The 32 Smith
& Wesson Long
Tales from the Back Creek Diary
“The sweetest shooting revolver…I
have ever handled…” Julian S. Hatcher, Textbook
of Pistols and Revolvers, (1935)
Smith & Wesson 32 Hand Ejector...
The black
powder version of .32 Smith & Wesson Long was introduced in 1896 and was
followed by a smokeless version in 1903 for the Model I, Hand Ejector revolver,
adopted by the New York City Police Department. The Regulation Police, as it
was also known, was the first service revolver standardized by the NYPD. Until
the 1930s when law enforcement officers were faced with heavily armed criminals
driving metal automobiles, the .32 S&W Long was the smallest revolver then
deemed adequate for police use.
Old
references give differing accounts as to its ballistics, due to use of various
barrel lengths, and listed catalog velocities being obtained from solid test
barrels, rather than revolvers, or vented test barrels, as are used today.
Hatcher’s Textbook
of Pistols and Revolvers (1935) stated the original charge as 13 grains
of black powder for 790 f.p.s. from a 4-1/4 inch barrel. Hatcher said that the .32 Hand Ejector was
“the sweetest shooting revolver at fifty yards I have ever handled,” and that
it was the “ideal home defense gun for women.” Which … “should be used when
possible with the flat-point .32 Colt New Police, which nearly doubles its
stopping power.”
A Western
Cartridge Company catalog table in Sixguns by Keith (1955) shows the smokeless powder
98-grain. Lubaloy round nose at 820 from a 4” barrel,
the 100 grain flat nosed .32 Colt New Police at 795 f.p.s. and a wadcutter at
770 f.p.s. from a 6” barrel. Keith
said, “of the .32s only the Smith & Wesson Long and the .32-20 are worthy
of mention.” Of the S&W Long Keith said, “The #313445 with 4 grains of
Unique is a wonderful small game cartridge… it works nicely with solid bullets
on small game, but lacks killing power on anything larger.”
The Ideal
Handbook No. 34 (1943) recommended
either the standard round nosed bullet
#313226 or the flat-nosed 100-grain Colt Special bullet #31357 with 2.5 grains
of Bullseye for 707 f.p.s. from the 3” pocket gun. The 1964 Gun Digest describes the .32 Long
as the “most popular of .32s for revolvers… a good small game cartridge… as
accurate as the .38 Special, but less versatile.”
Smith & Wesson K-32 Scaled to Rabbit Size PPC Gun” created by salvaging worn-out .38 Special Model
15, fitting gunshow-find K32 cylinder, and
slab-siding muzzle end of a pull-off,
slow-twist .308 rifle barrel, with crane ball lockup...
Today’s
factory ammunition for the .32 S&W Long is listed as 705 f.p.s. with a
98-gr. lead bullet, round-nosed. SAAMI
pressures today are kept under 12,000 cup in deference to the many old Colt
Pocket Positive and S&W Eye-frame revolvers in which cylinders weren’t
heat-treated, and which are still around.
Stronger post-war revolvers such as the Smith & Wesson Models 30 and
31, and steel Colt D frames (the same size as used for the .38 Special) can
safely handle pressures approximating the .38 Special +P enabling velocities of
around 900 f.p.s. with 85 grain jacketed or 100 grain lead bullets.
I reload for
several .32 S&W Long revolvers, enjoy shooting them, and use them for the
same purposes that “normal people” would use a .22 rim fire for. If you buy your powder and primers in
quantity at discount and enjoy bullet casting and reloading for their own sake,
shooting these center-fire popguns costs no more than a .22. That can of Bullseye powder which now costs
$20, will load 2800 rounds at 2.5 grains per pop.
Ruger Single Six in .32 H&R Magnum
The Ruger
Single Six .32 H&R Magnum is still my favorite trail gun, but since I wrote
a Gun Digest article about it some years
ago, I have obtained several small frame S&W .32 revolvers, which seem
ideal for the recreational “kit gun” role.
I shoot mostly .32 S&W Longs in my Ruger Single Six to simplify
ammunition supply. In about 30 years of
playing with the .32s I feel it is a much more effective small game load than
the .22 LR, especially since I now have a handy single shot rifle too.
