Other day I commented that I would buy a 32 magnum air weight if I could find one under a $1000. Well, I did. I have a a variety of 32s including a 16-4 as well as some I and J frame 32 longs, plus a J frame cylinder reamed to 32 H&R. This will make a nice small light carry gun.
SMITH & WESSON MODEL 431PD AIRWEIGHT REVOLVER NEW - Revolvers at GunBroker.com : 891884670

Congratulations!!
I sold one just like that a few years back...wish I hadn't.

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Bet you like it.
Second those
Congratulations .

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LEX ET ORDO

Do I have this right? You are going to pack your new soon to be .32 not quite magnum in the front pocket of your thin shorts in Montana in February? It sounds like an excuse to stay in your shop in out of the snow.

Since they were made I've thought the early 1990s Model 631 .4" adjustable sighted 32 H&R was a neat trail gun but rationalizing a need for one is tough.

Nice catch - good price.


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Summer will come, it always has. Not much need for a carry gun in the winter, Most of the rats stay in their holes or pack up and head back to their original nest. Most of last week a squirt gun would have worked. Getting sprayed with water at minus 20 or so should be a real man stopper and no need to shout FREEZE

We should have at least one picture of a 431PD.

Here is mine with carry ammo and holster.

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I tried to buy one way back when they were only 2x the normal price!!
Sure wish I would have. Congratulations!

Bought same gun a couple years ago. Love it. Great pocket gun. You did good at that price. congratulations.

Let me help you out. If you reload they are cheaper to shoot with cast bullets than a 22. Lots of ammo choices from 32 S&W to 32 longs to 32 H&R. The wife and kids can enjoy shooting it with no problems. Great for tin can shooting, paper punching, rabbits and squirrels for camp eating, fox, coyote, possum, coon or what have you. Now go explain to momma why you just GOT TO have one.

Personally, I gave up on having to have a reason or justification quite a while back.

Did they make any without the IL?

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213th FBINA

I will install a plug which will match the stud ends

I guess I should have waited to sell mine. Sold the 431PD a couple years ago for $550 and thought it was a good price. I will plan to hang onto my 432PD.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Yes, the airweight .32's certainly do...

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And I wish I would have been smart enough to buy one at $550.

My shoulda woulda coulda list is long and interesting.

Color me jealous! I have been looking for one as well. I am on a general . 32 revolver kick right now. Got a pre-model 30 a week ago and looking to add 2 or three more. Want a . 327 and a . 32 H&R.

Holy cow! Those things sure have gotten expensive! I had no idea. I still have my 432PD, my summertime dog walking gun. I’ve got no dogs anymore but I hang on to it anyway, just in case.

Everything you said about .32s is true! Congratulations on your new (expensive) sixgun!

Yes.

The 331 and 332 came out a few years before the 431PD and the 432PD.

Some 331 and 332 models had the lock, but some didn't.

They had Titanium cylinders so were even lighter than the 400 version.

I'd love to find one, but haven't seen a single one for sale in California for 10 years.

I wish I'd bought one when I could have for under $400. However, I'll get by just fine firing .32s from a K frame.

I am currently at the gym with my 342PD. Not a 32, I couldn’t afford the extra hole.

The air weights sure make great guns for carrying when other guns are just too big and heavy.

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213th FBINA

My two most frequently carried guns are my 340PD and my 431PD .

And they are my 2 lightest.

I stocked up on 32 HR mag ammo over the last few years, luckily.

Haven't seen single box of 32 mag for sale in months

My only 32 H&R is a 4” 16-4. I don’t have much factory ammo, but I’ve stocked up on components.

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213th FBINA

I just got a Ruger LCRx. Was able to happen upon a nice selection of fodder at a rural shop. So, I brought it along to the range the other day. Found the .32 S&W LRN was a *****cat, but....the 95g Fed H&R with a flat meplat was a suprisingly snappy. I'm just about frightened to try the .327 Fed and SPeer that I left in the ammo locker, LOL.

I have an LCR 327, although I haven't been carrying it recently.

I have an lg-415 laser grip on it.

Shooting full boat 327 Federal in it isn't too bad.

Better than full power 357 Magnum on my LCR 357.

So take that LCRx back to the range and give it a try with the ammo it was designed for.

I'm 99% sure I won't like the .327! My .32 Mag Field Pistol silhouette loads are a pleasure to shoot in the Model 16-4, but the "rejects" are quite snappy in the airweight. It is usually loaded with factory ammo for carry purposes. They are rather easier to shoot, to boot.

