Enjoyed the ".38 Special Looked Down Upon" Thread.

So... really just days ago I came across an honestly used Mod 30-1 J frame Snubbie in .32 S&W Long. Looks just like a "Chief's Special" but it is a six shot. So far I don't shoot it all that well but I've been carrying it anyway.

What say ye?

Is there a good SD round commercially available? All I have so far are lead 90 grain bullets

Steve

If it's all you got, then I guess it's OK. But it certainly wouldn't be my first choice. I expect most if not all factory loaded ammo is going to be pretty lame. You'd need to handload it to get it to its true potential.

Surprisingly, the .32 Long is very popular with the thugs. I see lots of these out on the street and I had no idea there were (are?) so many different manufacturers. Actually, I wouldn't mind having one of these small S&W revolvers but the ones I've seen for sale locally tend to be in bad condition.

Dave Sinko

+1 on the "not first choice, but if it's all ya got"

I have a M30 no dash that I love. It was the second revo I ever bought. It has duty as my wifes bedside piece now, but I take it to the range for a workout every now and then. I shoot Georgia Arms 85gr JHP's in it. They are some real nice rounds, it says fps:850 on the bag.
The price has gone up, I still have bags of 50rds. that were $12!

Georgia Arms - Search

Not me first choice, but I sure do love shooting this little caliber! Lots of fun and very accurate. My S&W is over 100 years old and belonged to my grandfather so I very rarely shoot it any more. I sure wish I could find another one.

My EDC is a Model 432PD in .32H&R Magnum, and my BUG is a Seecamp in .32ACP. Yes, I know neither is .32Long, and so far I've used the 32Long only for practice. I was wondering if your pistol could be converted to fire .32H&R Magnum? I emailed Hamilton Bowen once about converting .32Long revolvers to the .32H&R and he said it could be easily done with a K frame, but I wonder if this could be done to your J frame?

Regards,

Dave

A quick series of head shots should be enough to stop (slow) the bad guy...If it is too hard a shot,at the time, take out his knees...... I ,also, have a 432PD......Great little firearm.....

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4th SQD 7th CAVALRY

I've got an old H&R snubbie in 32 S&W long that was my dads. He carried it forever (but never used it in a hot situation). I used to shoot the gun allot and remember it had some "umph" for a small revolver. As mentioned, it's not in hot demand because of its medium power and limited ammo choices BUT it's a whole lot better than a .22 lr or a .45 left at home. Id go as far as to dare anybody to stand in front of dads old H&R 32 with a catchers mitt :-)

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Dave

I'm trying to set my wife up with a SD handgun now. I think we may very well end up with a .32 j-frame. She's recoil shy, and the 32 in a j-frame is lighter than a 38 in a K.

It would not be my first choice, but better than nothing.

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Eric

You should look for a "defensive" load from one of the "botique" ammo makers; Georgia Arms, Buffalo Bore etc.. One of them is sure to have a little hotter HP load for SD, and it should at least be up to or past the.380 loads that folks seen to find so popular for that purpose, not to mention the .32 ACP or .25 ACP

For 32 S&W Long I would recommend Magtech 98 gr. SJHP or Georgia Arms 85 gr. JHP. Taking into consideration that shot placement is very important, then either of these would be the best bet for commerical loads.

"Magtech" makes a 98gr SJHP which they claim 778FPS for. (Bbl. lengh ukn.) I just carry Federal 98gr LRN in my Colt Pocket positive (I frame size) It is for sure not the best SD rd. But it makes a considerably smaller lump in my pocket then a J-frame. And although the cal. gets little respect today, it was the standerd cal. for many police forces around the turn of the 20th cen.

Several people have told me "It would just PO a BG" but so far no one is willing to stand downrange and hold targets.

Thanks for all the good comments. It is certainly NOT all I have, or the best I have, and soon when the "new" wears off I'll probably go back to my 66-4 .357 snubbie, or my Glock 30 SF .45 ACP. (Hope that confession does not get me banned from this forum :-) )

I just like this little gun and it's so easy, with a pocket holster, to pack it anywhere no matter how I'm dressed.

