In my experience Euro 7.65 Browning ammo with 73-77 grain bullets fired from a barrel longer than 8cm have greater penetration than typical 9mm Corto/Kurtz/.380 ACP fired from the same barrel length. Euro-CIP 9x17 Corto 95 FMJ is loaded to higher velocity than US ammo and chronographs 985 fps from my Beretta M1934band 1030 fps from the SIG P230. S-B, Geco, and Norma 7.65mm heavy ball chronographed about the same in equal barrel length.

It is a simple factor of energy density in ft.-lbs./sq.in. the smaller caliber penetration is better.

Performance is impaired in short barrels similar to Keltec, Beretta Tomcat and Ruger LCP.

 

In my experience, Euro 7.65 Browning ammo with 73-77 grain bullets fired from a barrel longer than 8cm has greater penetration than typical 9mm Corto/Kurtz/.380 ACP fired from the same barrel length. Euro-CIP 9x17 Corto 95 FMJ is loaded to higher velocity than US ammo and chronographs 985 fps from my Beretta M1934band 1030 fps from the SIG P230. S-B, Geco, and Norma 7.65mm heavy ball chronographed about the same in equal barrel length.

It is a simple factor of energy density in ft.-lbs./sq.in. the smaller caliber penetration is better.

Performance is impaired in short barrels similar to Keltec, Beretta Tomcat, and Ruger LCP.

This is precisely why my preference lies with the 7.65x17 (7.65 Browning). The lower recoil and deeper penetration make it easier to shoot while penetrating to the vital organs more efficiently.

Dumping a magazine full of hot .32 ACP FMJ in a man's face will generally break off an attack. Hospitalization is virtually certain, death is rather likely.

I'm neither stupid nor suicidal.

 

I have always been curious as to why the European police agencies before and after World War II almost all used .32 ACP/7.65 Browning as their standard round, while the Americans used .38 Special. Were the European police, as some writers have suggested, using their pistols as badges of office more than law enforcement equipment? Was there an assumption that the .32 ACP was more likely to let the police "Bring 'em back alive?" Was there some assumption that the .32 bullet did more damage by penetrating and tumbling to chop up the perp's internals than a larger, heavier bullet like the 158 grain roundnose .38 Special blasting its way through?

European police used that round for decades. There had to be a reason other than bureaucratic inertia. Does anyone know what it was?

 

I have always been curious as to why the European police agencies before and after World War II almost all...used that round for decades. There had to be a reason other than bureaucratic inertia. Does anyone know what it was?

The .380 or 9mm Corto was used by the Italian Army, Navy, Airforce, Forestry/Border Guards and Carabinieri. The .32 ACP or 7.65mm was used by municipal police, prison system, financial / customs and tax inspectors, bank guards and private security. Civilian ownership pre-WW2 was limited to the .32s. The .380 indicated Federal government use.

 

President/Ambassador Browning owned the munitions company?

 

I realize that a smaller diameter bullet will penetrate deeper than a larger diameter the same weight & going the same speed but the .32's standard bullet weight of 71 grs. v.s. the standard weight of 95 grs. for the .380 & 9x18 Mak. makes a difference and will give more energy on target.
I can't find my chrono data for the .380 but it was slightly less than my Makarov data.
my .32 data for PPU 71 gr. JHP averages 887 fps. my 71 gr. reloads av. 964 fps. w/ 146 ft. lbs. energy. this is out of the Beretta's longer (than most .32 pistols)
my data for the 9x18 Mak out of the CZ 82 w/ same length bbl. as the Beretta is 1077 fps. av. w/ 244 ft. lbs. of energy. that and the possibility of "rim lock" make me carry the CZ instead of the Beretta.

 

This is where "reaching the vital organs" is of prime importance. Rim lock generally doesn't take place unless you go outside the parameters of JMB's original design.
Energy isn't the "be-all, end-all" when it comes to performance reaching the vital organs repeatedly (and accurately) is usually a better bet.

