When I first started carrying conealed, my gun was a 31-1 in 32 long.

Eventually I switched to more powerful guns up to a 357 magnum LCR and a 60-15.

I figured the 32 long cartridge was too weak to be viable.

I'm start to see multiple gel tests showing 32 long caliber guns loaded with wadcutters like the 100 gr Buffalo Bore hard cast turning in 18" penetration numbers. And other, less powerful 32 long loads from other loaders getting penetration numbers in the 12" - 14" range. Similar with round nose flat points

So is 32 S&W long really not viable?

I thinking of dusting off my 31-1 and carring it again.

I've always shot it faster and more accurately than any other J frame.

Plus the square butt stock grip fits my hand well.

Comments.

Funny you mention this. I recently got a .32 S&W Regulation Police with 4 inch barrel. The thing is so tiny and slim it is super easy to carry. With a 4” barrel you can easily get good velocity with lower pressure loads, especially with lead bullets. So I’ve been pondering the same question.

A S&W I-frame is smaller and lighter than a typical snub-nose .38. Compare them side by side. Heft them. The I-frame is svelte. Hmmm

A full meplat .32 wadcutter looks pretty good to me. Lot of penetration. Easy to shoot. Just place your shots accurately.

I think I’d prefer a 100 grain full wadcutter .32 over a FMJ .32 ACP.

But what about the “bigger” .38? Well, a .38 is not really a .38. It is .357 diameter. So a .32 bullet has almost 90% of the diameter of a .357.

.312/.357 = 87%. The .38 isn’t all that bigger in terms of diameter, and I don’t think it penetrates better if we are comparing wadcutters to wadcutters.

For easy to carry snub guns, I always preferred the Colt D frame to a S&W J frame. The Colt DA trigger is better than a S&W J frame (K frame DA trigger being perfection). .38 Colt has 6 shots not 5 for J frame Smith.

But a S&W I frame DA trigger is even better than a D frame Colt trigger. Almost as good as a K frame Smith. And the .32 has 6 shots too.
Hmmm

Timely. As I posted elsewhere, when I am frail enough to be confined to a wheelchair, this 31-1 will be on me.

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I'm not seeing a reason not to carry a 32. I have a 4" 31-1 that I would carry without any reservations. I don't carry mine because I have a 9mm I like better. If I had to choose a revolver I would carry my 31-1 or my 36 with short colt loads. Both are trending back as light recoil self defense cartridges.

Need Low Recoil? Don't Use a .22- .38 Short Colt VS .32 S&W - YouTube

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I'm a fan of the 32 S&W long cartridge. I have several examples.
But I especially like revolvers that are also chambered for the 32 H&R magnum and the 327 Federal Magnum.
More options are always better - especially when it comes to ammo!

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The .32 Long is a marginal SD cartridge. Not great penetration. It is, however, better than throwing rocks, especially if you can hit with it.

In the summer it seems that either my M30-1 or M638 can be CC with out adding weight will have to do......

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you can get .32 S&W (standard aka short) loads so tame, you are better off throwing the round.

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True - but the same can be said of pretty much any handload, regardless of caliber.

When loading SD ammo you simply avoid those light loads.

Kinda' like the famous words of Doc Jones on HeeHaw....

"Well then, don't DO that...!"

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While the 32 long os a nostalgic throw-back cartridge, I'd not set out to purposely use it for SD. It think it lacks enough umph for that purpose and really good performing SD ammo have to be next to impossible to find. (I would not use hand loads for SD, BTW).

Your choice of course, but it wouldn't be mine.

Any of the J frames can be reamed to 32 H&R mag in about an hour, but not the early I frames with the shorter cylinder. The new alloy J frames 6 shot 32 H&Rs are superior carry guns vs the 5 shot 38 specials in my opinion. For the recoil sensitive a steel framed 32 H&R would be better than a steel 38 sp J frame.

