.32 caliber ... I'm in love.

[WVGunman]

I just bought a New England Firearms .32 H&R Magnum R73 snubby revolver. (Looks just like this) Tried it first with 32 S&W Long, which I heard was a very accurate round. It was okay, nothing too special. Then I tried some H&R Magnum. Perhaps there was a difference in quality (the latter were Hornady self-defense rounds) but I was blown away by this gun/ammo combination. I was easily putting 5 shots into a 4-inch circle at 30 feet, shooting offhand. This in a 28-year old gun with a two-inch barrel and fixed sights!
So have now just ordered an old break-top revolver in .32 S&W Short. Will have to reload for this, as it is a black-powder era gun. But I'm looking forward to it. Think I've caught the bug!

 

[Tallball]

I have around a half dozen 32 revolvers and love them all. Like you, my first was a H&R 32 magnum snub, though mine was the NEF version (same company, different branding).

By far my favorite is my Ruger Single Six in 32 H&R magnum. It has a barrel around 6" long and good adjustable sights. It is extremely accurate.

Have fun with them! It is a great caliber. Here is a gratuitous picture of my Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector 32 S&W long revolver that is 100 years old. I paid $125 for it and it shoots just fine.

 

[MedWheeler]

I handled a Charter Arms Undercoverette that felt real nice a few months back. Almost bought it, uh, "for the wife" (I have two Undercover models in .38 Special.)

It would have been my first foray into .32 caliber in revolvers, but I do like the caliber in autoloaders.

 

[Old Fuff]

The .32 S&W Long is a very accurate, if it is matched with a quality handgun. The full-wadcutter variant is sometimes chambered into target grade pistols that can put all of their shots into groups you can cover with a quarter at 25 meters. Yesteryears Colt and Smith & Wesson target revolvers did much the same.

 

[susieqz]

sure wish i could afford to shoot 32 long.
i can't believe cost of production is accurately reflected in the price.

 

[Dr.Rob]

Get a .32-20 and don't look back

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I just recently started with a Ruger Single Seven in .327 and likely have another Ruger in 32Mag in my future. I really like the verstility that one can get from 32, 32Mag and up to .327Mag if you need more power.

It is a reloading round for me since, as mentioned, it is silly $$ to buy given the components involved.

Have been saying since the .327 came out that someone should make a large 10 shot revolver for it aimed at the HD market.

Brother swears by the 32 Long with wadcutters for small game. Cuts a clean hole with plenty of power but little to no meat loss.

Also, should be a great cartridge for new/young shooters to move into so they can start mild and work up with time.

I have become a big fan.

 

[bannockburn]

Years ago I had a couple of nifty Rugers in .32 H&R Mag.; a Single Six and a Bisley model. Both were great guns but somewhere along the way I decided I needed something else and foolishly traded them away. Would love to get another one to go with the rest of my Ruger single action revolvers.

 

[Tallball]

Here is the Undercoverette in 32 H&R magnum. I leave it loaded for my wife if I am out of town (though her two large dogs make it pretty much a moot point).

 

[Tallball]

Here is the Single Six in the same caliber. It took me a while to find one at a decent price. The finish is a bit worn, but it is very accurate and I thought $300 was a decent price, since they are somewhat rare.

 

[Tallball]

Here is the SP101 in 327 magnum. The stiff trigger is slowly smoothing out. The grips were too small, so I found some larger ones in exotic hardwood. 327 is a bit spicier to shoot than I expected, which makes it entertaining. As with any of them, I usually shoot 32 S&W long for target practice and/or plinking, which feels about like a 22.

 

[Old Fuff]

sure wish i could afford to shoot 32 long.
i can't believe cost of production is accurately reflected in the price.

The high retail price reflects the cost of limited production runs because of relatively low demand. The answer is to handload the cartridge which will substantially reduce those otherwise high prices.

 

[Monac]

One of the least expensive 32 revolvers with target sights you can find (sometimes) is the old Hermann Weirauch Arminius HW-7. Some people will say they are inexpensive for a darn good reason, and since they were an economy-grade revolver back in the 1970's, I can believe that quality was...variable. Certainly, being made with a cast-zinc frame, they are not going to be as durable as an all-steel gun, and being inexpensive, they were often subjected to careless abuse.

But mine is a surprisingly decent shooter, and 32 revolvers with adjustable sights that don't cost like a moon shot are hard to find.

 

[Pokajabba]

Yup, .32 is a great revolver caliber. The .327 being the pinnacle of the calibers evolution in its power and the .32 Long being a veritable .22 LR centerfire. If you're a revolver collector a .32 wheelgun is a must have.

It's just too bad that before the .327, the .32 revolver was labeled as underpowered for defense. Since the H&R Magnum was created 30+ years ago, it's always had the potential to be a great pocket gun, but unfortunately the actual H&R company had to make revolvers that couldn't handle the damn cartridge and also the 80's was not a time when concealed carry was widespread like it has become the past 20 years.

 

[Walkalong]

.32 Long rocks. So does .32 Mag.

Model 832 .32 Long

 

[Monac]

That's a seldom seen H&R, Walkalong. Thanks for putting up a good picture of it.

 

[bonza]

Another fan of the .32-20 revolver here. I bought a Colt Army Special with a 6" barrel that was languishing in a downtown Seattle pawn shop in the mid 1990s, that had 90+% blueing, a brilliant bore, & locks up tight as a drum. From a sandbag rest at 25 yards it'll hold 3" 12 shot groups with my handloads of 7gns of Lil'Gun & a Missouri Bullet Company 120gn .314" flat point. I'll be packing it along on a Montana gopher shooting trip next week, for when things start getting a bit mundane.....I'm confident it'll do a fine job on the little fellas!

