.32?

Not sure the word "impressive" fits with any 32acp round. From what I see it's ballistics are inbetween Fiocchi, and Sellier & Bellot.
Nothing really earth shaking, and the roughly 80 fps velocity, and 30 ft lbs of energy over common American manufacturers 32acp are most likely insignificant in the already low powered 32.
 
In general, European .32 ACP (7.65 mm Browning) is a bit hotter than the U.S. equivalent, and may function better in some guns, but I would not describe it as "impressive" unless one is easily impressed.

Jim
 
I'd rather have a 10mm but I certainly don't feel helpless with my noisy cricket (Beretta Tomcat). I generally load it with Sellier and Bellot. In a small gun it doesn't feel much different than shooting 9mm!
 
The issue with most .32 ACP ammo is usually the bullet. An FMJ seen in a lot of ammo, like the Geco(that has less MV and energy than other brands), is mostly useless. A Silvertip, on the other hand, isn't. Even though they're about the same ballistically.
"...first car insurance..." An entire industry based on fraud. snicker.
 
Well, I think the Buffalo Bore +P hardcast stuff is pretty "impressive" at 220 ft.lbs. That's up into .380 territory with some real penetration. Spit out 4 or 5 rounds from your Keltec into a BG's face and he'd be pretty impressed too!
 
Is this post going to turn in to another "which cartridge is best and or better"? :rolleyes:

Personally . . . I'm older . . my hands don't work as well as they used to . . I need a larger cartridge so I can handle them better and not "fumble" and drop them. :eek:

Are some brands of .32 "hotter" than others . . . yes. Can some brands of handguns handle the "hotter" ones . . . that's up to the person who owns the handgun to decide by doing his/her research. I've seen some 32s over the years that I wouldn't want to shoot ANY ammo in and others that were very nice and good quality. Are the "hotter" ones "impressive' . . . one impresses one individual may be "ho hu" to another. :)
 
Is this post going to turn in to another "which cartridge is best and or better"?
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No. Just saying that if you're not a geezer with hands that don't work well enough to pick up a .32 acp round that it is worth putting in your pocket when you walk out the door.:D
 
Of course, many will argue that in a small caliber, like the .32acp, you are best served with good ball ammo so you can get enough penetration to reach important stuff.

If I carry a Walther PPK or a NAA Guardian, I carry them with ball. I just dug my old Seecamp out of mothballs, ordered a new mag and recoil spring and will be shooting Gold Dots out of it. Seecamps generally won't handle ball.
 
.32 out of a Keltec or other 7.65 Browning/.32acp utilizing firearm is a perfectly legitimate defense tool.

I'm as susceptible to Big Bullet as the next guy, and carried two of the biggest hand-cannons for decades...
used to CCW a Desert Eagle (.50AE), then switched to a Glock 20 2nd Gen (10mm)...
now the Glock 20-SF is the Car Pistol, (easier to conceal in a car than a rifle)
and I switch back & forth between a S&W CS45 (.45acp) and a 7.65 Browning offering ;)
Sometimes carry both the .45 & the 7.65, depending on need/want/area/feeling.

Mostly its a shot placement thing nowadays...
I can group very nicely with the two concealers, trust in making a tough shot is huge.
Plus, after installing a 9" Lone Wolf barrel on my Glock, kinda hard to conceal now...
its pretty much a hunting/ohsquish active-shooter-removal-tool these days.
 
When I carry my Otiges or Savages I use my own reloads which are far superior to factory crap. I use Hornady XTPs and grains of Red DoT or HS6. Impressive no snappier yes and yes my reloads will get the job done bugt then so will my reloads in any of the two dozen other handguns that I load for.

Now would I use one of my .32acp reloads in a Jennings or Bryant....no as I like having all my fingers.
 
The issue with most .32 ACP ammo is usually the bullet. An FMJ seen in a lot of ammo, like the Geco (that has less MV and energy than other brands), is mostly useless. A Silvertip, on the other hand, isn't. Even though they're about the same ballistically.
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You may wish to bring Canada into the late 20th century in terms of terminal handgun ballistics. Energy doesn't mean squat except as fuel to do work, and the only work of interest for a self-defense handgun is destroying biological tissue in your target. According to the IWBA, the minimum criterion for handgun wounding effectiveness is 12.5 inches of penetration in calibrated, bare, 10% ballistic gelatin. The FBI backs off to 12.0 inches of penetration being sufficient in this tissue simulant medium. I'll stick with the scientists' recommendation of 12.5 inches. I'm not aware of the FBI ever explaining their weaker criterion, but I suspect it is attributable to bureaucratic politics rather than reason.