I think the gun/ammunition industry has done a great job of brainwashing into thinking we need some kind of atomic-type caliber or ammunition to defend ourselves. Don't forget this is a business. They will always try sell you a bigger better new gun or cartridge. The truth of the matter is the main things that matter is the reliability of your firearm and what part of the bad guy you hit with your bullet. As long as you get enough penetration there is no reason you can't stop an attack with most smaller weapons or calibers. Even when it comes to FMJ vs hollowpoints the scientific evidence is pretty sketchy. Use what you can shoot best under stress.

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I'm a fan of .38 S&W and .32 S&W Long. Heck, I even have a .32 S&W Top Break and honestly, if I'm frail and busted when I reach my golden years. I have no problem carrying that. Because last I checked, a .22LR in the hand beats a .45 ACP in the safe every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Also, I like some of the modern loadings for .32 S&W Long and .38 S&W.

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They will always try sell you a bigger better new gun or cartridge.

I think that's how we ended up with so many J frame 357's. No bueno.

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In a life and death situation, I would prefer a M60 with a couple 100 round pouches, but that would be a real problem to pack around everywhere. So, I generally go with one of my 325 45 ACPs. 6 rounds of 200gr slugs makes one a potent package that is not to difficult to carry around with no one the wiser. However there are times and places that would present some problems. An alloy 6 shot J frame in 32 H&R is super easy to carry and it beats a sharp stick by a LONG WAYS

I have my grandmother 5 shot S&W breaktop .32 S&W. Less energy than a .22 LR round.

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It seems like some of the responders are missing the point. Sure, you can download a cartridge to be worthless. And yes, some old cartridges lack sufficient diameter or penetration even if loaded to full strength. Like a .41 Rimfire out of a derringer.

But what about a .32 S&W Long that can put a full wadcutter, .312 meplat, through 18-20” of ballistic gel? And you are confident enough with the gun to place that .32 slug in the eye socket or centered upper chest of the bad guy?

Seems like that would work. Seems like that would be about as good as the usual .38 snub.

But sure—probably not as good as a double-stack .45 or a 12 gauge.

I see the negative replies about the .32 S&W long. It makes me
think to my self, if detractors are so sure of the uselessness of
this round they should grab their fielders mitt, head down to
first base and catch a few to prove their point.

Otherwise, if you've got one of the guns chambered for it and you
can put a cylinder full into an 8" pie plate at say 50 feet or so with
regularity, then even if you're a cripple, you shouldn't be taken lightly.

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[quote=SpadXII;141747391]To make us think what we had was insufficient and to sell us more new guns and ammunition. Remember the hype about 40 Caliber years ago? Once the market was saturated suddenly the 9mm was just as good and everybody started dumping their 40s. Now they are telling us we need more than a dozen rounds in our magazines or we will be killed. They treat us like a bunch of lemmings.

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I'd love to have a 32 revolver. It's one of my grail guns.

My uncle had one. I remember shooting it up in the north woods of Wisconsin when we were kids. You could hear hear the slug bouncing off the birch trees like a que ball.

Seems like some of you are confusing being lethal with stopping power. I doubt of any criminals are reading this topic in order to learn that if they are shot with a 32 Long they should immediately stop their attack and lay down waiting for a ambulance to arrive.

It will be of small comfort to your family and loved ones if your attacker dies 1/2 hour after you do.

.45 isn’t an instant off-switch either.

I think I’ve read this thread a few hundred times before.

Two other things people do not take into consideration, is the shooters ability to put hits on target and second, the willingness to put hits on target. The "Fight or Flight Response".

It's not the size of the gun in the gunfight; it's the size of the fight in the gunfighter.

To paraphrase the late, great Col. Jeff Cooper, owning a gun doesn’t make you a gunfighter anymore than owning a guitar makes you a musician.

Don’t confuse being lethal with stopping power.

Our goal should be to stop an attack as quickly as possible with as few of rounds as practical. Nowdays in our illegal drug and alcohol society a attacker’s body may not immediately realize it is being damaged and shut down. Meth addicts suffer from brain damage that doesn’t function normally and can absorb a lot of damage to the body before the brain understands what is happening to it.

It will be of small comfort to your family and loved ones if your attacker dies 1/2 hour after you did.

