Cool little FA 32

[Robb Barnes]

I am fortunate to have a few full blown custom revovlers in the stable but this little Freedom Arms 97 that just came home is about as exciting as anything I have had done in recent years.

The gun is a Model 97 dual cylinder gun in 32 Mag/327. I sent the 32 Mag cylinder back to Freedom Arms and they fluted the cylinder for me then the gun was sent back to Hamilton for his two piece/size reduction for the grip frame. Once he did his work the grip frame was sent to Roy Fishpaw and while we were going to do one piece ivories we decided to try a one piece set of snakewood grips. Roy found a wonderful piece of snakewood that he was willing to try making into a set of one piece grips. Apparently snakewood has some oily properties so there was some concern about the epoxy bonding would hold but I gave him the green light with the understanding that if something would happen down the road, we would make them into two piece grips.

Just for some background info on the wood, I asked Roy about its' availability and he said that next to pink ivory wood, it is the rarest wood known. When you look at it the thought of leopard rosettes come to mind. The wood tone does not change but the black rosettes seem to change as the light angle changes.

This little thing may replace the L'il Gun 41 Special as my new favorite riding/packing gun.

 

[Joe S.]

Beautiful! but dont i see grip frame all the way around? how is it one piece?

thanks
joe

 

[Fowler]

Hey Robb you still have any bullets for the 32 cals left? If it shoots anything like Fermin's your going to need a pile...

 

[Robb Barnes]

Joe, the grip frame is converted to a two piece gripframe. By doing this, you can bolt up the front strap and it has been modified to serve as a "perch" for the main spring assembly. The back strap is a separate piece that bolts to the top of the frame by the hammer slot and a single screw on the lower front corner bolts the toe of the back strap to the end of the front strap. This way you can have one piece grips made that slide on over the main spring asembly then you can slide the back strap on and bolt it up. That is why you do not see any grip screws on either side of the grip panels. Many of the old Colt singel actions had one piece grips made and it was possible simply because Colt single actions used a two piece grip frame like this.

 

[Joe S.]

I gotcha. Thanks!

 

[contender]

Heck of a nice gun Robb! I LIKE the stocks too!

 

[BearStopper]

The essence of awesome!

 

[T.A. WORKMAN]

Beauty for sure!
Terry

 

[Ethang]

That is really nice. Lets see some targets....

 

[Robb Barnes]

That is my next reloading project Ethang, some rounds for this little guy.

 

[jmfc606]

If you EVER get tired of that and want to sell it PLEASE PM me! Thanks

 

[rugerlovah]

yowza that is a nice revolver. That's the creme de la creme right there.

 

[Heliman]

Real nice, Robb! Thanks for sharing...

 

[WendyZXZ]

Very nice handgun!

 

[flatgate]

Wow, that's awesome!

flatgate

 

[dougader]

Very nice, Robb! I really like the 32's and your custom touches really make that FA97 shine. If you need any bullets (or brass) to load 'er up, let me know. 8)

 

[Robb Barnes]

Doug, have any pet loads in 32 or 327?

Robb

 

[dougader]

I have not loaded up 327 Federal yet. I am saving the brass from the factory ammo I have, though. You can get online data from the Speer website for their 115 grain gold dot hp:

http://www.speer-bullets.com/pdf/327_Federal_Magnum_GDHP_115gr_3988_DataFile.pdf

Added: I see they have data for their 100 grain GDHP now, too:

http://www.speer-bullets.com/pdf/327_Federal_100gr3990_DataFile_Final.pdf

My 32's have never seen a factory round yet. I ordered 1k bullets from Missouri Bullet Company:

http://www.missouribullet.com/details.php?prodId=65&category=5&secondary=&keywords=

Since I have about 1/2 keg of WW231 left, that's what I've been using for cast bullets. My bullets actually weigh closer to 95 grains. 4.2 grains of WW231 gives an average, zippy velocity of 1,008 fps from a 4-5/8" Single Six. I backed that down for my daughter to 3.5 grains WW231 and I get 849 fps out of my 3-3/4" Harton Single Six. They shoot real well with no leading. Of course, the gun is more accurate since Alan worked it over for me. The much improved sights are a big part of that, I'm sure.

For jhp bullets I have Sierra 90 grain jhc and Hornady 100 grain xtp-hp's. For the Sierra I ran up to 10.9 grains WW296 with CCI 550 small pistol magnum primers. I think this bullet is a little light for 296, although it shoots straight. I have some rounds loaded with Blue Dot and standard primers, but I have not chronographed that load.

For the 100 grain xtp I used Brian Pearce's data from Handloader and worked up to 11.6 and 11.8 grains of 296 with CCI 550 primers. In the short barrled Single Six and a 3" Sp101 I was getting around 1265 fps. I imagine your tight M97 from FA will get a bit more velocity than my Rugers.

The xtp holds up well when fired into gallon water jugs. The Sierra sheds the exposed lead nose clear down to the end of the hollow point cavity, but then the remaining full caliber wadcutter penetrates on through 3 gallon jugs.

In summary, I like 231 for the cast bullets. I am betting mid-range powders like Unique, Power Pistol, Universal, etc, will perform better with the Sierra 90 grain bullet, but I do like WW296/H110 for full-tilt loads with the 100 grain Hornady xtp.

FYI, Speer 14 lists 10.5 grains as max with their 100 grain jhp bullet.

 

[caryc]

Here's a two piece grip frame for those that may never have seen one.

The one piece grips which are actually two panels that are glued together by a spacer the same width as the grip frame are slipped onto the front strap and then the back strap is bolted in place.

 

[Robb Barnes]

Cary, thank you for posting the picture od the two piece grip frame.

Robb