Enzo_Guy
Active Member
I am having trouble finding .32 S&W Long locally, but I have boxes of .32ACP all over the place. The .32ACP is a semi-rimmed cartridge and fits the cylinder, but since they are FMJ rounds I worry about putting them down the barrel of my old Police Positive.
The pressure is an interesting discussion, as even though there is a max pressure for the .32 S&W Long casings, a lot of old reloading data predating the .32 H&R Mag shows guys hot rodding the .32 S&W Long past .32ACP velocities (over 1000fps) and shooting them in the old Smiths and Colts (the beefy full-frame .38 models that were chambered down to .32). These velocities would put the casing into .32 H&R territory, which operates at a similar pressure to .32ACP. So, as long as the rim and headspacing are there, couldn't the gun theoretically handle these pressures if the old reloaders that were really dialing up the heat in the .32 S&W Long were doing it safely?
The pressure is an interesting discussion, as even though there is a max pressure for the .32 S&W Long casings, a lot of old reloading data predating the .32 H&R Mag shows guys hot rodding the .32 S&W Long past .32ACP velocities (over 1000fps) and shooting them in the old Smiths and Colts (the beefy full-frame .38 models that were chambered down to .32). These velocities would put the casing into .32 H&R territory, which operates at a similar pressure to .32ACP. So, as long as the rim and headspacing are there, couldn't the gun theoretically handle these pressures if the old reloaders that were really dialing up the heat in the .32 S&W Long were doing it safely?