 

Rimlock occurs when .32 ACP rounds are shorter than 0.95" overall because the shorter rounds then have room to shuffle in the magazine stack due to recoil. FMJRN hardball OAL is 0.955-0.985 and rimlock cannot occur in a properly dimensioned magazine.

 

Precisely! Stick with the original design and hot, hardball ammunition. The .32 ACP will get the job done.

 

I shot a huge armadillo center mass with a Seecamp 32 acp, with Silver tips. He ran off, took a second round. I shot a 100 pound deer in the head with Hydroshocks from. a Walther PPKs 380. .The deer went right down.

So for deer, I prefer the 380 over the 32. Seriously. I have used the Ppks 380 to kill lots of snakes and skunks and a racoon. It works great. Only used the 32 once. Not much velocity out of the short Seecamp barrel. I carried the Walther when I traveled for work, and I had cattle between home and work that I checked 2-3 days per week for years, so it got used often.

As to ammo, I also have a Ruger LCP custom. It will shoot the Hydroshocks into a 2.5 inch circle at 50 feet, extremely accurate and better than the Walther., a Rem 380, a Taurus 738 and a Glock 42. Academically, for calibers 25, 32, and 380 I think ball ammo is pretty darn good, but the Hydroshocks did so good on the deer, several skunks and a bunch if snakes it is my choice in all 380s.. The little 32*NAA I have never fired, but the velocity is so good I would not be surprised if it did better than the 380.
I carried the Seecamp in my pocket as a backup for years, nothing wrong with it, just that the LCP is a tack driver and the Seecamp is like a Shotgun, at least with me shooting it.

And I sure agree with post three, a round to the head from 32 ball is likely to cause death. Two or three of them remove the chance of recovery. The first homicide .I ever worked was one round from a 22 lr revolver from a 2 inch barrel, shot to the side of the head.

On the other hand I was on the front end of a 22Rifle aimed at the head of a fellow close to me, before anyone could move he shot the victim in the head the bullet richochetted out of the eye socket and came between my nose and a whiskey shot glass in my hand, spraying blood all over my face, fortunately it was not mine. The waitress was leaning over the bar talking to me, her dress was spatterred in blood from the waist up.

I dove, fell, crashed or somehow went over backwards and crawled away drawing the Colt 25 acp from my cowboy boot. Scooting out of the place like a lizard, I went to my car and recovered my duty gun, a SW model 19. Meanwhile, the shooter was over powered and his gun taken away and he was whisked out of the place by his buddies before cops arrived. Did I mentioned it was a Biker Bar? Still remember the name, the "Dew Drop Inn".The victim did not even require stitches, they just pulled the skin around his eye together and taped it and it healed. Shot in the head with a 22 rifle at 4-5 feet away and it just bounced off his skull. No the victim did not file charges it was a biker car, they do not do that..

Moral,of that story, that was when I replaced my boot carry gun from a 25 acp to a SW model 36 .I was a cop but not there, I was travelling and just stopped in to have a cold one. Wrong place wrong time. Lessons learned. Do not carry a 25 in your boot. Second lesson, when there are 25-30 bikes parked outside a bar and you want a cold one, go to 7/11 or another bar.
My 2 cents.

 

personally, if we're talking about energy or terminal performance, there is little reason to go with anything less than 9mm.

or, check out the new 30 super carry or the new .327 fed mag.

i recently ditched .380, 9mm is superior in virtually every way, even the 9mm guns are just as small as .380 guns these days.

 

personally, if we're talking about energy or terminal performance, there is little reason to go with anything less than 9mm.

or, check out the new 30 super carry or the new .327 fed mag.

i recently ditched .380, 9mm is superior in virtually every way, even the 9mm guns are just as small as .380 guns these days.

I dont know? everyone says that...find me a 9mm smaller than my 380 ..........there are not many.
Thinking the Kahr PM9 might be close but even that is about Glock 42 size, however the Glock 42 is huge for a 380, so yeah I will keep carrying 380 until the time comes that I can get a 9mm that weighs 12 oz and is less than .95 inches thin

 

Is there a better term than "rimlock"? Semi-rimlock? I don't know, it just doesn't feel right to read about rimlock on an auto round.

