I inherited a Colt New Police 32 and a couple boxes of shells, one box was s&w 32 long and the other is colt 32, I was wondering if anyone knew what shells this revolver takes. Thanks

To my knowledge, the New Colt .32 and S&W .32 L are the same cartridge. You wont find any New Colt on the shelves, but S&W .32 Long is still around.

.32 S&W Long ctgs will work fine in a Colt .32 New Police chambered pistol.

From what I have been lead to believe the only difference between the two was that the .32 S&W Long had a round nose lead bullet in factory loads, and the Colt .32 New Police had a slightly FLAT nose on their ctg.

Unsure of the "Colt .32" ctg's you have.

My .32 S&W Long cases are .915" long and the overall length of a loaded ctg is 1.250".

The .32 Long colt is apparently a different ctg.

Clear as MUD??

FN in MT

According to Wikipedia......
The .32 S&W Long is a straight-walled, centerfire, rimmed handgun cartridge, based on the earlier .32 S&W cartridge. It was introduced in 1896 for Smith & Wesson's first-model Hand Ejector revolver. Colt called it the .32 Colt New Police in revolvers it made chambered for the cartridge.

.32 N.P. (New Police) and .32 S&W Long are identical.
But .32 Short Colt and .32 Long Colt are of a different case diameter. Slightly larger case diameter if I recall.
By the time the Colt New Police revolver came out I think the the Long & Short Colt cartridges were already on the way out. I believe the .32 long colt was mainly found in earlier guns like the Colt New Pocket.

Colt would not put S&W on their guns so they renamed the S&W .32 Long to .32 Colt New Police even though the cartridges are identical. It avoided brand conflicts.

If your gun is marked for the .32 New Police cartridge this is identical for all practical purposes to the .32 S&W Long, which the New Police cartridge was adapted from.

Acceptable alternate cartridges are .32 S&W, .32 Short Colt and .32 Long Colt. There is very little hazard you will find any of these three at your local gun shop, however as only the .32 S&W and .32 Short Colt are in production at all, and that extremely limited.

For anyone doubts what I have said, find an old S&W box for a .32 S&W Long chambered revolver, or an old (1940s-1960s) "Gun Digest" and read the list of acceptable alternative cartridges!

The .32 Long or Short Colt cartridges will swell badly as they are undersized by ca. .025", but they can then be reloaded the same as if they were .32 S&W Long. You can use the .32 S&W Long dies and shell-holder.

__________________
Gunsmithing since 1961

Thanks for all the info and I shot the s&w 32 longs and the colt 32 shells thru it and the cases split, which Im sure the shells are old, I do have a new box of s&w 32 shells sitting on the shelf and from what I understand it will be ok to shoot these? Also is the gun worth anything? Its in decent shape but needs new grips. I dont really plan on selling it just wondering what I have. Thanks