, 32 long webley, 32 long CF, 32 long Tranter
Not cheap but you'd be lucky to find a box of them at your LGS.
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Less than a buck a bang if you follow the link in post #6 - and it's in stock, too.
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Hmmm.......... 50 for $91.00! Seems to me that would be almost $2.00 per round! If I remember my math correctly, $1.82 > $1.00! The bottom line is that this stuff ain't cheap and you generally have to go looking for it. The last regular production of .32 Long Colt stopped back in the 1930s. I think I got $150 for the last full box that I sold recently.Less than a buck a bang if you follow the link in post #6 - and it's in stock, too.
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