Ed’s Single Shot 32 Rifle & Ruger Single Six Combo…
In fixed
sight guns zero is affected more by bullet weight than velocity. Lighter
bullets shoot low, and heavier bullets shoot high. Most fixed sight .32 Long revolvers shoot
close to point of aim at practical small game ranges from 50 feet to about 25
yards with 85 to 100 grain bullets. The
heavier 115-120 grain .32-20 slugs shoot about 3” high at 25 yards, enable a 6
o’clock hold at fifty yards and shoot “on” to point of aim at 100 yards.
In the
pre-1957 S&W revolvers which don’t have the model number stamped in the
yoke cut, don’t attempt to load over 850 f.p.s. with a 98-grain lead
bullet. This provides a useful, but
modest improvement in performance over the factory loads, and has ample
penetration for small game. I prefer the
Saeco #325 98-gr. SWC for hunting because it has the largest meplat to best let
the air out of bunny rabbits. But for
pure recreation the Meister 94-grain .312" LFNs
are so cheap, that it hardly pays to cast just for practice.
The Meister
is a dead ringer in shape for the factory flat-nosed bullets once loaded in the
.32 Colt New Police. It has a long ogival nose compared to the Saeco #325’s short SWC and
leaves more airspace in the case, when crimped in the crimp groove. Therefore,
it takes about ½ grain more Bullseye powder with the Meister to reach the same
velocity obtained with the Saeco #325 seated deeper in its crimp groove. For older S&W I frames good loads are 2 grains of Bullseye with the
Saeco #325 and 2.4 grains with the Meister.
For longer
range plinking I use the heavier 120-gr. Saeco #322 LFN .32-20 bullet. I do not use this bullet in the older S&W
Eye frames. In the Ruger Single Six and modern post-war .32s, I load 2 grains of Bullseye and seat the
bullet out, crimping it in the lubricating groove. Its 1.35” cartridge length protrudes out the
front of older Eye frame cylinders, preventing you from doing something
stupid. It gives about
720 f.p.s. from a 4-inch revolver and is nearly silent at 850 f.p.s.
from my 26” H&R custom rook rifle.
This overall cartridge length, the same as .32 H&R Magnum
ammunition, works fine in
S&W J and K frames, as well as the Ruger Single Six. It also feeds from the Marlin 1894 Cowboy,
which steadfastly refuses to feed factory .32 Longs.
Somewhat
heavier field loads are useable in the stronger S&W Models 30 or 31,
postwar Colt D-frames. A charge of 2.5
grains of Bullseye with the Saeco #325 or 3 grains with either the Meister
94-grain LFN, or Hornady
85-gr. XTP provide about 900 f.p.s. and shoot flatter to 50 yards or more. This is my standard working load in my Ruger
Single Six, being just below .32 H&R Magnum levels.
H&R
Bulldog 32…
Cylinder
gaps vary in old revolvers and have a dramatic effect upon velocities
obtained. The data in the accompanying
table compare results from a pre-war 4-1/2 inch barrel S&W I-frame .32 Hand
Ejector with 0.010” cylinder gap barrel, compared to a 1970s production
four-inch barrel J-frame Model 31 with 0.006” cylinder gap and a Ruger
Single-Six 4-5/8” .32 H&R Magnum.
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How the .32s
Did |
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Average
of five hand-held 6-shot groups off sandbags at 25 yards |
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Revolver |
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Factory Loads |
HL 2.5.Bullseye |
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Row Mean-Gun |
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WW98LRN |
Fiocchi WC |
94Meister |
105LBTFN |
RANK |
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S&W M31-3" |
2.94 |
3.28 |
2.6 |
2.56 |
2.84 |
5 |
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S&W M31-4" |
2.46 |
2.78 |
2.38 |
2.15 |
2.44 |
3 |
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Colt Police-Pos-4" |
2.68 |
2.1 |
2.69 |
2.19 |
2.41 |
2 |
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S&W HandEjector-4-1/4" |
2.58 |
2.83 |
2.49 |
1.89 |
2.45 |
4 |
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Colt Officers Target - 6" |
1.68 |
1.77 |
1.81 |
1.63 |
1.72 |
1 |
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Col. Mean - Ammo |
2.47 |
2.55 |
2.39 |
2.08 |
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RANK |
3 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
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