OT - Is a .32 S&W the same as a .32 Special?

[FWiedner]

My Dad has been complaining for years that he can't find a ".32 Special".

He used to have a little snubby in .32 Special that I remember using while plinking with him years ago, and to give credit where it is due, he was deadly accutate with it. He disposed of that snubby for one reason or another, and he has been grousing about it ever since.

I see where the Ruger SP101 in .327 Federal can chamber and fire the .32 S&W, .32 S&W Long, .32 H&R, and .327 Federal Magnum cartridges.

My problem is that I don't know what the proper name for a .32 "Special" is, or even if that is the proper name.

Is a .32 Special the same cartridge as a .32 S&W?

Thanks for your help.

[Terry Murbach]

THERE IS NO " 32 SPECIAL " PISTOLA CARTRIDGE.
THERE IS A 32 SPECIAL RIFLE CARTRIDGE, SORT OF A 30-30 NECK UP TO TAKE .321" BULLETS WITH DELUSIONS OF GRANDUER.

[FWiedner]

Hmmm...

Paco mentions a .32 Special in this article: http://www.gunblast.com/Paco_Taurus84.htm, without going into details on that specific cartridge.

You tellin' me that he made it up?

There's also this article that makes me think that maybe I'm looking for the .32 S&W Long. http://www.gunblast.com/Cumpston_32Colt.htm.

[Cast Bullet Hunter]

Hmmm...

Paco mentions a .32 Special in this article: http://www.gunblast.com/Paco_Taurus84.htm, without going into details on that specific cartridge.

You tellin' me that he made it up?

There's also this article that makes me think that maybe I'm looking for the .32 S&W Long. http://www.gunblast.com/Cumpston_32Colt.htm.

He didn't "make it up", but likely he experienced what is frequently referred to as a "Brain cramp". He was probably thinking of .38 Special when he typed that and didn't notice. I'll bet many called his attention to the error when it was published, though.

As Terry said, there is no such thing as a .32 Special revolver cartridge, although there are those who believe the .32 S&W Long should have been called the .32 Special instead of what it was. I suspect that since there was alrady a rifle cartridge by that name they avoided the confusion this would have caused.

Your dad's gun could have been chambered in several different cartridges. If you could determine the make and aproximate age of the gun (just if it was made in the 20th century is close enough) we could make an educated guess as to which cartridge it would have been. If the gun was double-action with a swing out cylinder the greatest likelyhood is it was either a .32 S&W Long/Colt New Police (same cartridge except the S&W is round-nose and the Colt a flat-point bullet) or a .32-20. All the other probable suspects were obsolete by the time the modern type revolvers were introduced.

The other area of confusion is caused by many people still referring to revolvers in .38 Special as "Police Specials" for some reason. This has never been correct but is still commonly heard. The same would be likely to refer to any gun that they think would be used by police by this same term, regardless of caliber.

[Ysabel Kid]

I have heard .32 S&W longs referred to as ".32 Specials", as noted above, due to use in some early police double-action revolvers. Any chance your father retained some of the original paperwork that might include a specific model number?

[FWiedner]

Not much chance he saved any paperwork, but I do recall that it was a S&W revolver.

[jdad]

Like Terry said, the 32-20 is a 30 caliber 22mag. Neck it down and you have the 25-20, and neck that down and you end up with the 218 Bee.

I have seen S&W Model 1903's marked 32 Winchester, which is the 32-20 cartridge.

[6pt-sika]

To add more to your problem ;

32 S&W

32 S&W Long

32 Colt New Police

32 Colt

32 Long Colt

32 H&R MAG

327 Federal

At the moment I load for them ALL !

In my little 327 Federal I can shoot the 32 S&W , 32 S&W Long , 32 Colt New Police , 32 H&R MAG and the 327 Federal .

The 32 Colt and 32 Long Colt are no where near the same thing , they use heel bullets for the most part and look like swollen 22 rimfires . They made revolvers and Marlin levers for the 32 Colt and 32 Long Colt . Matter of fact I have two such rifles now ! They are what I refer to as my "squirrel rifles".

