32 Caliber Revolvers

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Buckeye63

Buckeye63

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Seems like the 32 is hanging in there ... I always had a soft spot for 32 Caliber revolvers.. I owned a few over the years .. but seemed like they were stuffed in the safe eventually.. and traded off ... I guess I never really understood the 32 ...
(and when I say 32 .. its the 32 Long , 32 H&R and now 327 ... )
Seemed like I would migrate back to the 357/38
Or heaven forbid bottom feeders ...
I dabbled in the 32 Long & 32 H&R back in the late late 80’s & early 90’s .. I owned several H&R revolvers in the 32 S&W long and 32 H&R ..
Ammo for the 32 Long was plentiful and inexpensive.. I remember going to the LGS and buying LRN 32 Long ammo for $7.00 -$9.00 a box of 50 ... at a local community store I bought a box of loose 300 rds 32 long for $15.00 .. . the
32 H&R ammo was a bit harder to find .. no Google then ,
Being I hand loaded 38 spl .. my buddy would cast me bullets with the unlimited wheel weight lead I supplied for him .. I remember one Saturday I collected a 5 gallon bucket with lead wheel weights ... had to roll it in his garage on a dolly ....

Just before the Covid.. I was in search of a
32 H&R .. actually had a titanium cylindered S&W 6 shot J frame lined up for 6 bills .. as new in box
But the world went crazy . Seller backed out and
I turned my sights on Charter and their revamped 6 shot Undercoverette ... but production was slow .. and no UL in sight unless they were pink framed...
And I then turned my search for a LCR327
Im a LCR fanboy... Im pre-sold on the LCR concept
I lucked up .. found one NIB at a LGS at a normal price ... and purchased it ...
Due to serious spinal cord injury I have been unable to seriously work with the LCR327
I had surgery in late December and still recovering,, arms, hands and fingers still experiencing numbness and lack of coordination..but improving.. I have had limited range time .. enough to compare recoil.. between 32 Long , 32 H&R & 327 ... vs 38 and 357 in LCRs ... have not been able to do any real target shooting due to neck braces and balance problems and such ..
but in the LCR327 , 32 Long recoil is extremely low .. fun to shoot, 32 H&R recoil similar to 38spl Wadcutters.... and 327 similar to 38spl +P in the LCR357 ... but it has a crack !!!
I do hope the 32 family sticks around,...
when the Gun madness ends .. I hoping to pick up a Charter Undercoverette UL in 32 H&R
6ED247D4-051F-4E8E-BBF6-D956C90D1DFD.jpeg
 
Ah, Buckeye. You’re fortunate to have found that .327 Fed Mag LCR. I have owned the exact same model for a few years. I love it. I can poke holes all day long with .32 long wadcutters, plink with .32 H&R Mags, and carry .327 Fed Mags for protection.

Yes, the .327s do crack loudly, but don’t snap in your hand. To tell the truth, my only complaint is that I have to keep myself cognizant of the long trigger reset or I can short-stroke it.

All in all, a great gun to own and a great set of chamberings.
 
I picked up this .32-20 M&P for virtually nothing a few years ago (it was in rough shape)-
20191019_003208.jpg
Got lucky and found 250 rounds of ammo for it, most likely a lifetime supply, though I paid 3X what the GUN is worth for it, lol.

Recoils about like a moderately loaded .38spl. Its neat, but doesn't really offer any advantages in a K-frame. The rest of the .32 cartridges just dont appeal to me much, I guess.
 
OP; I wish you a rapid recovery as you heal up from your injuries. May you be back to full health soon. :thumbup:

Despite wanting a .32 H&R for rabbit hunting as a teenager in the 1980’s, I never got one. I finally joined the .32 party way late, finding a NIB .32 H&R Bisley Single Six 6.5” just last year that I had to get.

I’ve loaded a couple of different loads, my two favorites are a Brazos 100 gr RNFP over 4.2 gr Unique (shown) and a Montana Bullet Works 125 gr SWCGC over a Ruger-only charge of Unique.

227F0BF1-5B3F-4192-8A49-2F8E8F5E88A9.jpeg

Man do I kick myself for waiting almost 30 years before seeing the light. It’s too bad that DA options are few and far between, these little revolvers are fantastic!

Stay safe.
 
I like 32 revolvers a lot. They are fun to shoot and accurate. They're a good handgun for beginners who are ready to step up from 22's.

The Single Six is the most accurate. They are all fun.

