Joe Harz knew of what he spoke. He and a handful of others really had the 1885 down cold. I'm not sure why that particular gun would be small shanked but perhaps most or all .32 WCF were that way. I would certainly defer to Joe every time. If it is a small one, it has no utility as a big bore gun even though it is a highwall.

I can think of two .38-55 low walls. One was built that way from parts. The other I'm not sure. One was owned by a competitor and shot only blackpowder (albeit with overly heavy bullets). The other is/was owned by a (maybe THE) recognized Singleshot authority. He told me that he did not really want to advertise what he had because he considered it very borderline. He shot only extremely light smokeless loads for fun. He was worried about what might happen with the next owner and that it might begin to stretch and shoot loose in time. When we talked, I was thinking about a .38-55 low wall myself, but that got me over the notion. There is no purpose to a big cartridge in a low wall. None at all. I don't know why I ever considered it except I like the lines.

_________
BrentD, (Professor - just for Stan)

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]