Steve

It would suree deter me.

Mostly on topic. I was in a gun shop with a buddy one time. We both owned CZ's in .32 ACP. His was a 70 and mine a 50. When my friend noticed a CZ 70 in the case, cuz behind the counter informed us he'd rather have a handful of rocks over a .32 ACP. My buddy just grinned and replied "I'll meet you in the parking lot, there's plenty of gravel out there."

I've personally carried a Mod 30 with a 3" barrel with reasonable confidence. I do hand load for it and shoot it enough to be amply accurate. My thinking with any very small hand gun is two fold. 1 it's always better to have one if you need it. 2 there's a very good chance the 'mouse' gun will either take care of the situation or allow me to get to a better tool that will.

BG

It'd beat closing with an assailant and using one's fists.

One supposes that we're more sophisticated than than the folks of bygone times. We expect our side arms to reduce an assailant to a blasted torso lying in two smoking pieces with a single shot. We agonize incessantly about the minutiae of cartridge specifications and bullet performance. While it is important to put some thought into self protection perhaps it matters less than we think.

I carry a m31 with a 2" barrel whenever I'm out working in the yard, grilling or just walking the dog, I keep it loaded with some 98g HP's. It fits nicely in any pocket and is more reassuring than not having it.
I call it working on the principle of 'no one wants to get shot, not even by a little gun'.
RD

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Got a Phd from Hard Knocks U

Sound like a neat little gun! Well I think that if you put the bullet between the bad guy's shirt pocket's it will do the job.

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Stay safe people!

I have two 2" .32 H&R Magnum S&W's. I've chronographed some varions .32 S&W Long ammunition through them, both factory and handloaded with 98 grain RN and 100 grain RNFP bullets. None of them made it to 600 fps out of the snubbies. Most were between 500 and 550 fps. That is pretty wimpy, but I suspect it would be much better than throwing rocks.

Were I to carry a .32 S&W Long for defense, I'd carry handloads (gasp!). I'd find myself a 95-100 grain SWC with a nice sharp shoulder and load it as fast as I could from my snubbie. The .32 S&W Long is unlikely to push a JHP fast enough to expand it, with the possible exception of the 60 grain Gold Dot intended for .32 ACP. At any rate, I'd find penetration more important than expansion and still go for the SWC.

Actually, that sounds like a fun experiment. I think I'll try it even though I don't plan to carry the .32 S&W L.

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Hello Cleveland, Rock and Roll

Its better than the best knife in the world.

Nobody wants to be shot,with a .44 or the small .32. Like mentioned before, not a first choice, but better than not having it.

Ken Waters mentions trying to put down a deer with a .32SWL. The bullet went under the hide of the head at point blank range. Power is what it definitely lacks. He also chronographed the 98 grain factory loads from Winchester and Remington in a 2" barrel. Loads measured 626-632fps.

While reloads can reach a respectable 900+ FPS in a six inch revolver factory loads still only make it into the 730fps range. They have to keep factory loads lower powered due to the really old guns still out there.

For those of you who want good data for this caliber get Ken Waters Pet Loads volume II. He lists short barrel loads as well as cast bullets up to 112 grains.

Bruce

I understand why you're wondering -- I have a similiar situation. I sometimes carry a KelTec in 32 ACP. It isn't much but, in some situations, its tiny size makes it so seductive that it's all I have with me.

I'm pretty sure we should both find ways to make more use of our "better choices" and leave our 32s in the safe.

This is an interesting one. I believe Teddy Roosevelt actually was a big component on making the .32 S&W long a success for Smith and Wesson. He liked the bullet alot and actually recommended it for law enforcement agency for its shot-ability and accuracy. So my thinking is if it was good enough for police departments for many years it should be good enough for self defense in any situation. A well placed S&W .32 long on target is way better than a well missed S&W .500 magnum.

Call boxes and bicycles were okay for police in Roosevelt's time as police commissioner, too.

Well, maybe call boxes hadn't been invented yet.

I think we have learned a lot about handguns and ammunition since the turn of the prior century.

