Target Sports

SPORTS STARS: 130 YEARS OLD

Created on 14th May 2009

It's been used in the Wild West, the American Police force and in Cowboy Action Shooting competitions. LAURIE HOLLAND investigates the .32 S&W

A HODGDON Powder Company press release about handloading data for the .327 Federal Magnum pointed me towards this month's subject: the .32 Smith & Wesson and its successors. Enquiries revealed the ‘327' to be a misnamed .32-calibre revolver cartridge - a direct descendant of the 130 year old .32 S&W.

With .32s seeing little use here pre-pistol ban, you may be surprised to learn that they were once phenomenally popular in America and continental Europe. During the late 19th and early 20th century use was widespread, involving both rimfire and centrefire versions, chambered in Derringers and small, hinged five-shot revolvers. The small size and low power of these early black powder .32 cartridges made few demands on either firearm or user; they were small, light, easily carried in a coat pocket and very affordable. Hundreds of thousands found their way to the Wild West, but the urban middle classes on both sides of the Atlantic also carried them for protection against street robbers. Mind you, easy use and effectiveness are very different matters; Col. Jeff Cooper allegedly remarked that .25 or .32 handguns are very dangerous, as anyone shot with one might resort to violence!

Early days

The .32 S&W was introduced in 1878 and is still produced by Magtech, Winchester and Remington in a single 85gn lead bullet load at 680fps. This rimmed straight-wall cartridge has a 0.61" long case that originally held 9gn of black powder. S&W subsequently upgraded it to the .32 S&W Long form with, appropriately enough, a longer (0.93") case and COAL (1.27") to hold 13gn of black powder and give a 98gn bullet 780fps. This cartridge was designed for S&W's .44 Hand Ejector First Model - a solid-frame revolver easily strong enough to handle its 12,000 CUP pressures. Colt introduced a copy called the .32 Colt New Police for its new small-frame revolver. The two companies competed fiercely for American police department sales with their .32s and .38s.

The Long was never as popular as its predecessor in Europe, but Fiocchi and Sellier & Bellot still produce it alongside the American companies. American police forces were big users before World War Two and .32 revolvers survived for a few more years in plainclothes and ‘back-up gun' law-enforcement roles; their small size and weight remained attractive. However, the wide scale introduction of new, compact semi-autos from the 1980s resulted in further decline.

Federal Magnums

Federal attempted to revive the format in 1983 with the .32 H&R Magnum produced in conjunction with revolver manufacturer Harrington & Richardson. The case and COAL were again lengthened, this time by 1/10", with the MAP nearly doubled to 21,000psi. Terminal performance was allegedly improved by the adoption of shiny 85gn jacketed, expanding bullets, but the claimed MVs were not achieved in practice. Sales were modest but have recently seen a minor revival due to American ‘Cowboy Action Shooting' competitions, as light lead bullet loads produce less recoil than the .38 Special.

Another quarter century on and Federal is trying again, though doing the job properly now with Sturm-Ruger. The .327 Federal Magnum is chambered in the Ruger SP101 revolver targeted at the American plainclothes police and civilian self-defence markets, as well as small-game pistol shooters. The small case-head and body diameter allow a six-shot facility in compact revolvers that are limited to five in .38/.357, with superiority claimed over the .38 Special in terms of terminal performance and penetration - but with less recoil. MVs are 1,300fps for a 115gn JHP, 1,400 for a 100gn JSP, and 1,330 for an 85gn JHP. These were achieved by adding another 1/10" to the case and COAL, filling the enlarged combustion space with modern slow-burning powders and increasing MAP to 45,000psi with heavier case construction. .327 calibre revolvers accept the three older, shorter, less powerful cartridges too, and all ‘family members' use 0.312" diameter bullets, irrespective of their name.

Accurate

.32 S&W cartridges proved accurate in smokeless form in the early solid-frame Colt and S&W revolvers, and soon built up a target shooting following. However, it was well after World War Two when the cartridge finally achieved its full potential in the form of international ISU centrefire competition. This saw a development of the .32 S&W Long with a lead wadcutter bullet seated flush in the case over tiny (2gn or less) loads of fast-burning powder, fired from highly-developed semi-auto target pistols such as the Walther GSP. As well as providing superb accuracy, they produce minimal recoil for rapid fire events.

Whether the latest incarnation revives interest in the calibre remains to be seen. You might think this academic in our revolver-less country but, if successful, Marlin will probably adopt the cartridge for its Model 1894 lever-guns. With superb accuracy allied to light recoil, this could prove an attractive and effective
gallery rifle combination.

SPORTS STARS: 130 YEARS OLD

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SPORTS STARS: 130 YEARS OLD

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