[popeye]

I am looking to buy or hopefully trade for a used 3" SP101 in .32 mag.. Do these guns command a higher price on the used market?

[Kamicosmos]

I haven't seen any of the 32 Mags used, only new. And I don't see the 32 mags much.

Any particular reason you want the 32? I briefly contemplated getting one, mainly just because I reload, and that would be something else to load. But, I went with a normal .357 instead, since mine was for CCW.

[P95Carry]

Better in revo forum :)

[popeye]

OOPS! Time for my treatment. I NEVER make a mistake when posting. As long as the electrodes are set at 90 volts. I thought maybe a .32 magnum might pass as a carry gun. I bought a new 732 H&R .32 mag a couple years ago and it's no twinkee, but D.A. pull is awfull. It's a 5 shooter 3" no flutes, with adj. sites. Got me interested in the caliber.

[P95Carry]

No sweat Popeye - I placed emphasis here on the revo aspect as 32 mag is somewhat a revo round.

Some might and some do carry with that round but overall I think it is on the low side, better if your carry can cope with a larger cal. I would I must say enjoy an evaluatuion of an SP in that cal.

[P. Plainsman]

The .32 Mag SP101 is really the Ruger Kit Gun, and I hereby christen it such.

I have one, the 3" version. If you can look past a typically rough and heavy box trigger, it is a neat little gun.

The trigger on mine is not bad now. It smooths with dryfiring, but remains fairly heavy unless you explore gunsmithing options. Thus far I have not seen the kind of pronounced trigger improvement from mere use that one often sees with the larger GP100 revolver. Swapping in a Wolff hammer spring has helped my SP's trigger pull while retaining perfect ignition. Go slow with this. At first I tried to leapfrog to the lightest springs in the Wolff kit, and the resulting trigger was (a) very light and (b) a pile of mush that would barely return to firing position when pulled. I quickly returned to the stock trigger springs and the less radical hammer springs from the kit. A gunsmith can likely take the trigger further with a traditional action job.

The .32 SP is quite accurate for a small gun. With a proper hand-filling grip it is easy to shoot well. I use a Pachmayr Compac since I want to preserve the gun's handy qualities. For pure shooting a Hogue monogrip is probably the ideal.

Elevation is spot-on point of aim out of the box. Windage was fine too. You can adjust windage with the little "semi-adjustable" rear sight insert. My SP prefers Georgia Arms and Black Hills ammo over the more common Federal offerings. The Black Hills 90 gr FPL cowboy load is really accurate and mild; lots of fun.

The big unknown for this gun is velocity and energy with defensive ammo. I wish I had a chrono. If we can get factory hollowpoints up around 85 gr @ 1100 or 100 gr @ 1000 out of the 3" barrel, then this gun (after a trigger job) should be a viable defense gun for recoil-sensitive shooters. I think of it as a potentially promising "mother-in-law gun." At least as good as a .380 pistol, with superior reliability and accuracy. But I need more data.

I'd prefer (and use) a service-sized .357 Mag revolver for defense, sure, but not everyone can handle those.

Remember that Ruger also offers the .32 Mag SP101 with a 4" barrel. Now that is a classy revolver. Much more of a sporting pistol than a concealable snubby. Those who own them report excellent accuracy.

[Old Fuff]

Popeye:

Hi there! Well I got to Michigan O.K. partly thanks to you're map.

Concerning the .32 H&R Magnum. I'm one of the few that like it, but then I like the .32 S&W Long too.

It is a cartridge you need to be able to handload if you are going to shoot it much. Factory ammunition can be difficult to find, and expensive when you do.

Its advantage (?) as a CCW cartridge comes from (1. light recoil, which makes recovery from shot-to-shot easy, even with some of today's very light guns, and (2. excellent accuracy, which counts with shot placement - and that's very important, given the size of the round. But years ago an officer with the Brit. SAS convinced me that in the right hands even the little .32 S&W Long is absolutely deadly.

I like the Ruger SP-101, but in .32 caliber it is on the heavy side to carry around. If you are looking for a pocket gun I would sooner go for one of the lightweight Taurus or S&W offerings. For something to carry otherwise, the Ruger is fine.

[popeye]

Thanks for all replies. I have to stand back and look at: 1. what I now own for carry (including a half dozen snub types) 2. what I can afford to add in the way of new stuff 3. (The most important) Just because I've never owned one of those doesn't mean I need to buy one.