The Colt New Police is a double-action, six-shot revolver (which can also be fired single action). This gun was chambered in the .32 New Police, which is dimensionally identical to a flat-nose version of the .32 S&W Long, except for the nose shape. In addition to the .32 New Police cartridge, the revolver was also available in 32 Colt. The diameter of the two cartridges are not the same, with the 32 Colt being approximately 0.020" smaller in diameter than the New Police. Although the 32 Colt can be loaded and fired in the New Police chamber, it is not recommended to do so. It is impossible to load the .32 New Police in a 32 Colt chamber. The later .32 New Police chambering was more popular than the 32 Colt chambering.