The Kel-Tek P .32 Pistol, an Outstanding Handgun For Less Than $300.00

bulalo 18 months ago

Hi!

I consider myself rational and, thus, knows fear. So, definitely, I'm not a bad ass. But I'm considering purchasing a 1911, not because it's macho but because it is made of steel and is extremely reliable, in our climate and condition, anyway.

I think its going to be in 9MM. I'm no expert on guns but a full size 1911 can surely tame that caliber. It might still kick on a tiny and light plastic gun. I've seen Glock 19's on YouTube and they do jump.

Is that low recoil on the P32 measured on frail old ladies or brawny officers? :)

NickS 17 months ago

I'd like to correct the author with regards to perceived recoil. Light guns will tend to have more perceived recoil than a heavier gun, even if the heavier gun is a step up in caliber.

The P32 is a very unpleasant gun for me to shoot compared to a full size pistol (or even a compact pistol). It is tiny, has some rough plastic edges, and weighs next to nothing. All of these things add up to a vicious, snappy gun to shoot. The gun tends to twist in my hands with each shot, partly due to my large hands not fitting the tiny grip very well (I can get a finger and a half on the grip). The small grip, however, may make it easier for small hands to grasp than a full size pistol.

These comments are based on being a long-time owner of a Kel-Tec P-32. Shooting a CZ75 Compact (a steel framed 9mm "compact" pistol) is vastly more comfortable and has less perceived recoil despite the much more powerful round.

That said, the P-32 goes with me while the CZ75 Compact stays in the gun safe. It's tiny, and in its custom pocket holster, drops easily and near invisibly into any of my pockets. The CZ needed to be worn in a waistband holster, which was only practical for concealed carry when paired with a longer coat or an untucked longer shirt.

Thomas 5 months ago

The recent made P-32's seem to work great, I owned one of the first and had nothing but problems ! Misfires,and a trigger pull that Charles Atlas would have found difficult, got rid of the gun and purchased a Glock ! Recently I purchased a P-32 and love the weapon it works perfectly and no problems !I guess the early P-32's needed to have the bugs worked out !

Thomas 5 months ago

Well if my memory serves me correct I think I purchased my first P32,in late 1999 or early 2000 at a local gun shop here in Sedona Arizona, these pistols had just arrived and the gun shop owner was elated and talked me into buying one, well I tryed various brands of .32ACP ammo and I was lucky if I could shoot five rounds out of a box of 50,mostly misfires, then something happened to the trigger pull, it becme ungodly hard to pull the trigger, wrote to Kel-Tec and never received a reply,and the gun shop owner wouldn't do anything about it, I was very disgusted and got rid of the gun and purchased a Glock model 19 since that time I seen a good deal at a local gun show on a P32 and purchased it as the owner stated it worked great, which it does !But be aware the early first p32's some had problems 1999 thru 2000 !I also own the Seecamp .32 auto a truely great pocket pistol !These are excellent "street" guns, to be carried in one's pocket behind your wallet, against street muggers and car jackers, they are fast to use and require no pushing of safety levers like the older single action automatics, just run several brands of ammo to see which works best !An excellent older pocket pistol is the Beretta 950 in .25ACP, tip up barrel !

Thomas 5 months ago

Just one last comment whenever a new gun(rifle,pistol, revolver) becomes avalible to the public wait atleast a year before purchasing the weapon as sometimes there are problems and there is a recall a recent example was with Ruger and a new 9MM automatic and before buying any weapon read the reviews from the owners of the weapon, their likes and dislikes as well as if they has problems that required shipping the weapon for repair, "DON'T" believe in all the hype about how great a peticular gun is from a gun magazine writter as many of these writters are paid to give a good review by the gun manufacturers, read on the web from the average joe who owns that peticulr gun his opinion not a paid gun magazine writter ! My last comment when buying defence ammo, buy the best you can afford don't go cheap ! And NEVER use reloaded ammo of questionable source, yard sales, swap meets etc ! I once made the mistake of buying reloaded .38 special ammo at one of our swap meets, one round had no powder just a primer, the bullet stuck in the barrel and I had to go home and use a cleaning rod to force it out, in a self-defence situation that for me would have been fatal

