.32 magnum revolver 432pd

[silent flatulence]

I bought a smith and wesson 432PD last week. 6 shots of .32 magnum. I know I can shoot .32 s&w and .32 long but what about .32 acp? I know I'll get the questions so I'll just say right off, I have bigger caliber revolvers and pistols. I just thought the idea of owning a .32 magnum would be cool. Just listen to the song "bad bad leroy brown." If he had a .32 gun in his pocket for fun I figured I will too. Another question-it has an internal lock. I bought it used and it didn't come with a key. Is this lock easily disabled? Are the keys for them a universal type of item available at most gun stores? Oh one last thing.
Let's say the 2 guns you can pick from to carry are the following:

1. S&W 432PD .32 magnum airweight revolver 6 shots

2. Ruger LCP .380 7 shots.

Which would you carry and why?

 

[mnrivrat]

Well I almost have to answer this one for a couple of reasons.

I used to carry a Kel-Tec .380 which is nearly identical to the Ruger . It was very easy to pocket carry and I did so for a long time. That is until I switched to a small revolver in .32 H&R magnum.
So that answers part of your question. I switched for the extra energy of the .32 Magnum over the .380 acp , and also for reasons of accuracy and reliability. I also switched because this .32 magnum sort of fell into my lap from a friend .

I have nothing against the LCP Ruger, or the caliber - I just prefer the revolver over the auto and the .32 H&R mag over the .380.

As to the matter of shooting .32 acp in your revolver. Yes, you can do it and it seems to work rather well , and I have ran a few through my Taurus 731 to test it . I personaly do not do this on a regular basis, simply because the gun is chambered and designed for a full rimmed cartridge . If the correct ammo is available, there is no reason to shoot .32 acp out of the gun.

The lock is fairly easily removed/disabled if you know how to pull the side plate and disassemble the gun. There is a hole plug for the lock being sold by a guy on the S&W forum. I am not completely familiar with the locks so I do not know if a different key is used for the J frame vs the L frame , etc. You should have no problem finding a key for the gun however, and a call to S&W customer service will likely get you a free one in the mail - or at least get you one.

 

[harmon rabb]

no 327 magnum no care

 

[snooperman]

I would carry the S&W 32 magnum...

For several reasons. I personally like revolvers, especially 6 shot revolvers. Also the 32 magnum has more energy than the 38 special and with the light weight of your gun it is a neat little gun that would be easy to have with you with enough power for self defense. My wife carries the H&R magnum daily and I have a Colt detective 38 special that has been with me for decades and can not part with it , otherwise a 32 magnum could be a consideration as a replacement.

 

[Ed Harris]

Frequent firing of .32 ACP in your gun may set back the firing pin pushing in the frame, requiring factory repair. Do this only to see where the stuff hits, as a potential emergency expedient. Due to gas leakage around the bullet in the longer chamber this will give lower velocity than firing the same ammo in a .32 pistol such as a Kel-Tec or Beretta Tomcat, so you get no bullet expansion and accuracy will be poor at beyond card table distance. There is really nothing to recommend it, except as a fantasy wannabe thing.

 

[Landric]

For several reasons. I personally like revolvers, especially 6 shot revolvers. Also the 32 magnum has more energy than the 38 special and with the light weight of your gun it is a neat little gun that would be easy to have with you with enough power for self defense. My wife carries the H&R magnum daily and I have a Colt detective 38 special that has been with me for decades and can not part with it , otherwise a 32 magnum could be a consideration as a replacement.

In my experience the .38 Special has more energy than the .32 H&R when both are fired from 2" snubbies. In my tests:

Georgia Arms .32 Mag, 100 grain JHP, 891 fps, 176 ft-lbs energy

Speer .38 Special +P, 135 grain GD, 856 fps, 219 ft-lbs energy

Georgia Arms .38 Special +P, 158 grain SWCHP, 769 fps, 207 ft-lbs energy

The .32 Mag probably does beat standard .38 Spl in energy, but who really carries that?

On the other hand the .32 Mag is a lot more pleasant to shoot than .38 +P in an Airweight and provides an extra shot, so its really a toss up. I would choose the .32 H&R in a heartbeat over the .380 ACP.

 

[goodtime]

Bad, bad Leroy Brown was from the south side of Chicago.

 

[mnrivrat]

The .32 Mag probably does beat standard .38 Spl in energy, but who really carries that?

