Kel-Tec P-32 and Cor-Bon .32ACP

K

Kentucky Rifle

New member
I called Kel-Tec and talked to the head gunsmith about this. He told me that Cor-Bon specifically used the P-32 to help develop thier new longer, hotter .32ACP hollow point. My P-32 has had no trouble at all digesting the C-B offering. As a matter of fact, it has worked really well. To me, a .32ACP hollow point with 20 more ft. lbs. of energy is a really GOOD thing. The Cor-Bon is now my carry load and I wondered how many people feel the same?

Thank's
Kentucky Rifle
 
Does the Cor-Bon really have more energy than the Winchester Silvertips? And aren't Cor-Bon's usually less expensive than Silvertips?
 
I purchased my Cor-Bon .32ACP H.P.'s in a box of 50 at the last Louisville gun show.

I can't exactly remember what I paid, but I think it was a comparable price to Silvertips. (If it hadn't been, I'd have remembered.) If I'm not mistaken, the Silvertips have muzzle energy of about 130 ft. lbs. The Cor-Bon's have 150. Plus muzzle velocity out of a P-32 is 1050 FPS with the C-B's vs. about 800 FPS with the Silvertip.

E. BeauBeaux: You're right about the Cor-Bon's being a good carry round in Guardians also. However, my Guardian is an "older" model (ABXXX) and while the Cor-Bons chambered just fine, something told me that something else just was not right. So, before I fired my Guardian with the new C-B's, I ejected a round and measured it with my calipers. (I really didn't need the calipers to see that I had a BIG problem.) My Guardian had a huge problem with bullet set-back. In fact, I was afraid to fire my Guardian when it was loaded with the new C-B's. I mailed it back to Carl at NAA and within two weeks it came back adjusted. I loaded up a mag of measured C-B's and chambered and then ejected them without firing and measured again. Carl had done a good job because this time, cartridge length had not changed even a tiny bit. So, the new Cor-Bons are now the carry load in my Guardian also.

Kentucky Rifle
 
I think you guys are totally wrong.

I believe that penetration is going to be poor with even the Cor-bon load. It will be better than other JHPs but I dont think its going to penetrate as well as FMJ's, and I also think expansion is going to be questionable.

For 32 acp, i prefer FMJ's because I believe the penetration to be better.

This is my unscientific, totally biased opinion based on nothing more than my observations in an imperfect world; feel free to disagree and carry JHPs if you feel otherwise.
 
Those of us who are foolish enuf to not regard the work of Marshall and Sanow as fraudulent might find useful their rating of 65% one-shot stops for .32 Silvertips. Ball ammo comes out significantly lower. :p
 
If you believe a single shot to the torso with any 32 acp bullet is gonna "stop" somebody 65% of the time, you are sadly mistaken.

The only way you will get a physiologic stop with any 32 acp (and for a lot of other calibers as well) is to hit the brain or cord, or at least a major cardiopulmonary structure. You need plenty of penetration to do that, and FMJ is going to give better penetration.

You know that if someone gets hit tangentially to the torso and decides that it hurts a lot and sits down, M&S consider it a "one shot stop", despite the fact that the persons response was psychological, and therefore unpredictable.
 
lonegunman -- Please don't patronize me or put words in my mouth. I didn't say I believed a .32 acp in the torso would stop an aggressor 65% of the time. I did point out that the shootings reported by M&S indicate a 65% one-stop rate with the relatively modest Silvertip. Unless you discount the M&S findings, this is an indication that the Silvertip performs much better than ball ammo of the same caliber. Perhaps you've done your own study of .32 acp shootings, and, if so, I'd be happy to know your findings.

I'll say up front that I'm less interested in what happens to bullets in gelatin than I am in what they do in living tissue. I'm not interested, by the way, in debating the work or personal characters of M&S or Marty Fackler. I believe all three have made useful contributions to a body of knowlege that's important to us.