I know 32 acp was technically designed in the Victorian era at the same time as other notorious rim-lockers, but it just feels too....modern?

 

Waiting to see how the new 30 fares. Starting to see a lot of ammo for it, and some pistols. Haven't checked one out yet, just not interested as of now.

 

Forgotten Weapons released a video on the .30. I think he refers to it as a modern day .32 French Long.

 

Gentlemen: How does this pertain to the thread topic?

 

well its about .380.. i honestly had a hard time figuring out what the OP was asking..

sure its largely about .32 vs .380.

but also about performance and penetration from small pistols, which is why i commented that neither the, 380 or .32 are ideal currently.

 

Many shooters seem deluded by the efficacy of the .380. Even from the larger pistols, the .380 can't quite penetrate as well as the "Euro-spec" .32 ACP ammo.

I want a Walther PPK in 7,65 Browning, please. Thanks.

 

Many shooters seem deluded by the efficacy of the .380. Even from the larger pistols, the .380 can't quite penetrate as well as the "Euro-spec" .32 ACP ammo.

I want a Walther PPK in 7,65 Browning, please. Thanks.

There has been a lot more development of defensive loads in .380, though, and almost none in the .32. For the fairest comparison you would need to compare the latest and greatest 380 to the oldest 32, and I think in that case, 380 might have the edge.

I'm a huge fan of 9x18, which is, on paper, better than either 380 or 32, but it suffers from the same problems of innovation as .32. There are .380s with polymer or alloy bullets that have more speed, more penetration, and cause more cavitation, than even the average 9 Parabellum defensive round could achieve 25 or 30 years ago.

 

I see the .380 "developments" as a bit on the useless side. The only one that made any sense is the Lehigh bullet loaded by Underwood ammunition. Even then, the .32 ACP offers better penetration and plenty of permanent soft-tissue disruption. You can put lipstick on a pig and it is still a pig.

There's an old saying that remains true. "Shot placement is king, penetration is queen, everything else is angels dancing on the heads of pins."

Give me a hot .32 ACP and I'll get the job done.

 

I see the .380 "developments" as a bit on the useless side. The only one that made any sense is the Lehigh bullet loaded by Underwood ammunition. Even then, the .32 ACP offers better penetration and plenty of permanent soft-tissue disruption. You can put lipstick on a pig and it is still a pig.

There's an old saying that remains true. "Shot placement is king, penetration is queen, everything else is angels dancing on the heads of pins."

Give me a hot .32 ACP and I'll get the job done.

I don't know any 32 acps that approach 1300 fps, and/or make softball-sized explosions in ballistic gel, but I know several on the 380 front that do.

Tha ARX , for example, shoots up to 1300 FPS, and makes a gnarly wound channel :

Here are two charts from Lucky Gunner:

380 ACP ranged from 8.4 to 18.1 inches of penetration, and between 825 and 1067 FPS...and they didn't even include the fastest, or most modern .380s on the market.

.32 ACP ranged from 9.9 to 16.8 inches of penetration, with the Fiocchi - pretty close to the German load - getting the best penetration.

It's pretty close, but the .380 has the edge.

 

The Seecamp , Walther PPK, and the Kel tec are about the only 32acp pistols I've ever come across for sale or even seen except maybe the colt automatic that I've seen , (but couldn't afford).
Are there good options in that caliber.
The ammo is super hard to get?

 

If I ever could get my hands on a Seecamp in 380acp......that would be nice. They are very hard to come by.
The Kel tec PF9 seems like a good CCW weapon, thanks for sharing that. My uncle in Florida carries one and they are made in Florida , i believe?

