Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 32 caliber Pic and Discussion Thread

I have a couple of 32 H&R and wanted a small 327…..because that’s me.

Well j frames are pricey and are 6 shot H&R……. Sooo

In the spring when I get to Wyoming I’ll be redoing a 38 special to 327……..5 shot.

If it works I’ll be doing others. Too hard to find 327 and I like smiths…….but a k frame in 327 would be right
4” …….yeah maybe 6”

You guys are a bunch of damned enablers.

At my age I have, quite literally, a lifetime supply of .38 Special components - brass, primers, suitable powders, even a few thousand store bought cast bullets and enough alloy to make thousands more, plus six nice S&W and Colt revolvers specifically chambered as such (not counting the .357 Magnums).


So why the hell do I have three .32 H&R Magnum Ruger Single Sixes on my gunbroker watchlist?!

Start bidding!

I have a 32S&W hand eject 5th change from 1914 the best I can tell... shoots great but smaller in my hand... and the sights are small in comparison to modern... great gun and shoots well...

The 32's are more fun than the 38's, and I like 38's.

Less powder, less lead and the wee ones can be 357's will less racket and recoil.

I mean, WHAT recoil?

Those are just plain amazing pieces of craftmanship in a handy package.

I've got one just like. Cool old pieces.

AN FYI guys..

I just put up 800 rds of 32 H&R wadcutters in the Campfire classifieds!







So much fun and so little recoil!

I will admit that I may carry BOTH my J Frame 442 .38 and the Ruger LCR .32 around in my old Pendleton wool jacket a fair bit this last fall and this winter. They just balance out my pockets so well!

This may be one of the most enjoyable and informational threads I've read on the fire in a LONG time. Thanks to all of you for sharing your experience and knowledge. I'll post photos of my 32's later today.

Just cooking up some +p 32 H&R test loads this morning. I found a good deal on 100gr XTPs last week, so I bought a bunch to play with.

They just arrived yesterday, so now it's go time 😁

Every time you through up these pics of these little revolvers I want one more and more. So, since you're the responsible party enabling me on my future gun purchase, which would you choose of the two pocket pistols regardless of cartridge (Smith vs Ruger) if you were to pic just one?

SBTCO,

That is an excellent question.

BOTH are well built guns. I used my S&W 442 .38 very heavily for a long time. I put in excess of 5K rounds through it over the course of my LE career. Then after my career my shooting of the gun slowed down considerably until I decided to get into the ammo production business. Now I shoot it semi frequently. It has taken me a good bit of time, but I think I have finally put another 1K through it, so I should be somewhere just north of 6K rounds now. Over that time, the only part breakage has been the firing pin, which after a call to S&W, they sent me out the part and I replaced it. The gun has held up very well.

The Ruger LCR .327 is new. I have not fired anywhere close to a fraction of the rounds through it. I will say that the trigger is surprisingly decent for an out of the box gun of this size. The gun itself is a little larger than the J Frame. It does not fit in my pants pocket like my Centennial J Frame will, but it fits in coat pockets fine.


In reference to cartridges, the .32 H&R has some real advantages that were discussed up thread. 6 rounds versus 5 and very, very light recoil. It really is like shooting a magnum rimfire, except it does not have the terrible trigger that rimfire pocket guns typically have.

A great choice would be a S&W .32 J Frame. I realize that they are a bit hard to come by at the moment, but such things can change. With the popularity of the .32 on the rise, don't be surprised if that does.

Currently, there is a LOT more .38 ammo on the market than .32, but I would expect that you will see more and more manufacturers begin to support the .32 H&R as well as .327 in the near future as well.

As far as choosing just one, regardless of cartridge, I would go with the Smith and Wesson. It is just a little bit smaller, and the 442/642 series carries in a front pants pocket extremely well. Regardless of which cartridge you choose, it is still an excellent gun a,d very hard to beat. I know mine has given more than 2 decades of faithful service, and is still my "always" gun.

I may discuss carrying my Glock 22 or G17 as my carry gun of the day, but rest assured, there is a little 442 in my front left pocket that has 5 full wadcutters always at the ready. I can appear to be standing casually, with my hand in my pocket, when in fact I have my hand on my gun, with a full firing grip. That little element of surprise cannot be understated.

Speaking of S&W J frame .32's...

Sitting at $850 as this is posted with 8 days left to go.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1027824727

That would be one Heck of a Jackrabbit and Grouse gun.

Thanks for the info. Mackay. That helps a bunch and more or less where I was headed. I've got an old model 36 and had considered converting it to a bobbed hammer but the gun would still not have a plus P rating so I should just keep it as is and get a 442.
Enabling accomplished.

Glad to help!

Just ran through the last of my .32 H&R components.

Already sold a good bit, but now have 800 rds available to ship.

Fun little things for sure. Between these and the .38 Short Colts, you can have a whole lot of low recoil fun!

Friends,

For you .32 fans, I just put up 2500 more wadcutters on the website. Due to the announcement of the Ultimate Carry J Frame, the last batch got sold out quick, so I just knocked out another run. I doubt they will last, but I will be making more this week as time allows.

From what I understand, the .32s have been the overwhelming favorite between the .32 and .38 as far as orders go for the new J Frames.

You should already be planning on 2-4x capacity just on the expected popularity of the the recently announced .32 J frames. If they do go through with the K frame release (Lord willing) Katy bar the door!

There may be some new models coming.

I am not at liberty to discuss publicly or privately what they are (please don't PM me about it, as I have given my word not to discuss any projects).

I can say that revolver shooters should be quite happy about the direction things are heading.

I’ve always believed the 32 H&R was the ideal 32 revolver round. Fantastic!