Ruger Single Six 32 H&R magnum

Ruger Single Six 32 H&R magnum


Harrington and Richardson top-break 32 caliber revolver

Harrington and Richardson top-break 32 caliber revolver


New England Firearms Model R73 in 32 H&R magnum

New England Firearms Model R73 in 32 H&R magnum


Ruger SP101 327

Ruger SP101 327


Charter Arms 32 Magnum

Charter Arms 32 Magnum


Smith and Wesson Hand Ejector in 32 S&W long

Smith and Wesson Hand Ejector in 32 S&W long

 
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Buckeye,

I have had three .32 S&W Long revolvers. I bought them so that my dad could shoot them as he was having trouble shooting a .38 Special (he was close to 80 at the time) when we went shooting. Part of the problem was that he really wanted to shoot a snub nose. To him, that was the end all of handguns.
When he was in the U.S. Army, he qualified with the M-1 GARAND, 1911 and his favorite, the BAR, so he had shot heavy recoiling weapons. It was just he could not do it anymore.

I bought a COLT Police Positive and H&R 732, both with 4 inch barrels and was surprised that the H&R had the smoother trigger. In the end, I sold the COLT. I then bought a H&R 732 GUARDIAN with a 2 inch barrel and round butt grips. I found that while I like shooting the 4 inch, the 2 inch was a disappointment. It was not nearly as accurate and the really small grips were not a good fit for my hands. I got each gun for about $249.00, so I kept them both, but when I shoot a .32 revolver, it is usually the 4 inch which has larger grips as well.

Aging can be a real pain!

If I ever come to the point that I cannot shoot my S&W model 15's or 9m.m. pistols, I will load the H&R revolvers with full wadcutter ammo and keep a loaded rifle, probably a 22 magnum nearby.

Jim
 
@golden @Riomouse911

Not as much age , but rough life , a bit to much mischief when I was young and alot of hard working and lifting.. pretty much wore my spine out a bit to quick .. But I will recover from this round and get ready for the next ... Im just hoping I can sit in the corner for a bit before the next .... ;-)
But thanks for the well wishes... The Lord is good
 
The coating that company uses is red. The coating acts as a lube. And lowers lead exposure. Here is a better description.
Hi-Tek Super Coat molecularly bonds to the bullet during the curing process, totally encapsulating the bullet. The coating prevents lead to bore contact and virtually eliminates lead fouling and the smoke normally associated with traditional wax type lubricants. Eliminating the need for messy wax lubricants, your Hi-Tek coated bullets assist in keeping your hands, breathing air, reloading dies, and gun cleaner. As an added benefit, the smooth slippery Hi-Tek coated bullets feed very well in most bullet feeders.
 
I tell ya what, as time goes on my interest in .32 caliber handguns (revolver and semi) keeps growing. This time last year I had absolutely zero interest in buying a .32 S&W "short" revolver because you're limited to maybe a 90 grain bullet, but with .32 Long you can go up to 100 or 115. Well, someone on here posted pictures of ads for H&R revolvers from the early 1900s and the Young America grew on me and it kept growing and growing and I won an auction last month for one and now I have it and I cannot believe how small and light these all steel guns are.

In doing some research earlier today I came across a fellow on the castboolits site named Larry Gibson who has done some kind of testing with equipment to measure the pressures of factory .32 ammo and he has discovered that .32 S&W "short" was being loaded anywhere from 14k PSI to nearly 19k PSI.

That is higher in pressure than a Federal wadcutter .32 S&W Long load he measure at 12k PSI.

The LuckyGunner video on .32 snub revolvers showed that the .32 S&W got about 10 inches of penetration and under 550 fps, but that was in a .327 chambered LCR and I have found that when you have such a short cartridge like .32 S&W or .32 ACP shooting down a chamber as long as a .327, a lot of gas and pressure gets lost in that jump before the bullet reaches the throat. So, in order to not lose pressure and velocity with the short .32 S&W you must shoot it in .32 S&W chambered revolvers!

That is so long as that .32 S&W revolver has chambers that have cylinder throats and weren't just bored straight thru the same diameter as the chamber. Even then it may still be okay, I really need to pull out my chronograph and see how fast my Young America can spit the bullets out.

So, my point is that just like all the other .32 cartridges out there, even the lowly .32 S&W is completely misunderstood and seems likely as capable of providing the same level of self defense potential as .32 S&W Long is, yet in much smaller guns.
 
32 is the ultimate plinker round! Bigger than 22, but light recoil and smaller amounts of powder and lead are consumed than the bigger rounds.

Colt Police Positive Special in 32 Colt New Police
index.php


Ruger Single Six Bisley in 32 H&R
index.php


Antique Colt New Navy in 32-20
index.php
 
I still am unsure of the role of "hot" .32s like the .327, but I am definitely a fan of the .32 Long. It can be supremely accurate, is easy on powder and lead, and fills a definite niche between the .22 LR and the .38 Special wadcutter load. I don't fully understand why guns so chambered are such a rare thing.
 
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