J-Frame in .32 Long to .32 Mag?

[brucev]

I'm so sorry! But, it's Wednesday morning. I've got to get to the office. I've been drinking Death Wish Coffee! And my wife made me a biscuit and sausage for breakfast! So, I'm in a good mood. And I've been thinking.

For a while I've been thinking about a little CC revolver. I'm just not into a .38 Special in a J-frame. Simple fact is early twinges of arthritis are making it harder and harder for me to enjoy shooting handguns that are snappy. So ... what to do? What to do? Like I said, I've been thinking.
I thought it might be workable to take a standard .32 Long J-Frame S&W and jump it up to .32 Magnum? W/ a two inch barrel it'd be fine for CC. While it'd be a bit more than the standard .32 Long, it'd still be less snap than a .38 Special. It'd be six rounds instead of five.

My figuring is that I could probably find a .32 S&W J-frame that would serve as a basis for this conversion. In this area such revolvers are not in high demand since the caliber is just now popular. It seems to me that any post war J-frame would be more than up to the .32 Mag. Conversion would not be a big deal ... run a chambering reamer in each charge hole and your done!

What says the S&W brain trust? Good idea? Or, am I close to taking a walk on the crust of Hell?

Waiting your thoughts! Meantime ... I need coffee! Sincerely. bruce.

 

[washerman]

Good morning! I have j-frame 38 (638) and also a 32 mag (431PD) which is a j-frame also...i can't tell much difference in the snappiness of the 32 mag vs the 38 special...power of those 2 loads seem pretty similar to me...Now if you use 32 longs and not the 32 mags then there is a big difference...The 32 long ctg is quite mild in the recoil dept...hope this helps

 

[grover99]

It would seem easer to buy a Ruger LCR in 327 Fed. You can shoot 32 longs, 32H&R mag or the 327 fed. I save shot some 32 wadcutters that are like shooting 22LR. plus you have your 6 shots.

 

[washerman]

The LCR is a nice gun...327 fed mag recoil is quite nasty though...The 431PD or the 432PD (sans external hammer) are available . I bought mine unfired for $450 last year. Resale on the j-frame 32 mag is going to go up over time. they are just harder to get. If you want an LCR 327 mag now is the time to buy one...Grabagun has them for $435 plus $8 shipping and that is way below everyone else online that i can see..both guns will shoot 32 long and short as well as 32 mag...my 32 mag j-frame shoots 32 acp just fine also...the LCR comes in an LCRx also which has an external hammer

 

[H Richard]

The 431PD and 432PD had been released last year, and were decently priced at around $450. They are both reasonably comfortable to shoot, especially with the rubber grips. I load a 100 Gr XTP to over 1000 fps (through the 1 1/8" barrel) and I find it not a problem to shoot, and I have 76 year old arthritic hands.

 

[D Brown]

Good morning! I have j-frame 38 (638) and also a 32 mag (431PD) which is a j-frame also...i can't tell much difference in the snappiness of the 32 mag vs the 38 special...power of those 2 loads seem pretty similar to me...Now if you use 32 longs and not the 32 mags then there is a big difference...The 32 long ctg is quite mild in the recoil dept...hope this helps

Both examples you cited are alloy frame. The O.P. is contemplating .32 Magnums in a steel J-frame. That would add approximately 5 oz. of recoil dampening weight to the equation. That's significant enough a difference that it shouldn't be overlooked.

I think re-chambering a 31-1 or 30-1 to .32 Magnum is a viable plan, provided you don't start out with a collector grade gun.

 

[washerman]

Both examples you cited are alloy frame. The O.P. is contemplating .32 Magnums in a steel J-frame. That would add approximately 5 oz. of recoil dampening weight to the equation. That's significant enough a difference that it shouldn't be overlooked.

I think re-chambering a 31-1 or 30-1 to .32 Magnum is a viable plan, provided you don't start out with a collector grade gun.

the OP said "standard" j-frame..i didn't know that meant "steel frame" only

 

[D Brown]

the OP said "standard" j-frame..i didn't know that meant "steel frame" only

That's fair. I'm just not aware of any past or current J-frames chambered in .32 S&W Long that were offered in Airweight trim. Thus I assumed the O.P. was referring to the Models 30 and 31.

 

[dr. mordo]

I have an LCR327 and I absolutely love it. It spends far more time in my pocket than my S&W J frames. I think the proprietary Hogue grip on the LCR really absorbs recoil; I very much wish they made them for a J frame. Ruger also makes a 3" SP101 in .327 Mag, which might be even better because the weight and longer barrel will help with recoil.

