Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 32 H&R magnum vs .380ACP

I just stumbled into an air weight J frame in 32 HR Magnum. Cartridges are tough to find but was wondering how it compared to a .380 with similar bullets? Was thinking about using it as a CCW instead of my Kahr cw380.

I would and do - A S&W 432 PD, hammerless Air weight, snub nose, 32 H&R Magnum.

Fun to shoot and accurate - more so than any .380 pistol I've owned.

<> http://www.gunblast.com/WBell_SW32s.htm. <>

Been toting this one for some time now, bobbed hammer 431PD.



Lots lighter than my Colt MKIV Series 80 Government .380.

Cartridges are not that tough to find. Sportsman's Warehouse had a whole stack of .32 mag ammo when I was in there Friday night.

It's a good cartridge ... one that has a lot more in its favor than the way the market treated it would suggest.

My interest in it is more for hunting, though. One of my dream guns is a S&W 16-4 with an 8-3/8" barrel. "Back in the day" I shot a 9-1/2" barreled Single Six fitted with a Leupold 2X in a Leupold mount for a Ruger Blackhawk that'd been worked over by a gunsmith / machinist to fit. Fun. Useful.

I shoot and load for both the .32 H&R and .380. I'd judge them as "equivalent" in recoil, muzzle blast, and stopping power. For most folks, a reliable revolver beats a semi-auto any day for self-defense for many reasons.

+1

You can also use .32 S&W Long if you can't find Magnum. Buffalo Bore has an excellent self-defense load in this caliber.

apparently someone did a trigger job on it. I need to fire the thing and see if it works. When I load it and tip it up and down the cartridge under the firing pin moves in and out almost 1/32 of an inch. Lot of cartridge movement. Hope its not a pig in a poke.

Cylinder end shake can be easily repaired in about 5 minutes, so that would not be a deal breaker for me if everything else is cool.

thanks,gap is between the cartridge head and the frame, I am not sure how to repair that if needed.

Kinda went the same way, I went to a ruger LCR in 327, rather than an auto. Nothing wrong with the autos, but I really like the wheel guns.

The .32 H&R tends to penetrate very well for a small cartridge. I have yet to encounter a factory load JHP that will reliably expand out of a snub nosed revolver, which is why I carry cast lead flat points; Federal & Buffalo Bore have such loads.

I have a .380 and a .32 H&R (S&W 431 like T-LEE's), and my 431 finds it's way into my pocket 9 times out of 10 when choosing between the two.

My 431 has been an excellent little revolver. DA trigger is smooth, and the revolver has been perfectly reliable for the past 15 years as that's how long I've been carrying it.

Choosing between the two cartridges though, honestly it's really about a draw IMO. Both are minimal cartridges suitable for a pocket gun, so to my mind I would go with the GUN you prefer rather than sweating the differences between the two cartridges.

.327 is kinda "sporty" in such a small/light revolver. Even the .32 H&R is not what I'd call enjoyable to shoot.

I don't think it is much more than a 38 plus, It's snappy, but with a small gun I think they all are. I have not spent much time shooting, but I didn't think it was take bad.

...same here. I was shooting my .327 LCR last week with some Federal .327 Hydra-Shok and some .32 H&R 85 grain Federal HPs and didn't find the recoil of either objectionable.




A cylinder of each at 12 yards made a groups smaller than the palm of my hand...




As to the original post about which is better .32 H&R or .380...to me about the same but I prefer to carry a .380 as it is much slimmer and to me easier to shoot...

Bob

Are those pictures of your cat? LOL

I found a box of 32 longs and will shoot them today to see how the gun does.