I like .32 revolvers, though I have little interest in the Fed Mag, thus far. When they were still available new, some number of years ago, I bought a 4” SP101, chambered in .32 H&R, and put in the safe, to await the day my arthritis would catch up with me. I no longer want to shoot .38 J-Frames, so, recently acquired an S&W 631 snub-gun, which I sometimes tote in a Phlster City Special holster.
32 Caliber Revolvers
- Thread starter Buckeye63
- Start date
- Status
The .32s are a big part of my old age plan as well.
GeoDudeFlorida
Member
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2020
- Messages
- 11,052
I’m liking large grips over smaller ones as the arthritis progresses. That’s why I been leaning more on the bigger frames. But I don’t carry except in a holster or a backpack so that’s a big difference. Will say the.32-20’s have seen a lot more use this year. Those grips and almost no recoil make them a pleasure to have.
Monac
Member
I like good sized grips too. That is why my favorite J-frame grips are these old S&W factory target grips.
They have not been made for quite some time, so they are getting pretty pricey, but sometimes you get lucky. The appearance of the wood varies widely, from gorgeous to drab. Smooth ones were also made, but they are scarcer.
Although the package says "ROUND BUTT STOCKS FIT ONLY ROUND BUTT FRAMES" I think all of this style were square butt grips and so fit any J-frame. Certainly that has been true for every pair I have tried on any J-frame. They also fit I-frames and Perfected Models. I think Driftwood Johnson has said they will fit even older frames, but I don't remember positively and I don't want to attribute misinformation to him. I think I have them on at least four guns, included a Perfected.
PS - I don't think I have tried them on any J-frame made after 1980, at the latest.
GeoDudeFlorida
Member
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2020
- Messages
- 11,052
Monac
Member
If these are the smooth ones you're talking about, they also fit Rossi small frames.
I'm glad to know that! I have a 3-inch stainless Rossi small frame in 32 Long, but it never occurred to me to try the target grips on it. I'll give it a shot.
The grips I meant were similar to yours, but of the same shape was the ones in my post above, without the finger grooves. I think yours were called combat grips. Now that I think of it, all the smooth target grips I have seen have had attractive wood, like yours.
GeoDudeFlorida
Member
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2020
- Messages
- 11,052
In the pic is an early small frame Rossi in .38 - exactly the same as the early I-Frame knock-off Rossi's in .32. I have one of those, too and it's one of my favorites. When I go to the woods out by the sand pits to test new loads it rides on my hip in that holster pretending to be a .357
ApacheCoTodd
member
.32
pew-pew-pew!
Todd.
pew-pew-pew!
Todd.
ApacheCoTodd
member
He got a .32 gun in his pocket for fun,
... he got a razor in his shoe!
Maybe oughta be in the knife & pistol thread, huh?
Todd.
... he got a razor in his shoe!
Maybe oughta be in the knife & pistol thread, huh?
Todd.
Monac
Member
He got a .32 gun in his pocket for fun,
... he got a razor in his shoe!
Maybe oughta be in the knife & pistol thread, huh?
View attachment 985710
Todd.
What is going on with that gun? It seems to have the ejector rod from the very first type of 32 Hand Ejector on a later frame. How does that work? The barrel looks a bit odd, and the front sight looks homemade. No offense, but that's one weird mama-jama
ApacheCoTodd
member
None taken.
I got it from a guy who thought it had been rendered non-op. So screwed up was the assembly.
Threw it on here (THR) and S&W experts deemed it copacetic as far as everything but the barrel. It's clearly (and sadly) been cut with the sight having been, well, it is what it is now.
Tore it apart, put it back together and now it's damn fun to play with. Especially considering under the previous owner's description - I really bought it for the beautiful grips.
Nice old 4-digit weirdo.
Todd.
