32 Rimfire Ballistics Gel Test

Hey check this out! This is a .32 caliber rimfire from 1875. I bought this gun from a friend of mine for $65. This is the Hood Arms "Robin Hood". It's a 5 round rimfire cartridge revolver. Now, these guns had no real historic significance. They didn't tame the West or win any wars. They were self-defense pocket pistols for the common citizen. They weren't as finely crafted as a Smith and Wesson, or a Colt. In fact, these styles of revolvers came to be known as "suicide specials" because you didn't know if they were going to shoot or blow up. They were made cheaply with subpar materials and sold cheaply for the common man's self defense. 

I was really excited to shoot this gun, but I didn't know A. if I could find ammo for it, or B. if it would blow up when I did shoot it. Well I found ammo... $5/round sold in lots of 5. Mrs. Rifleman said I could buy one lot of 5 so I definitely didn't buy 2 lots...

I set the gun up in a vice and tied a string to the trigger, which was difficult because it's a spur trigger with no real curve or trigger guard. Stupidly, I didn't take the grips off first so they cracked when I tightened the vice... go figure. 

When I cocked the revolver I saw a flaw... the cylinder didn't lock in line with the barrel... could be age or could be the craftsmanship that dubbed it a "suicide special". I rotated the cylinder until it locked in place, and I got back behind a tree and pulled the string. It's a hefty trigger pull, but boom! The gun fired and stayed in one piece!

Now I pressed my luck and tried again. When I pulled the hammer back the cylinder didn't rotate. It's 50/50 whether it will or not. I noticed this before firing it so it's not a firing related defect. I loaded another cartridge. By the way I had no idea if this gun was built for smokeless or black powder cartridges so I just had to hope it would work. 

I put the gun back in the vice, tightened it down, cocked the gun, and again rotated the cylinder until it locked. I got behind my tree and pulled the string again. Boom! It fired again! No visible damage to the gun. 

I decided to quit while I was ahead. I'm going to plan on featuring this gun again in more videos at some point. I'm not sure when, but maybe I'll even shoot it by hand next time. 

Be sure to check out the video at the Idaho Rifleman YouTube channel! Thanks for stopping by!

God bless, 
Idaho Rifleman

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