Hi, as a newbie, I've looked through most of the posts, and I feel that I need to post a thread. I have a safety hammerless that is labeled as follows: Left side of barrel "32 S&W CTG"
Across the top of the barrel, the first date following Smith Wesson Springfield Mass. USA is : Dec 18 77 and the last date is Aug 4 98. The serial number is 1151xx which is stamped on the butt, the cylinder, and on the bottom side of the top latch. It is blued with black handles. I don't have access to a camera at the moment. Any help will be appreciated.

It is a Smith & Wesson 32 Safety Hammerless 2nd model. 78,500 second models were manufactured between 1902 and 1909.

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Mark Connot

Welcome to the forum. Mark nailed the ID on your revolver for you. If you come across a camera later, pics are always appreciated.

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David Wilson

Thanks to both of you. I appreciate your interest. This afternoon I had an opportunity to go to a firing range and take it along. It's really tight and clean so I feel comfortable taking it. The only store in town had only ammo that wouldn't seat in the cylinder. Apparently the brass casings were too long. Are there special shorter S&W cartridges that work better with the older guns?

Your gun chambers .32S&W Sometimes called .32S&W Short. The store in town probably had .32S&W Long, which as you discovered id too long to seat in the chambers of your gun. .32S&W may have to be ordered from a larger ammo. supply dealer, as it's not usually found in most retail gun stores. .32 Colt Short & the .32 Colt New Police rounds will also fit your gun, but they are even harder to find than .32S&W Shorts. You might try Cowboy loads as made for the .32 caliber revolvers used in the Cowboy matches. Good Luck. Ed.

Thanks Ed, that's some good information. We also have a small gun shop in town that keeps banker's hours. I'll check there someday when I can slip off from work in the daytime. I noticed the cartridges you mentioned at a few of the mail-order ammunition places. Also, I found part of a box in a drawer that were labeled 32 S&W, but they must be from the '60s. I doubt many of them would fire. But, I can use one of them for a guide.

The interest in the lemon squeezer comes from childhood. Dad had a nickel plated squeezer with white or pearl grips. It was a really pretty little gun. When we got old enough to notice the pistol, he traded it for a .22 automatic rifle. He told me that us boys were too fascinated by the little S&W so he felt safer with it gone. Probably right. Now that we've survived another 50 years, the search continues.

Welcome. My advice is use only ammo that is labelled ".32. S&W." Places like Midway USA and Natchez Shooter's Supply carry Winchester and Remington, which are never in stock, and a brand called "Magtech" which is often in stock, works fine, and is much cheaper than Win or Rem. If you have some .32 S&W from the sixties, every one of them will fire as good as new. The standard advice is: Have a gunsmith check it out. At least, and you have probably done this already, check the barrel to make sure it is clear and the chambers of the cylinder which can sometimes have deep rust pits that weaken the cylinder walls.

Hey there! Thanks for the good advice. The old gun is clean and tight. No weakness. No pitting. Some of the bluing is rubbed off in places where it's handled. I may load up some of those old cartridges and give them a try. They're all marked 32 S&W on the rim. Have a good week!

I think we should say a bit more about ammo appropriate for callmike2's gun, which would be chambered for the .32 S&W. The cartridge known as the .32 Short Colt (at left in the pic) is not identical with the .32 S&W (right in the pic). The Short Colt has a case of smaller diameter, and its rather long, outside-lubricated bullet usually prevents it from chambering in a gun cut for the .32 S&W. The Short Colt will, however, chamber in a .32 S&W Long chamber, but firing would probably result in split cases and cannot be recommended. I think I am correct in saying that the .32 "Colt New Police" is identical to the .32 S&W Long, except for having a flat nosed bullet, and these, therefore, could not be chambered or fired in a .32 S&W revolver, but would work fine in a .32 S&W Long revolver. The nomenclature of .32s, like a lot of other cartridges, can cause confusion.

McShooty's info. is good. However I've never had a problem shooting .32 Short Colt rounds in a S&W .32 cal revolver or single shot pistol, except maybe on some makers round, having to shave a little off the bullet nose for revolver shooting. I know I've shot up old .32 Colt New Police in S&W revolvers in years past, but I may have misremembered whether the guns were chambered for .32S&W, or .32S&W Long. I do know, I've used Colt New Police brass, fired in S&Ws, to reload for S&Ws. All this is probably mundane, as you aren't going to find any .32 Colt ammo. at a price that allows plinking with it! Ed.

Adding to the confusion is that, while .32 CNP is interchangeable with .32 S&WL, the .38 CNP is interchangeable with .38 S&W, NOT .38 Spl. The .38 LC and .38 SC can both be fired in the .38 Spl chamber, while the .32 LC and SC fit only the Colt chamber, not the CNP or S&W. Dizzying, ain't it?

Larry

Larry, You forgot the .32 acp. Cases for .32 acp can be reloaded for .32S&W guns, if you trim th case mouths just a tad so the rims fit flush in the chambers. There's enough rim on .32 acps to extract OK, just like the .32S&W short. I've never tried it, but .35 Auto cases might work in a .32 revolver, also . .32 S&W Shorts work just fine in a .35 auto, as the .35 S&W Auto is really a .32 caliber gun. Ed.

Factory loads in .32 ACP fit just fine in a Cimmaron Model P Jr., .32 H&R Mag that I have, but they don't seem very accurate, which is probably the fault of the factory bullet. I wouldn't try factory ACP in a top-break, however. I would like to check the ACP case out with some handloaded cast but haven't got around to it yet. All the work I have done with .32 S&W indicates it is a very accurate little cartridge and it is fun to work with. Ed, it blows my mind that the .32 S&W works in the .35 auto, a gun about which I know nothing, but I guess it must have used a rimmed case, huh.
I think I need one.