.32H&R Mag Vs. .38 Wadcutters recoil

[Mikeyboy]

I am torn between purchasing a .32mag S&W 431PD airweight or a Ruger SP101 in .357. I like both for different reasons, and they are equal in price. I also understand the whole .32H&R is hard to find mess, I have unfortunately been around the block for a few years with the .32H&R.

The following question will definately help make my decision a little easier

If you compare the 25oz Ruger shooting say Federal 110g Low Recoil hydrashocks in .38 special to the 13.5 oz S&W shooting Federal 85g JHP in .32H&R Mag, will the recoil be similar, or will either one be significant less/more.

My math stinks but I'm thinking that they would be the same right? On top of that 148g wadcutter rounds would be tamer in the ruger when compared to the lightweight S&W shooting .32mags

.38 stats
http://www.federalpremium.com/balli...0&firearm=2&bc=0.12&muzzvel=980&bulletwgt=110

.32H&R stats
http://www.federalpremium.com/balli...2&firearm=2&bc=0.14&muzzvel=1120&bulletwgt=85

.38 wadcutters
http://www.federalpremium.com/balli...3&firearm=2&bc=0.05&muzzvel=690&bulletwgt=148

Brass Fetchers gel test
.32 H&R
http://www.brassfetcher.com/32H&R Mag Federal PDH XTP.html

.38 Wadcutters
http://www.brassfetcher.com/38wadcutter.html

 

[WIL TERRY]

Far Be It From Me To Tell You How To Live Your Life, But

How in the flying hell can you possibly live with one of each caliber ?? OR MORE !!
If you can only afford one buy it, and put the other on plastic and let the MRS pay it off for you. I mean to say, what in the world are you keeping her around there for anyways !!
I have both calibers in numerous different guns and barrel lengths and the recoil of both hardly reaches the level of a healthy beer burp.

 

[Webleymkv]

Personally, I'd go for the Ruger. You'll have the ability to go anywhere from the very light .38 Spl loadings all the way up to the borderline nuclear .357 loads from Double Tap and Buffalo Bore and anywhere inbetween. The .32 H&R doesn't cover nearly the range that the .38/.357 can. Have you considered the SP101 in .327 Federal?

 

[Mikeyboy]

How in the flying hell can you possibly live with one of each caliber ?? OR MORE !!
If you can only afford one buy it, and put the other on plastic and let the MRS pay it off for you. I mean to say, what in the world are you keeping her around there for anyways !!
I have both calibers in numerous different guns and barrel lengths and the recoil of both hardly reaches the level of a healthy beer burp.

I wish I could. You must be single and somehow buying gas at $1.50 a gallon

The .32Mag will be a gun my wife can use when I'm not home, and a CCW pocket gun I could throw into the rotation. Hunting for ammo will be a PITA.

I'm leaning toward the ruger .357, but if it recoils heavy , even with .38 wadcutters, I will be kicking myself since the S&W 431PD is discontinued and once its eventually snatched up by someone else it will be near impossible to find locally. Its not real pocket friendly, so I lose there, but amoo is easy to find and I currently don't own any .357 revolvers, so its something new.

Web, I don't like that the new .327 doesn't have a shorter barrel. I woul consider a 2" barrel version. Also .327 ammo is harder to find than .32H&R..Its still too soon to tell if the .327 is going to take off or flop worse than the .32H&R

 

[carguychris]

I'm leaning toward the ruger .357, but if it recoils heavy , even with .38 wadcutters, I will be kicking myself since the S&W 431PD is discontinued and once its eventually snatched up by someone else it will be near impossible to find locally. Its not real pocket friendly, so I lose there, but amoo is easy to find and I currently don't own any .357 revolvers, so its something new.

I feel your pain knowing that the 431PD will probably disappear, but if I were you I would opt for a 3rd choice (or choices)- a S&W 442/637/638/642. They're pocket-friendly like the 431PD, quite reasonably priced, and .38Spl ammo will continue to be widely available in a broad selection of factory loadings. You won't get to choose your .32 H&R Mag load if there's only a couple of factory loads available for purchase.

