32 cal target pistol ?

[deadin]

Shooting a revolver single action in a bullseye rapid fire stage is a whole 'nother discipline that you may or may not want to learn....
Shooting DA has too many moving parts to make for accurate groups.
When I was shooting Bullseye I used a Pardini 32L for the center fire stage and it was very similar to shooting my Benelli .22. (i.e. no recoil). (Larry's Guns still have a few Benelli MP-95's in 32 Long at around $1000 to $1050. That's about as cheap as you will find a competition quality 32L.)
I tried the 38 WC and found the Colt to be totally unreliable function wise. The Smith 52 is a whole lot better, but is getting quite expensive if you can find one. (And has more recoil than the 32.)

 

[Green Frog]

Shooting a revolver single action in a bullseye rapid fire stage is a whole 'nother discipline that you may or may not want to learn....
Shooting DA has too many moving parts to make for accurate groups.
When I was shooting Bullseye I used a Pardini 32L for the center fire stage and it was very similar to shooting my Benelli .22. (i.e. no recoil). (Larry's Guns still have a few Benelli MP-95's in 32 Long at around $1000 to $1050. That's about as cheap as you will find a competition quality 32L.)
I tried the 38 WC and found the Colt to be totally unreliable function wise. The Smith 52 is a whole lot better, but is getting quite expensive if you can find one. (And has more recoil than the 32.)

Detractors of the Model 52 complained that you could make your sight picture, pull the trigger and put the gun back in your range box before the bullet got out of the barrel and down to the target... implying it was tough to get sufficient follow through. Of course my old dad was shooting his while in his 80s, so he moved so slow it seemed to work well for him!

Froggie

 

[deadin]

Another advantage (?) to the Euro 32 Long competition guns (never mind the price..) is that they are blow-back instead of locked breech. (Less moving parts to get out of sync or get sloppy with wear, etc.)

Just remember that those last few points in your score come at a price...

 

[Jersey Doug]

I was lucky enough to have everyone else miss a M-16-4 barrel and then later the cylinder on Gunbroker. I put them on a M-15 had the cylinder reamed to .327 no $1,500 cost for me. With it's 8 3/8 barrel super accurate. Also there is a Czech revolver being made called the Alfa Pro ( looks just like a python) great deal for the money.

 

[6string]

If you shoot bullseye, want a 32, and want to climb the classification ranks & win matches, the the Pardini is the way to go.
They make the 32 ACP version for 50 yds outdoor, and still offer the 32 S&W wadcutter for 25 meter international.
A great option is to buy a used Pardini old model 32 wadcutter and get a fast twist barrel from Dave Wilson. You can do the whole thing for about $1100-1500 if you shop around.
The best forum to investigate this is
TargetTalk • Index page
They have several HUGE threads discussing all the details.
You can see test targets, loads, cast bullet info.... on & on.
TargetTalk • View topic - Pardini HP 32, ammo talk

Dig in and enjoy!

Jim

 

[Wise_A]

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.

This is, on the whole, excellent advice. Although it would appear lately that most folks are learning towards the two-gun (.22 + .45) approach rather than a dedicated centerfire gun. Anything you gain via reduced recoil for the centerfire match, you give up by having to split your practice time with another pistol.

I also agree that that the GSP is likely the best place to start looking if this is what you're determined to get. The Model 52 is quite lovely, but is also a bit expensive. By the time you're done buying the gun and having it tuned up, you might as well have simply bought the Walther.

Of course, none of us is so great that min/maxing every choice is a necessity. At the end of the day, this is a hobby, and by God, we should enjoy it. The fancy-pants 1911-22 I built that wound up costing as much as a Model 41 can certainly attest to that!

 

[deadin]

The fancy-pants 1911-22 I built that wound up costing as much as a Model 41 can certainly attest to that!

You can do the same thing with a Ruger without much effort...

 

[6string]

There is a real trend in 2700 these days back towards shooting it as a three gun event, with a dedicated CF pistol. I was going to mention the Walther GSP. These won't cut the mustard at 50 yds. Been there, done that. But, an aftermarket fast twist barrel will get you there. Again, Dave Wilson can do that for the GSP for just a couple to three hundred bucks. Again, check out targettalk.org, or the bullseye-L forum.
Bullseye-L Forum

If you want to go the revolver route, you'll be hard pressed to come near matching the Manurhin.
Check out this Swedish test:
Ammunitionstest av .32 S&W Long i VapenTidningen nr 4 2007.


The whole 32 CF pistol thing has been covered already in so much more detail on both the targettalk and bullseye forums already.

Best regards,
Jim

 

[Green Frog]

As we wander about on the fringes of this topic, I'll mention that an old gunsmith friend of mine, now deceased, spent time off and on over about 5 years working on a 32 conversion for a 1911 (going with a straight blowback using a lightened 38 Super slide IIRC) I'm sure he didn't invent this in a complete vacuum, so I'm wondering whether anyone else has any experience with this??

Froggie

 

[Wise_A]

You can do the same thing with a Ruger without much effort...

I believe that the majority of the big-dollar Rugers I've seen were more-properly called "Volquartsens".

That said, there are some really interesting options out there for aftermarket uppers that aren't labelled VQ.

