During the first two or three decades of this century, inexpensive, nickel plated pocket revolvers were a dime a dozen among American citizens. Possibly the most popular chambering for those guns was an 1870's vintage cartridge called .32 Smith & Wesson. Originally loaded with black powder and an 85 grain bullet at 705 fps for 97 foot pounds of energy, the .32 Smith & Wesson eventually became a smokeless cartridge. Due to the tons of revolvers once manufactured in .32 S&W, factory ammunition is still available from Remington and Winchester. It is currently loaded with 85 and 88 grain bullets at 680 fps for a nominal 90 foot pounds of muzzle energy. In comparison, the .32 ACP and .380 ACP cartridges generate respective muzzle energies of 129 and 190 foot pounds. The .32 S&W was once recommended as the minimum cartridge to use in self defense, a title it eventually lost to the considerably more powerful .380 ACP. 

This text is based on information from “Cartridges of the World”, Hodgdon reloading manual, the cartridge designer and/or own resources.

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