.32 Caliber Revolvers
- Thread starter BillCA
- Start date
seeker_two
New member
Unfortunately, some CCW states (like TX) mandate a minimum caliber size (9mm/.38SPL) for qualification shooting. Otherwise, I think the .32 Mag would be an excellent choice for small-handed, recoil sensitive shooters.
S&W could do one of their CCW packages w/ a J-frame Airweight six-shooter sporting Crimson Trace grips & a box or two of Cor-Bon (DPX) or Hornady (XTP) ammo. A hard-to-beat combo...
S&W could do one of their CCW packages w/ a J-frame Airweight six-shooter sporting Crimson Trace grips & a box or two of Cor-Bon (DPX) or Hornady (XTP) ammo. A hard-to-beat combo...
Bill,What an interesting thread.I have several .32's mostly old Iver Johnson's and H&R's ect.my favorite is a Charter Arms Under cover 2" .32S&W long which i have owned for years.It will also chamber .32s&w and .32acp a great little shooter one sweet little gun to shoot and more accurate than you would think. Thanks again Bill Max W.
Hi Max,
I've found that I'm not the only one who likes the little .32 revolvers because of their easy shooting characteristics and because ...well, they're just neat. Someone said "cute" and that fits too. Welcome to our little corner of the revolver forum!
C'mon folks... there must be someone who owns a .32 and a digital camera beside Blue Heeler, Tamara and myself! Show us those break-tops and six-guns too!
I've found that I'm not the only one who likes the little .32 revolvers because of their easy shooting characteristics and because ...well, they're just neat. Someone said "cute" and that fits too. Welcome to our little corner of the revolver forum!
C'mon folks... there must be someone who owns a .32 and a digital camera beside Blue Heeler, Tamara and myself! Show us those break-tops and six-guns too!
Blue Heeler, I so enjoyed the pictures of your local gunshop.There is one out in the boondocks here Ne. that i frequent all the time,i drive out about 70 miles just to go there. He carries every kind of ammo you can think of besides a fairly good selection of guns. Its also great pheasant country so when i'm out there hunting rooster pheasants i always make a stop at his shop part of the trip. Thanks again for the pics. Max W. Ne.
Blue Heeler
Moderator
Thanks gn luver - I often go there just for fun. All the shooters around my Shire know each other and it's a minor social event going to the "Shooters Supplies.' There's a lot more talking than trading much of the time. Despite it's remoteness from the rest of the country it has a huge stock of firearms, ammo and so forth. These are stored in shipping containers around the homestead (Owner lives on site.) It is well off the beaten track and sometimes the road is impassable to ordinary cars. I always take my old Nissan Patrol when I go out there - there is almost nowhere it can't go, it's my shooting vehicle too. Petrol 4.2l Short Wheelbase.
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Blue Heeler, I so enjoyed the pictures of your local gunshop.There is one out in the boondocks here Ne. that i frequent all the time,i drive out about 70 miles just to go there. He carries every kind of ammo you can think of besides a fairly good selection of guns. Its also great pheasant country so when i'm out there hunting rooster pheasants i always make a stop at his shop part of the trip. Thanks again for the pics. Max W. Ne.
Hi Bill,I realize this is off the subject but is does involve a .32. Several years ago i bought a replica of the Army M16 N.I.B. in .32acp made by some Italian firm. I took it to a local place to shoot and the mngr. wasn't going to let me shoot because they didn't allow necked down ammo, of course when i explained it was a .32acp he could hardly believe it as it was such an exact copy.It is really a fun rifle to shoot and a odd caliber,it's the only one i've ever seen or heard of.Does anyone else know of a rifle in this caliber.Thanks again for all the interest you created in this little round. Max W. Ne.