Once the penetration criterion is met, a bigger hole is better, and a bigger hole can be obtained in two ways -- with a larger diameter bullet, or with a bullet design that reliably expands. But, penetration is the single most important factor in handgun effectiveness.

Per Brass Fetcher (http://www.brassfetcher.com/Ballistic Gelatin Tests/32 ACP 10 Percent Ballistic Gelatin.html), here are average penetrations and expansions for various commercial .32 Auto cartridges:

- Cor-Bon 60-gr JHP, 1,015 ft/s (all velocities are at impact, 10 ft from the muzzle), 9.8 inches penetration, 0.195 square inch expansion (unexpanded cross-sectional area is 0.076 square inch) -- failed penetration, great expansion.

- Speer 60-gr Gold Dot JHP, 843 ft/s, 7.2 inches penetration, 0.194 square inches expansion -- failed penetration, great expansion.

- Winchester 60-gr Silvertip JHP, 812 ft/s, 11.4 inches penetration, 0.076 square inches expansion -- failed penetration, no expansion.

- Fiocchi 73-gr FMJ, 724 ft/s, 13.4 inches penetration, 0.076 square inch expansion -- good penetration, no expansion.

For a premium price you can carry Silvertips, JHPs that don't expand and fail to adequately penetrate -- an expensive recipe for disaster. Or, you can carry a cheaper FMJ that obviously won't penetrate, but will likely put two superficial wounds into the bad guy -- an entrance and an exit wound -- on each pull of the trigger. If you insist on paying a premium price for .32 Auto carry ammo, Buffalo-Bore HCFN was mentioned above -- virtually guaranteed thorough ventilation of the bad guy with each trigger pull (providing you hit the target).

I'm unaware of any JHP in .32 Auto that will meet the IWBA or FBI penetration criteria, especially out of the barrel of a mouse gun. With such a gun you are already handicapped by having a smaller bullet diameter (presumably for the valid desire for deep concealment); why handicap yourself further by using a round that will not reliably penetrate sufficiently to destroy vital tissues?

If you do insist on carrying a JHP in this caliber, consider confining your shots to the abdomen, where no bones can stop or deflect a shot and cause penetration to be even more shallow. The organ tissues may not be as vascularized as those found in the thorax, but if your assailant does deal you a death blow after you empty your mag into his belly, you can die with the satisfaction of knowing that he may well die a painful death in time.
 
I have chronographed RWS 71g fmj ammo at 950fps out of my P32. The P32 has the same magazine capacity of the 1911 (7), and gets 100fps more velocity than 230g ball with a bullet of similar sectional density. I have no problem hitting the 8" gong at 27 yards with my old p32. There is no such thing as a 100% effective handgun caliber, but proper placement is far more important than caliber. The 32 has enough horsepower to reach the vitals, so yes, it can do the job.
 
I'm glad you are confident that if attacked by an 8" gong @ 27 yards you are capable of making it ring.
Now, lets talk about a running, bobbing, weaving, jumping attacker at 2.7 yards. In a real life selfdefense situation hitting the tiny little, narrow target that would be the spine is purely luck. I'm not going to rely on luck for an instant stop by hitting the central nervous system with a tiny pea. I'd rather take my chances with a larger, more massive, and painful wound channel, and probable greater organ damage that would be caused by a 9MM, 40 caliber, or 45 caliber hollow point to stop an assailant through shock, and pain.
 
I prefer jhp in sd ammo... but... in micro gun calibers fmj will be better in most areas. Penetration, function, etc and honestly is a .32 meant to be a one shot stopper?
 
No handgun is a consistant one-shot stopper.
There, fixed it.:D
Handguns, even rimfire, 25, or 32 can be. But I'll take my chances with soething starting out at least a little over a third or an inch in diameter, and the closer to a half inch, the better.
 
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