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FlyFish · June 13, 2010, 11:42 AM

Bill - the .32 S&W Long, like the .38 Special, .45 Colt and some other cartridges, began life as a black powder cartridge and was later loaded with smokeless. Factory ammo is still reasonably widely available, in part because of its popularity as a low-recoil centerfire round for high-end bullseye target shooting.

I don't know if the transition to smokeless had been made by the time your gun was manufactured, but the SAAMI spec for the cartridge is only 15,000 CUP, so I'm tempted to say that you'd be fine with modern ammo, but you should talk to a gunsmith or perhaps give S&W a call to confirm that. I have a Walther GSP target pistol in .32 S&W Long that's a real joy to shoot - it's a fun little cartridge that has a reputation for great accuracy and hardly produces any more recoil than a high-speed .22 LR.

June 13, 2010, 11:42 AM	#3071
FlyFish Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2009 Location: Overlooking the Baker River Valley Posts: 1,723	Bill - the .32 S&W Long, like the .38 Special, .45 Colt and some other cartridges, began life as a black powder cartridge and was later loaded with smokeless. Factory ammo is still reasonably widely available, in part because of its popularity as a low-recoil centerfire round for high-end bullseye target shooting. I don't know if the transition to smokeless had been made by the time your gun was manufactured, but the SAAMI spec for the cartridge is only 15,000 CUP, so I'm tempted to say that you'd be fine with modern ammo, but you should talk to a gunsmith or perhaps give S&W a call to confirm that. I have a Walther GSP target pistol in .32 S&W Long that's a real joy to shoot - it's a fun little cartridge that has a reputation for great accuracy and hardly produces any more recoil than a high-speed .22 LR.