While that is true and one of the reasons I normally pack a 325 in 45acp, that doesn't mean that the 32s should be tossed aside. There are people, times and places where a 32 fits the bill better. Some people can not handle recoil for various reasons, and may well shoot a 32 better than a 357 or 45. A shot in the right place with a 32 is better than one in the wrong place with a 45. In the summer I could stick one of my alloy 32 in the pocket of my cutoffs and go to a picnic at the warm springs and even go swimming with it if I wanted. It might not impress the ladies as much as my 45 though

I will say this the 32 H&R is a decent step up from the 32 long and it rivals the 38 special for power. Any J frame 32 cylinder can quickly and easily be reamed to 32 H&R

None of the caliber debates matter if you do not carry a gun, if you are not proficient with the one you carry.

If someone is more apt to practice with and carry a 32 they are better off with it than a 45 that they don't do both with. I spend time at the range with both.

Perhaps an adequate but minimal self-defense cartridge if you shoot well and are aware of and comfortable with its limitations.

I had two S&W .32s from the 1970s, one with adjustable sights. I worked up some handloads and shot these guns enough to realize they offered nothing for my purposes that wasn't already covered better by my J-frame .38 Special snubnose guns. Big difference between a 100 grain .32 bullet and a 158 grain .38.

Minimal (and perhaps unsuitable) cartridges for the purpose have developed a fad following these days, like using a .223 for deer hunting; you seldom if ever hear of the wounded animals that run off because of poor shooting with an inadequate cartridge. The .223 can certainly work, but there are better and more humane cartridges for the task.

Again, in the hands of a skilled shooter, a .32 revolver using the Long cartridge may get by okay as a defense cartridge.

I think whatever you decide to carry is far better than nothing at all. My 96 year old Former Marine Dad uses my old S&W 31 2" as his carry. His hands are Arthritic and he prefers a 1911 he cannot use it anymore. Use what you can I reckon.

As Steelslayer says, the J .32 long reamed to .32 Mag is an ideal small package for carrying. Definitely cheaper than the light weight .32’s for sale. Had a model 15 converted to .327 by Andy Horvath and the 4” 16-4 barrel used was cut to 3”. Harder to conceal than a 2” J but a nice package.

Causing some thread drift here but I now carry an Sig 365, the crooks around here have hi-cap guns. Want more then 6 shots, Larry

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Ditto here. At least as long as I can still shoot a 9mm micro well.
When the day comes that I can't, then a 32 caliber seems like it might be a reasonable fallback alternative.

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Just recently within the last year caught wind of the old 32 cartridge. I never knew of the 32 magnum centennial which is what caught my attention. Buffalo bore hardcast wad cutters are potent pills I'm comfortable carrying. Long wad cutters a hoot.
Short reloads are pop gun fun.

Top-cheap Taurus 32 tackle box gun.

Middle- 65' Colt detective special with a numerich 32 Magnum conversion they used to sell.

Bottom- S&W 632 (one of two they're so cool!)

Next might be a 32 barrel for my Thompson?

Fight the Good Fight...

Fred

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S&B makes a respectable version of the old flat pointed Colt N.P cartridge. Like the man said, "A pocket pistol you have beats a cannon in the safe at home."

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I enjoy my S&W .32, 3" barrel, square butt.

I am convinced it would be better than any .25 or .32 auto if needed.

I hand load my ammo, using various weight bullets that I cast.

Mine will easily completely penetrate two 2x6's. I was told the bullets would bounce off wood. That is not true, at least with the .32 Long, in my experience.

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So it will penetrate 3"-3-1/2" of wood? That sounds pretty good. What kind of wood?
Penetrating that much pine is quite a bit different than penetrating that much oak.

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More of a novelty than something useful. If you already have a .38 Special you're in good shape with a much superior cartridge.

Yeah, I do. I also have a couple of 32's and a 327.
Still curious as to the answer to the question I asked Warren Sear though.

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3" of softwood, probably pine. Definitely not oak.

One advantage of the .32 over the .38 is the .32 will give one more shot in similar diameter cylinders. Is that significant? That is a question only the user can answer.

Not significant to most.

Opinions differ.

