.32 ACP Home Defense Recommendation

Buck · Apr 20, 2012

I know.. I know..

I have a friend who is insisting that he wants to buy a .32 ACP to keep in his nightstand drawer for home defense. He has a litany of reasons, most of which I disagree with. However, he has come to me to help him make his maker/model choice and to show him around the ranges here in MD.

His mind is made up so I'm not looking to debate calibers here. My problem is I don't have any time shooting and know nothing of .32ACP other than a few Google'fu searches. Does anyone within the MD Shooter world own or have time shooting several models in this caliber and can provide a recommendation on make/model?

The ranges I can handle. I'm happy he is making the decision to arm himself and taking steps to protect his family. Something is better than nothing. My hope is when we take his new handgun out to the range I'll bring a few other handguns in larger calibers too and maybe he'll add to his collection with a second or third purchase in a caliber better suited for home defense.

BUFF7MM · Apr 20, 2012

I've got one but it's a older C&R purchase, it a good shooter. I'm sure some manufactuers still make them, but I haven't seen a new gun in 32 ACP in a shop up this way in a very long time.

fivepointstar · Apr 20, 2012

if you like at C&R CZ50 are nice pistols!! the are in .32

Walther PP are great pistols!!! reliable and great pistols

yellowsled · Apr 20, 2012

Do not use non US ammo in the CZ50 and 70's. They only like euro made stuff.

gmhowell · Apr 20, 2012

yellowsled said:
Do not use non US ammo in the CZ50 and 70's. They only like euro made stuff.

Snobs!

OP, I know you said no ammo debates, but did you try to get him to look at 380? More choice, both in terms of firearms and ammo.

Barring that, maybe you can find something like this:

BradMacc82 · Apr 20, 2012

gmhowell said:
Barring that, maybe you can find something like this:

My eyes, my eyes!!!

Why did you have to bring that abortion of a handgun back up?!?!

You sir, lose 50 internets for that - immediately. :cool:

phidelta308 · Apr 20, 2012

The Kel Tec p32 and the Beretta Tomcat 3032 come to mind. I haven't shot either of them, but have shot their larger .380 ACP cousins. The Tomcat has a lot more grip to hang onto than the Kel Tec.

I kinda want the Beretta, just to add to my collection of Berettas.

fivepointstar · Apr 20, 2012

Is .380 an option??? it expands his gun possibilities

Ruzo · Apr 20, 2012

North American Arms still makes. 32's check here...

http://northamericanarms.com/firearms/380guard.html

Bob A · Apr 20, 2012

Walther PP and PPK are nice. Colt 1903, Remington 51, FN(Browning) 1910, all are reliable, well made, pleasant to shoot.

For that matter, 32 S&W Long in a revolver is also sweet.

It's probably easier to dump a magazine full of 32 ACP into a target than 380, which has much more recoil in pistols that are made light for easy carry.

john_bud · Apr 20, 2012

Colt 1903 - One of Boggies favorites as he had small hands and they looked like 45acp's.

Dillinger liked them too.

Half-cocked · Apr 20, 2012

I honestly would not waste any time on him. If he's unable to understand that a .32 is absolutely useless for a HD firearm, but is dead-set on it simply because it "sounds cool", or "some guy told him it was great", or "it's what James Bond used", or his "uncle's father used one once", then he isn't serious about home defense, period.

If he ALREADY HAD a .32, and couldn't afford anything else right now, sure - it might be worth spending some time with him, to help him out.

If he just WANTED a .32 because it seemed like a fun caliber to shoot, or he wanted a particular gun to add to his collection, same thing.

But since he's BUYING a handgun specifically for home defense and INSISTS he needs a .32, that tells me he has poor judgement, no desire to learn, and an inability to take sound advice from anyone.

Threeband · Apr 21, 2012

I would be interested to hear why he's so dead set on .32.

Half-cocked is right, though. This guy's mind-set is all wrong. He's treating this like a child's fantasy game.