No argument from me on that point . I do not recommend the .32 H&R magnum over the .38 Spl . I do recommend it over the .380 acp , just as you say.

As far as who carries Standard .38 Spl . I am thinking perhaps some of those who have 13 oz guns to shoot it in. Generaly if one wants to shoot .38 Spl + P for example, I recomment a gun of 20 oz + for weight, and a .357 magnum chambering. After all, if you want the energy of a .357magnum there is little reason not to buy one.

It is mostly about individual choice, rather than one being so much better than another. My general advise is to carry the most gun you are comfortable with. If that's a Desert Eagle in .50 AE - great , if ever needed the extra power is always a good thing in my opinion. Most people who carry however choose to compromise on caliber to achieve comfort of carry for them.

Even those who carry a full size 1911 .45 acp, for example, can find themselves perhaps going to a smaller gun on occasions when they can't comfortablely carry their main choice.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Frequent firing of .32 ACP in your gun may set back the firing pin pushing in the frame, requiring factory repair.

How? The effect of firing the shallow rimmed ACP cartridge is roughly halfway between the resistance offered by the .32 revolver primers sitting further back, and dryfiring. Who here has managed to set back a firing pin bushing dry firing?

Due to gas leakage around the bullet in the longer chamber this will give lower velocity than firing the same ammo in a .32 pistol such as a Kel-Tec or Beretta Tomcat, so you get no bullet expansion and accuracy will be poor at beyond card table distance

While there is some velocity loss (how much is blow-by vs. normal cylinder gap loss is anyone's guess), it's not that dramatic. And accuracy proved fine with this practice in my 3" SP101.

There is really nothing to recommend it, except as a fantasy wannabe thing.

uhh, hows about .32 auto being far less expensive than .32 S&W or .32 H&R? For people who don't handload, this is a consideration.

To the OP, man, go ahead. You're not not gonna hurt the gun or yourself. Just use the ACP for practice only; in the best loadings, it's not even half the energy of a moderate .32 H&R load.

 

[silent flatulence]

I don't plan on shooting .32 acp in my .32 mag revolver other than maybe a single box of it at the range. Mainly because I've never shot .32 acp before-just curious. .32 mag ammo is hard to find sometimes, but I knew that before I bought it. Plenty of .32 long around until I locate a good supply of the magnums. I watched two true crime scene investigation shows just today where the perp was offed by a .25acp of all calibers! One shot in both cases, one was to the chest and one to the noggin. I'll be j frame pocket holster shopping soon. I may be able to use the same $6 nylon holster I ordered from cheaper than dirt for my LCP. For me it's a toss up between carrying the LCP or my .32 mag airweight. I trust both of them and don't have to adjust my wardrobe or comfort level.

 

[Landric]

No argument from me on that point . I do not recommend the .32 H&R magnum over the .38 Spl . I do recommend it over the .380 acp , just as you say.

As far as who carries Standard .38 Spl . I am thinking perhaps some of those who have 13 oz guns to shoot it in. Generaly if one wants to shoot .38 Spl + P for example, I recomment a gun of 20 oz + for weight, and a .357 magnum chambering. After all, if you want the energy of a .357magnum there is little reason not to buy one.

I carry the 158 grain SWCHP +P of one brand or another in my 37-2 Airweight. Recoil is somewhat brisk, but in a self-defense shooting I don't expect to notice. The +P makes about the same velocity out of my snub as the standard pressure 158 grain SWC makes from a 4" gun. As of yet I haven't had a chance to chronograph standard pressure 158 grain ammo though the snub, but I don't expect it to be impressive. Back when I carried a 342PD I carried +P in it also, and it was somewhere around 13oz. It was unpleasant to shoot, and the couple of ounces in lighter weight didn't make any difference to my mode of carry, so I went back to the Airweight.

It is mostly about individual choice, rather than one being so much better than another. My general advise is to carry the most gun you are comfortable with. If that's a Desert Eagle in .50 AE - great , if ever needed the extra power is always a good thing in my opinion. Most people who carry however choose to compromise on caliber to achieve comfort of carry for them.

I agree completely. I'm a lot more comfortable with small revolvers than I am with small autos. I'd choose a .32 H&R Mag revolver over any .380 ACP for that reason alone. My department doesn't authorize anything smaller than .38 Special/.380 ACP for carry though, so I can't carry any of my .32 revolvers. My wife uses one for defense and the others are just for plinking and fun shooting.