My experience with 327 factory ammo is that it comes in 2 flavors - mild and wild. The 100g JHP loads from American Eagle and Speer are in low-level 357 Magnum energy territory. I find them tolerable and exciting in a Ruger Single Seven, but couldn't stand to shoot 'em in the LCR. In all cases they're LOUD. Really loud. Earplug plus muff and they're still loud, loud.

The 85 grain loads I tried were all down in 32 H&R Magnum energy territory - at least at the Buffalo Bore end of it. Which, from a 2" barrel is energy-equivalent to 38 Special +P. Potent but tolerable to shoot, even in the LCR.

Let me add in that I just loaded 2 trial batches of 327 Fed Mag; twenty rounds each of 100 grain cast lead SWCs and plated HPs over starting charges of my private label Accurate #9 equivalent. I shot them Wednesday afternoon through my custom stainless K frame 327 and my Ruger Blackhawk 327 eight shooter. Heavier guns, but they were both very pleasant to shoot with those loads. You might try starter loads for 32 H&R brass with similar bullets... I believe they would work well.

Froggie

Here is my little woods friend. Pre-lock 331. Fits in your pocket, 6 shots, & you hardly know it is there. Helped start a few defense gun shooters with it using .32 Longs.



I watched this one sell on Gunbroker, yikes! $2550!
Smith & Wesson Model 331 Airlite Ti 32 H&R MAG NO RESERVE! $1 MINT! - Revolvers at GunBroker.com : 892216711

picked up this 631 a few years back at a local gun show.

I really like those stocks.

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USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

They are probably fine on a steel gun. On the light alloy guns the rubber grips are way better.

I have a Colt Detective Special that was converted to the powerful .32 H&R Magnum cartridge. The gun dates to 1952 and remains in 98% condition. It has a 2” barrel and tapered front ramp sight. The original checkered walnut grips remain in near new condition. The cylinder is marked .32 MAG. on the back face.

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I don’t care about the loc. If s&W gets rid of the Klingon hole the revolvers with the hole will be sought after. I got a head start on you guys.

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Plant garlic in the fall

Got a 432 and a 632 in stainless, 3", comp'ed. Put a fiber optic on it. I got the 432 for $305 when they were dumped as discontinued way back when. Should have bought two of them. The 432 is a neat carry gun. Bought 250 SW long wadcutters on the cusp of the panic. I used to shoot the 632 in IDPA club matches. It's a great little gun.

Saw an article that in 2019, IIRC there were only about 1600 32 cal revolvers manufactured. Given that - new ammo will be a long time in coming, I would think. Lots of folks like the 432s and wish there were new ones.

My Dad bought a 431pd and put a crimson trace grip on it. I think he may have put one box of ammo through it. when he decided he couldn't shoot anymore he was going to give it to me but I told him I would give him what he had in it, so I got it for $400.

I've shot IDPA with 38 Special revolvers, and would have loved to do it with my 3" 31-1. It has a slightly longer barrel for a bit more velocity, a longer ejector rod for more reliable reloads, and has been reamed for 32 H&R Mag. But I couldn't find a load that would make the power factor for revolvers.

My club matches are pretty loose - they would have let me use a 32 even though the IDPA rules required 38 at a minimum. But it takes a certain amount of energy to knock down steel plates, especially the big poppers that are sometimes used to trigger other moving targets. And the minimum-power revolver loads just barely did it.

The Buffalo Bore 32 H&R Mag +P load did it comfortably, but they're over $1/round, and I was never able to come close to their velocity with reloads, staying anywhere close to published maximum powder charges, with any powder I tried. (They're also remarkably uncomfortable to shoot many of, even with big rubber grips, so I probably wouldn't have been able to do a full match with them even if they were available cheap.)

What ammo did you use in your IDPA matches, and how did it do on steel?

The older I get the better I like my 32s but am back to the 642 in my avatar due to lack of 32 ammo.