I did not know folks likes the little .32 -I thought I was just a lone gun crank . I have had a love affair with the .32 since they came out with the .32 magnum. I have a Smith chiefs special stinless in .32 mag and one of their excellent 4"stainless kit guns in .32 mag. The 4"is accurate in .32 mag but really accurate with .32 shorts. The one gun that I still miss is the .32 Ruger Bisley that I sold years ago to help finance another gun. I carried that little gun al through Nevada's ghost towns and throughout the west. I miss it! I shoot a Smith mountain gun and other .44s in my collection but the little Smiths always bring back fond memories. I always had one of them while haunting the backwoods of New England. Fishing,camping,canoeing the little .32 kit gun was my constant companion. A few years ago up there we had a problem with rabies and I actuall did get "attacked"(for lack of a better word) by raccoons on different occasions. The .32 did the trick . Camping up by a beaver pond one night with a rather politically correct girl we heard coyotes howling across the pond. Then suddenly we heard them running down the trail right for our tent. Well i shot a warning shot across their bow and they almost turned themselves inside out turning around. Not sure if changed the little liberals mind about guns she just said OK and that was it. But the .32 mag was there and still is.
I have got to the point that I only take the .32 mag Smiths out on special occasions-they are very unfortunately not in production any more. I always keep my eyes open at gun shops and gun shows in hopes of finding another one but they seem to be scarce.
The little .32 is a great caliber with nice size guns to go along with . I wish it had been a more popular caliber for folks but everybody seems to want a .500 S&M mag and just like the dirty harry phase with the .44s they get gobbled up and then promtly sold beacuse folks just can't handle em. The little .32s got passed over ad its too bad. maybe I'll run into a nice old Smith in .32 long at a gun show and get some brass for it and go from there.
I have got to the point that I only take the .32 mag Smiths out on special occasions-they are very unfortunately not in production any more. I always keep my eyes open at gun shops and gun shows in hopes of finding another one but they seem to be scarce.
The little .32 is a great caliber with nice size guns to go along with . I wish it had been a more popular caliber for folks but everybody seems to want a .500 S&M mag and just like the dirty harry phase with the .44s they get gobbled up and then promtly sold beacuse folks just can't handle em. The little .32s got passed over ad its too bad. maybe I'll run into a nice old Smith in .32 long at a gun show and get some brass for it and go from there.
Blue Heeler
Moderator
G'day riverman - I love the .32 too. It ain't big and it ain't classy; but it's a lovely thing to shoot. Power, well no - speed, not really but SMOOTH - yes!
It is a caliber that can do most things sort of OK.In the World, if you can find a friend, or a woman, who's like a .32 then you have found a treasure.
It is a caliber that can do most things sort of OK.In the World, if you can find a friend, or a woman, who's like a .32 then you have found a treasure.
Riverman and Blue Heeler you put it very well! Great round/guns. I too have a .44M (in rifle and revolver) - for it's purpose, mostly camp protection in "bear/mountain lion" country, but for other camp and trail use, the .32M (or long) is just the ticket: no bigger than it needs to be, but also as I and others have said "no mere .22." And, with all the discussion of CC, to me the point is to have "something" (bigger than a .22) that is truly as light and unobtrusive (and "100%" reliable -- kicking out almost all autos), and even .38s in snub can be a little bulky...and sure not as mild to shoot at the .32. That 6 shot capacity in everything it's shot in is a winner too, not available in larger calibers (the old Detective Special is the closest). One thing: sure wish CCI had/will stepped up to the plate with some snakeshot!
Well thanks for the welcome guys! In celebration of 214 years of the 2nd ammendment and in honor of the third annual "buy a gun day" this april 15th I bought not one but TWO. Those days you buy one gun is great and buying two is even better. Today was "cute" gun day. I bought a new stainless Ruger Bearcat AND a new Ruger "baby" Vaquero birds head grip in .32 Mag!! They are cute if you can consider a gun cute (I do). Now I really have to get off my butt and start reloading. I almost bought a Marlin .32-20 with and octagon barrel too (in trade for Marlin 45-70) but the damn breech would not close properly! Damn! It was a beautiful gun but I don't want to mess around with a potential problem and get involved with shipping a gun back and forth to Connecticut where Marlin is. Damn. I'll probably get the little .32 mag Marlin when I find one. Happy buy a gun day-go out and get one because you can- and while you still can before the damn liberal kook anti gunners pillage the 2nd anymore!
Congrats on the birdshead .32 especially! As "cute" a gun as there is out there. And that description is not to diminish its punch for what it is. Armi Sport (through Taylor's) has a .32 M now in their Italian-made Win 1892 repro. Pricey (but might be a good investment) but very nice, judging from the catalog description. Available in oct. rifle, takedown and round bbl saddle ring carbine. So now Marlin has some competition and, finally, a companion .32M rifle out there.
