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Registered User Joined: Jul 2004 Posts: 5,122 | Anyone still using a .32?
Warming up for the LEOSA shoot tomorrow a half dozen guy's showed up with the usual 9 and .45 hardware exception being one retired Deputy Sheriff that packed a .32 ACP Walther PP. He said he's been carrying it forever and saw no reason to change. He got some ribbing but he maxed the course. I meant to ask him what ammunition he carried but forgot. I wouldn't go below .380, but only hit's count. He could hit.
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Registered User Joined: May 2004 From: Central Arkansas Posts: 5,616 |
I recently sold one of only two .32's I've owned. I sold a Davis derringer a couple weeks ago, and still have a Keltec P32 that I'll probably sell as well. I've hestitated on selling the P32 for years, because it was such a disappointing gun and I didn't want to dump a turd on some stranger. In probably 200-300 rounds total use, it broke its hammer spring twice. The last time it did, I repaired it and just put it away to never be used again. With the recent pattern of gun-selling I've been doing, I looked into it some online and apparently that was a fairly common thing back when they were new, that is now pretty much fixed. So even though the hammer spring assembly in it is actually new & unfired (although installed 12-15 years ago), I ordered a new, supposedly upgraded, one from Keltec a couple weeks ago and plan to install it & then sell the gun; probably along with the ~180 rounds of .32 acp ammo I still have laying around. With the LCP, PM9, and P64 still on hand, I can't see ever going back to the P32 and selling it would let me reduce my number of calibers on hand by one, which would be a good thing. Honestly thinking about selling off the P64 as well. It's on okay gun, but I never use it and probably never will. On the Davis derringer that I sold last month, I was genuinely surprised at what it sold for when put on consignment at the LGS. I bought it for $39 back when I had my FFL (probably 1991 or 1992), and it sold last month for $149.95; a nearly 300% return. While surprising, that same $39 put into a no-brainer index fund would have been around $500-$550 now; so while surprising, still not a great investment in the grand scheme of things. |
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Registered User Joined: Mar 2017 From: Arkansas Posts: 554 |
To side rail. John if you decide to sell the P64 could you please let me know. It's not a bucket list gun but wouldn't mind having one. Just the gun shop if you put it on consignment. Way things are going for me I'm bored and could use a road trip. |
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Registered User Joined: Jul 2004 Posts: 5,122 |
Only two guns I returned to the dealer for a refund were P-64's. I couldn't get past that trigger and recoil. The Makarov's and CZ 82's were so much better and firing the same 9X18 MM I just sent them back. Other's I've read have replaced the springs and made them a decent carry gun.
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Registered User Joined: Jun 2004 From: Canadian Badlands Posts: 9,440 |
Sold my .32's (Beretta M1934 & a Llama) off 40 years ago
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Registered User Joined: Mar 2017 From: Arkansas Posts: 554 |
Only .32 I ever owned so far was a Beretta Tomcat and couldn't stand the fact that if it would break a firing pin if shot dry. As in one dry fire shot after a mag dump. So I fixed and dumped it.
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Registered User Joined: Jul 2019 Posts: 985 |
I sold off my .380's once some decent pocket 9MM became available. I recently passed on a .32 - never saw the use of them. but they, and the 380's have killed a lot of people over the years. and as Terry said, only hits count. it is almost always the shooter and not the gun that makes the difference. Last edited by Dorobuta; 09-17-2020 at 12:45 PM. |
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Registered User Joined: Oct 2003 From: nashua nh Posts: 2,682 | Quote:
Single action pull was already great. It got better when I improved the DA. I consider the Makarovs better when they're used" hot , heavy and dirty" ( they remain reliable much longer under rough dirty conditions) but the P64 was never really intended to be a " service pistol" for anyone but cops, pocket guns for the brass and the local secret police... which is why they upgraded to the Wanad P83 and beyond. But for it's use (bare bones CC that you can hit with) it's great despite the (all steel construction) weight for its size...and the weight helps tame the recoil you'd otherwise get in 9x18. | |
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Registered User Joined: May 2004 From: Central Arkansas Posts: 5,616 | |
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Registered User Joined: Apr 2017 From: USA Posts: 1,249 |
I dont see the point, really. The bullet molds, brass,ammo for .32 ACP are so hard to get and expensive that the small wt and bulk savigs, as vs the 9 oz, $350, 5.5"x 4" keltec 380, aint worth it. By going 380, you dont have to turn off that silly semi rim of the .32 case, which causes feeding failures with jph's. Have to put real sights on the 380, tho, preferably luminous, cause you'll still probably need to make brain hits. You can get 300 ft lbs and real expansion of a hp in the locked breech 380. making it many times more effective than any .32 load and quite a bit better than the makarove, in size and bulk of the gun and the stopping probability of the round. Have to pull the 85 gr aluminum-jacketed, hollowbased, lubed, silvertip jhp's and hot load them, safely, in the locked breech, to nearly 1300 fps, and get real expansion, in flesh, which you will NOT get with copper jacketed bullets, at 1000 or so fps. Or you can just hollowbase and hollowpoint a dead soft lead 95 gr cast bullet to 85 grs and drive it over 1200 fps.in the locked breech 380. That, too will expand reliably in flesh. .32's of the same size get 100 ft lbs, at best, and no expansion, The Makarov has 220 ft lbs, no expansion, so it wastes 1/3rd of that power on the far side of the man. The mak weighs more and is just as big as a Defender .45, which can be loaded to have 3x as much power, using 70 gr Split noses, at 2200 fps. So i dont see any reason to have such a large gun that is so feeble. The locked breech guns show a bit less felt-recoil than the simple blowback guns. You really should try an airweight 357 with full charge Buffalo-Bore 357 ammo, sometime. You'll then consider the 'recoil" of the p 64 to be what it is, nothing.
Last edited by boati; 11-10-2020 at 03:21 PM. |