pros and cons of .32acp

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Since some have posted their pics, I have my CZ70 with Marschal grips. The grips cost as much as the gun but makes a huge difference (to me).



The .32ACP is a fun round. I'd have no problem carrying it for SD if the need arrived.
 
I finally DID find a .32 ACP that I'd consider for use as a defensive carry pistol:

asg_cz_vz61.jpg
 
The 32acp is a viable option for those who are recoil sensitive giving them better performance tgan either a 22 rimfire, or 25acp. Guns of morepowerful chambering are available in virtually the same size and weifht however. There are HP rounds for the 380 that do mushroom, and also penetrate in the standard denim/ballistic gel to the FBI 12" standard. But in a 32acp, expansion is not in the picture. It's only game is penetration.
I haven't experianced rim lock in any of my 3 pistols chambered in 32acp. A Kel-Tec P32, CZ 50, and get ready to drool JERRYS, a Walther/Manurhin PP.:D
 
I like Walthers. Walthers are supposed to be .32's. therefore, all my Walthers are chambered in .32. (Well, except for a PPK/s in .22 that snuck in)
The .32 is just easy to shoot in the little blowback guns. And, phenomenally accurate. It just doesn't do much when it hits something except poke a hole. :)
I also have a Seecamp I bought in...85-86? When they were impossible to find. It still makes for a dandy carry gun when just anything else is too big.
 
Several P-32 in my house carried for SD

I know as a small child. My father was shot in leg by a 32acp . He lost all interest in continuing the disagreement . :eek:
 
Gavrilo Princip did pretty well with the 32ACP.
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Actually, it was a Browning 1910 in .380...

The .32 ACP is basically obsolescent, and a legacy cartridge for the vast number of pocket pistols made for it back in the day. Modern loadings of it are limited.

I think it offers the most "bang" for the least powder of common pistol cartridges, and with modern bullets would be a good choice for super-secret 007 silenced applications, and niche sub-compact weapons.

It's out of fashion because similar sized pistols in more powerful calibers are available, but the trade-off is they have more blast and recoil.
 
There is .32 acp ammunition that expands. And ammunition is not at all hard to find-and it's no more expensive than most other calibers.
While the Seecamp .380 and .32 are the same size, that means the .32 version could have been made smaller.
The Keltec .32 is 10% smaller than their .380.
The .32 offers fast recovery and follow-up shots.
 
I'm loafing around the house with a P3AT in my pocket as I read this, and I'm having a hard time understanding the ".32 out penetrates .380" comment. I am loaded up with 115gr cast bullets from...oh I don't remember who. I'll check the cabinet if someone wants to know. Anyhow, I can't really see the .32/71gr being vastly better. Not that I dislike the .32. Far from it in fact.

Where I DO see the difference is in recoil with such small handguns. The .32 doesn't seem so bad, but the .380 is pretty stout. Not painful, but stout.
 
Expanding ammunition in the .32 ACP is a bad idea!

I say this beacuse of my relationship with an attorney that worked in conjunction with the Albuquerque, NM Coroner's Office. His expertise is that ball ammunition works best in every caliber "lighter" than the 9mm Parabellum because:

a) Projectiiles leaving these short-barreled handguns exit the muzzle below 1000 fps (generally considerd the "floor" for reliable bullet expansion).

b) The shorter the barrel, the lower the muzzle velocity.

c) If the bullet does manage to expand, said expansion impedes adequate penetration. This causes the bullet to make a nasty surface would and prevents incapacitation.

d) the same can be said for the .380 and 9mm Makarov as well. An efective hollow point in these cartridges is "wishful thinking".

Don't bother to attempt defying basic ballistic physics. It won't work.

From the beginning, John Moses Browning created both the .32 and .380 ACP to use FMJ ammunition. They are designed to breach bone (sternum, rib and cranial structures). After this has been accomplished, they perfroate internal organs. the only way they make a significant impact is to strike (and perforate) the lungs, heart liver, spleen and especially the central nervous system..

These are the physical trauma that is expected to stop an attacker from these cartridges. The survivors of shooting by these cartridges express experience of extreme pain and trauma.

And that, my friends, and neighbors is... the rest of the story!
 
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No, that's the story from 1985. And you make a lot of incorrect assumptions.
Ammunition has been designed that reliably expands at under 1000 FPS.
I wouldn't describe expanding ammunition as making a "surface wound." Thinking that expanding ammunition won't reach vital organs is folly- and unless your bullet reaches the central nervous system, none of this matters.

R1145- there are probably more loadings available in .32 acp than ever before.
 
Sorry, Bill. This is where I must disagree. This isn't a single incident, this is a conclusion after a longitudinal study over a 20 year period that concluded in 2010. (A far cry from 1985).

My friend is still working as an attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He witnessed more than 200 autopsies in the aforementioned period, witnessing the results of numerousshotings in the "gangland" scope of Albuquerque. Most of these shootings were drug-related and involved both the .380 ACP and .32 ACP cartridges.

I'll tell (once again) the story of a drug deal gone bad, where the aggrieved party, seated in the rear of a large 1970's-vintage American sedan, drew a die-cast zinc .380 (a Davis, I believe) and shot the driver in the back of the head, at a range of approximately two feet. The object of the shooting (driver) slumped forward against the steering wheel. When the Forensic Technician of the City Police Department pulled the shooting victim back to the upright position, a shiny new .380 FMJ with freshly cut rifling, rolled out of his mouth! (It was coated in blood, but it still looked new)! A hollow point may have breached the skull, but I wouldn't have put much stock in it's ability to passed through the front of the skull. (The load was of American manufacture).

