I have a 32 hand ejector and I believe it is an “I” frame. It will shoot both 32 S&W Long and .32 S&W. My question is, can it safely fire a 32 Short Colt cartridge.

I believe the .32 Colt round is larger in diameter. Colt later introduced the .32 New Police cartridge, which is nothing more than a .32 S&W Long loaded with a flat nose lead bullet.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Although I have never done it, I have read that you can also fire .32 ACP.

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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

The .32 Short and Long Colt cartridges have a smaller diameter than the .32 S&W and .32 S&W Long. The .32 S&L Colt cartridges are long obsolete and have not been manufactured in many years, entirely in the realm of cartridge collectors. Theoretically, you could use .32 S&L Colt cartridges in a revolver chambered for the .32 S&W Long, assuming you had some. But it wouldn't be a good idea.

You may be thinking of the .32 Colt New Police cartridge which is essentially identical to the .32 S&W Long, other than it has a flat bullet nose.

It is possible to use .32 ACP cartridges in a revolver chambered in .32 S&W Long (and I have done it). But it's not something I would recommend, other than as a last resort.

Contrary to what has been posted above, S&W used to list .32 S&W Long, .32 S&W, .32 Short Colt .32 Long Colt, and Colt .32 New Police as acceptable cartridges to fire in it's revolvers chambered for .32 S&W Long. These are all shown in the text printed in the box top! The .Colt .32 New Police is identical to .32 S&W Long except for a small flat on the bullet nose instead of being round nosed.

There is no doubt that the .32 S&L Colt cartridges will expand excessively, and often split, but other then this there is no safety issue. All of the listed Colt cartridges have been obsolete for any years so I do not see why you have even brought up this question!

As wiregrassguy and Dwalt mentioned, the .32 ACP can also be fired in .32 S&W Long chambered revolvers. There is one issue with this, and that is the rim of .32 ACP ammunition is often too small to support the case in a .32 S&W Long chambered revolver and will simply fall into the chambers causing a problem with ignition. Sometimes, due to SAAMI and manufacturing tolerances it will work! However I would hesitate to try this in a pre WWII revolver. Many will point out that the .32 ACP nominal maximum pressure is greater than that of the .32 S&W Long, it's pressure limit is identical to the .32 H&R Magnum, and S&W has manufactured many revolvers for this cartridge, and many have also been re-chambered for it with no issues whatsoever.

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Gunsmithing since 1961

The .32 ACP cartridge will not fall into the .32 S&W Long chamber, at least I have never experienced that in several .32 revolvers. The real problem is that the semi-rim of the .32 ACP case is thin, much thinner than the .32 S&W Long rim, so it creates excess headspace and may result in occasional misfires depending on the gun. Additionally, extraction may be unreliable as the semi-rim can slip under the extractor star. The final issue is that the bullet is slightly undersized for a .32 S&W Long revolver bore, so don't expect much accuracy. Overall, it's not a good idea to use .32 ACP as a substitute for .32 S&W Long, and especially not for defensive purposes. For fun shooting, no real concerns. Regarding safety, it's probably OK to use .32 ACP in a solid-frame revolver in good condition chambered for .32 S&W Long. Even if a .32 ACP cartridge could be chambered in an old top-break revolver chambered for .32 S&W, I would certainly not do that.

This is why I asked that question. I'm wanting to get rid of this ammo. Shooting it seems the logical way.



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It will probably be safe enough to do, but I might be more tempted to keep it. Anyone owning one of the old Colt revolvers chambered for the .32 Short Colt would gladly pay a premium price for it, as that it the only way they could shoot it. .32 S&W and .32 S&W Long ammunition will not fit into a .32 SC/LC chamber.
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Looks like Winchester may still be making .32 SC, but it's fairly expensive.

I see Midway and several others list this as discontinued but their prices were $32-40 a box when they had it! I think I would keep it and find someone with a 32 Short Colt as DWalt suggests.

Ed

Trade for ammo that fits your gun. Those old obsolete cartridges are hard to find especially in such great condition.

The original Colt 32 and 32 long cartridges had heeled bullets (like a .22). The .315" bullets were accurate in S&W .32 cal revolvers even though the case was loose for the chamber.

However, after the turn of the century the bullets were modernized with inside the case lubrication and no longer heeled bullets being reduced in diameter to ~ .287" (like the ammo shown above). Those just rattle down the barrel of S&W revolvers.

As the story goes: one soldier sold another a Colt 32 cal. DA revolver with a belt full of ammo at a great price. On the first occasion that the buyer had to shoot it, the first 6 shots that came loaded in the gun shot well. But then while trying to reload under fire, he discovered that all of the .32 ammo in the belt was .32 S&W, not .32 Colt. Now that's what you call having a bad day!

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Jim
S&WCA #819

I would take that ammo to a gun show and see what I could swap for.

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Front sight and squeeze

I have a Marlin lever action rifle and a colt target police positive in 32 long Colt caliber. They came with a box of that same 32 Colt short. I never thought of finding 32 long Colt but a month later I picked up a box of 32 long Cold at a small 50 table gunshow. It was priced at $50 but the guy said if I wanted it I could have it for $20. He said he was tired of carrying it around, He said he had had it for so long he couldn't remember what he paid for it. He told me no one was shooting that caliber any more. I bought it but probably won't shoot it. I'll shoot up the short because it is still around.
SWCA 892
PS I don't collect Colts but I'm a sucker for odd stuff in odd calibers.