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.32 rimfire

Revolver cartridge

Field	Value
name	.32 Short Rimfire	image_size = 300px
image	32 Rim-Fire UMC Cartridges.jpg
origin	United States
type	Rifle and handgun
designer	Smith & Wesson
design_date	1860
case_type	Rimmed, straight
bullet	.316
neck	.318
base	.318
rim_dia	.377
case_length	0.575
length	0.948
primer	Rimfire
bw1	80
btype1	Rimmed
vel1	945
en1	159
test_barrel_length	24

The .32 rimfire / 8x20mmRF refers to a family of cartridges which were chambered in revolvers and rifles in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These rounds were made primarily in short and long lengths, but extra short, long rifle and extra long lengths were offered.

Manufacturers

Manufacturers in the USA generally discontinued making .32 rimfire ammunition after the country's entrance into World War II in 1941.

History

The .32 short was designed in 1860 by Smith & Wesson for their Model 2 revolver. In 1868, they introduced the .32 Long in the Model 1 Second Issue revolver.

The .32 Short fired an 80 gr lead bullet at 945 ft/s (generating 159 ftlb muzzle energy) from a 24 in rifle barrel. The .32 Long fired a slightly heavier 90 gr bullet at approximately the same velocity, for 178 ftlb muzzle energy. Remington rifles in .32 rimfire listed a bore diameter of .304 in

The .32 Colt Short and Long centerfire cartridges matched the external dimensions of the .32 Short and Long rimfire cartridges. The Marlin Model 1892 lever-action repeating rifle was shipped with two firing pins, one rimfire and one centerfire, to allow use of either the rimfire or centerfire cartridges. Revolvers and single shot rifles chambered for one of the longer .32 rimfire cartridges would chamber and fire the shorter cartridges.

Remington Arms manufactured .32 Extra Short ammunition (also known as .32 Protector) until 1920 for use in the Protector Palm Pistol and Remington Magazine Pistol.

During its lifetime, the .32 rimfire was loaded with black powder, followed by semi-smokeless and smokeless powder loadings. While it was popular as a very effective small game caliber, it was considered obsolete by the late 1930s, in part due to the introduction of high-velocity versions of the .22 Long Rifle using smokeless powder.

References

Barnes, Frank C.. (1997). "Cartridges of the World".
Woodard, W. Todd. (1 December 2014). "Cartridges of the World: A Complete and Illustrated Reference for Over 1500 Cartridges". F+W Media.
Kinard, Jeff. (2004). "Pistols: An Illustrated History of Their Impact". ABC-CLIO.
Sharpe, Phillip B. ''The Rifle in America'' (William Morrow and Co., 1938).
"Cartridge Board {{!}} Handloader Magazine".
Sears, Roebuck and Co. Catalogue No. 104, 1897.
Barnes, Frank C.. (22 September 2009). "Cartridges of the World: A Complete and Illustrated Reference for Over 1500 Cartridges". Gun Digest Books.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

pistol-and-rifle-cartridges rimfire-cartridges cartridge-families

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