Thomas 5 months ago

Today I had some free time and decided to take my P32 to the range as I hadn't shot the weapon for some time, took a box of Federal "Classic" .32ACP ammo and the little weapon worked perfectly, at about 15 paces, pointing the weapon, every shot hit the telephone book I used as a target !Needless to say that is the normal self-defence range or less in which a weapon like this would be used for self-defene,I posted earlier and stated the first P32 I owned was a piece of junk, misfires and a impossible trigger pull !The bugs have been worked out and I feel this is a totally reliable weapon for my protection ! Off of the subject of the Kel-Tec P32 I seen on the news the day before yesterday that one of the 4 muggers of the 1984 New York City subway shooter died from a drug over dose, seems that their intended victim Bernard Goetz shot all 4 of them at close range with a .38 special, and they all survived !Amazing that all 4 survived being shot at close range with a .38 special, I wonder what type of ammo he used ? I bet his weapon being a five shot was probably an S&W model 36 ! And I was totally amazed that shooting a .38 special(even in self-defence)on a New York City subway only got him 8 months in jail !New York City is probably the most liberal anti-gun city in America !The other day I talked to an individual who carries a Beretta Minx in .22 short rimfire for self-defence, wow ! Talk about low power in a defence weapon !

Thomas 4 months ago

To answer your question, yes I have been to San Francisco not recently but back in the 1970's, an interesting city to visit, but know the areas to stay away from, Fillmore district, Hunters Point and downtown San Francisco in the evening hours, getting a permit to own a handgun in San Francisco is about as easy as getting a personal meeting with the Pope !I visited San Francisco during a time when there was much social and racial unrest in America, 1970 and seen more than a few things there that left a foul taste and never cared to go back there !New York City I've visited a number of times also in the 70's, crowded and very anti-gun, the thing is that the criminals do not care and break the gun laws while the good citizens go defenceless !The anti-gun laws of New York City go back to the turn of the 20th century, the laws were to disarm the numerous street gangs that controlled the City and still do ! That is one of the reasons why so many people love Arizona, we can carry our guns, either out in the open or in our pockets !The "big" disadvantage of this is, you must be very careful while driving and if the other driver cuts you off, DO NOT give him the finger as he may have a loaded gun and shoot you !It happens all the time here in Arizona, mostly in Phoenix !Our prisons here are filled with people who pulled out guns and shot and killed someone during "road rage" !Our easy gun laws do have disadvantages !

Thomas 4 months ago

Wesman:That is one of the reasons why I do not carry a gun !A road rage incident can land a person in prison for years or even the rest of their life if the shooting results in death ! Have you ever seen the Bond derringer ads in the gun magazines ? There is an ad showing a woman shooting a car-jacker in the face with a blast of .410 pellets ! Well in real life "if" this were to really happen and the car-jacker were a teenager, this woman would look forward to a massive lawsuit by he teenager's family and a liberal media that would make her look like the bad person, news paper story would probably read like this :"Driver blinds teenage boy with her shotgun derringer" the teenage boy just wanted to take her car ! Sad but this is the country we live in now ! Lawyers just love those types of cases as it brings them big bucks ! If I ever have to carry a gun for my protection, first of all I would never ever carry a very powerful gun on a city street like a .357, "if" I had to use that weapon that bullet could not only hit the criminal who is trying to rob or attack me but also an innocent bystander who maybe across the street, somebody's grandma or child, this would be a total disaster ! This is why, years ago when I lived in a high crime area of Los Angeles and had to leave my car for repair and use the city bus during the dark morning hours, I carried a .22, either a mini-revolver or a small auto !There was less chance of accidentally having too much penetration if I had to use the weapon ! Thank God I never had to use it !