Last edited:
I know what you mean, regarding larger grips. I stopped shooting Glock G19 pistols, after my October 2017 “qual,” at the police range. For some now-disremembered reason, I shot the qual with my pair of smaller G19 Glocks, first, rather than my 1911 or G17 pistols, which I actually carried more often. Well, those 80 rounds, fired right-handed, soon made my right thumb, hand, and wrist swell, discolor, and hurt. I returned two weeks later, after the swelling was down, and qual’ed with the 1911, and G17. Thankfully, there were no ill effects. (Edited to add: I did, however, decide to retire, in early 2018. There were other factors; not just shooting-related. 34 years was enough.)
Applying my amateur-but-serious kinesiology, I soon determined that my personal solution was to shoot handguns with grips that reach all the way to firmly contact the “heel bone” of my right hand. The G19 Glock’s grip is just too short, to make this contact. Some say that an “old man gun” is a compact gun. I say otherwise!
A low bore axis is also desirable, as I had learned, at age 50, in 2011, when my then-duty pistol, a quite-high-bore-axis SIG P229R, had started vexing me, with the energetic, then-mandated .40 S&W duty ammo. Being able to transition to 9mm and .45 ACP duty pistols, in 2015, and then resume using the all-steel, low-bore-axis 1911, on duty, in 2016, was wonderful.
Notably, the factory grip on the SP101 does make contact with the heel bone of my right hand. Now I know, more completely, why my second SP101, in 2002, put my J-Frame .38 Specials out of business. It was not just that the edge of the frame directly contacted the base knuckle of my right thumb, but the grip did not reach the heel of my right hand. (2002 is when I started routinely carrying two SP101 revolvers, during personal time.)
Last edited:
Interesting article on firearms production. https://americanhandgunner.com/handguns/declining-revolver-production-continues/
Relevant to this discussion:
Relevant to this discussion:
Armybrat
Member
GeoDudeFlorida
Member
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2020
- Messages
- 11,052
The article leaves me wondering if the manufacturing sector is simply not making revolvers or if there is less demand for revolvers. In many ways, with carbon fibre and high density plastics replacing heavier, more expensive, and more difficult to fabricate steels and hardened aluminum alloys, it would seem to benefit the industry to "push" mass-market, low production cost, self-loading pistols over harder to make, heavier and more labor intensive (read: expensive) revolvers. Or maybe I'm just prejudiced...
TTv2
Member
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2016
- Messages
- 4,990
Saturated market. There's already so many .38, .357, and .44 revolvers out there that if someone wants one they can easily find a used one for less. Not so much the case with the .32's.
I would suspect the price of cheap .22 revolvers like the Heritage and Wrangler has something to do with the jump in .22 revolvers. They're cheap to shoot, not ammo picky, and reliable compared to a semi auto .22
TTv2
Member
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2016
- Messages
- 4,990
Let's not forget that 2019 was the height of the "Trump slump" and normal people weren't really buying anything. Even during panic times there's not much interest in big, heavy revolvers in big calibers like .44 and .45 because the ammo costs too much. Give someone a small .22 that they can actually carry and shoot for 2 hours straight and not break the bank, they'll buy them.The article leaves me wondering if the manufacturing sector is simply not making revolvers or if there is less demand for revolvers. In many ways, with carbon fibre and high density plastics replacing heavier, more expensive, and more difficult to fabricate steels and hardened aluminum alloys, it would seem to benefit the industry to "push" mass-market, low production cost, self-loading pistols over harder to make, heavier and more labor intensive (read: expensive) revolvers. Or maybe I'm just prejudiced...
I've been saying for a while the days of the large frame revolver are coming to an end. They're just too big and heavy and low capacity compared to a 10mm or a .45. Unless you've bear problems of the Grizzly kind or shooting hogs at 100 yards or are big into handgun season, you're not gonna need a .44 Mag.
And I say this as a fan of revolvers and the .45 Colt. I've had a 7.5 inch .45 Blackhawk convertible in the back of my mind for years, but other than the added velocity over my Redhawk and the better accuracy with 45 ACP, I don't have a use for it. I could buy a few other guns that interest me more that would be more useful for that same amount of money.
- Status
