32 s&w long ?

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If you load your own it can be if your revolver is new enough to safely fire them.

The factory loads are rather anemic because there are so many old guns out there that should not be used with more powerful loads.
 
Lever,

If I carried a .32 S&W Long as a woods gun, I think I would go with factory full wadcutters. Recoil is light and you will not likely get any round to expand out of a .32 S&W Long, unless you handload.

If you are not expecting a larger, dangerous animal, then I would go with either a .38 Special or .357 magnum (you can carry a light or mid-weight .357 loaded with .38 Specials and get the lighter recoil).
I would personally limit the .32 S&W to small game and plinking.

Jim
 
A 98 gr hard cast wadcutter should work fine on those 4 legged fiends, and will deter most 2 legged threats. A 4" Model 31-1 does just fine for woods walking.

I have the same gun and I reload for the 32 long. Since these are newer guns its safe to turn up the speed a little on them. I am getting 900fps from mine and feel it would work fine on a 4 legged or 2 legged critter if needed. And its so easy to carry the gun and a few rounds of spare ammo because of the light weight. But I would not use my loads in any turn of the 20th century gun without the heat treated cylinder or old top break revolver.
 
I prefer .32 o r.327 Mag if it has a 3 inch or longer barrel, but for a snub I have nothing against .32 Long being used. It doesn't really gain much as barrel length is added and the lower recoil and noise has its own advantages.
 
I have the same gun and I reload for the 32 long. Since these are newer guns its safe to turn up the speed a little on them. I am getting 900fps from mine and feel it would work fine on a 4 legged or 2 legged critter if needed. And its so easy to carry the gun and a few rounds of spare ammo because of the light weight. But I would not use my loads in any turn of the 20th century gun without the heat treated cylinder or old top break revolver.

I don't feel bad pushing mine a bit either, and using Hytec coated bullets I don't have leading worries. Some folks have actually reamed these out to .32 H&R Mag, but that is a step too far for me. If I want more .32 "goodness", I swap out for the SP101 in .327 Fed Mag.
 
Sportsman guide had 32 ammo earlier today. Remington wheel gun. Lol.

Sad that they had about 5 different ammo in stock. 32, two different 10 guage, 12 guage blanks, and one more I can't remember
 
My favorite revolver is a S&W 30-1 3” and it has not found much critter, but what it has found has taught me a few things. LRN is junk for actual use. It might poke paper ok, but it will go longways through a possum and the possum runs off to die. Hard cast wadcutters around 100gr have been more accurate and hit hard enough to instantly anchor a raccoon. I feel like it would have performed well on anything coyote or smaller.
 
32 s&w long effective enough for woods carry for errant yotes dogs and such as that? Opinions?
Good for anything from armadillo to coyote. You’ve got to handload in my opinion. I prefer a heavier 115 gr hard cast.32-20 bullet as well. I don’t push for much past 750 fps but that’s enough to roll a good sized raccoon if needed.
 
I shoot a fair amount of 32 S&W long.

My Single Six is particularly fond of it.

I would feel okay with it for critters.

I'd prefer a little more "oomph" for SD, but 32 S&W long is much better than a 22 or unkind words.
 
35 Whelan,

More details? Bullet, powder? Looks impressive.

The hollowpoint bullet is one I cast. It's 8.0 Bhn, weighs 121 gr. was loaded over 3.3 grs. of Unique. Fired from a S&W Hand Ejector with a 3.25" barrel, MV is 835 fps and the expanded bullet was fired into water. I think the revolver and load would make a dandy short range self defense set up.

WNCQ424l.jpg

I also load a cast 103 gr. SWC over the same charge of Unique and it runs a bit north of 900 fps. Quite accurate too.

6S2cKfil.jpg

And finally for a walkabout load I load a 118 gr. cast FP over 3.3 grs. of Unique for 838 fps.

3wsZwB2l.jpg

I also made a shot load out of a 327 Federal case with #9's and keep one of them in the cylinder too. Pretty effective too.

m6fJhDcl.jpg



35W
 
If you like the 32 long for a trail gun you will really like a 32 mag from a longer barrel. I have a couple of the older Ruger 32 mag single six revolvers with 5.5" barrels and adjustable sights and they are hands down my favorite trail guns and some of my over all favorite handguns. And like 35W I also load shot loads with #12 and #10 shot in the long and mag cases. I rarely load full bore 32mag loads so the 327 never appealed to me. But if I got one it would be the Ruger SS with 7.5" barrel to get all I could out of that round.

I still see the older original 32 mags from Ruger on GB all the time for around $500 or a little more. My only ever Holy Grail gun was a S&W model 631 in 32 mag with 4" barrel and adjustable sights. After many years of looking I finally found one at a price I could justify. Then after I got it I didn't like it as much as the Rugers so I sold it for a good profit. The Rugers are just the best for my uses.
 
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