The .32 S&W cartridge was introduced in 1878 for the Smith & Wesson

Smith & Wesson

Smith & Wesson is the largest manufacturer of handguns in the United States. The corporate headquarters is in Springfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1852, Smith & Wesson's pistols and revolvers have become standard issue to police and armed forces throughout the world...

 model 1½ revolver

Revolver

A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...

. It was originally designed as a black powder cartridge.
The .32 S&W was offered to the public as a light, defense cartridge, for "card table" distances.

The .32 S&W Long

.32 S&W Long

The .32 S&W Long is a straight-walled, centerfire, rimmed handgun cartridge, based on the earlier .32 S&W cartridge. It was introduced in 1896 for Smith & Wesson's first-model Hand Ejector revolver...

 cartridge is derived from the .32 S&W, by increasing the overall brass case length, to hold more powder. Since the .32 S&W headspaces on the rim and shares the rim dimensions and case and bullet diameters of the longer .32 S&W Long

.32 S&W Long

The .32 S&W Long is a straight-walled, centerfire, rimmed handgun cartridge, based on the earlier .32 S&W cartridge. It was introduced in 1896 for Smith & Wesson's first-model Hand Ejector revolver...

, the .32 H&R Magnum

.32 H&R Magnum

The .32 H&R Magnum is a rimmed cartridge designed for use in revolvers. It was developed in 1984 as a joint venture between Harrington & Richardson and Federal Cartridge...

 cartridges, and the .327 Federal Magnum

.327 Federal Magnum

The .327 Federal Magnum is a cartridge introduced by Sturm, Ruger and Federal Cartridge, intended to provide the power of a .357 Magnum in six shot, compact revolvers, whose cylinders only hold 5 rounds of the larger .357 Magnum cartridge...

, .32 S&W cartridges may be fired in arms chambered for these longer cartridges. Longer cartridges are unsafe in short chambers, so neither of these longer and more powerful cartridges should be loaded into arms designed for the .32 S&W.

Chambered weapons

• Union Automatic Revolver
  Union Automatic Revolver
  The Union automatic revolver was a .32 calibre revolver of French origin but manufactured in the United States to the Lefever patent . It was similar in action to the Webley Fosbery automatic revolver, but had a shroud that protected the recoiling upper half from contact with the firer's hand....
  
  
• Henrion, Dassy & Heuschen Revolver
  Henrion, Dassy & Heuschen Revolver
  The Henrion, Dassy & Heuschen Revolver was a 20 shot revolver manufactured by the French firm of Henrion, Dassy & Heuschen from 1911 to 1928. It was marketed under a variety of names that were supposed to denote power and masculinity...
  
  
• US Revolver top break
• Smith & Wesson Lemon Squeezer
  Smith & Wesson Lemon Squeezer
  The Smith & Wesson Lemon Squeezer or the "Safety Hammerless" is a double action revolver that was produced in the late 1880s by Smith & Wesson. The revolver was chambered in .32 S&W and .38 S&W calibers; these calibers were discontinued just before World War 2. The gun went through a few changes...