Monday, March 11, 2024

Bev Fitchett Reviews the Kel-Tec P-32

 Link here. He begins:

The Kel-Tec P-32 has been around since 1999, and is tried and true. It was improved slightly a few years ago by changing the extractor to an external instead of internal version. Even though it has been on the market for such a long time, it remains the smallest, lightest and thinnest .32 ACP pistol ever manufactured. It is quite popular, and has sold literally hundreds of thousands to personal defense conscious American citizens. Many policemen and women also carry the little pistol as a back up gun.

You would actually have a hard time finding anything smaller and lighter than this handgun. There are few small .22s and .25s that have been made that are close in size, but have metal frames and, for that reason, weigh more. The firearm is 6.6 oz. (186g) unloaded and, according to the author, just shy of 9 oz. when loaded. The length is  5.1" (129mm); the height is 3.5" (89mm); and it is 0.75" (19mm) thick. This combination of light weight and small size make a very good pocket or deep concealment pistol. I know someone that used to use this handgun because in a proper pocket holster, it would literally disappear into an inside suit jacket pocket with no discernable printing and without having to alter the pocket lining (heavier pistols will generally start tearing the pocket lining loose after a while because they are not designed for the heavier weight). Because of the small size, magazine capacity is limited to 7+1 rounds in the P-32.

    Fitchett tests the P-32 and gives his thoughts on it. I have never shot the P-32, but I have had the opportunity to shoot its larger brother, the P-38T (in .380 ACP), on a couple occasions. My experience with the P-38T is that it is a difficult gun to shoot accurately (we were shooting at clay pigeons in an upright holder--standard clays are 110mm or about 4½" in diameter) beyond 5-7 yards due to the small sights, poor ergonomics, and long double-action trigger pull (Fitchett says the trigger pull on his is about 5 lbs., but the P-38T that I tested felt like it had a much heavier trigger). Perhaps if I'd had more time with the weapon I could have improved my score.

   But no one buys these weapons for target shooting or for combat. They are for situations where concealability outweighs all other concerns. 

    Fitchett goes into a lot more detail about the weapon, including an exploded diagram and parts list, some of the quarks of the weapon, and some discussion about the effectiveness of the .32 ACP. If you are interested in or have a need for a very small, lightweight concealment pistol, you probably should read the review and see what you think.  

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