Biggfoot44 · Apr 21, 2012

The "problem" is that (at least in the US ) all of the currently mfg/ imported .32acps are subcompacts. What your friend needs is a "full sizel .32 an what in the first half of 20th century were known as "Pocket Pistols". There are still a few Walther PPs , and CZ 50/70 in the distribution pipeline. My personal favorite is a FEG P32 - very accurate , and extremely controlable in rapid fire.
There are lots of older quality .32s , you just have to search them out.

For ammo , the first consideration is reliability.. If the gun's preference is fmj, then select based on accuraccy. If it feeds WW Silvertips have been used enough in real life to establish a suprisingly good track record. In testing , the Gold Dot apears to be at least as good. Don't overlook the Old Days practice of having a high performance load in the chamber , and fmj in the mag. (For the youngsters , that is because feeding is non issue when you carefully hand chamber at your leasure.)

As to the underling question of using a .32acp for defense at all .... No , I won't recomend a .32acp as first choice. But with comparable bullet type (fmj v fmj , jhp v jhp) it is very close to .380 in effectiveness, with better controlability, often better accuraccy , and more penetration w/ fmjs for those who want that. I feel that .32acp is greatly underrated , to similar extent that the .380acp is overratted.

Of course ablebodied people should have a primary gun larger than either.

mrbule · Apr 21, 2012

Cz-83 in .32 acp would be about the best I can think of.
15 rounds I think. And should be a real comfortable shooter.

JoeBobOutfitters.com · Apr 21, 2012

Ruzo said:
North American Arms still makes. 32's check here...

http://northamericanarms.com/firearms/380guard.html

We have a used NAA 32 ACP in stock. My girlfriend wanted to shoot it so we took it out. She said he didn't like it as much as shooting my kel tec P3AT 380 (much lighter). The NAA has some weird grip angles going on, and it hits your hand different when shooting and is still pretty snappy. I was really surprised honestly. I think the P3AT platform is better than the NAA in those calibers. They're lighter weight and less felt recoil and muzzle flip (at least perceived).

Sirex · Apr 21, 2012

I have no experience with .32 other than my Dad's Wather P4, so I would recommend anything OTHER than that. However, I do want a 1903 bad. Classic, and would look nice next to my Tok.

alucard0822 · Apr 21, 2012

Half-cocked said:
I honestly would not waste any time on him. If he's unable to understand that a .32 is absolutely useless for a HD firearm, but is dead-set on it simply because it "sounds cool", or "some guy told him it was great", or "it's what James Bond used", or his "uncle's father used one once", then he isn't serious about home defense, period.

If he ALREADY HAD a .32, and couldn't afford anything else right now, sure - it might be worth spending some time with him, to help him out.

If he just WANTED a .32 because it seemed like a fun caliber to shoot, or he wanted a particular gun to add to his collection, same thing.

But since he's BUYING a handgun specifically for home defense and INSISTS he needs a .32, that tells me he has poor judgement, no desire to learn, and an inability to take sound advice from anyone.

I agree, trying to give advice to someone that is hell bent on ignoring it is an excercise in futility. Although I would also agree with Bigfoot, there really isn't much difference between 32 and 380 they both have serious drawbacks, a service caliber handgun isn't even ideal for home defense by a novice, a long gun would probably be better. 32/380 ammo is expensive and the small pistols they tend to be chambered in have limited capacity and are very difficult to shoot well. Both have less than 1/2 the energy of a decent 9X19 load, and usually will not penetrate sufficiently with expanding ammo, thankfully enough most HP in those calibers fails to expand most of the time, so penetration could be OK with HP that is before considering feeding problems, so FMJ is basically the way to go if you happen to carry a mouse gun.

joppaj · Apr 21, 2012

No chance he'd accept a revolver in .327 Federal Magnum? It's rare but allows a few better choices.

matt.ruszala · Apr 21, 2012

Kel Tec

phidelta308 said:
The Kel Tec p32 and the Beretta Tomcat 3032 come to mind. I haven't shot either of them, but have shot their larger .380 ACP cousins. The Tomcat has a lot more grip to hang onto than the Kel Tec.

I kinda want the Beretta, just to add to my collection of Berettas.

Isn't the Kel-Tec DA only?

.32 ACP Home Defense Recommendation

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