 

[Green Frog]

I believe that the majority of the big-dollar Rugers I've seen were more-properly called "Volquartsens".

That said, there are some really interesting options out there for aftermarket uppers that aren't labelled VQ.

If you're talking about upgrading Ruger Standard Model pistols as fine target guns, the historical name in this is the guy who developed the process ,the late Jim Clark from Louisiana. AFAIK though, he never offered a 32 conversion. Does Vollquartsen?

Froggie

 

[6string]

Regarding the Ruger, there was a gunsmith in Arizona that built 32 wadcutter target pistols using MKI 22s! His name was Bill Atkinson. He cut his own barrels and handmade the magazines!
They were straight blowback, and used a large weight at the end of the bolt that overhung the shooter's wrist.
If you'd like to see a picture, there's one in George Nonte's book, Pistolsmithing.

Jim

 

[Wise_A]

If you're talking about upgrading Ruger Standard Model pistols as fine target guns, the historical name in this is the guy who developed the process ,the late Jim Clark from Louisiana. AFAIK though, he never offered a 32 conversion. Does Vollquartsen?

Froggie

I know of Clarks, but haven't actually handled any originals. I've seen a bunch of VQ's, but to tell you the truth, I was never super-impressed. They're way too flashy for my taste, and they just don't do enough over the standard. It's like if you bought a decent-name 1911, and then just dumped a bunch of parts into it without doing any of the actual work. I do believe they offer a .17-magnum conversion, but that's it.

 

[THREEDFLYER]

I am a big fan of the Benelli Model MP95E .32 S&W WC pistol......I also own the same model in the .22 LR version, both are tack drivers and very reliable. A pleasure to shoot for bullseye or just for fun!

Of course my S&W K-32 Target Masterpiece is no slouch either!!!

 

[moosedog]

Myself, I shot bullseye for several decades 1970's thru mid 1990's and still toy with it today. I have used my pre 16 ribbed barrel, a 16-3 full target and the 16-4 and found no advantage over a K-38 or a model 52. The whole time shooting, I never really saw anyone seriously competing with the 32 cartridge here in America. It just never caught on and I always thought it was a hold over with the Canadian and European's as they favored the 32 calibers even as Police and Military guns. Many K-32's were exported.
But like you say, it's a hobby and one has to enjoy it so no harm in playing with the 32 S&W Long. It is an inherently accurate cartridge.
If you ever run into a Colt Heavy barrel Officer's Match in 32 S&W Long, there's another candidate, although they are as expensive. Not as much as a K-32 for some reason, but every bit as accurate.

 

[deadin]

I guess the question that hasn't been asked is "If everybody just uses their .45 for the centerfire stage, why even have a CF leg?" Just copy the .45 leg score or, better yet, do away with CF all together.

 

[Green Frog]

I guess the question that hasn't been asked is "If everybody just uses their .45 for the centerfire stage, why even have a CF leg?" Just copy the .45 leg score or, better yet, do away with CF all together.

As I understand it, the original 45 leg was for military ball ammo at full power (the so-called "hardball match") with a GI 1911 with only a short list of approved mods including mostly adding adjustable sights of closely prescribed dimensions. The 45 "Wad Gun" on the other hand could be radically modified and rather than full power ball ammo used special lower recoil "target wadcutter" ammo - semiwadcutter actually. I haven't shot an official 2700 match for many years, so I don't know what the rules are at this point. Maybe someone can chime in with current rules, but that doesn't change the fact that the 32 WC is a fun cartridge to shoot, formal match rules notwithstanding.

Froggie

PS Oddly enough, hardcore revolver shooters were allowed to shoot 45 ACP revolvers (originally upgraded versions of 1917 Smiths and Colts) in the Hardball Leg, then shot K-22s and either K-32s or K-38s in the rimfire and center fire legs.

 

[TAROMAN]

Those little 32s were really optimized for ISSF 25-Meter Rapid Fire.
When I shot 2700 many years ago in in the Army, we were issued Super Target 185 grain FMJ.
Shot it in a special wadcutter gun Exceedingly accurate, IIRC.
Bigger bullets cut rings that minor calibers miss.
I have won and lost matches by 1 point.

 

[deadin]

Bigger bullets cut rings that minor calibers miss

I agree with this, However:>>>>
Everything else being equal, (recoil not being a factor) shouldn't one's .22 RF scores be lower than their .45 scores?? (Those little bullets not cutting rings that a .45 would.)

Seeing as how this doesn't seem to be true, then we have to admit that recoil IS a factor. How much of a factor, I don't know, but even high level shooters seem to post better .22 scores than they do .45 scores......So it appears that larger diameter can't overcome recoil.

 

[ckcrranch]

I divided my guns into work guns and fun guns. Work guns were all semi auto, fun were revolvers. At one point n late 80'sI was sent(military) to try out for Pan Am games. My International CF scores were competitive. I used a Model 52 (S&W reworked trigger to make it legal). Although I finished in midpack, not nearly good enough, the AMU guys shot either European 32 cal semi autos, maybe someone shot a 52, but most were 32 cal guns. If you really want to compete use a semi auto either a S&W 52 or a Euro gun.