I had never compared the two cartridges before because to me they are in two different catagories. And as Andy Griffith said, the .32 mag. chambered in large guns is a setback.

But to be fair, I pulled out my copy of Ammo and Ballistics II and looked up their exterior ballistics. At first glance it appears as though the .32 mag is just a tad better than the .380 with velocities and energy being slightly higher, although some brands of .380 ammo were actually close.

But then, I thought I'd better look at the standard barrel length used for their velocity tests because if the .32 magnums had been shot out of a 6" barrel by chance, they would actually be close to the same in a CCW package. The standard barrel lenght for the .380 auto was 3.75" and, to my surprise, the standard barrel lenght for the .32 magnum was 24"!

gizamo is correct that the .32 magnum can be loaded higher than specs allow, but then so can every other cartridge. Although long "magnum" cases that are stretched out to prevent chambering in weaker guns does allow the use of odd bullets, which is where the .32 magnum appeals to me. But as far as long range shooting goes, don't sell the .380 short, they are quite surprising.