why was the .32*** the prefered SNS TV caliber in the 70s?

[JERRYS.]

I've watched many Kojak episodes as well as many other shows from the 70s... and the .32 seemed to be the preferred caliber of the bad guys or "Saturday night specials".... even when James on Good Times got a gun for family protection it was a .32...

anyone else notice this Hollywood trend from back in the day?

[PushPuller]

Iv always been under the assumption that well into the 80s a lot of the smaller calibers were the norm, especially in Europe so it doesn't surprise me that they were commonly used in movies. Compared to newer 9mms of the time a bunch of 20-50 year old .32s were a lot cheaper id imagine as well.

[Model12Win]

"He got a thirty two gun in his pocket for fun"

[44 AMP]

anyone else notice this Hollywood trend from back in the day?

The trend back in the day is the same trend today, scriptwriters seldom know much about guns, and usually care less. SOMETIMES what they say is correct, sometimes its not, and sometimes they actually do know what's right, but the character being portrayed doesn't...

.32s have been with us for a long time, if I recall correctly, Colt's first revolver was a .31 caliber.

.32s feature heavily in crime gun statistics even today, either as being used, being stolen, or being present.

Most .32s are small guns, and many are the cheapest around. Been that way for over a century. And remember that a poor person seldom can afford a high end (expensive) gun. Today's technology is producing ".32 size" guns in .380 and even 9mm, so the .32s popularity is waning somewhat. and then there is the gangsta culture where certain guns & calibers by name are popularized and are status symbols. SO, where 40 years ago, the stylish thug might have been proud of his .32, today he "gots to have a 9!" (or a GLock, or what ever their favorite media star is using...)


Another factor is rather uniquely American. Good guys use large caliber guns, bad guys use small caliber guns. Might be something from the Wild West era, but its a common theme in fiction, if not reality.

In Europe, its almost exactly the opposite, the "good guys" (police, and other forces of law and order) usually used small caliber pistols, very often .32s. and "bad guys" (subversives and revolutionaries) used large caliber guns, often 10-11mm revolvers, which were former govt arms, now obsolete, or stolen, etc)

So, ok in the 70s Tv shows all the bad guys had .32s..take another slice in time and all the bad guys have Uzis. Take another and they're all mentally disturbed VietNam vets, etc. or nearly all...

[FITASC]

I have an Iver Johnson "ShopKeeper" in 32 SWL. Great pistol my uncle had before he moved back to Scotland in the 60s. Larger for its size, it is just fun to shoot.

[JERRYS.]

yes, I know Hollywood is inaccurate at best and truth has never been their strong point... in the 80s it was cocaine drug dealers with Uzi 9mm, in the 60s it was the .25acp

[briandg]

If it's true that the .32 was very heavily in use in the past, it's because it was smaller than a .38 could ever possibly be, and cheaper to make. A time came, I'm not sure when, when the .38 special just turned the market into a one trick pony. Mostly because of LE guns.

[JERRYS.]

I'm not following that because this was a time when even a .32acp was not a small sized Seecamp/Kel-tec like gun and the revolvers were J frames like the .38spls.

[Carmady]

The 32 revolvers were a lot smaller than the 38s because most of them held five rounds. Check out some old IJ, H&R, and S&W 32s on GunBroker.

The automatic SNS's were usually 22s and 25s, while the 32 ACP was more common in Europe.

[JERRYS.]

the guns shown on the shows I've mentioned were J frames, six shot .32s, not top breaks and other antiques....the semi autos I cant tell, some were ppk'ish in design.

[CDW4ME]

And the "bad" guy was incapacitated most of the time by a single round. amiright.
TV shows =/= reality

[lee n. field]

Originally Posted by CDW4ME

And the "bad" guy was incapacitated most of the time by a single round. amiright.
TV shows =/= reality

.32 would have killed them, probably, eventually, back in the days before effective antibiotics.

[FITASC]

Remember James Bond was upgraded from his Beretta .25 to his new Walther 32 - and he could kill folks at 50 yards with one shot almost form the hip! (I saw it in the movies, so it must be true!)

[willr]

It has always been my understanding that the 32acp (7.65 Browning) has been official law enforcment cal. in Europe.
willr

[FITASC]

Was.....9mm is nowadays

[T. O'Heir]

Kojak shot bad guys off the top of 5 story buildings with a 2" .38 Special too. Anything is possible in Hollywood.
And Jimmy Bond didn't want the Walther.
"...Good guys use large caliber guns..." Hickok preferred a .36 Navy.

[CDW4ME]

CDW4ME
And the "bad" guy was incapacitated most of the time by a single round. amiright.

Originally Posted by lee n. field

.32 would have killed them, probably, eventually, back in the days before effective antibiotics.

Killed may be, but lethality is not automatically linked to quickly incapacitating.

[Bill DeShivs]

The only way to 100% "quickly incapacitate" with any handgun is a central nervous system shot. Period.
A CNS shot with a .32 is as good as a .45.

