The Forgotten .32 Smith and Wesson “Short”,Originally designed in 1878 for the Smith and

The Forgotten .32 Smith and Wesson “Short”,Originally designed in 1878 for the Smith and Wesson Model 1 ½, the .32 S&W “short” would become the most popular pistol cartridge in the late 19th century and early 20th century.  Essentially is was the 9mm of its day and thousands upon thousands of pistols were produced chambered for it.  They were most common in small pocket revolvers, as well as the numerous knockoff models of the Smith and Wesson topbreak revolver.  The most common were top break and pocket pistols produced by the firm Iver Johnson and Harrington & Richardson, both of whom mass produced lower quality, cheap revolvers for the public.  While cheap and of lesser quality, there are still many thousands that exist and are still in functional condition.  I myself own a Harrington & Richardson Young American Hammerless Pocket Revolver very similar to the pistol shown at the lower right.Officially the cartridge is called the .32 S&W, however it is often dubbed the .32 S&W “short” to prevent confusion with a similar cartridge called the .32 S&W Long.  The .32 S&W has similar in dimensions to the modern .32ACP, only with a rimmed cartridge and a few millimeters shorter.  However, that’s where all similarities end.  When firing both an 85 grain or 95 grain bullets, the .32 S&W can only manage a muzzle velocity of 705 ft/s and around 93-115 ft lbs of force.  This is incredibly anemic compared to the .32 ACP, which at its worst can achieve velocities that are 300ft/s greater than the .32 S&W.  Essentially it is a .22 with a little bit of extra lead.  In fact when I fire my .32 S&W pocket revolver it makes a snap that is only slightly louder and higher pitched than a .22 LR from a pistol.  Accuracy is also unimpressive, not that the pistols which fired were especially accurate.  In essence it was a cheap round produced for a cheap revolver, in an age when cheap revolvers were king.Despite its flaws, the .32 S&W would become the number one self defense cartridge in the United States around the turn of the century.  It was a common caliber used by citizens and criminals, cops and robbers.  It even had the dark notoriety of being the caliber used by Leon Czolgosz to assassinate President William McKinley in 1901.  By the 1920’s and 1930’s the popularity of the .32 S&W began to fade.  Firstly, new and better cartridges were developed for small revolvers such as the .32 S&W Long and the .38 Special used in popular snubnosed revolvers.  Secondly, new calibers were developed for semi-automatic pistols which greatly outperformed the .32 S&W, the .32 ACP and the .380 ACP for example.Today the .32 S&W is an endangered cartridge.  There are still many thousands of old pocket pistols and top break revolvers out there that are chambered for it.  As a result there are some companies that still produce it.  However it can be hard to find outside of a gunshow or internet vendor.  As the supply of older revolvers dries up, its only a matter of time before the .32 S&W goes extinct. -- source link

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