.32 S&W

Question
QUESTION: Does .32 S&W ammo fit in a 9mm lugar pistol.  Will it fire properly?  Does it have to go in revolvers v. automatics?  Thanks.

ANSWER: The short answer is NO to your first question, and YES to your second. A more detailed explanation follows:

With very little exception, guns will not chamber (or safely chamber) any cartridge for which they were not designed.  The exceptions are that the .38 Special cartridge will fit in revolvers chamberer for .357 Magnum (as that later cartridge was developed from it, but is 1/10 of an inch longer and much more powerful, making the lighter .38 Special fine to fire in a gun chambered in .357). A similar relationship exists between the .44 Special and .44 Magnum.

There are NO autopistol cartridges which can be fired in a gun chambered for another cartridge.

The .32 S&W is a revolver cartridge and an anemic one at that. Originally developed for black powder, it was replace by the .32 S&W Long, which was not actually that much more powerful.

Neither of these cartridges should be confused with the .32 ACP, which is an autopistol cartridge, still in use for such last-ditch back-up guns as the Seecamp or Kel-Tec P32.

A .32 S&W cartridge can only go in a revolver, and one chambered for it. A 9mm pistol has a much heavier projectile that is .355" in diameter (9mm), and a completely different cartridge case. You CANNOT use .32 S&W ammunition in a 9mm pistol.

When you refer to "9mm Luger" I do not know if you are referring to the type of firearm (the P08 "Luger" pistol developed for the Germans by Georg Luger), or ammunition (there are various 9mm cartridges which are not interchangeable. However, if the box is marked "9x19," "9mm NATO," or "9mm Luger" it is all the same ammunition.

One other word of caution, however. If you do in fact have a Luger pistol from WWII or before, have it looked over by a competent gunsmith and get his advise about firing it. Metallurgy has come a long way in 60+ years, and I would not assume that it was safe to fire modern 9mm ammunition is an old pistol like that, even though it will fit because it is dimensionally identical to the ammunition developed in 1908.

Good luck.

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QUESTION: This was very helpful.  Thanks so much.  How do I rate the answer.  I didn't see a link to it.  Thanks again.

Answer
Thanks for your consideration.

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Again, though, thanks for your consideration.