 

The Keltec Pf9 was made famous when it was used in the Travon Martin case. I was introduced to it by police officers and state troopers here in Oklahoma, everybody carried it as a back up gun. I bought mine a year or two before the Glock 43 came out, as I said above it is smaller than the Glock, so I just kept carrying it. It is in my pocket now. The Glock in the safe. And as I said above, most people quit carrying it because they cannot handle the recoil. They will limp wrist it or flinch or whatever and then claim the gun is not accurate or has issues. I will watch them shoot and it is pretty obvious. Many non gun people want a gun they can play with at the range all day, that is pleasant to shoot. They should get a Glock 19 or Shield , Sig or a 380. The Pf9 is more of a tool for a professional who needs the ultra-light weight and is willing to learn to handle the brisk recoil. When you read reviews look for the guys who say they are cops, people who actually have to qualify with their backup gun. Also, you might want to shoot one before you actually buy one.

The Seecamp is a cool handgun ahead of it's time. But now there are lots of cheaper and more effective Guns. The Keltec 380 was the first, then copied by Ruger and now everybody makes a good tiny 380. Mine is a 32. I also looked a long time but never saw a 380 for sale. I believe they are bigger than the one I have which is used for the 25 and 32. They are a cool gun, very precise machining. They have no sights at all, so they do not have much range. They are so small though a bad guy would not notice them in your hand. The trigger pull is long and slow, much like the Rem380. I would recommend the Remington over the Seecamp in 380 for actual carry. The Rem is also about 1/4 the price and you can buy spare mags cheap, like $10. Spare mags for the Seecamp were $50-$55. The Seecamp weighs 11.5 ounces a little more than the plastic ones.

I did have a problem with my Seecamp, the draw bar bent. So I called the company number and Larry Seecamp, the president and owner answered. The son of the original. Nice guy and the part I needed was in the mail, no questions asked. Mine is labeled 'special edition' I have no clue why. Larry sold he company in 2014.

If you find one in 380 please post a review.

 

Zasta m70? They have been on sale recently, but sold out.

Just messin with ya. The companies selling them have confused the issue. I think you meant this one.

I have never fired one but they got good reviews in Gun Digest. Again, whatever works and it fits the bill. That makes it perfect for her.

The 70 year lady at my house also has issues racking the slide. I searched long and hard to find handguns that work for that. The best we found at the time was the Rem copy if the famous Rorbach. They have a long slow trigger that takes a little getting used to, but perfect for anyone new to Guns. The slide comes back like butter and it is pretty accurate. My preferred 380 Is the LCP custom that shoots like a target gun. But if I did not have it, this would be the one Carried. They are a heavy duty gun, but only weigh 12.2 ounces.

• Manufacturer: Remington
• Model: RM380
• Caliber: .380 Auto
• Capacity: 6+1
• Barrel: 2.9 in. Stainless
• Overall Width: .94 in.
• Overall Length: 5.27 in.
• Overall Height: 3.86 in.
• Trigger Pull: 8-9 lbs.
• Finish: Satin Black Oxide
• Slide: Stainless Steel
• Average Weihgt Empty: 12.2 oz.

Last year I trained two ladies age 49 and 68 on the SW EZ Shield in 380. I was totally surprised by those guns. Absolutely the easiest to rack the slide and fire of any 380. We have five 380s at my house. The Shield EZ is the best for that purpose, Both of them were also as accurate as any 380 can be. They were made specifically for that slide issue and they nailed it.

Lots of great options out there these days.

 

The Zastava M70 .32 ACP is a great little single-action, self-loading pistol. (I have one and enjoy shooting it). The Kel-Tec P11 works well and shoots accurately. I simply can't justify a .380. feeding one "high-tech, whizz-bang" custom loadings seems to be the only way to get any performance from the short barrel.

For the money, Ill stick with my .32 ACP pistols.

 

I would like to find one of the Remington pistols and have a custom .32 NAA barrel hand-milled to fit the beast. I'd be willing to gamble that a nice hot load for the longer barrel would make any .312" diameter bullet perform well in the piece. (Even a 71-grain FMJ bullet) would "spit fire and wreak holy havoc" on a body at personal defense ranges.