Thomas 4 months ago

A further comment, people laugh at the .22 for self-defence, but more people are killed with .22's than all the other cartridges put togather ! In Hatcher's book "Textbook of pistols and revolvers" he tells of a young boy who was accidentally shot and killed with a .22 short rimfire fired from a rifle at believe this ? 500 yards away !!! I have shot the .22 short rimfire from my Beretta minx at a hardback book at 10 paces and had a penetration of over 300 pages !In the 1950s and 60's Mafia hitmen used the Beretta minx .22 hort rimfire, so even the .22 short rimfire can and does kill !

Thomas 4 months ago

The .357 magnum is a real man stopper, if you live out in the sticks without people living nearby, but if like I do have people all around me and live in a mobile home with "paper" thin walls I would never use a .357 magnum, I'd pobably accidentally kill or wound a dozen people around here !If you live in a home with thin walls and have children, my suggestion for a self-defence weapon is the Taurus judge, it shoots .410 shotgun shells as well as .45Colt !#4 and #6 shot is perfect for home defence as the shot will not go completely thru the walls and hit a family memeber or a pet !Check them out,I own one and just love it, it shoots bird shot , buckshot, .410 slug as well as .45 long Colt !

Thomas 4 months ago

Off of the topic of the Kel-Tec P32, suggestion during these uncertain times,buy a quality .22 revolver an S&W or a Ruger SP101 or a Single Six, ammo is far more reasonable than center fire ammo, and easy to obtain even from the Walmart, a brick (500 rounds) goes for about $20, start a survival kit ,a .22 revolver, several bricks of ammo, bottled water, canned goods for several months,a first aid kit and last but not least a quality mobile CB radio such as the Cobra 148 with SSB, SSB for greater range, as in a disaster there will most likely be little if any telephone service and communication is most important, store these items in a cool dry area and you will be prepared !If war or disaster hits gas prices will go sky high which in turn will cause food prices to go sky high as food is shipped by truck, individuals will buy up all the ammo in a short time so prepare now !

Thomas 4 months ago

Wesman: Yes as you said the Taurus Judge is a fantastic weapon for close range self-defence, I picked one up at a gun show down in Phoenix a couple of months ago, one with all the features I wanted,4 inch barrel and stainless steel, it shoots .45Colt, and the 2 and a half inch .410 shotgun shells,not the 3 inch shells ! The .410 #8 and 9 shot, are really almost too small to be practical for self-defence except for dispaching snakes or rodents at very close range ! #6 shot is much better and #4 shot even better as it is larger giving greater penetration !Here in Northern Arizona, I always carry my Taurus Judge while hiking, loaded with(2) rounds of #4 shot (good for snakes,wild dog packs, wild medium sized animals who may attack with rabies)and the other 4 rounds are either .410 buckshot or .45Colt !The big advantage of the Taurus Judge is that you have a large selection of ammo to shoot, bird shot all the way to .45Colt, a trail gun or a gun to defend your home,#4 shot will stop an attacker without going thru your home walls and hitting your wife or kids, a 38 could a .357 definately will !Alittle trick I learned about the .410 shot shell, if all you have are the bird shot #8 or 9 and want something more powerful, take a sharp knife and cut just above the brass on the shell, deeply but not all the way thru, when the shell is shot the entire shell shoots out of the bore like one projectile which makes it more deadly ! Also what I have done recently with the #8 shell, I cut off the top of the shell and pour out the very small shot and replaced it with a small tube filled it with a few BB's reseal the shell with alittle cotton and candle wax, like shooting buckshot very deadly at close range !The same .410 shells can be reloaded with .177 airgun pellets or even reclaimed .22 lead bullets that had been fired !Just do not put too many BB's in the shell as the velocity will go down !Winchester and Federal do make excellent .410 shells for the Judge, the best for defence is the I believe the PDX1 .410 by Winchester,which I shot twice a truely awsome round, (3) .38 size bullets followed by about 10 BB sized balls one time out of the barrel !All I can say is read the various web sites about the Taurus Judge and check one out at one of your gun shows !Th Kel-Tec P32 a good street gun, the Taurus Judge a good home defence or trail weapon !

