[Shawnee]

Had someone tell me there was a .32 caliber rimfire pistol or revolver available (albeit in modest quantities) at the time of the Civil War.
That's news to me - does anyone know if that is fact and, if so, what the make/model and configuration ? :confused:

Many thanks !

[Jim Watson]

The S&W No 1 1/2 .32 rf came out in 1865. Unlikely to have been used in the Civil War to any extent.
They did sell a fair number of No 1 .22s from 1857 on.

Since S&W had the Rollin White patent for the bored-through cylinder, any other cartridge revolver of the time was either an infringement or an evasion. But they were still made. Flayderman shows Bacon, Moore, Plant, Pond, Prescott, Reid, Springfield, Uhlinger, and White revolvers in .22, .32, and .38 rimfire being made during the Civil War. None of these low powered revolvers were adopted for issue, but likely some officers carried them for personal protection; and a lot of city folks on the home front.

[Tommygunn]

A Smith & Wesson model 1 and one half, made in 1869, in .32 rimfire short.

[Ron James]

Well, another fine mess, Flayderman's states one thing , other reference state another. The .32 rimfire was patented in 1960 so it was available for use. As is the attitude today among soldiers , a personal handgun is like a magic talisman. It can be a small handgun and under powered but it makes you feel better knowing it's there. Supica and Nahas write in the Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson that in 1861 the Model 2 ( second issue of the #1 ??) was chambered in the new .32 rimfire. This makes a little bit of sense in that the .32 rimfire could not have been used by other makers unless it was being made by Smith and Wesson ( at the start), and S&W would not have manufactured cartridges unless they had a firearm for it. As stated , if it was carried by Union soldiers it was privately purchased. I do know the S&W Number 1 in .22 short was a popular pistol among the blue clad and a black powder .22 Short was little better than throwing a small stone. :) I really don't know , I am not a Smith and Wesson Scholar.

[Shawnee]

Thanks a bunch, Gentlemen ! According to the person who brought it to my attention the gun he knew of had originally belonged to some teamsters on Sherman's "march to the sea". I can see teamsters opting for such a piece.

Personally, I wouldn't want to get shot by one but I would choose something else as a defense gun, fersure. :barf:

Thanks again !

[Threeband]

Mark Twain claims to have had one, presumably .22, in 1861 when he went to Nevada. In "Roughing It", (chapter 2) he wrote:

"I was armed to the teeth with a pitiful little Smith & Wesson's seven- shooter, which carried a ball like a homeopathic pill, and it took the whole seven to make a dose for an adult. But I thought it was grand. It appeared to me to be a dangerous weapon. It had only one fault- you could not hit anything with it. ..."

He goes on to tell about his brother's "small sized Colt's revolver", carried uncapped for safety, and the Allen pepperbox their fellow stagecoach passenger used in the great buffalo hunt.

If you've never read the story of "Bemis and the Buffalo", in chapter seven, well, you should., that's all.

[Mike OTDP]

S&W Model 2 (usually referred to as the Model 2 Old Army) revolvers were available during the Great Unpleasantness...and were issue to a very few Federal units.

[rcmodel]

Personally, I wouldn't want to get shot by one but I would choose something else as a defense gun, fersure.In those pre-penicillin days, getting shot with those puny little rounds was often the same as a death sentence.

The soft lead bullets and sticky bullet lube often carried filthy clothing fibers & germs into the wound which would become infected and result in a slow & painful death.

I have read several accounts of those days where men would rather be shot through & through with a large caliber round then have a germ ridden .22S, .32RF, or .41RF derringer bullet stuck bullet in their craw.

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