 

I would like to find one of the Remington pistols and have a custom .32 NAA barrel hand-milled to fit the beast. I'd be willing to gamble that a nice hot load for the longer barrel would make any .312" diameter bullet perform well in the piece. (Even a 71-grain FMJ bullet would "spit fire and wreak holy havoc" on a body at personal defense ranges.

That 32 NAA is in a category all it's own. I thought they quit making it a few years ago. I know Corbon who developed it no longer makes ammo. for it. And Hornady made a reduced load but I thought they dropped it too. I just checked ammoseek and they do not even list it. I assume you could form brass from 380. Anyway, am I missing something or is somebody else makimg ammo for it? There is so many changes in the gun world I do not always keep up.

 

This is the one.

Well the pistol arrived and it is sitting at the FFL until the 218 background checks clear through NCIC.

The lady handled the pistol and enjoys the weight of the piece. I think that it will be just the ticket for discouraging/stopping bad guys with a flurry of .32 ACP ammunition to a miscreant's face. (He'll either be dead, or critically ill).

Works for her!

 

This is my Grendel P12, in .380. The photo is mislabeled as it having a 12 round magazine; it's actually an 11 round magazine. It has a very long trigger pull, kicks like a mule, but is a great concealed carry piece.

 

I understand. I have a P11, but she can't handle a rearing .380. (At 68, it wouldn't be wise to have her attempting to control an ultra-light pistol that bucks like an angry burro).

 

That's a disappointment. (It would have been great to hand load the cartridge and put it through a true 4-inch barrel). Low recoil, high speed (about 1100 fps), and either an FMJ or a hollow point projectile.

 

She'll be picking this up tomorrow morning.

Now, the only thing to do is to replace that silly "aftermarket" rear sight with one of the originals. She'll also need some International Orange (day glow) paint on the front blade so that it will come to bear quickly on target.

 

From the time of its first introduction until sometime after WW2 the .32 ACP enjoyed a reputation as an adequate military and police round as most situations did not require stopping a fanatical attacker. Most of those shot either dropped or ran away rather than keep getting punctured. If a man did keep coming you shot for the head as he got close. Even if you missed the head if you had a .32 ACP in his boiler room it was going to let the steam out of him fast so his chances of prevailing in hand to hand combat against you were dropping by the second.

The FMJ ammunition had great penetration ability which saved many of its user’s lives in tight spots as it shot through a lot of the cover their enemy was attempting to use. Giving up this penetration for the negligible increase in stopping power of expanding .32 caliber bullets is a bad trade-off. You can’t make a .45 out of a .32 but you can quickly give up the .32 ACP’s big ace in the hole, penetration, by going to expanding bullets.

Savage .32 ACP with a holster of the period. One of the first high capacity double column pistol magazines it’s slogan was “10 shots quick.” The French military bought 40,000 of these and issued them in WW1.
Large numbers of .32 ACP pistols were employed by countries on both sides in both World Wars. A lot of these saw intense combat, especially in the trench fighting of the First World War. The fact that large numbers were still used in the Second World War shows how the Europeans felt about the FMJ .32 ACP round and how well it performed for them.

Up until WW2 concealed carry was popular in Europe and the .25ACP vest pocket pistols and the .32ACP pocket pistols dominated the market. Bigger calibers in larger pistols were available but this is what sold and got carried and used.

In those days, trappers often used a .32 ACP to finish off game in their traps as it killed far better than a .22LR without putting a noticeably bigger hole in the pelt. It was much more humane than a .22LR which sometimes did not give the desired result of a quick and merciful killing. There were instances of trappers even killing bear with .32 ACP pistols. Both bears in traps and a few instances of attacking bears were killed by the little round but no trapper ever set out to stop a bear charge with .32’s to the head and body of a bear. These things just happen sometimes to people who don’t also pack a rifle or a heavy caliber pistol on long lonely trap lines deep in the woods.

