History
John Browning engineered a number of modern semi-automatic pistol mechanisms and cartridges. As his first pistol cartridge, the .32 ACP needed a straight wall for reliable blowback operation as well as a small rim for reliable feeding from a box magazine. The cartridge headspaces on the rim. The cartridge was a success and was adopted by dozens of countries and countless governmental agencies.
The .32 ACP cartridge was chambered in a variety of popular blowback automatic pistols of the day, including the Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless, the Savage Model 1907 Automatic Pistol, and the Browning Model 1910 Automatic Pistol. The .32 ACP was used in the assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip, and the pistol, a Browning M1910 (serial number 19074), is on display in the Army Museum of Vienna.
Allegedly, Adolf Hitler committed suicide with his personal .32 ACP Walther PPK, by pressing it against his right temple and pulling the trigger while simultaneously biting down on a cyanide capsule.
Read more about this topic: .32 ACP
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Indeed, the Englishman’s history of New England commences only when it ceases to be New France.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Like their personal lives, women’s history is fragmented, interrupted; a shadow history of human beings whose existence has been shaped by the efforts and the demands of others.”
—Elizabeth Janeway (b. 1913)