Rebirth of the 32s?

When I was picking up my Colt PPS .32 NP after its tune up, the shop had some .32 S&W on the shelf.

Main reason I did not buy it was to avoid the temptation of actually firing a pair of little .32 top breaks in the safe I promised to never shoot "real" ammo in when they were given to me.

Oh and my revolver ain't 100 years old.....72 but not 100!

-kBob

This one is just over 50 years old (Model 31-1, Regulation Police). Some folks have bored these out to take .32 H&R Magnum without blowing them up.

Sistema1927 said:

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This one is just over 50 years old (Model 31-1, Regulation Police). Some folks have bored these out to take .32 H&R Magnum without blowing them up.

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I always read people saying that but have never seen it done. Can you point me to where this was done, by whom, and an article on the process and results would be great.

Sistema1927 said:

View attachment 945759Some folks have bored these out to take .32 H&R Magnum without blowing them up.

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Well, not yet. I've personally never understood the inclination of some to try and turn handguns into pipe bombs. To each his own I suppose.

Dave

jski said:

Go to GunBroker.com and search on Smith & Wesson Model 30-1. Beautiful gun chambered in 32 S&W Long. Made all the way through the 70s. Definitely not 100 years old.

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I'm not saying to do this even though I have. You will find some threads that say it is safe to ream the cylinders a little deeper on the 30-1,31-1, and Colt Detective Specials in 32. I’ve done four and a friend has done two. I can certainly understand folks not trying it but I’m very pleased with the results. If you read all the threads on this forum and others you may decide differently than I did. I’m not one to risk with +p and powerful loads, I just wanted the sixth round in a 3” barrel Smith J-frame.

Sistema1927 said:

View attachment 945759
This one is just over 50 years old (Model 31-1, Regulation Police). Some folks have bored these out to take .32 H&R Magnum without blowing them up.

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I really like this gun.

fxvr5 said:

I don't see how a cartridge rated at 35,000 psi would result in a lighter gun than one rated at 45,000 psi. Can you explain that?

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Certainly. A higher chamber pressure means that either more material is required to contain that pressure, increasing weight. The alternative is to use more advanced materials, increasing cost.

This extra pressure and materiel required may easily preclude it's use in current or future designs. For example, the Charter Arms Profesional can hold 7 shots of 32 H&R, but would only be capable of holding 6 shots of 327 due to the extra material required.

This isn't even getting into the problems of excessive muzzle blast and potential erosion issues.

fxvr5 said:

Ruger uses steel frames for their LCRs that shoot 9mm, 357 mag and 327 Federal. They only use aluminum frames for their 38 Special, which does reduce weight considerably.

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What one manufacturer currently makes and what a design can handle are not the same thing.

Those aluminum frames could absolutely handle the 32 H&R.

We don't know what designs we don't have because of the higher pressure. We do know that its pressure spec is abnormal for a pocket gun cartridge. Requiring extra effort be put into the design to make sure everything is safe.

fxvr5 said:

Also, reducing the 327 Fed pressure to 35,000 psi would reduce its speed and it might not achieve what the designers have in mind.

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From my understanding, and going from memory, what they had in mind was to cram near 357 Mag performance into a 32 caliber. They went and made the cartridge look good on a spreadsheet. Sacrificing important real-world considerations on their spreadsheet altar.

Was the .32 ever born to begin with? I know the .31 caliber 1849 Colt's Pocket was the most popular of all of Colt's percussion revolvers in the 19th Century. I know that for police at the turn of the 20th Century that the .32 revolvers made by S&W and Colt were the standard until .38 Special supplanted it, but ever since then the .38 and .357 have been king.

The .32 caliber is best suited for snub revolvers and small frame revolvers. Under that umbrella, the .32 is indeed seeing a rebirth and with modern knowledge of ballistics the old theory of bigger is better doesn't apply like it use to. It's a lot easier to carry an LCR in .32 than to carry a .44 Special Bulldog and at least the .32 Mag and .327 Mag have ammo that will expand from a snub barrel, the .44 Special IDK. The .38 Special... it's a toss up. Even the .38 ammo that does expand from a short barrel, I can't say how much better a choice it is over the .32 Mag and .327 Mag.

