In keeping with the tradition Todd started here at Pistol-Training.com, we are excited to announce the first “torture” test in many years. To be honest, I don’t intend to torture the pistol. I’m simply going to shoot it and see what happens. I will lube it as needed, and clean it only if it really needs it. I’m also not going to do a 50,000-round test as TLG used to do. I’m going to put 2,000 rounds through the gun and see what shakes out. A duty gun it is not.
Kel-Tec was kind enough to send me two guns for this test and they are interested to see what happens. I made them no promises and they asked for no favors. I will report what happened, as well as my impressions of shooting the gun. I have heard that the recoil spring life is short, so I may need to replace that at some point, but other than that, I don’t know what to expect.
Why the P32? As a guy who prefers full-size guns, that’s a great question. My good friend Justin Dyal had been talking up the P32 for some time. I was familiar with it but never really had much use for one. When I shot his copy last year, I was not that impressed. Further discussion convinced me to pick one up anyway since my local LGS offered me one at a good price and they can be hard to come by at times.
It turns out that the reason I was not crazy about it when I shot Justin’s copy is because I was holding it wrong. It is such a small gun, that you have to adapt your grip to it for maximum benefit. Duh. Rookie mistake. I did not and so I found the trigger reach too short for the length of pull. Once I made the adjustment, all was well.
Why was Justin talking the gun up in the first place? Well, the P32 is the smallest, lightest, flattest gun of its kind. As far as I know, no auto pistol on the market can compete in those areas. On top of that, its 32 ACP chambering makes it more effective than the little .22’s and .25’s, while offering more ammo and much less recoil than the 380’s. The lack of recoil is something to experience. I find shooting the gun to be very pleasant. There are no comparable sized 380’s that I can say that about. A 100-round shooting session is easy to do and enjoyable. Try that with an LCP or Gen 1 Bodyguard.
Shortly after my acquisition of the P32, Craig Douglas and I were discussing the gun and Craig told me he was doing some PCP. Since he was a narc for a while, I needed a little clarification. PCP stands for Patterened Compliance Pistol, which is what Craig calls his anti-mugging gun. In addition to a small flat gun, there is PCP coursework that Shivworks is going to offer, and Craig is one of the very few guys out there who understands “drawing against a drawn gun.”
Craig and I talked it over a bit and decided that shooting a P32 for a couple of thousand rounds is likely more than anyone will ever do normally, and might provide some good info for those of us who like the little gun as a backup or PCP. The plan is to shoot 100 rounds a day for 20 days. Stay tuned for more!
SLG, I got one when it first came out and the darn thing worked! I shot a steel drum with ball and it just dented it, but Fiochi 60 gr. punched right through. The only Kel-Tec I own or would own. DVC
They definitely have promise, I’m rooting for the little guy to do well.
I have no idea what the results of this test will be, but I do know we will have truth when the dust settles. I have been following Craig’s PCP postings, and I’ll admit, I have become P32 “curious”. Until a friend cracked, “friends don’t let friends shoot Kel-Tec”. So yeah, a little Kel-Tec stigma to overcome here also.
I totally get the bias and I have always been in that boat too. Shooting the little gun has really converted me to how nice it is, and as a PCP it is probably unrivaled. Time will tell if it is also well made.
I have a P32 that I really like. It doesn’t get shot enough after it originally proved reliable. If you start to like it I HIGHLY suggest talking to Innovative Arms about sight. They are so much better.
Part of the plan…
I contacted them recently about their sight package. They unfortunately no longer offer it.
Some light sanding on the high points make it a lot more comfortable to hold/shoot btw. I had a few blue slide ones till I finally found a parkerized slide a year or so ago. Would love to have a hard chrome slide one too. Never had a problem and the trigger is actually pretty nice and smooth on mine.
The P32 is what people should’ve gravitated toward over the LCP. Despite the vestigial sights, it’s a far easier gun to shoot while still delivering decent ballistics. Mine has also been fantastically reliable for about 500 rounds, which is something the Ruger cannot say in my experience. It’s certainly not perfect, but far better than what it gets credit for. Darryl Bolke and Chuck Haggard and some of the few folks that I see give it a fair shake.