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SWCA 3417 HF 642 NRA-TC

I’ve been thinking again about the 32 H&R, and had a few random revelations;
1) the timing of its release was a positive... people were still shooting a lot of revolvers and were willing to experiment with a new revolver caliber.
2) there was a potential for heavy loads in the “Magnum” that would bring it up somewhere about 38 Spl or even +P level.
3) brass and ammo were a big negative. Very little of the former and sketchy initial quality of the latter made some people wonder “Why bother?” It remained for the appearance of Starline Brass to repair this shortcoming, albeit late.
4) perhaps the biggest negative was the guns made available. Although there were a big Ruger Blackhawk, and both K- and J framed Smiths (as well as guns by “lesser” manufacturers like H&R and Charter) they never got the full publicity blitz needed to achieve wide popularity then, and were mostly discontinued quickly and quietly after very short production runs.
5) although brass is commonly available now, the selection of guns is limited and high priced, and when added to other factors like the general high price and limited availability of all things gun related as well as competition from its younger, bolder sibling the 327 Fed Mag, the poor 32 H&R has become lost in the shuffle.

More’s the pity... it had the potential to be a pretty good round. I’ve told the story here repeatedly about the high esteem Skeeter Skelton held for the 32 H&R... when I asked him late in his career about building a custom 32-20, supposedly a lifelong favorite caliber of his, he strongly counseled me to go with the 32 H&R instead, saying it actually had more potential for my intended purpose and would be better for loading as well. I’ve often wondered what would have happened if he had lived a few more years and written publicly what we chatted about that day...

Froggie

Both of my .32H&Rs are Charters, a Professional and an aluminum snubnose, and have no complaints about either (once the Pro's front sight problem was corrected, anyway). Someday, I'll find a S&W. Someday. In the meantime, I have three .32 Longs to play with if I need S&W good times.



Reloading for both Longs and Magnums makes both inexpensive to shoot, and playing with recipes is almost as much fun as .38 Specials.

For me the biggest push came with the introduction of the Ruger single six mag. When they put the 32 on a 22 frame people really started to take notice. Ross Seyfried mentioned taking a Bisley Blackhawk in 32 H&R way past max book levels without any concerns except the shortened brass life many of us were seeing out of the Federal cases any way.

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Front sight and squeeze

The 32 Magnum is a perfect example of why I would go broke as a gun manufacturer. I thought and still think a six round J-Frame revolver is a ideal self-defense gun for ladies and people with small hands or weak wrists. One additional round plus the performance of modern cartridges made by Federal and Hornady imo is superior to the classic five round 38 Special Chiefs.

A couple months back I bought a 6" 16-4 that had been punched to 327 Fed Mag with 500rds of factory ammo. Yesterday was a great day here in Northern Ohio so I went out back for a shooting session with the 327. After sighting in the gun I was able to keep 6 shots in about a 2" circle at 60+ft from a make shift rest. The 6" barrel kept the felt recoil very low. This is the gun S&W should have made, not the 327 Fed Mag J frame!
jcelect

What ammo did you use in your IDPA matches, and how did it do on steel?
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I usually shot Fiocchi SW 32 Long as I had a case of them. I found they were spotty on steel. Thus, I loaded up some speed loaders with Federal 327s and planned the reloads to have them in the gun for the steel.

It was funny as the first time I did that when I got to the steel and the gun went BOOM and flashed, the SO told me that he thought it blew up. The crowd was similarly surprised. Even when I later did this, folks who didn't know the gun were startled.

I suggest that one fires some of these before a match, you don't scare yourself. I've been looking at some of the new Federal 327 loads for medium game, but they are unavailable. Who know when they will produce that.

Yeah, 327 Federal will do the job on steel plates. Even the milder ones are about +P 38 Special level, and the hot 100 grainers are in low 357 Magnum territory in terms of energy. BIG BOOM is a perfect description for 'em.

My only 327 is a Single Seven, which is a great shooter but reloads would cost a lot of time in an IDPA match. And while I've reamed a 30-1 and 31-1 from 32 Long to take 32 H&R, I don't really want to load them much past the H&R maximums in published reloading data sheets. So I stick with 38 Special when I want to shoot revolvers in IDPA.

I really didn't buy the 632 for competition but more on a whim for a more unusual gun and companion for my 432. However, I really like shooting it and took it to club matches. The J frame fits my little hands better. I did shoot a 19 in revolver. I am proud to say that I came in second after a national champion. I also came in last in revolver (figure it out - haha).

Since this is SW forum - I was more likely to shoot my SW 1911Sc but the revolver for grins in a club match.

The 432 is my favorite pocket gun when dress and circumstance preclude a semi on my belt.

When I shoot revolver in my club IDPA matches I usually come in first in class. And last. At least it's easy to keep track.