Well, once upon a time, I used 3in M31 as part of BUG rotation. The guy I bought it from was a knowledegable gun guy, and he used it as an ankle gun.

He carried handloads putting Horn 90gr swc to over 900fps (measured by me). Those would make the cal worthwhile. But since I did/ do not care to carry handloads, I used ...

I used a specialty ammo, that was dropped in that cal after a change in ownership of the specialty ammo mfg. After my remaining supply reached the end of its rotation cycle, I retired the gun from social usage.

Todays best offerings are those from Buffalo Bore. Yes, there are other offerings with jhp's, but at their actual vels in the 600's they wont expand.

There is a lot of load data out there for .32 S&W Long for 90-98gr bullets in the 900fps neighborhood.

As to SAAMI type ammo, if you has actual need for extreme low recoil, it would be better than .22lr or .25acp.

This is very intetesting! This is a whole other subject! The .32 S&W long is an archiac catridge from a time before us all. Is it old and useless now like so many things old and forgotten??

l have a Colt Police Positive in 32 Colt NP from 1930...A true piece of mechanical art. Curiously our Russian brothers have a high regard for 32 cal weapons..AK 47s, 1891 Mosen Nagants to name a couple. Theirs is the 7 shot 1895 Nagant revolver.. 0nly one ever made with a silencer.
The little Nagant was in service up until 2009 in some Russian agencies.
When Nagant self sealing ammo cant be found it can be fed S&W 32Longs..****mor is the 95 Nagant is still a favorite with the Russian mafia and SVD..While in lraq 2003 l saw a couple in an lraqi weapons cache found by 0ur army..Al Capone loved the 32S&W as well.
For me l feel perfectly safe with my 32 Colt NP...Undergunned...NOPE!
Bullet placement is what a realtor buddy says, ''lts Location-Location-Location that counts"

It seems that the 3" HB fixed sight J frames were mostly in 32.

The only Jovino SS 38's I've seen were a pretty penny. I wish Smith would make some more in this utilitarian style.

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Co-Owner NoDak Spud LLC

Hopefully Steve the OP got his answer, since he hasn't been here in over 5 years...

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

That's funny.

I never even looked at the date of the thread.

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Co-Owner NoDak Spud LLC

I have a 30-1 with a 4 inch barrel and looked into rounds for carry ammo. This looks like some great stuff. I usually carry my 442 or a 9 mm, but if I decided to carry it, this would be my go to ammo. .32 S&W LONG - (32 COLT NEW POLICE) Pistol & Handgun Ammunition

As a bare minimum I'd get full wadcutters.
Even better, I'd get Buffalo Bore - that's what I did.
Check out their catalog for more details.

Well, the OP may be long gone, but its still and interesting subject.

My wife had arthritis in her hands and really loved her Model 30-1 snubbie. She could shoot it well and the recoil didn't bother her. She kept it loaded with the MagTech JHPs.
That one got me started on .32s and now I have 4 of 'em.

I can't find it, but somewhere on the interweb, there's a video from a guy who did gel tests on the Magtech ammo. The ammo gave good penetration and expanded perfectly.

I hope this Ken Waters gent was trying to put down an already wounded deer and not actually hunting one with that .32.
If he was doing the former, well, ok.
If he was doing the latter, I don't want any of his advice.

I had a mid-1960s German pot metal .38 S&W long revolver that I used to carry around in the glove box. As I recall the barrel was between five and six inches long. The factory ammo that was available in these parts was all subsonic lead round nose. Certainly not the best for self defense but an absolute tack driving round out of that "Omega" popgun. Not a high energy round by any means, but a pleasure to shoot.

Considering velocities with a 90gr bullet can be over 800 fps I would carry it with a SWC or JHP bullet but not a RN bullet. Probably anything between 85gr and 100gr would be fine @830 to 860 fps.

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SWCA #3437

Personally I think the bullet weight & velocity are a bit light for good penetration - if you get much expansion. I go for a semi-wadcutter - avoid the round nose for everything except paper punching or small game.