You might not think a .32 diameter 71-grain bullet at 960 FPS amounts to much but when you move up just a bit to the .380 ACP you increase recoil just enough that the casual shooter starts having trouble keeping his shots on target. That’s why for most of the history of these two cartridges the .32 was the most popular. A lot of European military officers and European policemen, not having a background with a lot of pistol shooting, fell into this category so the .32 ACP grew in popularity. In more recent decades the Czechoslovakian VZ/62 submachinegun was chambered for this cartridge. They sold quite a lot of these and I always thought that if the Ingram M11 SMG had been chambered for the .32ACP instead of the .380ACP that it would have been a bigger success as it’s extremely high rate of fire would have been lower with the lower recoiling round and the gun thus more controllable.

Far away in distant Japan the same situation was occurring. The Japanese wanted their own version of the .32 ACP so they adopted the .32-caliber 8MM Nambu bottle-necked cartridge with .32 ACP ballistics, an 83-grain bullet at 950 fps. It worked just fine. The Nambu pistol mimics the Luger’s grip angle and is also extremely accurate and pleasant to shoot. It’s so nice that I’d like to see it brought back in .32 ACP. Full size pistols are easier to hit with than pocket pistols and this would bring out all the accuracy potential of the .32 ACP.

The Japanese also used their 8MM Nambu cartridge in a very controllable SMG, their Type 100.

Civilian sales have always been the prime mover of the .32 ACP and its success with the world’s military and police clinched the deal for many buyers. All these customers were gravitating towards the biggest caliber that they could hit with reasonably well that still performed adequately for them.

For the casual shooter that would be the .32 ACP in a gun the size of a M1903 Colt or a Savage pocket pistol. Note that I am NOT including the super small modern micro mini .32’s as these do have more recoil than the casual shooter is going to tolerate well. These older .32’s are small and easy to carry and conceal. That is a very big deal to the casual pistol packer who is not deeply into shooting.

Are they ideal? No, a .45 ACP or a .45 Colt is ideal but they require more practice and more expensive ammo to master, something not everyone will commit to. The biggest gun that has no more recoil than a .22LR is what a lot of people need to be able to shoot accurately with what they carry and that is what the .32 ACP is all about. That is its niche and it fills it very well.

 

From the time of its first introduction until sometime after WW2 the .32 ACP enjoyed a reputation as an adequate military and police round as most situations did not require stopping a fanatical attacker. Most of those shot either dropped or ran away rather than keep getting punctured. If a man did keep coming you shot for the head as he got close. Even if you missed the head if you had a .32 ACP in his boiler room it was going to let the steam out of him fast so his chances of prevailing in hand to hand combat against you were dropping by the second.

The FMJ ammunition had great penetration ability which saved many of its user’s lives in tight spots as it shot through a lot of the cover their enemy was attempting to use. Giving up this penetration for the negligible increase in stopping power of expanding .32 caliber bullets is a bad trade-off. You can’t make a .45 out of a .32 but you can quickly give up the .32 ACP’s big ace in the hole, penetration, by going to expanding bullets.

Savage .32 ACP with a holster of the period. One of the first high capacity double column pistol magazines it’s slogan was “10 shots quick.” The French military bought 40,000 of these and issued them in WW1.
Large numbers of .32 ACP pistols were employed by countries on both sides in both World Wars. A lot of these saw intense combat, especially in the trench fighting of the First World War. The fact that large numbers were still used in the Second World War shows how the Europeans felt about the FMJ .32 ACP round and how well it performed for them.

Up until WW2 concealed carry was popular in Europe and the .25ACP vest pocket pistols and the .32ACP pocket pistols dominated the market. Bigger calibers in larger pistols were available but this is what sold and got carried and used.

