Originally Posted by
Bigslug
Would you rather commute to work every day in a common, reliable car that always starts, always runs, always gets you where you need to go, has commonly available parts and accessories, and runs on standard 87 octane gas. . .
. . .or would you rather do it in a quirky exotic with exactly the same performance but without even half the logistics tail that runs on wishes and unicorn farts?
There's nothing unusable about the .32's, but they're basically all chambered in guns that can be had in .357 magnum, which can be watered down all the way to shooting .38 Short Colt, if desired. Maybe you can get an extra round in the cylinder, but as you say, we now have flatter and higher capacity 9mm's in the same performance spectrum (with serious defensive loads available) that will fit in your front pocket and not have a fat, bulgy cylinder to contend with.
I've got a Martini Cadet single shot shooting something of an exotic, blown out .32-20. Shoots great, and I learned a lot figuring out how to make ammo for it, but if I could wave a magic wand and have it run on scrounged .357 Magnum range brass, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Like the .32 wheelguns, it's fun, but logistically more than a little insane.