There were a number of shootings that "mirrored" this one. I asked my friend about the ability of the .380's efficacity with the advent of "modern hollow point ammunition". He adamantly informed me that it simply "wasn't in the cards". In my humble opinion, what happens "in the streets" is more than likely what is going to happen everywhere else.

In one respect, Bill, I'll agree with you. If you cant reach the CNS or perforate the vital organs, you are going to be in trouble, because you won't achieve a "stop"!

I want as much penetration that I can get with these rounds. It's either FNHCL or FMJ running as hard as I can fire them.

You can use your "whiz-bang" hollow points all you like. I, personally, will not risk using them.
 
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Just for grins, here is my CZ70. I think I paid $250 for it as "surplus". It turned out to be NIB.
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I've always thought this was a cool gun. I prefer the ergos over its Walther counterpart and like that the decocking safety is mounted on the frame instead of the slide. I think this used to be cutting edge in terms of a compact pistol. While big and heavy for what it is by today's standards, it's still easy to carry concealed and rides nicely for metal. The weight-to-power balance also makes it fun to shoot and easy to handle. I used to see a lot of these at gun shows in the $200 range and now I kick myself for not buying a few.

Sure, .32acp isn't heavy duty. It's not terrible though. I think the pros and cons have been handled nicely in this thread. I've shot a few thousand rounds of .32acp over the years and I've never experienced rim lock.
 
CaptainO has it right in my opinion. If you are carrying a caliber smaller than 9mm or 38 special, it should be fmj or fnhcl. (327 mag being an exception). Penetration, not expansion, has to be your primary goal with these smaller calibers. In that sense and with that type of bullet the 32 acp is a very fine cartridge and great for deep concealment carry.
 
I had a CZ70. I wish i had it once again, but can't buy anything until September. (Money limitations and all that).

The CZ70 is fine except for the hideously heavy DA trigger pull! I have a Cervena Zastava Model 70 (a SA .7.65 2.75" european "cop's pistol"). I love the darned thing to death! Soon I'll buy some Buffalo Bore 75 grain HCFNL "hot" .32 ACP loads.

By all that's Holy, when I shoot someone with it, I want the darmed slug to penetrteas far, and as fast as i can launch the bloody thing!

This is what really counts when you use a .32 ACP.
 
I've fired soft shooting 40sw loads like Tula out of a SW Shield. It didn't recoil very hard.

I couldn't imagine 380 out of a similar sized pistol, or one even a little smaller, to be difficult to shoot either. We're totally skipping 9mm here.

I can't see how 32acp could have any advantage whatsoever to the 380acp, unless you wanted an ultra small gun to hide behind your ear.
 
To my mind, the usefulness/uselessness of the .32 Auto really depends on whether or not you trust expanding ammunition in small calibers, particularly .380 Auto. While there are a couple of JHP loadings that I trust in .380 Auto, they're only a couple (Federal Hydra-Shok and Hornady Critical Defense to be exact) and only in a "full size" .380 like my CZ-83. From what I've seen and read, .380 JHP's start to become "iffy" when the barrel gets under 3 1/2", even more so if under 3". Were I to carry one of the "micro" pistols like a Kel-Tec P3AT, Ruger LCP, Taurus TCP, or S&W Bodyguard .380 I'd probably be loading it with FMJ to ensure adequate penetration.

Once you're down to relying on non-expanding bullets, the .32 Auto looks very attractive to me. It gives you very mild recoil, more than adequate penetration, and usually at least one more round of capacity over a similarly sized gun in .380. Also, in some guns, the milder recoil of the .32 seems to enhance reliability. The Kel-Tec P32, Walther PP series, and Mauser HsC in .32 Auto all have better reputations for reliability than their .380 counterparts and I've witnessed this firsthand in the case of the Walther.

While the .380 will be more powerful no matter which way you slice it, with non-expanding bullets I'm really not sure there would be that much of a difference in the real world. I don't really see a .355" hole being markedly superior to a .312" hole and the .32 is easier to place and gives you a chance to make at least one more hole.
 
I couldn't imagine 380 out of a similar sized pistol, or one even a little smaller, to be difficult to shoot either. We're totally skipping 9mm here.
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You'd be surprised. Most older subcompact .380's are direct blowback, which increases felt recoil.

If I remember correctly, it was big news when Keltec introduced their .32 and .380 since they were recoil operated instead of blowback.
 
what folks are missing about the "recoil" issue, is that most .380s and .32s are being fired from a blow back gun (fixed bbl) which generates more felt recoil directly to the shooter. when a locked breach (tilt bbl) type gun is used the recoil issue is mitigated considerably.

this is why a walther ppk in .380 is brutal for some while the very same loading in the lighter glock 42 is a breeze to shoot.

ive thought about the CZ70 many times.... however, the lack of service/parts should something break, the 315 pound D/A trigger pull have kept me yearning for a Walther or something that can still be fixed by a company still in operation....
 
most .380s and .32s are being fired from a blow back gun
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Used to be.
Where this is the case with older guns, and older designs, not so much with the most popular 380s today. Kel-Tec P3AT, Ruger LCP, S&W Body Guard, and most other Mouseguns in 380 today are locked breach, not blow back.
As is also the Kel-Tec P32.
But many people still complain about the "snappy" recoil of the 380 Mousegun format.
 
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