.32 ACP Pistol Opinions

Let me say this, I would buy a Seecamp in a minute for $400 or less, but I haven't seen one at that price. If you guys are comparing a Seecamp at $400 and an NAA at the market price, go Seecamp all the way, duh! But, the reality is that the last time I saw a Seecamp for sale it had a price tag of $1000.00 (I know they'd take less, but you get my point...)
 
Rob,

I don't think you'll find a .32 Seecamp for $400 -- but here in Connecticut, where the factory is located, the guns seem to be more plentiful than in other parts of the country.

A friend bought one recently for $565. I don't have much trouble finding them here at prices ranging between $550 to $650.

I've never met him, but Larry Seecamp has an excellent reputation locally.

Happy New Year!

Kurt
 
When the Seecamp .32 came out, it sold for about what a Guardian costs today. When people saw what a great little gun it was(and I'll be the first to say that it was and is an oustanding little gun), the demand very quickly outstripped the production capabilities of Seecamp. What happens when demand is higher than supply? They were able to make the Seecamp .32 and sell it at a price that is comparable with today's Guardians, and make a profit doing it. The only thing that has changed is price-gouging, do to demand (and no, I am not saying that it is Seecamp doing the gouging, but someone is). At the time, no one made a pistol comparable to the Seecamp, that gave customers a choice and helped keep the Seecamp's price at a reasonable, realistic level. I think the Seecamp would be a real value at what it originally was supposed to cost, but I won't pay eight-hundred or a thousand dollars for a four-hundred dollar gun anymore than I'll pay one-hundred dollars or more for a twenty-dollar, fifteen round pistol magazine. Now that Seecamp has some serious competition, maybe they'll work a little harder at getting their production numbers up. North American Armory nearly doubled their Guardian .32acp production last year. I can't believe, that with a product as good as Seecamp's .32 pistol, Larry Seecamp couldn't have gotten the funding a long time ago to build larger facilities and increase production to match demand for his gun. As the following of the Guardian and the Autuga pistols grow, I think we will see the production numbers of the Seecamps come up and the prices go down accordingly. Keep in mind that this is one man's opinion, and I don't mean to offend or insult anyone with it.

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Eric@Glock Talk
http://ericcom.com/glocktalk/

[This message has been edited by EricGT (edited 01-03-99).]
 
Hi Eric!

You're absolutely right supply & demand has lead to price gouging; but I can tell you for certain that it is the distributors and dealers who are putting excessive mark-ups on the guns!

Seecamp's shop is 20 minutes from my house and I have a couple of friends who know Larry and/or have worked for him.

Over the years I've heard all kinds of "Seecamp Rumors" (especially in the gunzines) -- 'that Seecamp intentionally limited supply to manipulate prices' 'that Seecamp planned to expand production' and when that didn't materialize 'competition from NAA would force Seecamp to expand'.

I suspect that most of the prognosticators haven't met Larry Seecamp! I haven't either -- but I understand that he's a very nice, very laid back, guy who is extremely dedicated to the quality of his products.

I've also heard that Larry's not much interested in running a large operation. He has certainly had plenty of offers and opportunities to expand; that he hasn't followed through on!

IMHO -- I suspect that Seecamp will continue to turn out limited quantities of their fine .32 ACP pistol; but won't do anything specific to combat competition from NAA, Berretta, and others.

The story at Seecamp is that they do what they like to do and try to do it very well.
Louis Seecamp was a pretty independent guy who designed guns for Mossberg before going out on his own. He licensed various patents and developed a nifty DA .45.

My "wild a--" guess, is that if anything new happens at Seecamp it will be a product innovation. Maybe a new gun or caliber.

I've also heard is that it is a pretty safe bet that Larry will continue working diligently to lower his golf scores!

The Seecamps are good people with a penchant for doing things their own way. I hope that one of these days I'll get to meet them!

Happy New Year!

Kurt
 
Well if Larry Seecamp has found his niche and is happy with his business the way it is, more power to him. I have to respect a man that picks a point and says, "I'm happy here." Thanks for the insights Kurt. The only info I had ever heard on Larry Seecamp himself was in those gunzines you referred to. It wasn't until very recently that I realized that those articles I've been reading since I was a kid are written by real people who can be, and often are wrong. I am a little chagrinned to admit that up until a year and a half ago, it never even occurred to me to question what I read in those mags. I still enjoy reading all the gun magazines. I just do it with my eyes open now.

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Eric@Glock Talk
http://ericcom.com/glocktalk/
 
I have to agree with the not wanting to pay high prices for the SEECAMP. I purchased one yesterday that was on sale for $550. after seeing them at $775.

Best buy I ever made. I also just live up the road from where they are made and to tell you the truth I'm glad to have bought one. What follows will explain why.

Today being a Sunday I went to the shop to see about getting a holster and spare mag for mine.

The owner was the only one in the shop "Ole LS himself." He not only gave me the tour of the shop and sold me the mag and holster I wanted but gave me a bottle of the gun lube he uses for the heck of it. Free oil is not the reason for the praise but...

