32 cal target pistol ?

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Al W.

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Does anyone have a suggestion for a 32. cal target pistol ? I'm somewhat confused about the whole .32 cal thing. The different cartridges and their capabilities . I'm looking for a stable platform for bullseye shooting. Could be a revolver or SA , but would like a gun that chambered a round that wasn't rare or overly expensive that I could hand load.
Suggestions ?
 
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I had a Smith M16 that was very accurate and a pleasure to shoot. Those are chambered in .32 H&R Magnum. It says Magnum, but the power levels are less than a .38 Special. Very mild recoil.
 
Toolguy said:
I had a Smith M16 that was very accurate and a pleasure to shoot. Those are chambered in .32 H&R Magnum. It says Magnum, but the power levels are less than a .38 Special. Very mild recoil.
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Yeah, this is kind of where I'm going I think. Not a ton of these around, but they are out there.
 
The .32 Long was used by some bullseye target shooters in the past, with the rules specifying three stages with .22, centerfire and .45. Some would use the .32 for the centerfire stage but most figured out a .38 (or .45) gave them a larger margin of error for cutting a scoring ring.

The classic S & W .32 target gun is the K-32 Masterpiece; brand C also made revolvers in .32 Long. Walther also made a target semi-auto among others. As noted above, your most findable candidate would be a later model 16-4, in 4, 6 and 8 3/8".
 
The 16-4 may be the most affordable (but still in the $800 - $1000 range). It is chambered for the 32 H&R magnum, which can be handloaded to over 1200 FPS with a 100 gr XTP, which could take a considerable amount of small game and no slouch for self defense. It also fires the .32 S&W Long when loaded with Wad cutter bullets and an appropriate load can be outstandingly accurate.

 
Ruger has made SA and DA revolvers in .32 H & R and .327 Federal Magnum; don't know about current production or how they would stack up against a Smith for target shooting.
 
Unless you are good at double action revolver shooting, a semi auto will be a better choice, since there are time, 5 shots /20 sec. and rapid, 5 shots/10 sec. stages in NRA bullseye match.

Walther; FAS/Domino; Pardini and several European gun makers has .32 S&W long target pistol in their line up, they are mainly for ISSF ( International Sport Shooting Federation ) center fire match.

I would look for a used Walther GSP .32 in good condition, price would be somewhere around $1000 or so.
Another option would be using a .38 such as S&W model 52 or Colt 1911 in .38 special for the centre fire match, also .45 ACP 1911 can be use in center fire match as well, only 2 pistols are needed, a .22 and the 1911 for the whole 2700 match if you go that way.
 
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I understand that the OP was probably asking about a factory model, but I'll mention that before his passing Austin Behlert was showing off a converted Model 41 at an NRA Meeting... he was about ready to start selling a Bullseye gun in 32 S&W L (probably for flush seated WC only IIRC.). Did anything ever come of that project? Does anyone here shoot one?

Froggie
 
Tony C. said:
Unless you are good at double action revolver shooting, a semi auto will be a better choice, since there are time, 5 shots /20 sec. and rapid, 5 shots/10 sec. stages in NRA bullseye match.
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Tony, not to hijack the OP's thread, back when I shot NRA 2700, I shot a K38 Masterpiece single action in all 3 stages. Honestly, I never saw any other revolver shooters shoot their revolvers double action. Shooting a revolver single action at 25 yards or at 50 ft, is not that difficult with aimed fire in either timed fire or rapid fire stages. With practice, you will actually have time to spare when you develop a muscle memory cadence.

The difficulty of shooting a revolver in a timed or rapid fire stage is not getting the shots off in a timely manner, but to minimize the revolver movement "in the shooting hand" while thumbing the hammer. With a semi-auto, there is minimal gun shift between shots in the shooting hand, compared to a revolver. By shooting one-handed single action, you have less sight "wobble" than you have shooting double action.
 
I shot NRA Bullseye for decades , I could never find an edge shooting with the 32 , scores with the 38 special and 148 gr target WC were just as good or better.
The big boost to my scores came with a proper target trigger job by Clark Custom Guns. I had no idea how much better I could shoot with a proper , not a DIY spring swap job, target trigger done by a professional gunsmith.
Gary
 
lrrifleman said:
Tony, not to hijack the OP's thread, back when I shot NRA 2700, I shot a K38 Masterpiece single action in all 3 stages. Honestly, I never saw any other revolver shooters shoot their revolvers double action. Shooting a revolver single action at 25 yards or at 50 ft, is not that difficult with aimed fire in either timed fire or rapid fire stages. With practice, you will actually have time to spare when you develop a muscle memory cadence.

The difficulty of shooting a revolver in a timed or rapid fire stage is not getting the shots off in a timely manner, but to minimize the revolver movement "in the shooting hand" while thumbing the hammer. With a semi-auto, there is minimal gun shift between shots in the shooting hand, compared to a revolver. By shooting one-handed single action, you have less sight "wobble" than you have shooting double action.
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That's how most of the revolver guys that I know shoot bullseye.
 
H Richard said:
The 16-4 may be the most affordable (but still in the $800 - $1000 range). It is chambered for the 32 H&R magnum, which can be handloaded to over 1200 FPS with a 100 gr XTP, which could take a considerable amount of small game and no slouch for self defense. It also fires the .32 S&W Long when loaded with Wad cutter bullets and an appropriate load can be outstandingly accurate.

[]
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I would say those numbers are at least $1000 under actual prices. I have looked for 3-4 years for a shooter Model 16 under $1000.
 
Just bought a 16-4 for 1200 off gun Broker and drove 95 miles to save shipping to get it. There were a couple better deals but I wanted a 4". Most are higher.

Like Charlie above, I had Andy Horvath build two for me. Both in .32 long. Found a .32 PPC bbl a while back and last fall he built the .32 PPC. No rib on the PPC, use factory adjustable sights. Both have 5" barrels and Weigand front interchangeable sight bases. The first .32 he converted a K-22 to a center fire in .32. Both have a faster rate of twist then stock S&W's.

Pics of the .32 PPC are in the thread below this one titled PPC revolver pics. Both were finished off with Keith Brown grips. It was cheaper to build a gun in .32 long then to buy a model 16. I have a 4" 16-4 barrel and a .22 cyl to build another one.

Good luck deciding what to do. The .38's can be just as accurate. Larry


Charlie, is was nice talking to you the other day.
 
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