The normal 32 Special as we would refer to it now is in reality the "32 WInchester Special", which then leads you to the 32-20 Winchester Center Fire and the 32-40 WCF or Ballard depending on whom you may be talking with !

Now back to the 32 S&W Long and the 32 Colt New Police . Both rounds were loaded by WInchester and Remington but they were for all intents and purposes the same thing and very much interchangeable .

[6pt-sika]

Like Terry said, the 32-20 is a 30 caliber 22mag. Neck it down and you have the 25-20, and neck that down and you end up with the 218 Bee.

The Jordan buck which was the #1 Typical Whitetail until a few years ago was killed with a 25-20

Depending on how one loads a 32-20 I think there is a place and time for them to be used on deer in moderation ! Meaning within 50 yards and looking for a very good shot !
Matter of fact not to long ago I saw some loading info from Brian Pierce for using the Lyman 311316GC bullet that got me to thinking of giving it a try one day .

[FWiedner]

Not much chance he saved any paperwork, but I do recall that it was a S&W revolver.

Back-pedaling here...

It might have been one of those little Colt Detective Specials. Since I can't find a snubby S&W that was chambered in .32 New Police...

[jdad]

Like Terry said, the 32-20 is a 30 caliber 22mag. Neck it down and you have the 25-20, and neck that down and you end up with the 218 Bee.

The Jordan buck which was the #1 Typical Whitetail until a few years ago was killed with a 25-20

Depending on how one loads a 32-20 I think there is a place and time for them to be used on deer in moderation ! Meaning within 50 yards and looking for a very good shot !
Matter of fact not to long ago I saw some loading info from Brian Pierce for using the Lyman 311316GC bullet that got me to thinking of giving it a try one day .

IIRC it took 4 .25cal pills, to drop that monster buck.

[Hobie]

It has always interested me that S&W's .32 from the start won the .32 cal cartridge popularity contest, Colt's falling by the wayside. However, Colt tried to make marketing hoopla by calling their flatpointed version of the .32 S&W Long the .32 Colt New Police. Put that in a Detective Special and the non-gunny suddenly has a .32 Special. Off-hand I don't think the DSs were chambered in .32 Colt (not the NP) but I could be wrong.

On the other hand, Colt's .38 cartridge won that one. It was eventually lengthened to the .38 S&W Special , then the .357 Mag and then the .357 Max.

The SP101 feels very similar to the DS and chambered in .327 Fed would be a great gun for your dad. It would handle the .32 Auto, .32 S&W, .32 S&W Long, .32 H&R and .327 Federal. Yes, .32 Auto as this is a semi-rimmed case. Interesting, huh?

[Andrew]

Allright. You guys have offically squelched my brain.

[6pt-sika]

Like Terry said, the 32-20 is a 30 caliber 22mag. Neck it down and you have the 25-20, and neck that down and you end up with the 218 Bee.

The Jordan buck which was the #1 Typical Whitetail until a few years ago was killed with a 25-20

Depending on how one loads a 32-20 I think there is a place and time for them to be used on deer in moderation ! Meaning within 50 yards and looking for a very good shot !
Matter of fact not to long ago I saw some loading info from Brian Pierce for using the Lyman 311316GC bullet that got me to thinking of giving it a try one day .

IIRC it took 4 .25cal pills, to drop that monster buck.

You are probably correct on the number of shots , but for some reason I was thinking the number was closer to a dozen LOL's .

As for the 32-20 , I had not considered it a reliable deer round until I read a article Brian Pearce had in Handloader a couple issues ago . Anyway with the 311316 and H110 it is supposed to be about 1800 FPS thru a 22" barrel . I think for 50 yards or less and a very cautiouse shot it should do the job .

Now what really amazed me was an article he wrote on the 32 H&R MAG back a couple years ago . It was for the more recent run of Ruger Single Six's in Vaquero style . But he had a load in there using the 311316 and H110 that should thru the 20" barrel of my 1894CB in 32 MAG be about 1650 FPS again within 50 yards I think it might do the job also as long as one was particuler about the shot they took !

[stretch]

5 different cartridges in one gun 6pt?!

That's gotta be a record of some sort.

A different caliber in each chamber!