Thomas 4 months ago

And a further comment off of the topic of the Kel-Tec P32, I have owned more than a few handguns many good ones and a few total junk, and if I could only own just one handgun it would be the Ruger stainless steel Single Six with the dual cylinder .22LR/.22 Magnum, these revolvers are built like tanks( much better than the Colt single actions) and fire easy to obtain .22 LR and they can shoot the more powerful .22 magnum when a more powerful caliber is needed !No survival kit should be without one of these weapons !A Ruger Single Six and (3) .22LR bricks (500 RDS each) and and 500 rounds of .22 magnum ammo !

Thomas 4 months ago

Check out the new magazine,"Winchester the American legend" lists all of Winchester ammo even the newest , the .32ACP silvertip which is the best for the Kel-Tec P32 and the PDX1 .410 for the Taurus Judge ! Also the new PDX .22 magnum , 1400 FT per second out of a 2 inch revolver barrel !The magazine just came out, check it out at the magazine section in your super market !

Thomas 4 months ago

Wesman: I'm learning more every day about guns, living here in Arizona is much different than California, more gun shows and easy to buy and sell guns without so much red tape,I have owned over the years a large number of all types of guns ! My advice buying a gun (a rifle, shotgun, revolver or pistol)is like buying a vehicle, ask yourself, what do I want this weapon for ? You wouldn't buy a moped if your needs are for a pickup truck and before buying that weapon read the reviews from the average person, what they like about the gun and what they dislike about it . And when buying any used weapon at a gun show especially older weapons, have the weapon checked out first by a good gunsmith as alot of these older weapons are unsafe to shoot especially ones over 70 years old, I once had a Savage model 1903 .32acp that when the slide was released it discharged the bullet ! Another pistol a Sterling .22 automatic when the trigger was pulled the weapon became full automatic firing like a machine gun, old automatics can be very very dangerous especially with worn out safetys . The Colt 1911 .45acp is an excellent weapon for the battle field with the properly trained individual, but for the average individual, I would avoid this weapon as it is far too dangerous in the hands of the untrained !If you are looking for a quality used handgun, buy an S&W model 10 or model 64 .38 special, they are quality built and reasonbly priced on the used market !And one last word of advice,DO NOT BUY RELOADED AMMO from unknown individuals, swapmeets, yard sales etc !BUY reloads only from trusted individuals !Some reloaded ammo has been loaded to magnum velocities, which could cause your favorite gun to blowup in your face, or what happened to me, a .38 bullet had a primer but no powder,I had to go home and push the bullet out of the barrel with a cleaning rod !For self-defence never ever go cheap on your ammo, buy the best ! You or your family's life could depend on that ammo !

Thomas 4 months ago

The other week I was saying to myself how lucky I am to live in Sedona Arizona, hardly any real crime(killings, rapes etc), and last Friday two out of state tourists had parked their car to observe the red rocks, when a psycho with a .223 shot them both to death ! Seems he blasted their car with over a half and dozen rounds then killed a deputy down near Phoenix over the weekend before he himself was killed by police, Friday morning on my way to Cottonwood I seen their(the dead victms) parked vehicle with the area all closed off !I don't think that even being armed with the Kel-Tec P32 would have saved those two people !

Thomas 4 months ago

Just alittle off of the topic of the P32, today I was out target shooting with a little gun I picked up two months ago, a "snake charmer" .410 single shot shotgun, a nice little gun to take camping or for home defence especially for the person who does not care to own a handgun and the legal problems it may bring by taking a handgun into another state, especially an anti-gun state . The "snake charmer" was made to the legal minimum length 18 and a half inches, stainless steel barrel and plastic stock so it is very light weight, I don't know if the company is still in business as they were made by Sporting Arms Co. Little Field Texas, a great find on the used market, swap meets , gun shows or your local pawn shop !

Thomas 4 months ago

Wesman:On occasion a person will see a 28 gauge shotgun at one of the larger gun shows here in Arizona, a person can still buy 28 gauge shotgun shells(bird shot) at the Cottonwood Walmart ! Last year Taurus had plans on selling a "Judge" in 28 gauge needless to say pressure from liberal groups and the ATF put a stop on the sale of this revolver ! As a side note for anyone who wants to cut down any shotgun make doubley sure that it is of legal length as there are very big fines for unregistered saw off shotguns !The shotgun revolvers, the Judge and the shotgun derringers are legal because the barrels are rifled !