The kind of service and pride in his product that one would like to see in all walks of life. Not much of that these days in the big corporate America that has shut down most shops.you can see his pride in his eyes.

That is what makes the SEECAMP flawless and the best darn 32 ACP. around. He makes them one at a time not on a big production line.

It's the darn sellers of the gun that give the SEECAMP a bad rap... Not the gun being special. It is one Hell of a gun to own just because it was made with care and by the mans hand.

Ok Nuff said. Just my 2 cents.
 
Hmmmm...my .380 Colt is just a tad bigger than the NAA, but packs almost twice the stopping power.

It even fits in the same size pager pal holster.

Same price as a NAA.

To late to get one now though, but not hard to find a used model.



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The new guy.

"I'm totin, this pistol because my dang SKS won't fit in my holster"
 
I was going to comment on that lil CZ 32 auto as well. CZ built stuff in typical east-bloc style heavy parkerization, stone simple and tank tough. And the price on them is well below other such 32's... does anyone have experience with these pistols??

I adore my PA-63 (ap9) in 380 but the alloy frame seems pretty soft (for a long life pistol), the cz in supposedly all steel.

Anyone??


Dr.Rob
 
I shot a CZ50 and it was not reliable (poor feeding with ball ammo). Ergonomics were a bit off. Sights and trigger were decent. It wasn't easy to hide, but smaller than a PPK/s with which I compared it.
 
I had a pair of CZ 50s. They were both refused to feed anything over five rounds in the mag with HP. Ginen that limitation, I experianced more than enough jams to warrant getting rid of them both. (But what should I have expected from a $95 pistol?)
 
I can't beleive that there have been 30 + posts to this thread and not one person has talked about the new keltec p-32. It may be slightly longer than the seecamp, but it is MUCH lighter. I've recently shot one, and it appeared to be a reliable well built little gun. Of course I'd want to shoot it much more before I could say it is 100% reliable. What do you all think??
 
I've had a Guardian for about 6 months and just bought a Kel-Tec P-32 last Saturday. I haven't fired the P-32 yet, but I can say that the P-32 is very much lighter than the Guardian and carries in my pocket or clipped to the waist of my pants *much* easier than the Guardian. It also seems to fit my hand better than the Guardian which will hopefully make it easier to shoot with hot ammo. The Guardian is very unpleasant to shoot more than a couple of times with Fiocchi 60gr JHP. The P-32 also costs about half of what the Guardian costs.
 
I just purchased some of those CZ pistols that are .32 cal. I was impressed with the caliber but not with the gun. Only had chance to fire the CZ50 and it was very unreliable. I have since learned of there short commings and plan to work them out. I want to see what the 70 will do but I'm sure it won't be much different from the 50. All in all I was impressed with the.32. I don't think I would carry for self protection but I guess it would be better than nothing.

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gun control is people control
 
Isn't James Bond's Walther PPK chambered for .32 rather than .380?

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"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity." - Sigmund Freud
Hey, have I mentioned my new book? It is called:
MEN ARE FROM MARS and WOMEN JUST NEED TO DEAL WITH IT!
 
The only one of the .32 mouse guns that I haven't heard numerous stories of malfunctions about is the Seecamp, possibly because it's designed to shoot only one type of ammo (Silvertips). The Tomcat, the Guardian, and the Keltec are all crapshoots. Many of these guns have to go back to the factory for service; sometimes more than once. Do a complete search on deja.com and you'll find numerous stories of malfunctions.

My Guardian went back to the factory three times, for repeated feed failures, an ejected extractor, and two broken slide releases, and still never functioned properly. They finally gave me a new gun at my insistance, which I sold soon after. Everyody raves about NAA's great customer service, but I think that it's only because so many people have to make use of it. I'd rather have a gun that works right to begin with.

Finally, the .32 ACP is an anemic round, in my opinion. These little guns are convenient, but they just don't cut it. I use an S&W 642 .38 Special for a pocket gun now and I feel much better protected.
 
Don't make the mistake of letting money influence your decision on a .32 apc for a carry gun (or any other for that matter). Get something that works and you can shoot well at 3 to 5 yards. You may not get a second chance. And don't be found dead with a round or two in your gun. Otherwise, you are probably better off with out one.
 
I agonized for a month over which .32 to buy, and spent hours researching the subject. Final conclusion: The Seecamp is absurdly expensive and largely unobtainable; also, I wouldn't buy a pistol with absolutely no sites. The Autauga only shoots hollowpoints, making practice overly expensive. The Guardian's trigger is too stiff, it's known for out-of-the-box reliability problems (although NAA will fix and refix it until these are, supposedly, all resolved), especially last-round stovepipes, and, at $400, I wouldn't buy it unless it was, in fact, known for its reliability. I finally settled on the Kel-Tec P-32. Half the weight and $150 cheaper than the Guardian, a much lighter trigger, locked-breech mechanism to reduce recoil, and something about its very basic blue plainness that I found appealing, as compared to the excessive metallic sheen of the Guardian.
 
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