In those days, trappers often used a .32 ACP to finish off game in their traps as it killed far better than a .22LR without putting a noticeably bigger hole in the pelt. It was much more humane than a .22LR which sometimes did not give the desired result of a quick and merciful killing. There were instances of trappers even killing bear with .32 ACP pistols. Both bears in traps and a few instances of attacking bears were killed by the little round but no trapper ever set out to stop a bear charge with .32’s to the head and body of a bear. These things just happen sometimes to people who don’t also pack a rifle or a heavy caliber pistol on long lonely trap lines deep in the woods.

You might not think a .32 diameter 71-grain bullet at 960 FPS amounts to much but when you move up just a bit to the .380 ACP you increase recoil just enough that the casual shooter starts having trouble keeping his shots on target. That’s why for most of the history of these two cartridges the .32 was the most popular. A lot of European military officers and European policemen, not having a background with a lot of pistol shooting, fell into this category so the .32 ACP grew in popularity. In more recent decades the Czechoslovakian VZ/62 submachinegun was chambered for this cartridge. They sold quite a lot of these and I always thought that if the Ingram M11 SMG had been chambered for the .32ACP instead of the .380ACP that it would have been a bigger success as it’s extremely high rate of fire would have been lower with the lower recoiling round and the gun thus more controllable.

Far away in distant Japan the same situation was occurring. The Japanese wanted their own version of the .32 ACP so they adopted the .32-caliber 8MM Nambu bottle-necked cartridge with .32 ACP ballistics, an 83-grain bullet at 950 fps. It worked just fine. The Nambu pistol mimics the Luger’s grip angle and is also extremely accurate and pleasant to shoot. It’s so nice that I’d like to see it brought back in .32 ACP. Full size pistols are easier to hit with than pocket pistols and this would bring out all the accuracy potential of the .32 ACP.

The Japanese also used their 8MM Nambu cartridge in a very controllable SMG, their Type 100.

Civilian sales have always been the prime mover of the .32 ACP and its success with the world’s military and police clinched the deal for many buyers. All these customers were gravitating towards the biggest caliber that they could hit with reasonably well that still performed adequately for them.

For the casual shooter that would be the .32 ACP in a gun the size of a M1903 Colt or a Savage pocket pistol. Note that I am NOT including the super small modern micro mini .32’s as these do have more recoil than the casual shooter is going to tolerate well. These older .32’s are small and easy to carry and conceal. That is a very big deal to the casual pistol packer who is not deeply into shooting.

Are they ideal? No, a .45 ACP or a .45 Colt is ideal but they require more practice and more expensive ammo to master, something not everyone will commit to. The biggest gun that has no more recoil than a .22LR is what a lot of people need to be able to shoot accurately with what they carry and that is what the .32 ACP is all about. That is its niche and it fills it very well.

The Ruger Standard (generally called the Marks 1,2 and 3) series owes a great deal to the Nambu (as do several other target pistols). I bring this up because back in the day there was some company doing .32 conversions on them, and I have run across a handful of Mark II pistols in .32.

 

wow! I never heard of that conversion! I've often wished that my Ruger Standard was in a larger caliber. they are great point shooters!

 

When I was at Ruger in the 1980s we experimented with a centerfire version which used .32 S&W Long flush-seated factory wadcutters, but it was never accurate or reliable enough to compete in the Euro market against the Walther and Pardini target pistols, so never got beyond the prototype stage. The .32 ACP functioned reliably, but was not accurate enough for target work and underpowered and too large for home defense.

 

My friend picked up her Zastava M70 today, and it is in almost 100% pristine condition. I'm going to clean it up, lube the heck out of it, and arrange for her to obtain 200 rounds of ball ammunition. After she gets familiar with the pistol, I'll make certain that she has a nice original flap holster and a belt-slide holster for concealed carry.

Remember:
"The FMJ ammunition had great penetration ability which saved many of its user’s lives in tight spots as it shot through a lot of the cover their enemy was attempting to use. Giving up this penetration for the negligible increase in stopping power of expanding .32 caliber bullets is a bad trade-off. You can’t make a .45 out of a .32 but you can quickly give up the .32 ACP’s big ace in the hole, penetration, by going to expanding bullets."

You can take that to the bank!