pros and cons of .32acp

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When it all comes down to it, .32 ACP isn't available in a wide number of firearms, isn't cheap, and doesn't have the ballistic advantages of larger rounds. It is however, pleasant and fun to shoot in any size handgun, and herein lies its value limited as it may be.

Honestly we'd be better off not telling others what they should or shouldn't carry and how they should carry it, its really none of my business if you carry a P32 or a P226 with 4 extra mags, and its really none of your business if I carry a Colt Model M or a Desert Eagle. I'm sure someone will come along and explain how I'm wrong, but thats how I see it and I doubt I'm going to change my mind anytime soon.
 
I don't see it as "telling someone" what to do.

More like explaining what you do and why you do it. A different perspective so to speak. If it resonates with them, they change. If not, they don't.
 
Why do people tell others what they NEED to do?
I do what I WANT to do.

I have carried almost every caliber gun except the big magnums. I own more guns, in a greater variety, than many gun shops. I have been carrying a gun for 40 years. When I was younger, and full of testosterone I carried big guns- .45s and .38 Supers. I did go to more dangerous places more often than I do now.

As I got older, I began to realize that:
the presentation of any gun diffuses most situations. Shooting someone generally makes them want to immediately stop doing what caused them to be shot. And, that if I have to shoot someone, the ONLY way to stop them 100% with ANY handgun is to make a central nervous system shot- I decided that a .32 in my pocket is about as good as it gets.
Is a bigger gun better? Yes.
How much better? Not very much better at all.

If I knew I was going to have to shoot someone, I would have the biggest most powerful gun that I own. Since the odds are that I probably won't have to shoot someone, carrying a very comfortable gun puts me WAY ahead of someone who carries nothing at all.

Bear in mind that before retirement from my government job working in the largest criminal justice system in the South, I was in Memphis, TN- one of the most dangerous cities in the country.
 
At least once a week, and sometimes as often as three times a week, I am in a situation in which I cannot carry IWB because I have to either change from a jacket to a robe at church (as a pianist) or wear a tuxedo. On those occasions, I have at different times carried in a shirt-tucked holster and carried a smaller pistol in a pocket holster, and have practiced with both. The pocket holster lets me draw just as fast as pulling out the shirt tail and drawing, and adds the advantage previously noted of allowing me to position my hand on the pistol discretely. Since it is also more comfortable and conceals better, I have started using it more than the tuck holster. There is no doubt that the IWB holster makes a pistol more accessible than either, but I can't always use it, and I still prefer to have a pistol.

My pocket pistol is a .380 - a Sig P238 to be exact. It shoots very well and quite softly, but I am not ready to call the .32 useless or obsolete. The very fact that some people prefer it means that it is neither. Way too many people think that "different" is synonymous with "wrong." Have a pistol. A 9 hits harder than a .380, which hits harder than a .32. But have a pistol.
 
At 60+

I am constantly dressed in a sport coat. I can hide a 1911 in 10mm or a .22. I often "slip" my Cervena Zastava M70 into may waistband when walking down to the Safeway for a gallon of milk, or orange juice.
 
I am still amazed at how some people call others (in other words) stupid because they wish to carry something that works for them. Then you justify it by adamantly trying to educate the stupid people by explaining how a 9mm bullet (9mm) is a lot wider than a 9mm bullet (.380) and has a better chance of hitting the CNS. You guys just need to mature a LOT more before you leave the house in the morning. You make all gun people look ignorant when you open your mouths.
 
Originally posted by Evil Monkey
the airsoft thing was a joke, relax a bit.
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Didn't come off that way and it wasn't funny. It came off as arrogant and condescending, which seems to be a pattern.

Originally posted by Evil Monkey
I'm saying if one acknowledges pocket carry as inferior to waistband carry, then a 32acp pistol makes no sense because you can carry a larger handgun like a glock 42 or Kahr CT380 in 380acp and handle it just fine.
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You mean if one assumes that waistband carry is practical for every person in every situation. Sometimes, depending on the situation, type of gun, and type of dress, pocket carry is the only practical option for me. I find it rather arrogant and obnoxious that you assume that what works for you will automatically work for everyone else too. Even more arrogant and obnoxious is your assumption and very unambiguous statement that anyone who chooses to do things differently from you has made a nonsensical and/or illogical decision.

Originally posted by Evil Monkey
I have a very hard time believing that there are people out there who couldn't shoot something like a CT380 because of problems discussed earlier.
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Whether or not they can handle a slightly larger .380 is irrelevant if they can't/won't carry the larger gun. Small micro .380's sell like hotcakes because people want to carry a small gun, likely in a pocket. I've lost count, however, of the number of times I've heard someone who bought one of these teeny tiny .380's because they want a convenient pocket gun complain about its reliability and/or how difficult it is to shoot. Could it be that just maybe, since they can't/won't carry a bigger gun no matter how nonsensical/illogical you think they are, they'd be better off carrying an "inferior" .32 that they can shoot and is reliable rather than the .380 that they can't shoot and have frequent malfunctions with?

