{"id":4133,"date":"2024-11-07T05:48:44","date_gmt":"2024-11-07T05:48:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/?p=4133"},"modified":"2024-11-07T05:48:44","modified_gmt":"2024-11-07T05:48:44","slug":"obscure-object-of-desire-sw-regulation-police-32-sw-long","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/?p=4133","title":{"rendered":"Obscure Object of Desire – S&W Regulation Police .32 S&W Long"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The evolution of American police arms is an interesting one. It\u2019s often one that highlights a difference between back east and out west. While the western states had a degree of lawlessness to them, which demanded large frame revolvers and calibers that start with .4, the lauded gentry back east prized themselves as civilized. This meant that such big revolvers weren\u2019t necessary, and calibers that started with .3 were acceptable. That\u2019s why guns like the S&W Regulation Police in .32 S&W Long exist.<\/p>\n

The first standard-issue gun of the NYPD under police commissioner Teddy Roosevelt was a .32 Colt New Police Revolver. At the turn of the century, smaller, lighter revolvers were quite popular with police. While the .38 Special would become the favored police round in 1920 and onward, the little .32 formed a short but rich history of police use.<\/p>\n

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The .32 S&W Long was a popular east coast policing cartridge. Travis Pike for TTAG<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

S&W created two Regulation Police revolvoers. Both were built on the now-defunct I-Frame. They had a five-shot .38 S&W, which predated the .38 S&W Special. The subject of today\u2019s and my bloviating about .32 revolvers comes from the second, the .32 S&W Long S&W Regulation Police.<\/p>\n

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These old S&Ws can be had for a very low price. Travis Pike for TTAG<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The Little S&W Regulation Police<\/h2>\n

Before the Regulation Police, S&W created the .32 S&W Long. The original .32 S&W was a micro-sized cartridge designed for true pocket-sized revolvers with top-break designs. The .32 S&W Long is often considered anemic, so I\u2019d imagine it was hardly better than rimfire rounds of the era.<\/p>\n

S&W wanted to create a stronger, more capable revolver that remained somewhat compact and lightweight to fire a more powerful round. This got them away from the micro-sized top-break guns. This led to S&W\u2019s first hand ejector, the Model 1896 .32 Hand Ejector, which evolved into the M1903 hand ejector. Between the two, S&W created the Military and Police Hand Ejector Model of 1899. S&W liked making good revolvers, but their names were something to behold.<\/p>\n

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This wasn\u2019t ther first hand ejector, but is closely related to the first hand ejector. Travis Pike for TTAG<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The I-frame Model 1903 eventually evolved into the Regulation Police Model. The differences between the two are minimal. The most important being all the butts. The Model 1903 used a round butt design, and the Regulation Police used a square butt. Both guns were produced in the same barrel lengths.<\/p>\n

In models I\u2019ve seen, the 1903s tend to have wood grips with gold S&W logos. The Regulation Police models seem to have simpler wood grips across their square butts. The gun features the left-side cylinder release, a six-round cylinder, an exposed hammer, and a 4.25-inch barrel. The Regulation Police models are divided into pre- and post-war models, with this model falling into the pre-war category.<\/p>\n

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Pocket pistol mens different things to different people. In its era this could have been a pocket pistol. Travis Pike for TTAG<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Pre-war models are all five screw designs. Post War are five or four screw models. There doesn\u2019t seem to be much collectible or value difference between pre and post-war guns.<\/p>\n

To The Range With the Regulation Police<\/h2>\n

I love shooting .32 S&W Long revolvers. They are a real joy in every way except for my wallet. The ammo isn\u2019t cheap. It\u2019s a bit like an addictive drug. It\u2019ll drag you out with a cheap taste. The cheap taste is the fact that you can acquire S&W Model 1903 and Regulation Police guns for less than 200 bucks in great shape. I have two Model 1903s and one Regulation Police and have spent less than 500 total for the three of them.<\/p>\n

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These guns are a joy to shoot. Travis Pike for TTAG<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The .32 S&W Long is known for being extremely accurate. In fact, it\u2019s often used in wadcutter form in semi-auto precision pistols. In revolvers, it maintains excellent accuracy and is very light recoiling. I\u2019m starting to shoot revolvers more and more, but I still haven\u2019t mastered the traditional rear trench-style sight with the blade front sight with most guns.<\/p>\n

With the Regulation Police and the .32 S&W Long, I put the front sight in between the rear, rolled the trigger, and by some miracle, holes got right where I intended them to. I can do this fairly quickly at ranges from five to 25 yards. Hitting a 10-inch steel gong at 25 yards is so very satisfying. The trigger rolls very smoothly in double action, and it\u2019s very satisfying as well.<\/p>\n

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The square butt distinguishes it as a Regulation Police. Travis Pike for TTAG<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Blasting Away<\/h2>\n

The gun doesn\u2019t have larger grips, but the square butt helps a lot in filling your hand and giving you something to hold onto. Luckily, you don\u2019t need to hold onto much because the recoil is almost on par with a .22 Magnum. It\u2019s a very gentle gun that\u2019s extremely easy to shoot, and you can fire through all six rounds rapidly without your sights coming off target.<\/p>\n

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The .32 S&W Long isn\u2019t super common, but its easiest enough to find. Travis Pike for TTAG<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The little gun barks with every trigger pull and hasn\u2019t failed me either. It\u2019s almost a century old at this point, but it still runs like a scalded dog. Even the MagTech .32 S&W Long, which is famed for hard primers, didn\u2019t pose an issue for the Regulation Police.<\/p>\n

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This might be a fun rabbit getter this winter. Travis Pike for TTAG<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s a fantastic little gun that handles well, shoots straight, and runs reliably. I get why folks moved away from the .32 S&W Long for defensive use, but it is a very enjoyable, albeit expensive, round to shoot. For practical purposes, I could use it for small game hunting and likely kill my fair share of rabbits doing so. In fact, that sounds like a perfect winter hunt.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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The evolution of American police arms is an interesting one. It\u2019s often one that highlights a difference between back east and out west. While the western states had a degree of lawlessness to them, which demanded large frame revolvers and calibers that start with .4, the lauded gentry back east prized themselves as civilized. This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reviews"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}