.32 acp in a .32 s&w revolver

[Askeladden]

I found a seller that has a safety hammerless for sale on gunbroker and he claims that he has been shooting .32 acp in his gun safely for years.

How much .32 acp can these top breaks handle before they break?

 

[Erich]

Depends on your gun, doesn't it?

Bad idea, hombre. Pressures for the 7.65 are substantially higher than for the .32 S&W. I've worked on a killing where .32 ACP was used in a break-top, and it worked, but I'd not recommend it to anyone.

I'd also think twice about such a gun that has been used thusly "for years."

 

[murphydog]

In a .32 H & R or Federal Magnum revolver or a K-32, no problem. "Maybe" in a later model stamped .32 Long (30-1, 31-1 or later). A .32 ACP case is longer than a .32 S & W so I'm not sure how it even chambers in a Safety Hammerless? In any case, a really bad idea.

 

[deadin]

Surely there's a reason they just didn't stamp "Whatever Fits" on the barrel.......

 

[LoboGunLeather]

I recall two incidents in which I arrested people using top-break .32 revolvers. One was a S&W revolver, the other was a H&R. In one case the ammo fired, in the other it did not. I suspect this was due to differences in chamber dimensions, with one providing enough resistance to the case mouth of the rimless .32ACP round for the firing pin to detonate the primer while the other's dimensions simply allowed the .32ACP round to move forward in the chamber upon firing pin impact.

Both victims survived. Both bad guys went off to work for the governor for a few years.

 

[DWalt]

It will work, and I have successfully fired .32 ACP in a .32 S&W Long chamber, and quite a bit of it. However, no way would I use .32 ACP in any top break .32 S&W revolver.

 

[BearBio]

I recall two incidents in which I arrested people using top-break .32 revolvers. One was a S&W revolver, the other was a H&R. In one case the ammo fired, in the other it did not. I suspect this was due to differences in chamber dimensions, with one providing enough resistance to the case mouth of the rimless .32ACP round for the firing pin to detonate the primer while the other's dimensions simply allowed the .32ACP round to move forward in the chamber upon firing pin impact.

Both victims survived. Both bad guys went off to work for the governor for a few years.

32 acp is semi rimless. That's why it will SOMETIMES work in a 35 S & W. More likely the chambers were sloppy.

 

[Askeladden]

32 acp is semi rimless. That's why it will SOMETIMES work in a 35 S & W. More likely the chambers were sloppy.

I thought .32 acp could be fired in a 35 s&w only that it sometimes had problems extracting.

 

[Jaymo]

The fact that he's shot a lot of it in that top break is probably why he wants to sell it (paperweight).

You could use .32 ACP brass to load .32 S&W ammo, by loading it with .32 S&W bullets at .32 S&W pressures.

No way I'd shoot ACP ammo from an S&W chambered revolver.
From a J or K framed Long, H&R or .327 Federal? Sure.

 

[DWalt]

I thought .32 acp could be fired in a 35 s&w only that it sometimes had problems extracting.

There are reliable references which state that it was very common to use .32 ACP ammunition in the .35 S&W autopistol, and it worked OK. Logical, as .32 ACP was much more widely distributed and sold than the .35 S&W cartridge. I'd just like to find a nice .35 S&W I could afford to buy. At one time I had a collection of virtually every different brand and variation of U. S. pocket pistol made in the earlier 20th century - EXCEPT for a .35 S&W. I still have a few of my favorites, but most are long gone.

Dimensional differences between the .32 ACP and the .35 S&W cartridges are slight indeed. See: http://www.shootingtimes.com/handguns/handgun_reviews_smith_wessons_35_automatic_010310/

 

[deadin]

I've shot 32acp in my 1913. Never had any problems with feeding or extraction, however the brass comes out really *****. (Kind of lopsided.)
I haven't tried resizing any but I imagine that its life will be somewhat less than optimal....