[bn12gg]

Why ? The .32 acp has been popular for over 100 years. My first edition 1903 is one of the coolest pistols I own. Put it on target it squeezes off 8 accurate rounds. Dozens of movies have displayed the Colt 1903. Ganstas as well as generals attest to these classics in .32. To me it is interesting just how different the 1908 in 380 acp happens to be. While an exact look alike, the 380 round moves the pistol around in the hand far more than the .32 cartridge. It is easy to see to me why the 1903 in .32 wins the popularity contest over the same pistol in 380,

.02. David.

[Wishoot]

Originally Posted by T. O'Heir

Kojak shot bad guys off the top of 5 story buildings with a 2" .38 Special too. Anything is possible in Hollywood.

Even better was Gene Wilders shot at a stick of dynamite from about half a mile in Blazing Saddles.

[44 AMP]

Even better was Gene Wilders shot at a stick of dynamite from about half a mile in Blazing Saddles.

One of the better "impossible" shots is in the movie The Magnificent Seven.

A small group of bandits attacks the village, and the Seven get them all, but one who lights out at speed to warn the others. One of the seven (Coburn, I think?) takes careful aim with his pistol and shoots the bandit off his horse, just before he makes it to the pass (several hundred yards, I would guess).

One of the peasants praises him, saying "that was the greatest shot I have ever seen!!!" he is answered with "it was a terrible shot! I was aiming at the HORSE!!!" (or something very much like that, been a while since I watched it...)

[CDW4ME]

Originally Posted by Bill DeShivs

The only way to 100% "quickly incapacitate" with any handgun is a central nervous system shot. Period.
A CNS shot with a .32 is as good as a .45.

100% aint happening.
Making a CNS shot can't be counted on.
Given a non-CNS hit a bigger bullet makes a bigger hole which has more potential to incapacitate quicker than a smaller hole. .32 is not equal (as good as) to 45

[kenny53]

http://www.ballistics101.com/32_acp.php.

The 32 doesn't have a lot of poop behind it. But It does make a hole. For the most part foot pounds of energy at the muzzle runs 128-158 FT lbs. I would carry a 32acp over nothing.

Talking about TV and Hollywood, I am always amused by the ability of the good guys with hand guns to win the gun fights with bad guys shooting full auto long guns.

I am pretty sure the first number for FT lbs in the chart is a typo.

[Bill DeShivs]

"Incapacitation" occurs because:
Pain from being shot
Fear/shock from being shot
CNS disruption
Blood loss

None of these, except the CNS shot, has the ability to immediately stop-though all of them MAY stop.
Relying on blood loss takes time-minutes. If you have to shoot some one, you don't want to wait MINUTES before they cease hostilities.
The difference in the size of the wound, discounting bullet expansion, between a .25 and a .45 is only 1/10 of an inch-not a lot of difference.

The sight of a gun ceases most hostilities. Shooting someone usually ceases most hostilities from pain/fear/shock. If shooting someone does not stop him by the previously mentioned factors, you have to wait on blood loss. That's a LONG time-especially if they are trying to do you harm.

So-my theory is this: Carry a gun. Any gun. If you have to use it, TRY for a CNS shot(s). If you go about your day in a normal fashion, odds are you won't need your gun. If you are doing work that requires you to put yourself in harm's way-carry the biggest gun you comfortably can. Bigger is better-but not much better.

[CDW4ME]

Originally Posted by Bill DeShivs

"Incapacitation" occurs because:
Pain from being shot
Fear/shock from being shot
CNS disruption
Blood loss

None of these, except the CNS shot, has the ability to immediately stop-though all of them MAY stop.
Relying on blood loss takes time-minutes. If you have to shoot some one, you don't want to wait MINUTES before they cease hostilities.
The difference in the size of the wound, discounting bullet expansion, between a .25 and a .45 is only 1/10 of an inch-not a lot of difference.

The sight of a gun ceases most hostilities. Shooting someone usually ceases most hostilities from pain/fear/shock. If shooting someone does not stop him by the previously mentioned factors, you have to wait on blood loss. That's a LONG time-especially if they are trying to do you harm.

So-my theory is this: Carry a gun. Any gun. If you have to use it, TRY for a CNS shot(s). If you go about your day in a normal fashion, odds are you won't need your gun. If you are doing work that requires you to put yourself in harm's way-carry the biggest gun you comfortably can. Bigger is better-but not much better.

I do not count on sight of a gun ceasing hostile action.
"Someone usually" is a generalization that could be hazardous to rely on.
I have not "needed" a gun in over 25 years of carrying, ever, including when I was a cop
What if "harms way" comes to you, regardless of occupation?

I don't understand minimal caliber advocacy when so many small firearms are available in 9mm or better, but what you prefer (rationalize) doesn't affect me.

I prefer to bet my life on larger / more powerful bullets and my preference is based on what I've seen firsthand.
Between myself, my wife and my kids I've field dressed 40+ deer - over 30 were killed by me; couple dozen bowkills, muzzleloader, rifle, and even 10mm pistol, nearly all the deer were inside 20 yards and double lung hit (bait and its legal) .
It is an accurate generalization (exceptions of course) to say that given a double lung hit there is an observed positive correlation between size of wound, blood on ground and decreased distance traveled.

Would I prefer a smaller hole in a deer? No.
Would I prefer smaller hole(s) in someone trying to club, slash, stab, shoot me? Absolutely not.