The 32 S&W Long is a pretty weak cartridge, but that is why a 32 H&R magnum is much better. Pretty much any modern 32 S&W Long can be reamed a little and handle 32 H&R magnums easily.

A 100gr H&R magnum generates the same ME as a 158gr 38 Special +P

A 90gr H&R Magnum generates the same ME as a 130gr 38 Special.

Having a sixth round with the same ballistic performance in the same size package with milder recoil can be an advantage.

JMO, YMMV.

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Take two common 2x4s of common yellow pine construction lumber and clamp them together, about 3&1/4" thickness of wood. If you think a .32 long out of a snubby will shoot through them be ready to be disappointed.

For as often as folks parrot the opinion that anything less than .38 Special or .380 ACP is inadequate for self-defense, folks often forget that .32cal bullets dominated the Law Enforcement/Concealed Carry market for decades until HP bullets became common.
The reason for this is that these .32cal cartridges (namely .32 S&W and .32 ACP) were plenty effective with solid, non-expanding or otherwise minimally expanding projectiles, but softpoints and HPs tend to stop short of vitals because they just don't penetrate deeply enough onces they've expanded.

So as long as you load a .32 with solid bullets, it will do the job just fine with proper shot placement, and there's virtually no risk of collateral damage because even if the shot exits out the back of the target, it's going to have lost most of its energy, ergo it will most likely just plop to the ground, assuming it comes out at all.

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When you get into foot pounds of energy, you're treading closely on textbook theory rather than something of practical value. Maybe not strictly easy chair gunfighting stuff, but close enough. Maybe it's best to get a decent handgun chambering then practice with it.

"Parroting" has nothing to do with it, unless maybe you're a YouTuber and prefer to spread erroneous information. There are minimum cartridges for various purposes. It's much like today's popular fad of using the minimal .223 for deer hunting when far better cartridges are available. Hardly a point worth arguing.

just because you can drive nails with a brick doesn't mean a hammer isn't a better tool for the job. I bet throughout the history of mankind, a rock has even killed a grizzly. Doesn't mean you should count on it.

The idea of a small frame high capacity 32 revolver is why they invented the .327 Federal. I have my grandmother's .32 S&W top break, and a subsonic .22LR round has more energy. My grandfather was a sherrif and took it off a perp, and gave it to his wife in case anyone came after the sherrif's wife. She chose to rely on the family 1958 Remington .44 cap and ball. Let that sink in.

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I tried this experiment once. I fired two rounds into pine 2” x 4”’s. One bullet passed completely through the first board (1 1/2”) and enter the second board just far enough for me to see it’s base.

Second bullet also passed completely through the first board but only dented the second board. The bullet was not deformed and could easily been used again if handloaded.

I wish I would have a piece of Oak to try also.

You can get decent velocity with handloads in .32 Long, but you're still dealing with very little in the way of a bullet. Much more "powerful" than the regular .32 S&W cartridge with it's 80 grain bullet. I chroographed some of these (old Remington factory load) some years back. Muzzle velocities were in the 500 fps range; probably wouldn't penetrate much. These were probably safe to shoot as long as backstop material was very soft and the bullets didn't come back at you.

That's exactly what I did. I was actually quite impressed with the .32 Long! The upper bullet hole in the board is the entry of the .32 Short, and the bottom one is the .32 Long as seen from the front of the first board after shooting both cartridges.

The .32 Short penetrated one board and started into the second. The .32 Long went through both boards completely.

The red arrow points to the base of the .32 Short bullet, which penetrated the first board completely, then buried itself up to its base in the second board.

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That's easy to say - until things like old age, arthritis, or other disabling conditions make it impractical.

One size doesn't fit all, and if I get to the point that a 32 SWL is the most powerful thing I can handle, I'll use it thank you very much. Beats the hell out of a sharp stick.

Maybe you'll be lucky enough to never be in that position, but for those that are, your suggestion is totally meaningless.

As Forte Smitten Wesson pointed out, there have been plenty of bad guys put in the ground with a 32 caliber bullet.

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Nah, can't be. That must be some of that YouTube erroneous information.

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