I'm on a Film Noir kick these days, which has been great for spying .32s on screen (as seen in my earlier posts). In the classic Bogie and Becall film "The Big Sleep," Carmen Sternwood confronts Joe Brody with an Iver Johnson .32 revolver. Super cool to see.
(As a bonus, Joe Brody's own pistol is a Colt 1903 .32 ACP.)
WGW submission...
picked up this s&w hand ejector recently in 32-20 or 32 WCF
decent finish left but has a couple spots on it. to be expected for its age .
5 screw model, square butt, longer barrel in 32-20. grips look original and came with a nice old holster with interesting tooling. working on some loads for it but nothing to post yet
if you have any good 32-20 loads please share
.32acp, .32 S&W, .32 S&W Lomg, .32 H&R Mag, .327 Federal Mag.
S&W 32 safety hammerless
1st model
3 inch barrel
5 shot
"NEW DEPARTURE"
got this one out to make sure it worked and test some new loads. I believe this gun is a first model. produced between 1888-1902. also known as "the new departure". the grip safety works as intended and rounds fired and ejected smoothly and correctly.
loads consisted of 78 gn Missouri cast bullet. new starline brass, federal 100 primer. and a small dose of bullseye powder.
these loads are on the extreme low of the power scale and more of a novelty these days. point of impact was good and the double action trigger was surprisingly good. 10 yard steel plates were quite easy. the fires casings ejected smoothly and completely using the automatic ejecting top break action. the latch on this top break differs from other in collection in that you push the button down to open compared to the later models that you lift up on the latch to open like a schofield style normally with your thumb. the frame and grip on this 5 shot revolver is very small and has a great pocket feel. the finish on this gun is very good for its age and most of the imperfections in the photos are oil smears
of you ever get a chance to give one a try, don't hesitate to experience one of the finest and innovative pocket pistols of its day..
Just watched the fantastic Paul Newman neo-noir film "Harper." Arthur Hill's character Albert Graves carries a S&W Model 30 throughout. Love seeing classic .32s in film.
He has a Smith&Wesson .32 at number 4 on this list, and there's a nice assessment about the advantage of .32 revolvers.
* Video is cued up to the part of the vid where he talks about .32 revolvers.
I consider myself to be relatively knowledgeable regarding Smith’s J-frames, but I want something that I don’t think has ever been made as a production run by Smith… a humpback/Bodyguard J-frame in .32 Long or H&R Magnum.
Am I stuck buying a beater M49/649 and replacing the cylinder and barrel if I want one badly enough, or did Smith actually make something along these lines ?
S&W 432UC with Hamre AFR grips. High Desert 32H&R wadcutters in the gun, High Desert 32H&R 100gr XTPs in a speed strip.
It’s a light, low-effort gun to carry while still being very capable. The sights are quick to acquire and easy to see. The grips alleviate the J-frame’s cramped trigger reach. The wadcutters’ recoil is very manageable, and they shoot like friggin’ laser beams. All of this makes for a gun that punches well above its weight.
Lowly .32 true believers, we got Chris Baker's imprimatur. I posted about this sub over on r/TheOneTrueCaliber, and Chris responded. (Sure, it's a bit of a left-handed compliment, but I'll take it.)
Brought back from WW2 by my father-in-law without a firing pin. I had one installed and it is a tack driver.
1923 via serial number. Inherited some old boxes of ammo, but she shoots my reloads just fine.
Chris Baker offers his insights on the enduring utility of .32 caliber, including the .32 S&W Long:
I'm a big 32acp fan, but I have to say that I shoot a ton of 32 s&w long as well. It's just a really pleasant round and I have a decent number of guns that can shoot it. Looking forward to seeing more content here