Originally posted by Evil Monkey
Another thing I don't understand is how one can say they prefer a 32acp because it's easier to control in a pocket sized pistol, but at the same time say "it's a close quarters belly gun". Well then a 380acp pocket pistol shifting around in your hand really doesn't matter much, does it? Since you're armed for, and expecting super close combat and all........
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I can't speak for others, but the milder recoil of the .32 is more of an advantage in reliability and speed of follow up shot than in accuracy. Because tiny guns have tiny grips, people with large hands often have more trouble shooting them because they simply don't have enough to hold on to. While a .32's recoil is usually mild enough to prevent problems, a .380 can have enough recoil in a small gun to cause malfunctions if the shooter can't grip it tightly enough, particularly when trying to shoot rapidly (a very useful skill with a small caliber gun). I've witnessed this very thing happen more than once with .380's as small as a Taurus TCP and as large as a Walther PPK/S: the grip was simply too small for the shooter to grasp tightly enough. What's more, I've watched the very same shooters who had these problems with small .380's turn around and shoot similarly-sized .32's with perfect reliability in the very same range trip.
 
If people want a lot of power in .32, there is always .327 Federal. With the right pants, you can pocket carry the LCR.
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Even better, as shown by Commander General Hip-Fire in the bottom video Limnophile posted, you can carry a full sized pistol.
 
Originally posted by SansSouci
Webley,

If you're carrying a handgun, obviously it's because you think it might have to save your life. I'm assuming here that your life is pretty important to you. If my assumption is correct, why would you use a wholly inferior cartridge to save your life?
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This may be a bit of a shock to you, but all handgun cartridges are wholly inferior, some are just slightly more inferior than others. Everything is a compromise to one degree or another, if you're carrying a handgun in anything less than .500 S&W Magnum, you're compromising power to some degree for convenience of carry, concealability, and/or shootability. Afterall, compared to a .500 S&W, a .380, 9mm, or .44 Magnum are "wholly inferior" cartridges, yet the fact that they come in smaller, lighter, guns and have more manageable recoil make them wholly superior choices for most people.

Originally posted by SansSouci
Pocket pistols are curios only. I don't own one. I'd never use one to save my life.
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Good for you, I hope you're disciplined enough to carry IWB, OWB, or however it is that you choose to carry your gun all day, every day, in every dress and every situation. If, however, you find yourself rationalizing not carrying because it was too inconvenient, too uncomfortable, or it was impractical do to the situation or your attire, then perhaps your decision to shun pocket carry so completely isn't as wise as you think.

I, however, am honest enough with myself to admit that I'm not going to strap something to my side or stuff it in my waistband every waking moment. Because of that, I'm willing to consider a pocket gun in a "wholly inferior" caliber because I figure that's still a lot better than the pocket knife and stern look I'd likely be armed with otherwise.

Originally posted by SansSouci
One bad guy vs. one good guy = bad odds for the good guy. Throw one more or more than that bad guys into the fight, and the good guy's future would be bleak.
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That's true of any handgun. That being said, facing multiple bad guys with a .32 Pocket Gun still gives you much better odds than facing multiple bad guys with your fingernails and the stink eye because your gun was too big a pain in the rear to carry that day.

Originally posted by SansSouci
If you know how human beings die, you'll know suitable self-defense cartridges. And if you figure wrong, well, you can guess the consequence.
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I know very well about many of the different ways in which human beings die since I've watched it happen on multiple occasions (I have a professional license and work in a hospital). From my education and firsthand experience with the resilience of the human body, I'm of the opinion that suitable self-defense cartridges don't generally come in handguns. Because, however, rifles and shotguns aren't terribly practical to carry concealed, we have to make some compromises and the best way that I can see to compensate for the lack of power offered by a handgun is to place even more emphasis to the ability to shoot it well.
 
This thread went from a nice discussion about the pros and cons of 32 acp to a piising match about pocket carry. It's too bad really.
 
This thread went from a nice discussion about the pros and cons of 32 acp to a piising match about pocket carry. It's too bad really
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Because it will lead to that.

A leads to D leads to M leads to T leads to Z. Get it?

Through out a discussion, one thing leads to another. Is this your first time having a discussion?
 
Even better, as shown by Commander General Hip-Fire in the bottom video Limnophile posted, you can carry a full sized pistol.
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Evil Monkey, my more serious post about conditions and scale went unanswered. My jab about pocket-carrying the LCR in .327 got this response. You aren't one to dismiss six shots of .327 now, are you?
 
Evil Monkey, my more serious post about conditions and scale went unanswered. My jab about pocket-carrying the LCR in .327 got this response. You aren't one to dismiss six shots of .327 now, are you?
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I ain't the revolver type.


Good lord, what do you get out of speaking to people like that?
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I wasn't trying to be rude. Before I posted that, I thought what if somebody posted something like that towards me through the internet? I thought, I really wouldn't care......
 
"But, such ammo does not penetrate adequately. In terms of effectiveness, penetration trumps expansion."

"Adequately" is up for much discussion. Please don't throw the flawed "FBI penetration statistics" at me.
 
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