[TonyB]

How does this caliber compare to say .38 spl??The reason I ask is a saw a .32 magnum airweight w/ Crimson Trace grips for like $350..it has my interest peaked.But i know nothing of this load..like are there good defensive loads available?Thanks

[Jim K]

The .32 H&R Magnum is considerably more powerful than the other .32 calibers. By the numbers, it is about equivalent to the .38 Special 110 grain factory loads. While I am not a big bore fanatic, I do tend to believe that, all else being equal, the bigger the bullet the better.

Still, the .32 has the advantage of low recoil while having reasonable power and in a small frame revolver would be more suitable for a small person or one unused to recoil than the .38 Special.

The big disadvantage is that the ammunition is currently almost unobtainable. It is still listed in the catalogs, but is hard to get and costly.

It is easily reloadable, although some ham-fingered folks might find it difficult to do so.

Jim

[JBP]

The big disadvantage is that the ammunition is currently almost unobtainable. It is still listed in the catalogs, but is hard to get and costly.

Nice flat shooting, low recoil round with good accuracy. I have four and it is one of my favorite calibers. As far as carry ammo goes Georgia Arms (http://www.georgia-arms.com/pistol.htm) makes an excellent 100 gr JHP for $11.50/50 (this is the posted web price but I saw a post recently that it had gone up to $13.50/50). For range use save the brass or by some and send it to Bullseye Shooting Supplies (http://www.bullseyeguns.com/relammo.asp) for reloading. They have 90 GR LSWC @ $8.30/50 and 85 GR JHP @ $10.50/50. Shipping is free if you get 500 rounds. I just sent them 1000 pieces of brass to reload.

[P. Plainsman]

The big disadvantage is that the ammunition is currently almost unobtainable. It is still listed in the catalogs, but is hard to get and costly.

"Almost unobtainable" is exaggerated. My local megastore has a bunch of it, including the Black Hills 85 gr JHP, second in my book only to the aforementioned Georgia Arms load.

Midway USA will send all the Black Hills .32 Mag ammo you want to your doorstep -- 85 gr JHP or their equally nice (and cheaper) 90 gr FPL cowboy plinking load.

http://www.midwayusa.com/esearch.exe/search?TabID=0&category_selector=all_products&search_keywords=black+hills+.32

A very accurate, well-mannered, fun cartridge. A pic of a box of .32 H&R Magnum ammo should appear next to the entry for "revolver relaxation" in the dictionary.

As for defense? Marginal, like a .380 ACP, but with some good qualities. Accurate and higher velocity than most centerfire "mouse" rounds, which should aid hollowpoint expansion. For better or worse, I'm currently carrying a 3" .32 Mag revolver loaded with the Georgia Arms rounds.

Those S&W ultra-light six-shooter .32 Mags you asked about shout "backup gun" to me. A good concept. For a snub to use as a primary carry, I'd prefer a five-shot .38 Special +P.

[Jim March]

There's been a couple of attempts to put out a factory "hotrod defense load" in 32Mag. Some outfit called "Texas Ammo" I think it was had an "express" load - 85gr JHP that would hit 1,000fps from a 2" snubby. Certainly had potential - those numbers are deep into 38+P territory.

Cor-Bon played around with taking the 60gr Gold Dot meant for the 32ACP and moving it like a bat outta hell in 32Mag cases. 1,200fps was being recorded from 2" tubes, even more from 4"+. This made sense as the Gold Dot tends to hold together better than most other rounds when "overdriven" past it's designed speed range - the copper jacket is bonded to the lead core abnormally well as it's really a "plating process" versus the usual "pour lead into a copper jacket" process. I certainly wouldn't want to be hit with it.

Both rounds are out of production due to low demand.

A *good* handloader could maybe get there though. Texas Ammo was apparantly using one of the same "new generation powders" that's allowing Bufallo Bore to get crazy speeds out of heavyweight 357 slugs and get back to the 1500fps/158grain level the 357Mag started out with, or better - except with jacketed slugs instead of softcast lead. Lil'Gun is reportedly the powder, although that may be rumor.

I personally wouldn't try this unless I had a LOT of reloading experience. Which I hope to get soon as for the first time in my life I'm about to own MY OWN FREAKIN' GARAGE finally :D.

Ruger, S&W or Taurus (the biggest sources of 32mag guns) could one day get smart and have an ammo vendor come out with a round tuned for one of their guns. The contract would have the gunmaker do ad blurbs for the recommended ammo in the ads and product webpages for the guns; the ammo house would agree to provide ammo for those guns for "x" years. We see this "joint marketing" all the time in computers and hardly ever in the gun world, which is idiocy because "software sells hardware" in both worlds - the availability of quality ammo for a given gun sells the gun!

Meanwhile the Georgia Arms load ain't bad while the Federal 85gr JHP completely sucks wind.

[Stainz]

I had considered either a 642 or a 432PD for a 'pocket' CCW. I did a little math - assuming that the GA Arms round drops to 1,000 fps from a 2" 432, and using the Remington R38S12 +P 158gr LHPSWC's chrono-ed 834 fps from my 2" 10, the five .38 +P's from a 642 would have the same total KE as the six .32 H&R Magnums from the 432PD. The .32 would also have only 74% of the momentum of that +P .38, making it a tad milder to shoot - I know what a handful the 642 with those 'FBI' loads is.

