Some time back, I was in Enid, and dropped by their gun shop, just to browse around. Once there, a little S&W revolver caught my eye, and it was one that I had been seeking for quite a while. It is a six-shot J-frame that takes the 32 S&W Long cartridge. It has a 3" barrel, and even though it was made in the early to mid-1970's, it was a new gun, having never been fired.
It is called the 32 Regulation Police, the Model 30, and was originally made on the old I-frame, which is a close relative of the J-frame. The I-frame was first made in the 1890's and was dropped, IIRC in the 1960's. Perhaps the best-known example of the I-frame was the S&W Terrier, a near dead-ringer for the Chief Special, but which was made in 38 S&W, not 38 Special. Later, when the I-frame was dropped, the Model 30 was continued on the J-frame and has the -1 suffix added to the model number. Finally, the Model 30 was dropped altogether in the 1970's.
I took it out to my range, and expended 150 or so rounds of Fiocchi 100 grain wadcutters and the little S&W handled superbly. Designed for very close and personal work, I didn't shoot it from a rest, as I was primarily concerned with what it would do in a purely practical sense.
One thing that I soon found out, is that you have to grip this revolver fairly high if you want to do hip shooting. When I shot it like I do most of my revolvers, (both S&W and Colt) that is, with my little finger curled up under the grip frame, it tended to shoot high. I couldn't figure this out at first and then I remembered something that Elmer Keith said, and that was to grip the gun high, so I did this and the gun shot a lot closer to where I was looking at on the target. Please note that I did not say 'aimed', as the majority of the shooting I did with this gun was hip-shooting, which I tend to be fairly good at. The 3" barrel certainly helped center where the gun shot laterally, as well.
Recoil was very mild, even though this is a J-frame, and even after firing about 150 rounds, my hand is not doing too badly. Usually, it becomes almost numb as the cumulative effect of the recoil is felt.
Like I said before, this gun is primarily designed for up-close and personal work and while it is certainly not a powerhouse round, I imagine that a very quick six rounds in the gut from a prospective victim would ruin any mugger's day.
In short, if a shooter is recoil sensitive, this little S&W would do quite nicely with something similar to the Fiocchi target rounds that I used. There is ample strength built into both this gun and my Colt Police Positive Special chambered for the same round, that I am tempted to work up a hand load with a little more power and use that for those times when I carry this little gun, for it is small enough to just slip it into my pocket, with no one being the wiser, even if I am just wearing jeans and a tee-shirt.
Some of you might disagree with me here, and that is fine, but in my opinion, this S&W would not be a bad choice to carry from time to time. Will it replace my K-frame, or my L-frame? Of course not. But is it completely useless for defensive carry? Again, the answer is 'no.' Recognizing its' limitations, I will on occasion utilize it for just that purpose.
To sum up, this little gun, while it is not as poowerful as some might like, still fills a niche for self-defense. Plus, it was a lot of fun to shoot as well.
It is called the 32 Regulation Police, the Model 30, and was originally made on the old I-frame, which is a close relative of the J-frame. The I-frame was first made in the 1890's and was dropped, IIRC in the 1960's. Perhaps the best-known example of the I-frame was the S&W Terrier, a near dead-ringer for the Chief Special, but which was made in 38 S&W, not 38 Special. Later, when the I-frame was dropped, the Model 30 was continued on the J-frame and has the -1 suffix added to the model number. Finally, the Model 30 was dropped altogether in the 1970's.
I took it out to my range, and expended 150 or so rounds of Fiocchi 100 grain wadcutters and the little S&W handled superbly. Designed for very close and personal work, I didn't shoot it from a rest, as I was primarily concerned with what it would do in a purely practical sense.
One thing that I soon found out, is that you have to grip this revolver fairly high if you want to do hip shooting. When I shot it like I do most of my revolvers, (both S&W and Colt) that is, with my little finger curled up under the grip frame, it tended to shoot high. I couldn't figure this out at first and then I remembered something that Elmer Keith said, and that was to grip the gun high, so I did this and the gun shot a lot closer to where I was looking at on the target. Please note that I did not say 'aimed', as the majority of the shooting I did with this gun was hip-shooting, which I tend to be fairly good at. The 3" barrel certainly helped center where the gun shot laterally, as well.
Recoil was very mild, even though this is a J-frame, and even after firing about 150 rounds, my hand is not doing too badly. Usually, it becomes almost numb as the cumulative effect of the recoil is felt.
Like I said before, this gun is primarily designed for up-close and personal work and while it is certainly not a powerhouse round, I imagine that a very quick six rounds in the gut from a prospective victim would ruin any mugger's day.
In short, if a shooter is recoil sensitive, this little S&W would do quite nicely with something similar to the Fiocchi target rounds that I used. There is ample strength built into both this gun and my Colt Police Positive Special chambered for the same round, that I am tempted to work up a hand load with a little more power and use that for those times when I carry this little gun, for it is small enough to just slip it into my pocket, with no one being the wiser, even if I am just wearing jeans and a tee-shirt.
Some of you might disagree with me here, and that is fine, but in my opinion, this S&W would not be a bad choice to carry from time to time. Will it replace my K-frame, or my L-frame? Of course not. But is it completely useless for defensive carry? Again, the answer is 'no.' Recognizing its' limitations, I will on occasion utilize it for just that purpose.
To sum up, this little gun, while it is not as poowerful as some might like, still fills a niche for self-defense. Plus, it was a lot of fun to shoot as well.
