The Goose
NES Member
I have to ask myself why I even bought this gun. The .32 ACP is certainly sub par as a self defense round and Keltec's have a sketchy rep at best. Not much to recommend it. Another mindless impulse buy on my part.... or was it? I hit the range today with my new P32 and 200 rds of mixed ammo. Having owned a couple of less then stellar Keltecs I was certainly prepared for the worst and it sure started out that way. The first mag started out with a failure to eject. I racked the slide, fired the next round, which did eject, followed by a "click" because it had not fed the next round. I racked the slide, it went bang followed by another "click" (FTF), racked again went bang and no eject. The first 2 mags went that way. I was getting bummed. So, 16 rounds and and not one without a failure. I took a break and puffed on my cigar and then started again. Next; 184 rounds without even a hiccup. I guess it needed to get going.
With a gun like this I only marginally consider accuracy, I look at reliability. It is a belly gun for bad breath distance. I did almost all of my shooting from about 12', rapid fire. I would load it up, including one in the chamber, stick it in my coat pocket and start walking to the target. At about the 12' mark I would draw, go into a slight crouch and shoot with one hand keeping my other hand in the pocket. I found that the little pistol pointed quite naturally and the rudimentary sights were actually quite adequate. In most cases all 8 shots stayed in a palm sized pattern. This gun may not be a manstopper, but it would sure ruin someone's day. I will put another couple of hundred rounds through it before I am comfortable, but it looks promising.
So why even have it? I would never carry it as a single gun and even as a back up it is questionable, but here's the thing. It is damn small and light. I mean really small and light. It feels like a toy. I wear a barn coat. It disappears in either of the vertical chest pockets. Or in a side coat pocket. Front or back pants pocket. Fleece vest pocket. Ankle holster. Neck holster. It's like an extra gun. Today I was walking my dog around the pond and thought about it. I have my HK USP .45 compact on my hip, under a sweat shirt, a fleece vest and a heavy coat. I could toss the P32 in my coat pocket and not even know it. Even my j frame is a bit too heavy for that. I suppose a .380 would be marginally better, but I have the .32 and it is really small.
Did you ever see the opening scene from "The Shootist"? John Wayne is being robbed by a guy with a big double barreled shotgun. He is ordered to hand over his wallet and as he tosses it to the robber he says something like "and here is a little something extra" as he pops him with a derringer hidden behind the wallet. The bad guy says "you killed me" and the duke says "no, but you are going to have a long winter belly ache". Thats how I see the little P32.
With a gun like this I only marginally consider accuracy, I look at reliability. It is a belly gun for bad breath distance. I did almost all of my shooting from about 12', rapid fire. I would load it up, including one in the chamber, stick it in my coat pocket and start walking to the target. At about the 12' mark I would draw, go into a slight crouch and shoot with one hand keeping my other hand in the pocket. I found that the little pistol pointed quite naturally and the rudimentary sights were actually quite adequate. In most cases all 8 shots stayed in a palm sized pattern. This gun may not be a manstopper, but it would sure ruin someone's day. I will put another couple of hundred rounds through it before I am comfortable, but it looks promising.
So why even have it? I would never carry it as a single gun and even as a back up it is questionable, but here's the thing. It is damn small and light. I mean really small and light. It feels like a toy. I wear a barn coat. It disappears in either of the vertical chest pockets. Or in a side coat pocket. Front or back pants pocket. Fleece vest pocket. Ankle holster. Neck holster. It's like an extra gun. Today I was walking my dog around the pond and thought about it. I have my HK USP .45 compact on my hip, under a sweat shirt, a fleece vest and a heavy coat. I could toss the P32 in my coat pocket and not even know it. Even my j frame is a bit too heavy for that. I suppose a .380 would be marginally better, but I have the .32 and it is really small.
Did you ever see the opening scene from "The Shootist"? John Wayne is being robbed by a guy with a big double barreled shotgun. He is ordered to hand over his wallet and as he tosses it to the robber he says something like "and here is a little something extra" as he pops him with a derringer hidden behind the wallet. The bad guy says "you killed me" and the duke says "no, but you are going to have a long winter belly ache". Thats how I see the little P32.