Note that there are two .32 magnum cartridges - .32 H&R Magnum and .327 Federal Magnum. The .32 H&R is pretty hot with .38 SPL power levels. The .327 is even hotter - close to .357 levels. To get that power from such a small bullet, the chamber pressure is enormous - 45,000 psi. Compare that the .32 S&W Long's max pressure (15,000 psi), .32 H&R Mag (21,000 psi), .357 Mag (35,000 psi) or .44 Mag (36,000 psi) and you'll see it's extraordinarily high pressure ammo.

Due to that extreme pressure, I would cut an old J frame to shoot .32 H&R, but I would not cut it to fire .327 Mag. BTW, when I last priced S&W .32 H&R Magnum J frames, they were thru the roof. I seem to remember prices not far from $1000 on gunbroker.

 

[Squarebutt]

Just a suggestion, but maybe try some light loads in .38 Spl. before altering a .32. If you reload, or have a friend that does, it wouldn't be hard to develop some 110 or 125 gr. rounds that would be effective without hammering your hands.
Another thing to think about is in a defensive situation, hard recoil won't register on the pain meter as much as it will just practicing on the range. Some of us practice with 700 FPS wadcutters and then carry our snubbies with +P thumpers. The difference in point of impact won't matter in a personal encounter at close range.

 

[washerman]

Just a suggestion, but maybe try some light loads in .38 Spl. before altering a .32. If you reload, or have a friend that does, it wouldn't be hard to develop some 110 or 125 gr. rounds that would be effective without hammering your hands.
Another thing to think about is in a defensive situation, hard recoil won't register on the pain meter as much as it will just practicing on the range. Some of us practice with 700 FPS wadcutters and then carry our snubbies with +P thumpers. The difference in point of impact won't matter in a personal encounter at close range.

The advantage to the OP because of his arthritis is he can shoot 32 longs and shorts also for practice and still have 32 mag rounds for carry. 32 longs have almost no recoil that would bother his hands. And he will pick up an extra round to boot. I think that is why the 32 j-frames are in such demand

 

[WR Moore]

I looked up the SAAMI MAP specs on .32 H&R Magnum. It's 21K cup, that's 1K higher than +P .38. Almost twice that of .32 S&W long. That being the case, if you just gotta do this, I'd suggest you look for guns made after 1958/have model numbers. That's when S&W allowed the use of +P .38.

Yes, I know the .32 cylinder walls & barrel shank are thicker, those might not be the only considerations. Remember that warning also applied to K frames. I also know some of us have fed our firearms some stout loads and both firearm and person suffered no apparent ill effects. Doesn't mean it is/was real bright. Nor is using handloads for self defense, although it might not be a big deal in some areas of the country.

There is a school of thought that feels a .38 wadcutter makes a dandy self defense load. There are also low recoil loads in self defense ammo lines.

 

[dr. mordo]

Something no one really talks about is .38 had a similar evolution to .32 - .38 Short Colt -> .38 Long Colt -> .38 SPL -> .357 Mag.

So another possibility, though not a cheap one, would be to shoot .38 Short Colt in his .38 SPL J frame. I would think it would be a very tame practice load.

That said, I did a quick google for .38 short colt and am not coming up with much. Apparently .38 S&W is far more common these days. This was about the best price I found.

 

[glider1]

A lot of what we sometimes do is just because. There probably is a better way to accomplish our goal. I'm as guilty as anyone. The thing is, it really doesn't need to make sense. We are way past our hobby making any sense at all. So, who would be a good smith to ream a model 30-1 for 32 magnum, sounds like a great idea to me. I just happen to have a 3 inch model 30-1 that is like new.

 

[dickydalton]

I bought a reamer and did my 3" 31-1 myself a little while ago. It wasn't hard at all and still shoots 32 long well too.

 

[Ingramite]

I went down the same path a few years ago myself.
I was spurred on by an unbelievable pawnshop deal on a Ruger SP-101 with a 3" barrel in .327 Federal Magnum.

I was shooting everything through it, including some .32acp hardball. Powder puff stuff. No recoil....but hey, let's try some 100gr Federal Magnum ammo....zowie! I only imagined that a .38spl recoil was bothering me. Like from the frying pan to the fire.

So, I had long ago learned that with my size and weight, I can comfortably carry a 4" K frame. Why not carry a bigger and heavier revolver to beat the recoil of a hot .38spl. +P ?.....and I already have that 1973 Model 67 in the safe....

That's what I do today. A model 67 that fits in the front pocket of my Wrangler jeans. All the advantages of a 4"barrel means a revolver that I can hit something with confidence....and what's confidence worth? It's also a pistol that I wouldn't want to get whipped with. When I'm out of bullets I can use it as a club.