Regarding the .357Mag, IMHO there's little reason to fire .357Mag out of a little bitty gun- recoil and muzzle blast is really unpleasant, and you don't really get much of a real-world ballistic advantage over a .38Spl+P out of a 2.5" or shorter barrel. Although it's not as ridiculous as a .357Mag S&W AirLite, IMHO the SP101 is still a size too small for the cartridge. It doesn't really get fun until you put it into something the size of a S&W M19 or larger.

 

[Mikeyboy]

I think what I'm looking for is someone who is handy with physics and numbers to give me the recoil on gun A is this and the recoil on gun B is that.

Is there a website out there that does the math, I can't find it.

 

[belus]

http://www.handloads.com/calc/recoil.asp

           38         32mag
weight     148        85
velocity   690        1120
charge     3.1        6.0 (a guess)
firearm    1.56       0.86

impulse    0.51       0.53
velocity   10         20
energy     2.6        5.3

 

[Hammer It]

The .32Mag will be a gun my wife can use when I'm not home, and a CCW pocket gun I could throw into the rotation. Hunting for ammo will be a PITA

Hello Mikeyboy
I think you answered your own question with the statement above. I have several Handguns in the .32 H&R Magnum Caliber and all are S&W. I would Not consider trading off any of them nor selling them, due to the Fact I Re-Load and this caliber really does not come into it's own unless you do. The factory Loadings are Pukey to say the least as they were designed for a revolver that was not very heavy in size to absorb Higher Magnum style recoil or known for durability. If you do NOT Re-Load the cost of .32 H&R Magnum rounds can be very Pricey and hard to locate. If it were me, and my wife was going to be the Principal reason of this Purchase I would let her try Both guns and decided herself. Woman tend to have a mind of their own and we Men that try to make the decisions for them often have it backfire in our face at a later date when they realize down deep it was us that wanted the handgun for our own enjoyment rather than their daily use. If you think about it for a minute a Ruger SP-101 is Not a Light weapon, nor an easy hangun for Woman to get their smaller hands around due to it's larger size grips and Most Woman I know that desire to have a handgun, Most Often Purse carry it. I doubt she would Like the Heavy weight of a Ruger SP-101 Compared to the Air-Lite weight of the S&W. Now, on the Other hand if she Liked the Light weight of the S&W but did not Like the sharp recoil of it due to it's much Lighter weight chances are she will NOT fire it much even at all after the Initial excitement of having a new gun wears off. That leaves someone who does not practice with it, and may be a Poor shot should she ever have to use it, I would think you would want her well versed with it and also have the past experience of firing it a lot in practice sessions at the range to give her the confidence & Accuracy it takes to get the Job Done, which in Turn Could cost her Life in a tense sittuation if it rode in her Purse more than it was Practiced with trying to please you by making You Think that You Made the right decision for Her on this Hand Gun Purchase. Perhap's you are Looking at Guns that are too big and Bulky to start with, have you ever considered a smaller caliber and size for her ? My wife carries Two Handguns depending on what she is doing or her Mood of the day when she leaves the House. Her first choice is a S&W Model 61 Escort in her Purse, that is .22 L.R. Caliber as shown, and her second choice is an NAA Mini revolver chambered in .22 W.M.R. Her 61 It has 7 rounds of ammo, lays flat in her Purse , just Like her NAA revolver and she has shot them both enough to hit what she is aiming at, and Likes them.. Just my Nickels worth, I hope it helps some. Hammer It

 

[carguychris]

I have several Handguns in the .32 H&R Magnum Caliber and all are S&W. I would Not consider trading off any of them nor selling them, due to the Fact I Re-Load and this caliber really does not come into it's own unless you do.

In light of Hammer's statements, let me qualify my earlier remarks: since the initial post only made reference to factory ammo, I replied under the assumption that we're only talking about using factory ammo.

