IT IS NOW MORE THAN A CENTURY—108 YEARS, to be precise—since Walter Winans, the acclaimed pistolero, author, and champion of dueling as an alternative to overburdened law courts, pronounced the revolver dead and as good as buried.
The semiautomatic pistol, said Winans, “now rules the day” and within a decade the trusty old wheelgun “would be no more.”
Well, to paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of the revolver’s death have been greatly exaggerated. New ones are landing in the market on a regular basis, from super-powerful beasts for hunting big game to my current pet, Smith & Wesson’s Model 432 UC in .32 H&R Magnum. The UC stands for “Ultimate Carry,” and I’m not about to argue. Of course, I’ve been a sucker for .32s generally—rifles, pistols, you name it—for as…