So long as the bullet expands and gets 12 inches deep, it's effective by FBI standards, but many of the loads tested by LuckyGunner for .38 failed to expand or have all 5 bullets achieve 12 inches of penetration. The .38 was never meant to be used in a short barrel, the .32 Mag and .327 Mag were.

When we start talking about larger revolvers, the .32 loses its edge fast, the .357 smokes it and .38 ammo becomes more consistent with a longer barrel.

jski said:

Now that Ruger owns Marlin, thankfully, will we finally see a Marlin .327 levergun?

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In stainless!

jski said:

Is this correct? Ruger offers a single GP100 in 327? And it has a 5” barrel. And it’s a “LIPSEY'S DISTRIBUTOR EXCLUSIVE“.

Is Ruger backing away from the 327?

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No, just .327 in the GP100. When you can get the same revolver in a 7 shot in .357, really makes no sense to go with the smaller, less popular caliber.

jski said:

Is this correct? Ruger offers a single GP100 in 327? And it has a 5” barrel. And it’s a “LIPSEY'S DISTRIBUTOR EXCLUSIVE“.

Is Ruger backing away from the 327?

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Almost 3 years ago, I bought a Ruger 4.2" barrel GP100 chambered in 327 Fed Magnum, I do not see it in Ruger's catalog currently but I'm sure they are around, at least in the used market.

Particularly in today's market, I'm sure Ruger is concentrating on guns that are more guaranteed to sell or those large orders by various distributers. If things ever get back to some kind of normal, maybe more 32 caliber guns will be made.

One nice aspect of a 32 caliber revolver, sometimes you just do not want to put as large a hole in your target as with a larger caliber gun.

jski said:

Is this correct? Ruger offers a single GP100 in 327? And it has a 5” barrel. And it’s a “LIPSEY'S DISTRIBUTOR EXCLUSIVE“.

Is Ruger backing away from the 327?

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That's not the only .327 in their current lineup. There's also the LCR, LCRx, six different variations of the Single Seven, and two variations of the SP101.

When I fired a full bore 327 from a 632 at a match, the SO jumped. He told me he thought the gun blew up. The other squad members thought the same thing. It also has quite the recoil kick if you are not expecting it.

One thing about the gun is that you have a variety of loads from mild 32 SW Longs, 32 HR mags to the 327s. I do admit to liking the big boom for entertainment. If I carried the gun in the woods I would use some Buffalo Bore big boomer in case I ran into mythical monsters or the like.

My 432 is a nice pocket gun with 32 HR mags. In the match, I would switch to the 327s for steel as I found the target Longs might not knock them down. I would figure out when I would get to the steel and have a speed loader ready for that part of the run.

Full-power magnum loads out of a short barrelled gun is going to be fierce regardless of caliber.

The loads I fire in my 6" model 28 are not the loads I care to fire out of my 2" Ruger SP101.

For short barrels I load to about 32 H&R levels. I keep the full-power loads for longer barrels.

Charter's Professional has 7 rounds of .32 H&R Magnum

i shot some 32mag out of a cousin’s ruger lcr 327 recently. it’s his favorite ccw and i can see why, and i sold off a lcr 38 because i didnt like how it transmits recoil. given that more seniors, women and nontactical folks are getting ccw permits these days i don’t understand why handgun and firearms makers aren’t ramping up production of the mild to wild 32 value priced revolver variants. a $250 32mag 6 shot version of the $250 taurus 856 38 snubbie would be ideal.

I ran a pin match against my buddy and we both ran our revolvers. Mine a 4" SP101 in 327 and his a Taurus Raging hunter in 44 mag. He pulled out his carry 9mm instead of reloading to win but I had him on the ropes, I tell ya. After the match the guys watching were commenting how loud our guns were and they weren't going to him to see what caliber was making all the noise. I'm not going to say the 327 was louder than the 44 but the SP101 is so dainty in comparison it definitely surprised everyone.