The .320 Revolver, also known as the .32 Short Colt or .32 Webley, is an obsolete revolver cartridge. Its ballistic performance is comparable to that of the .25 ACP.

Name

The cartridge is known under a variety of names. In addition to .320 Revolver, it is also called .32 Short Colt, .32 Webley, .320 Short, .320 European and .320 Bulldog.^[1] The cartridge was not made by Colt, but because the .32 Long Colt (which was based on the .32 Webley) was introduced soon after, the cartridge became colloquially known as the ".32 Short Colt", or more simply, ".32 Short", to distinguish the two.

History

The .320 Revolver was designed for the Webley Bull Dog pocket revolver in 1868 and similar revolvers made in Belgium that followed. The .320 can be viewed as a centerfire version of the .32 Rimfire, albeit less powerful. Certain types of .32 Short Colt cartridges had a slightly different sized rim. On some guns, these .32 Short Colt rounds will fit and cycle properly.^[2] Due to the popularity of the .32 Long Colt and, later, the more accurate .32 Smith & Wesson Long, the older .32-caliber cartridges, such as the .320 and the .32 Rimfire, declined in popularity and were eventually more or less obsolete by the 1920s. In Brazil, both .320 guns and ammo (double-barreled, side by side pistols) were made up to 1960s. Amadeo Rossi made his Model 8 "Garrucha" in .320 from 1950 to 1962.^[3] Ammunition for the .320 was briefly made by Fiocchi in 2015.^[2] Winchester also briefly produced this cartridge, although it is now discontinued.^[4]

References