The M&S data published thus far does not include CorBon's 60 gr jhp, which is no slouch at 1050 fps, with 150 ft lbs. With this velocity and energy I would expect it to do better than the Silvertip. I'm unaware of a .32 acp ball round that comes close.
 
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GOLD DOTS ARE ALL I have shot in my kel tec and have never had a problem,but if i can get more ump out of cor bon thats what i need.does anyone know how gold dot compairs to cor bon?
 
automania - Speer lists its 60 gr .32 acp Gold Dot as having a muzzle velocity of 960 fps and a muzzle energy of 123 foot lbs. That's about the same as the Silvertip. - Clark
 
Clark Kent: Sorry if i misinterpreted what you meant, and I didnt mean to patronize or put words in your mouth.

But you brought up the 65% stat, not me. I thought you were quoting the one stop shot rate for 32 acp, as published by M&S.

I have apparrently missed your point. Do you not believe the 65% number? If you dont, then why bring it up?

I am not trying to be antagonistic, I just dont think I am getting what you are saying with reference to the 65% stuff.

That being said, do you know how much penetration are those JHPs supposed to have? If it is the same as the FMJ, then I would think they will do fine. I worry about 32 acp not penetrating well enough though, and theoretically, a JHP design can penetrate less than a FMJ at similar velocities.

I dont have any kind of study to back up my opinions, but I have worked in trauma for about 10 yrs and have seen lots of people shot with 32 acp and just am not impressed with its penetration really. Additionally, most 32 acp hollowpoints dont expand much, but the Cor Bon may be different since it has more energy.

That being said, I carry a 32 acp more often than anything else, and I am not trying to be anti-32, just pointing out what i consider to be a potential shortcoming.
 
lonegunman - I think what we might have here is a failure to communicate, i.e. I say tomato and you say to-máhto, or something like that. But I'll try one more time:

I did cite the M&S 65% rate of one-shot stoppage in the shootings they included in their study. I didn't hang my hat on that figure and say that meant that 65% of everyone shot with a .32 acp Silvertip will stop, nor do I believe that's what the M&S results show. What they show is that 65% of the folks shot once in the torso within the parameters of their study, stopped fighting.

The only conclusion I draw from that is that if the Silvertip worked that well in those shootings, compared with ball ammo -- regardless of what one thinks of the M&S study parameters -- then the Silvertips might well be more effective generally in gunfight scenarios than ball ammo.

As I see it, you are dismissing the M&S findings as "sadly mistaken." I'm no expert, but I believe someone who publishes his or her work, acknowledging and addressing in their publication the sometimes venomous attacks on that work, is a more credible source than someone who snipes from cover.

I said I wasn't interested in debating M&S v. Fackler v. anybody else, and I'm not. It's been hashed out ad nauseam on other boards, and the only accomplishment seems to be that the heat level rises as nobody budges from his or her prior convictions. I bring no convictions to the issue, but I'll admit that I'm more impressed by street results than theory.

I hereby promise not to another post that implies I take the M&S conclusions -- or any other conclusions -- as gospel.

I take nothing as gospel, except, of course, the Gospel. And even That has varying interpretations.
 
Clark Kent: OK, fine, I got no problem with any of that.

Personally, I dont want to get shot with a 32 acp silvertip or FMJ.

Like I said, all I have is anecdotal information based on what I have seen. This is not at all scientific really, and I am not trying to pass it off as such.
 
lonegunman - I think the study of physiopsychoballistics has too many inherent variables to be a science. More of an art, perhaps.
 
"physiopsychoballistics" is the best term I have ever heard to describe to effects of being shot (or even shot at!)

I wonder what the "one shot stop" rate for a complete miss would be? I mean, if you took 100 shootings where one shot was fired, and it missed, what percent of the people shot at do you think would be "Stopped"?

Certainly a good number would be due to physiopsycho ballistics!
 
You may be on to something here: "Fright Stoppers, a Look at the Effectiveness of Warning Shots," paperback, lotsa photos, $27.95.
 
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