1001 Rounds
0 malfunctions, 0 stoppages, 0 parts breakage
With a recent hectic schedule, I apologize for not shooting the P32 more, but at last, it has broken the 1000-round mark. No lube or any other maintenance has been provided. I had intended to have a local Pistol-Training.com celebrity shoot the gun for its 1000th round, but my schedule really messed things up so we could not get together.
I’m going to lube the gun before continuing the test since I think 1001 rounds without lube is proof of concept enough. The gun doesn’t feel or shoot any differently than it did at the beginning of the test and I have no reason to think it will malfunction if I don’t lube it. I just feel better taking better care of it. I have also not changed the original recoil spring, and that too does not seem to be negatively impacted in any way. I’ll have to think a bit about whether or not to change it now or wait a bit longer.
In the picture above, you can see some of the accessories I have used with the gun. The test gun has a grip sleeve on it, the spare gun has a clip. In addition, there is a factory 7-round magazine, a factory mag with a plus-one extension, an aftermarket 10-round magazine, and an aftermarket floorplate extension on a factory mag. All have functioned very well, but If you are contemplating getting any of these magazines, I stick to the factory 7-round mags for reloads as they insert much easier. If you prefer the longer grip of the plus one, it works well for carrying in the gun. For my use, the standard 7-round mag works best for carrying and reloading the gun.
The grip sleeve does not really add anything for my use and I can see where it might detract from PCP use of the gun. If you carry it differently than me or access it differently, that may or may not be true for you. I will likely take mine off.
The carry clip, a Kel-Tec product, is only ok. It is not very secure in the pants and it buries the gun deeply, making the draw very hard to accomplish. Again, depending on you and your use, your mileage may vary. I thought it might be useful as a way to carry onion field insurance, but with my regular carry setup, I can’t conveniently tuck the gun into my waistband. If you aren’t carrying a gun, and want to tuck this little guy behind your belt buckle, that works very well, though again, the draw is cumbersome, to say the least.
Until next time, train frequently.
Who makes that Kydex holster, Simon?
Its a cheapy I got on either ebay or etsy, have to check. Sort of silly for the purpose of the gun, but I wanted a “range holster” to try some drills with.
I’m impressed that it lasted 1000 rounds without a stoppage.
Maybe you mentioned this somewhere, but are you carrying this as a backup to your main carry gun?
I am not carrying it because of work rules. I would otherwise.
I don’t think you should lube it. Just keep running it as is.
Tempting, but I just don’t see the benefit.
There is no “benefit”. I mean if you’re gonna’ run that gun for 1,000 rounds with no cleaning or lube, why not just run it until it stops? The “benefit” would be saying “The P32 ran 1478 rounds until it finally malfunctioned” or something like that. It’s just the logical conclusion and definitive….end. No one reading this experiment would think to themselves “Hmm I wonder how many more rounds it could have gone before it stopped?”
That is true. Balanced with the potential damage the gun sustains from being run that way. I just don’t see how it matters. It has already done more than its share in terms of functioning while being neglected. People want to bad mouth the old 2000 round challenge as abusive and unrealistic. Which it is, but with guns much more robustly constructed. Maybe, we’ll see.