If you handload, IMHO the question becomes a no-brainer- get the 431PD. Your wife can train with 95gr .32 Long wadcutters, the next best thing to a .22LR, both in terms of recoil and cost- even at today's inflated prices, you can handload these for <$0.10 a round. Furthermore, as Hammer said, you are not hamstrung by the lousy and overpriced .32 H&R Mag factory ammo selection.

 

[Mikeyboy]

Belus, thanks for the numbers, that is exactly what I was guessing, that the recoil on both will be about equal. Now I can rent a SP101 at a range and have my wife shoot wadcutters out of it. If she OK with it and is willing to maybe shoot something with just a little more pepper, I'll get the SP101. If she is OK with the recoil but complains that the SP101 is a "Brick" and wants something lighter I'll invest in the .32H&R, and get into reloading.

Hammer It, you hit the nail on the head (ironically), on how my wife will take it. Currently my wife uses a .22lr ultralight taurus revolver and I would like her to confidently take a step up to something with a little more ommph. She does not CCW, but I like her to at least have the option of carrying it if she choses to get a permit down the line.

 

[Hammer It]

Hello Mikeyboy
I can understand that. She should get a Permit and be armed where ever she goes in todays world one can Not be Too carefull.I Picked up a Model 431 PD myself this weekend they are getting harder to locate and they did not make a whole Bunch of them to start with so I saw it and figured if I wanted one I had better get it home..I Can't wait to fire it and see how well it shoots.. Hammer it

 

[Mikeyboy]

+1 let me know how it shoots, I should be picking up my 431PD on Friday (payday).

 

[Hammer It]

[+1 let me know how it shoots/QUOTE]

Hello Mikeyboy
You Got it. I Once had a Model 331 which is the Silver colored Airweight and it shot very well. The Only reason I let it go was it had it's barrel unscrew from the frame and eventually had it's paint flake off it making the finish Look Horrid... Hammer It

 

[Mikeyboy]

So I played hookie and bought my new 432PD today. The funny thing was I was suppose to buy the 431PD but when I called the store and found out they sold the last 431. I got all depressed, but the shop owner mention he had one hammerless model left, and was willing to sell it to me at the same price as the 431 (the 432 was $30 more). I rushed over and bought that 432PD.

I took it to the range and shot some Federal .32 mag ammo and some old .32 S&W long ammo I had in my ammo stash. The .32mag is awesome, the muzzle flash and report was a little more than I expected (indoor pistol range), it was not bad but it has some authority. As promised the recoil was minimal, even for such a light gun. The .32S&W long ammo was just like shooting a .22.

Here is the weird thing. The packet with the brass from the test round was dated January 2008??? I thought this gun was discontinued a few years ago?

 

[Hammer It]

Here is the weird thing. The packet with the brass from the test round was dated January 2008??? I thought this gun was discontinued a few years ago?

Hello Mikey Boy
Glad to see you got S&W Revolver chambered in .32 H&R Magnum and got to Play with it. I hope to fire mine today as I have been real busy and have not had the time to go yet. The 431 was discontinued in 2006 I don't know when they discontinued the 432 but many times after a gun is discontinued they have a surplus of them to sell off yet still in the S&W supply.. Hammer It

 

[carguychris]

Congrats on the new toy! You're making me want to try and find one.

BTW regarding the 2008 date on the envelope, check it versus the box end label. It will have a 4-digit code after the serial number. This is a date code; the first number is the last digit of the year, and the next 3 numbers represent the day of the year numbered consecutively. This is the day the box was sealed for shipment.

FWIW Hammer It is exactly right- S&W is notorious for continuing to produce a model until their stockpiled parts are used up, even though it may have been dropped from the catalog a year (or two) earlier!

 

[Hammer It]

Hello
I finally got a chance to fire this 431 P.D. Model at the range the other day. I had worked up a handload for it using 3.9 Grains of Tight group and a Hornady 85 Grain XTP Bullet. It shot well in my larger model 16-4 with no signs of pressure so I though I would try it in the smaller Air-Weight-j-Frame revolver. I was not at all ready for the recoil of this Hotter round as it whacked my Pinky finger on the first shot and left it stinging.The Target shown was shot at the 25 Yard range off hand. Hammer It