Riverman,
Congrats on your purchases! I've always thought the Bearcat was a "cute" gun too as I've never seen a Ruger chambered in .32Mag locally. I'm sure if I could be enticed to buy one Ruger though and it'd have to be the .32.
I think the .32M is a perfect round for CAS, especially if they're now offering rifles to go with SA revolvers (alas, someone has said Ruger quit making the .32's and has a bunch to move). It's not quite period correct, but lots of lever guns that found their way west were made in .32-20 so this works, for me, as a modern update.
Gak - are those lever guns you mentioned the one's I've seen with handsome case-hardened receivers?
Congrats on your purchases! I've always thought the Bearcat was a "cute" gun too as I've never seen a Ruger chambered in .32Mag locally. I'm sure if I could be enticed to buy one Ruger though and it'd have to be the .32.
I think the .32M is a perfect round for CAS, especially if they're now offering rifles to go with SA revolvers (alas, someone has said Ruger quit making the .32's and has a bunch to move). It's not quite period correct, but lots of lever guns that found their way west were made in .32-20 so this works, for me, as a modern update.
Gak - are those lever guns you mentioned the one's I've seen with handsome case-hardened receivers?
I am in the market for a 32 revolver for my wife. A big lib, she's slowly but surely turning pro gun under my subtle artifices. Most influential was my description of the handgun I had in mind for her: "it's like the gun Emma Peel wields in the intro. to _The Avengers_ . Cha-ching! ...now if I can just find one with a gold finish. 
.32 Caliber.."RARE"-S&W-631
Hello:
Great thread... I have two really "RARE" S&W Wheel gun's that are the under estimated .32 H&R Magnum caliber. They were made between 1990-1992. The total production for the model 631 was 5000. That included two snub model's one is a lady Smith & That is the one I have and the last model was a 4" Combat which just "500" were made.. here is a picture of them. No sence trying to look them up as S&W never cataloged them due to there short life span.. Regards, Hammer It.
Hello:
Great thread... I have two really "RARE" S&W Wheel gun's that are the under estimated .32 H&R Magnum caliber. They were made between 1990-1992. The total production for the model 631 was 5000. That included two snub model's one is a lady Smith & That is the one I have and the last model was a 4" Combat which just "500" were made.. here is a picture of them. No sence trying to look them up as S&W never cataloged them due to there short life span.. Regards, Hammer It.
BillCA, I think yes on the case hardening -- their catalog does not show the CH finish (in the 92) but the website I think does -- poor non-enlargeable pics though (Taylor's) and I think I've seen for sale on gubroker and/or gunsamerica as such. The Marlin is a fine gun, but I'm partial to the Win 92 design and so these are particularly intriguing. BTW, on the other hand don't be discouraged by the website which is otherwise out of date (as so many of them are)--and does not show the NON-takedown rifle (24" oct also) and 20" round barreled SRC (saddle ring carbine). All variations are available in .32-20 and .32 Mag (separately, not in combo) of the calibers discussed here (the only 92 imports to carry these calibers), as well as several other larger ones. I'd say the only way to get the real current scoop would be to actually call Taylor's. Given the way this industry roller coasters on availability of any particular gun (of course always the one "you're" interested in!) -- that .32M version might fall the way of the Ruger for all we know!
Hammer It,
Very nice! I want one! Unfortunately, as you said, not many were made. Supica et al in the 2001 2nd edition shows a value of $450 so that's probably closer to $500~$525 now.
Still that's a sweet little revolver.
Gak,
Thanks for the update on the '92 rifles. I'll have to look at the site and see if that's the same rifle I remember. I'm rather partial to carbines in lever guns and the saddle ring is... well, just right.
Very nice! I want one! Unfortunately, as you said, not many were made. Supica et al in the 2001 2nd edition shows a value of $450 so that's probably closer to $500~$525 now.
Still that's a sweet little revolver. Gak,
Thanks for the update on the '92 rifles. I'll have to look at the site and see if that's the same rifle I remember. I'm rather partial to carbines in lever guns and the saddle ring is... well, just right.