Did S&W ever make...?

[BreakMyTop]

Did S&W ever make a top-break revolver in .32 S&W Long, or are all S&W's in .32 S&W Long hand ejectors?

 

[mmaher94087]

Hand Electors. Mike #283

 

[glowe]

I seem to recall the 32 Long was developed for S&W's very first hand ejector, the Model 1896 32 HE, and did not exist before the introduction of this model.

 

[DWalt]

In the "History of Smith & Wesson" the statement is made in regard to the .32 Hand Ejector First Model that "The factory lengthened its .32 S&W cartridge (by) 1/8" and produced a caliber called the 32 S&W long cartridge..."

 

[Jim Watson]

There was a .32 H&R that was longer than .32 S&W but shorter than .32 S&W Long.
After 1905 H&R made topbreaks in .32 S&W Long.

 

[BreakMyTop]

Thanks for the responses! Now I know!

 

[BreakMyTop]

There was a .32 H&R that was longer than .32 S&W but shorter than .32 S&W Long.
After 1905 H&R made topbreaks in .32 S&W Long.

Is .32 H&R the same as .32 Merwin & Holbert? Or are they different specs? Aren't both originally black powder rounds where I thought that .32 S&W Long was built around smokeless. Of course, I've been wrong before...

 

[glowe]

. . . I thought that .32 S&W Long was built around smokeless. . .

Since the introduction of the Model 1896 came before smokeless powder was readily available, I was under the impression that the early 32 Long cartridges were black powder.

 

[opoefc]

I am unaware of any black powder cartridge called the .32 H&R Long. There is no such cartridge listed in any of the references books I have, nor in the records of the US Patent Office. ( I am aware of the modern .32 H&R Magnum ). H&R catalog describes their first top break revolver as a "Self Extracting Hand Ejector" chambered in .32 Centerfire and .32 H&R Long Centerfire, and a follow up model "The Automatic Ejector" revolver, as being available in the same calibers. My guess is that H&R use their imagination and poetic license in calling the chambering " .32 H&R Long" when it was really a cylinder that chambered the .32 S&W Long. The .32 Long Merwin & Hulbert is slightly shorter than the .32 S&W Long, but would chamber in a gun made to shoot .32 S&W Long rounds. There are many models of H&R revolvers in .32 caliber that will shoot the S&W .32 ( Short ) round, but they are not top breaks. Ed.

 

[Jim Watson]

The previous time I looked this up, I found references to the .32 H&R as a distinct cartridge in Flayderman and in a post by the late Bill Goforth.

Quoting a usually reliable source (ME!) from 2011.

"Flayderman makes mention of a .32 H&R Long in the H&R Shell Extracting Revolver of 1886-1888 and the Automatic Ejection DA Revolver of 1887 on. Flayderman 5I-064 and 5I-065.

The .32 S&W Long did not come out until 1896, so the .32 H&R Long was a distinct cartridge from ten years earlier. The late Bill Goforth says it was only made until 1905.
See post #3 at
H&R .32 top break revolver - The Firearms Forum - Gun Community "

I find the H&R Automatic Ejecting and Hammerless topbreaks cataloged for .32 S&W Long in the 1939 Stoegers. The H&R Premier topbreak in .32 S&W. Price for any was $14.75 while a S&W .32 Safety Hammerless was $28.00 and a .32 H.E. was $30.

I cannot find a clear comparison of .32 M&H with other brands. One source says .32 M&H Short is the same as .32 S&W and .32 M&H Long the same as .32 H&R. One says they are the same except for a deep bullet groove to work in the M&H extraction - ejection system.

 

[opoefc]

Winchester developed a .32 Long Centerfire cartridge in 1873, which it sold worldwide until about 1890, or so. It is similar to the .32 Long Colt round but has a slightly longer case length. The English had a .320 Long Centerfire cartridge for top break revolvers about 10 yrs. before top breaks were made in the US. It is probable that the Winchester round was intended mostly for the English revolvers in that caliber sold in the US & Europe. Preceding the centerfire cartridges there was the .32 Long Rimfire from 1860. There are reference to a .32 H&R Long cartridge by Goforth and Flayderman. I believe they probably based their source on ammo. catalogs of the 1880s, such as the UMC catalog which lists " .32 H&R " ammo. and the pictured round is longer than the .32 S&W round. I was involved in the research for Chuck Suydam's " U.S. Cartridges and Their Handguns" and we could never find a box of ammo. that said " .32 H&R Long Centerfire" Such may exist somewhere, but not where we could locate it. If anyone has a .32 H&R Long Centerfire box, please post a picture. Ed.

 

[Jim Watson]

Somebody or another pointed out it was listed as just .32 H&R without "long".