I recently, anticipating a 432 purchase that 'fell through' when the dealer refused to honor a price he had made me - in fact, he raised the price, received an order of 200 GA Arms 100gr 1,100 fps .32 H&RM's. I tried them in my two 1895 Nagants - a definite dangerous situation, as they neither 'self align' or seal as the proper brass does, spitting in all directions (Wear good safety glasses!) - and bulging the cases beyond recycling size. Several suppliers of the Nagants emphatically state that the .32 H&RM's will work in the Nagants - please take that with a grain of salt. The Ruskie target ammo is wimpy, the costly Fiocchi a bit faster, but both work quite well. The .32 H&RM's did knock the metal plates over, however.

Off topic... I hate to deal with dealers who 'adjust' their prices on what another example - at the current cost - would sell for, not on what they paid for that particular piece. They certainly won't reflect lowered prices... My favorite case with this dealer was a .44 Russian Navy Arms - priced at $650 for 3+ years, recently increased to $740 on a 'new' tag, that old one being a tad weathered. Most other 'durable goods' dealers know to 'drop' older, non-moving goods' prices. Still, the few additional bucks he wanted to 'make' on that raised price 432PD, and yes, it is the only one he has had, after I had literally just completed buying a new $600 629, has likely cost him an old customer. Of course, that new 629 being back at S&W, a first for me and new S&W's, now due to some problems has also left a sour taste re dealing with that dealer (The Rugers, a Henry Big Boy, a Kahr/AO 1927A1, and a Marlin 1897CB I bought new there over the last few years - my only non-S&W purchases there - have all been defective.). Normally, you don't have to hit me in the head with a bat more than two or three times to get my attention.

I may just have to find a 4" .32 SP101 for the remaining 186 .32 H&RM's I have... a great reason to buy another gun... I have the ammo... I know where I won't be ordering it!

Stainz

[nero45acp]

Federal lists their 85gr JHP HI-SHOK .32 H&R Magnum as doing 1100fps/230ft-lbs. I imagine those numbers are from a 4" barrel. What would be a reasonable estimate of what the Federal .32 H&R magnum would do out of a 2" barrel? Thanks.


nero

[Sharps Shooter]

Nero, out of my 2" snubby those Federal 85 grains JHPs average 926fps across my chronograph. You're most likely right - the 1100fps shown on the box must be from a longer barrel.

[P. Plainsman]

out of my 2" snubby those Federal 85 grains JHPs average 926fps across my chronograph
Thanks for the data! IIRC, those numbers are similar to a standard pressure .380 out of a 3 or 3.5" barrel. With the .32's smaller bullet ... getting a little tame for my tastes.

I'd be equally grateful to anyone who can post snubby numbers for the other two makers' .32 JHPs.

[DillHarris]

This has been a really interesting thread. If you're getting .380 acp power out of a .32 bullet, shouldn't penetration be greater due to better sectional density (assuming you do actually get the same velocity with the same weight bullet)? I only know enough about terminal ballistics to put my foot in my mouth, so I was just wondering. (BTW, I'm not trying to start a penetration vs. expansion debate, I'm just curious.)

[P. Plainsman]

If you're getting .380 acp power out of a .32 bullet, shouldn't penetration be greater due to better sectional density (assuming you do actually get the same velocity with the same weight bullet)?
That's been my working assumption. I figure with a 3" barrel I can count on a good 1000 fps from the Georgia Arms 100 gr rounds, and that should do some penetrating. (They are still peachy keen to shoot, though you def. notice the louder "crack!" compared to the other makers.)

Shot placement, in turn, is greatly improved by the 3" barrel and the all-steel revolver. No speculation necessary on that score: I can tell you flatly that a 3" steel .32 Mag is way easier to shoot accurately at speed than a 2" Airweight .38+P. If there's a persuasive case to be made for the .32 Mag as a carry arm, handling and shootability will play a prominent role in it.

I only know enough about terminal ballistics to put my foot in my mouth, so I was just wondering.
Me too. And I'd really like to have my thoughts in this area confirmed (or disconfirmed) by more data. Someone needs to take a Taurus or S&W snubby, unload a few cylinders of assorted .32 Mag over a chrono into some old brisket or gelatin and post outcomes.

EDIT TO ADD: One other thing about ammo availability. Bulk brass king Starline sells new .32 H&R Magnum cases for $12 to $13 per 100, which the cognoscenti describe as being of high quality (better than Federal). Both Black Hills and GA use the Starline brass.

I don't reload, but the .32 Mag is likely to make me take it up if .44 Special doesn't do the job first.

[nero45acp]

Thanks for the info Sharps Shooter.

As a related question, how much wear would GA's hotter .32 H&R Magnum put on the aluminum alloy frame of a S&W 432PD? How many rounds of the GA cartridge could you reasonably expect the 432PD to be good for? Thanks.


nero