Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Would like to discuss .32 S&W Long, shorts, 32 H&R, etc.

I have Ruger 32 H&R's in both a Bisley as well as the standard grip frame (4 5/8", 6 1/2"). That said my favorite is this Smith.

Oh man, I like that a lot. Very nice!

I'm officially drooling. Wow. Nice.

I had a lowly Rossi .32 long I got for cheap.
I traded it off, wish I had it back.

I like the S&W 16-4 .32 H&R. I am thinking about having it bored out to .327 Federal but not sure yet

That would look so cool with the S&W classic panel grips and a Tyler T-grip...

Once upon a time I would have, today I wouldn't. The .327 is kinda rude in the muzzle blast department. It is very nearly a .30 Carbine with a rim, similar pressure. Think of the reputation of the 7-1/2 barreled blackhaw in .30 C, then think about whether you want to do that to your 4" S&W. I'd stay with .32 mag. IMHO it's the best of the .32 handgun cartridges.

I agree, I wouldn't mess up a 16-4.


You'd be farther ahead in the pocketbook by getting a Ruger GP in 327 and having 32 HR 16 as well.

Thanks, I forgot about that aspect. I had a .327 Single Seven and they are loud, not as bad as a .256 Win Mag but unpleasant. It will be mostly shooting cast bullets so no real advantage with the .327

Found a picture of my pre-war S&W Regulation Police, with some Buffalo Bore .32 S&W Long rounds next to it.



Hard to tell, but it's actually a tiny gun. It's like they took the M&P .38 (already a convenient sized revolver) and shrunk it down by half.

Crazy prices, nobody wanted them and now they’re $2000. My buddy at Carolina Sportsman in Rock Hill said Ellett Bros had several in stock. I love J frames and don’t recall why I passed it up.

I can’t say how many odd S&W’s I passed up, poor sellers that became collector items.

A 327 does not have to be extremely loud. load it to less than 1000 fps with Titegroup, Universal, HS-6, Unique, etc and it is as pleasant to shoot as any revolver. And you still have the potential to pump up the noise with a case full of H110.

Of course, you can accomplish the same thing by shooting 32 Auto, 32 Smith, or 32 H&R in the 327 cylinder.

Good point.

Aside from having no need for the extra power the 327 offers I would never rechamber a 16 strictly due to their collectible status.

If I HAD to have a 327 K frame and I had a 16 I would scrounge up a K22 cylinder and rechamber it so it could stay original.

One thing I will note here for anyone interested; I have a Ruger Single-Seven that I load for (.327). When loading some 115 grain lead bullets, they exceeded the length of the single-7's cylinder. Luckily I own a .327 Blackhawk, and relegated those long-nosed 115 grainers to shoot from it. FWIW

I shoot many 120s in the single seven. Accurate has a mold for 120s with the crimp groove moved forward to fit perfectly in the 327 cylinder.

The Sp101 and the LCR each have longer cylinders.

Yeah, that 631 Kit Gun was one of what we used to call Smith's "Gun Of The Week". They were on fire in the late '80s-early '90s with those limited run odd-ball models. I could have bought a new one back then for less than $400.

I've owned a Ruger Bisley Single Six in .32 H&R for about 35 years and an SP101 4" for at least 10 years. I prefer 120 grain cast semi-wadcutters in front of about 8 grains of 2400. They both are very accurate using this load. It came from a late 1970s or early 1980s Ross Seyfried Shooting Times article.

I gave $800 for mine (boxed) a few years ago. While I was handling it there was an older man behind me peeking over my shoulder. When I advised that I would buy the gun he mosied on. I completed the paperwork and walked it out to my car. Once I started my car there was a knock on my window. It was the same guy. I rolled down my window and said, "yes"? He asked if I knew what I bought. "Yep". He said he saw it the day before and came back to buy it. Timing on stuff like this is everything.

I have both but it currently wears these Hogue's. About 90% of my Smith's original grips are carefully stored.