 

[antiquus]

I like .32's in all their incarnations. One thing about H&R .32 mags is they were pushing the limits with that design based on the .32 S&W long, so no hot ammo for those. NEF bought the line when H&R folded, and soon after went to a 5 shot cylinder probably for ease of manufacture, but that also moved the cylinder lock recess between chambers, which helped quite a bit with strength.

 

[Tallball]

I thought H&R was still in business, but just doesn't make revolvers anymore.

I had two of these. This is the one my FiL got from me. The one I kept is nickel or SS. I think one of them is H&R and one is NEF, but I could be mistaken. They are decent little revolvers and haven't given us any trouble.

 

[WVGunman]

Yup, .32 is a great revolver caliber. The .327 being the pinnacle of the calibers evolution in its power and the .32 Long being a veritable .22 LR centerfire.

If the numbers I've read are to be believed, the 32 S&W Long from a handgun has roughly the same muzzle energy as a .22 LR from a rifle.

I'm surprised to see so many people thinking its expensive. Both Cabela's and Midway have it right now for < 18$ a box. That's comparable to 38 Special.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I don't necessarily promote the .32 but I'd say "smoke 'em if you brung 'em". No point in avoiding it especially if you have one already.

Power level is not a consideration in target shooting; an accurate .32 target handgun is hard to beat. It is not underpowered for small game hunting or dispatching animals in traps. It does have a niche of utility.

I admit that I am in no rush to replace my old .32 S&W Long revolver since these days my shooting is mostly at the range. I have a .22 auto and a .38/.357 revolver which overlap the .32 S&W Long and .32 H&R Magnum territory.

Wait a minute. I have a C96 Mauser with a barrel so eroded (smoothbore with a ghost of rifling) it won't stabilize standard 7.63mm Mauser (.309") but with my handloads it will stabilize bullets intended for .32 H&R Mag (specifically .312" 85gr to 90gr JHP which are 7.92mm). So come to think of it, I do have a .32 after all.

 

[antiquus]

That's a 5 shot, certainly a NEF. It's hard to tell them from an H&R. it was the same tooling, other than the cylinder was changed to 5.

 

[Fiv3r]

I too have recently rediscovered the lovely .32. I used to shoot S&W long out of my Nagant Revolver (yes, poor form, I know, but the ammo was impossible to find).

I recently convinced myself that I needed (and deserved, dangit) a new trail gun for several hiking/cabin trips I have lined up this year.

I flirted with all manner of guns I already owned. I decided that a wheelgun made the most sense. I didn't want to mess with magazines, and I like being able to unload all my rounds at the end of the day (back when I get to cabin with the rifle) for safety for my daughter. So my beloved 92fs didn't get the nod nor did my much more belt friendly FNS 40c.

A .38 snubbie wasn't going to cut it. I'm not one of the internet commandos who sees ninja grizzlies behind every tree. However, a run in with a black bear (very, very remote, I know) is possible. So I wasn't going to pack a short range people-shooter, but I didn't feel the need to buy a 4lb hogleg sporting a thumb-sized cartridge either.

There was always my trusty SP101 in .357, but for the weight, 5 shots of .357 out of a 2.25" barrel didn't feel like a good weight trade off.

My .357 Vaquero was also a possibility, but it's a chunky-monkey weighing in more than the Beretta and only holding 6 rounds. I was ok on the firepower, but I really wanted to keep the weight down.

I thought about getting the LCRx in .38 special and hoping that the 3" barrel would do the trick, but I still wasn't convinced.

Then I saw her... Sitting under the glass at a local sporting good store was a brand new .327 SP101 with the 4.2" barrel.

A little spendy to feed, but from the rodent-flatus .32 S&W to the respectable .32 H&R mag to the "why isn't this cartridge catching on!?" powerhouse .327 fed mag, it was the answer to my needs.

Dead on with .32 S&W, it shoots point of aim and could harvest a bunny pretty easily at 15 yards. I'm thinking the ballistics of the .327 make it a nice flat shooting, lower recoil, hiking round for two-legged varmints and pretty much anything I might come across. While this isn't a "bear gun", I would feel better plugging a sow in the face with 6 rounds of this over 5 of .38 special as she trees/tries to eat me.

It's not a perfect cartridge, but it's a neat round that has a lot of history and a lot of utility still left in it. I plan on stoking it with .327 serious business and keeping a handful of plinking loads in my vest should the need to bust a stump arise on my hikes

 

[dragon813gt]

Step into 327 Federal and be ready to have some fun
I'm patiently waiting for someone to chamber it in a lever gun. I have money stashed away in case this ever happens. I'm not a fan of heavy recoiling handguns. I find the 327 to be very controllable w/ minimal recoil and a lot of power. That little bullet sure does move.

 

[bassdogs]

With all that you have already and couldn't come up with a niche solution like you're describing without BUYING a new gun with some apparently unique caliber seems a bit extreme. Personally my 4" 357 is my go to for similar outings. Loading up in a minute and that is what is going with me for a long weekend on the houseboat. Reg 38's are available for downloading if desired with full mags for what ever else. Can shoot that same rabbit at 20+ feet with ammo that is readily available at any Walmart or sports center. In my opinion the 327 is a solution looking for a problem.

In the end this is personal opinion and there is not right or wrong decision. Have fun.