I clamped two pieces of pine 2X8s together. I used a NAA .22LR, S&W M17 and a 3 in. IJ .32 S&W. I shot each gun 3 times with the barrel a couple of in. from the wood.
All 3 shots of the NAA went through the first piece and stuck in the second piece. All 3 shots of the M17 went through both pieces. The 3 shots from the IJ didn't make it through the first piece.
I didn't realize that a .32 S&W was that weak. This is useless information but it gave an old man something too do. Larry

There are stories, perhaps urban legends, of 32 S&W slugs bouncing off plywood and coming back and hitting shooter in the ankle.

Try a 32 S&W long if you have a gun that shoots it.

Be interesting to see if it out penetrated 22LR in your test.

Hello
Was the two by eight pressure treated?
I shot the 32 S&W into a book and it did more damage than expected, and the round nose turned to flat nose.
Thanks
Mike

I chronographed some old Remington .32 S&W ammo at least ten years ago and it was around 550 fps.That's incredibly puny ballistics. I'd be reluctant to shoot such ammo against any hard object, even a board.

I used to enjoy shooting the 32 S&W through my long departed S&W snub J frame model 30. Low noise and little recoil. I did use 32 S&W long and even reloaded them with Hornady SWCs...how time flies...almost 40 yrs ago.

What length barell NAA? What 22LR?

That's interesting! I wonder also, how the .32 long stacks up against the .22LR....that would be neat to know.

NAA barrel 1 1/8 in.
22LR--Winchester X22LR

No No No No No. needed 10 characters to reply

[QUOTE=Cal44;140699940

Try a 32 S&W long if you have a gun that shoots it.

Be interesting to see if it out penetrated 22LR in your test.[/QUOTE]

I have a 32-20 with a 6 in. barrel and it will shoot regular .32s but I don't have any .32 S&WL cartridges. Larry

[QUOTE=tops;140700246]NAA barrel 1 1/8 in.
22LR--Winchester X22LR[/QUOTE
Thanks, that's pretty good penetration out of such a short barrel.

The saddest part of that is that Hornady has discontinued both of their excellent swaged 32 bullets, HBWC and SWC.

I've got some of each stashed with my reloading supplies, but it sort of hurts my feelings as I see the supply dwindle. If I had known they were going to go away, I would have probably bought more when they were available. "We grow too soon oldt..."

Froggie

I finally got some .32L cartridges and I don't have a .32L gun but I do have a 6 in. 32-20. I shot 3 of the .32L and 3 of the .32S&W out of the 6 in. barrel and all 6 stuck in the first piece of wood and there wasn't much difference in penetration. Larry

[QUOTE=Green Frog;140700402]The saddest part of that is that Hornady has discontinued both of their excellent swaged 32 bullets, HBWC and SWC.

I've got some of each stashed with my reloading supplies, but it sort of hurts my feelings as I see the supply dwindle. If I had known they were going to go away, I would have probably bought more when they were available. "We grow too soon oldt..."

Froggie[/QUOTE

Speer and Lapua still make .32 swaged wadcutter bullets; I've used both with excellent results. I particularly like the 83 grain Lapua bullet in .32 S&W Long and seated part way out in .32 S&W.

???

Are you saying that you shot .32 S&W and .32 S&W Long from a revolver chambered in .32-20???

I'm thinking EXACTLY what you said.

???

You think it’s puny. Try 32 rimfire. I have an old (1890s) marlin in 32 rimfire. Was my grandads gun. He called it the pow pecker. Back then we still had plenty of ammo for it. You shoot it at a tree or something. Pow. Watching the bullet fly through the air and peck. It hits the target. About as slow as my typing. It was fun to shoot and laugh about. Man I wish I had some ammo for it.

__________________
No gold. Only lead. Bobby

I shot .32 S&W and .32 S&W Long out of a 6 in. 32-20 revolver. Bullet dia. is the same, case and rim dia. is close enough that the cases don't split and eject ok. Larry

A few years ago a buddy of mine and son stopped by to show me a IJ 32 that an aunt had given him. Gun was nickel and in nice shape. She had given him some 32S&W ammo that looked pretty old. He wanted to know if I thought gun would be safe to shot. I told him there was nothing at all wrong with gun. He wanted me to shoot it. I opened door out into the garage where I had fire wood stacked against opposite wall. I aimed at end grain of a chunk and shot, 10’. The 32 slug bounced of end grain and hit me it the shoulder. Fresh ammo don’t have much more power either.

I wonder if either 32 S&W or 32 S&W long would reach full velocity when shot from a 32-20 gun.

Best try the test with a gun really chambered for these two cartridges to get valid info.

I remember reading a test by a guy who shot 22lr out of a 22WMR revolver.

Sure it shot the 22lr, but the measured velocity was way low and, it varied all over the place from round to round.

I'm thinking you are correct. The 3in. IJ .32S&W penetrated a little deeper than the .32S&W did in the 6 in. 32-20. I don't have a pistol that is chambered in .32L so I can't make that comparison. Larry

I knew a guy that was messing around with a married guys wife that was actually talking to the woman from an old school metal framed phone booth. While he was talking a car pulled up and a guy got out and stood a ways off, the guy told his girlfriend that there was a guy that wanted to use the phone and he would talk to her later. He hung up the phone and saw the guy walk up, remembers seeing a flash, came to in the bottom of the phone booth covered in blood and glass fragments. He realized that he had been shot, called the police from the phone, they arrived very soon and transported him to the hospital. He had been shot point blank through the glass of the phone booth with a .25 auto, five rounds in his head, none penetrated his skull.
A loaded .25 in your pocket is still better than a .45 at home in the safe.

OK, bullets bouncing off wood and skulls...

I went to my private shooting range (OK, fine, my basement) with my Smith & Wesson Model 31-1, with 3" barrel, along with one round of .32 S&W "Short" (77 grain bullet) and one round of .32 S&W Long (93 grain bullet). I set up two pine 2x6 studs clamped together and let 'er rip. Distance was about 6 feet.

The bullet from the Short made the top hole. It fully penetrated the first 1-1/2" board and buried itself into the second stud (base of the bullet indicated by the red arrow).

The bullet from the Long made the bottom hole. The Long sailed through both boards completely.

You be the judge.

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In my post above, I corrected the model number of the gun I used.

Also, FYI, the velocity of the .32 S&W "Short" ammo I used is 600 fps.

The velocity of the .32 S&W Long I used is 925 fps.