Thomas 3 months ago

Just want to make one last comment, this past Sunday I purchased at a yard sale an American Arms model one derringer in .38/.357, tryed the weapon out today, well for a pocket pistol it was very hard to hit the target at close range(8-10 feet) ! An interesting weapon of a bygone time, but my advice the pocket automatics the Kel-Tec, Ruger LCP and the Seecamp are the best especially for the ladies for pocket defence !

Thomas 3 months ago

Wesman: Thankyou very much,I do enjoy passing info on to others that I have learned from individuals who are more knowledgeable on guns than myself. Buying used guns, especially at gun shows, you are taking the person's word that the weapon works so buyer beware ! And most important to all buyers of used weapons MAKE SURE YOUR WEAPON IS LEGAL, several times I have seen pistols, revolvers for sale with the serial numbers filed off, shotguns cut below to legal limit same with rifles, these weapons can get a person in alot of legal trouble !Also from my personal experience when looking for a Kel-Tec P32, buy this weapon new and not used as many of the early Kel-Tec P32's had problems !And stay away from derringers for self-defence, forget the westerns you seen while growing up,get a decent gun for self-defence !The small air-lite Smith & Wesson .38's , the Ruger SP-101's, the LCR's ,LCP's real guns that will protect you and your family ! And stay away from cheap ammo reloads that you may see at swapmeets , yard sales etc some can be junk or loaded to a magnum and blowup your gun !Buying a weapon for mom or grandma, get her a quality .22 revolver, a Smith & Wesson or a Taurus model 94, these guns are quality and will give an individual accurate shots without the heavy recoil and without having to pull back a slide as with an automatic !

Thomas 3 months ago

An additional comment that I want to make, about 15-20 years ago there was an excellent movie staring Michael Douglas caled"The ghost in the darkness"a true storey about two lions in Africa during the late 1890's during the building of a trans African railway that killed hundreds of railway works before they were shot and killed, in the movie Michael Douglas's character says "Never depend on an unproven weapon" excellent words of advice !Don't buy a gun and a box of ammo, and put in in the drawer, without making sure your weapon works and your ammo is dependable ! Fire atleast 200 rounds of different ammo, don't just take someones word that a certain gun works great ! Revolvers can get out of timing ,Automatics can have bad magazines, guns epecially older ones can have weak recoil springs or broken firing pins, or broken extractors ! I should know ! I'm waiting on parts to repair two older automatics !

Thomas 2 months ago

Wesman:Arizona is still the old west to many individuals, some think nothing of chopping off barrels to less than legal limit or filing of serial numbers, thats why I'm very careful if someone wants to sell me a gun real cheap !The othe month I seem a beautiful Ruger .204 caliber rifle barrel chopped down to 12 inches, why the person did that, it was anyones guess, but I wouldn't touch that gun !Older ladies generally do not care for the large caliber handguns, most would like alittle .22 pistol or revolver !Taurus makes an excellent .22 revolver, the model 94, for around $300 or less !The older S&W's the K-22's and the model 34's are really going up in value as everybody wants one ! Look for them at your local (Texas) gun shows or even the swapmeets .

Thomas 2 months ago

Wesman: You are not kidding when you say Arizona has"out rednecked" Texas, just take a trip to Camp Verde some still fly the Confederate flag there, and the bikers there still think they are cowboys of the old west, carrying guns when they ride their motorcycles, one biker this past weekend told me at the swapmeet he plans to cut down a 12 gauage shotgun and carry it with him while he's riding his motorcycle, in case he should get cut off by a driver or gets ino a fight ! Just like the old west !That little gun store sounds interesting, we do have a few stores like that here in Arizona, sales people who really know about guns rather than just trying to make a fast sale ! like a salesman trying to convince a 90 year old woman she needs a .44 magnum revolver for self-defence !