Keltec 32

Recoils less. Doesn’t like jhp. Hold open on last round.

Well placed .32, or bad breath distances, will do the job as well.

Better? Is a subjective term, two different guns

It is a nice little gun. The 32 acp has some discussion about magazine "rimlock" with JHP. KT sells a little mag shim to prevent this. SeaCamps have it built in.
Well the used to sell a shim, Guess they don't anymore. I never had an issue with it using GoldDots

http://www.1bad69.com/keltec/rimlock.htm

I like mine. I used to have the 380 version, also.

Maybe the 380 didn't hold open after the last round? It had small but real sights.

IIRC, the 32 does hold open after the last round, but it has a "trench" instead of sights.

It's small, light, functions perfectly with good FMJ ammo, and cost me something like $125 used.

It's certainly my smallest/lightest handgun that I would consider carrying. There are maybe a few 25's that are a little smaller, but they're also heavier.

Had both, sold both. Not bad, just didn't need them. Had an LCP, sold it too. As said, at close range the 32 will do well and if I were in the market for either a 380 or 32 would probably buy a 32. Keltec 32 is probably less expensive.

From all I have read and heard from others, they're more reliable and trouble free than the .380. Also, it's obvious what the best ammo to use for .32 is because there's only one that's worth the price and that's Lehigh. FMJ is a bit cheaper a box vs .380 too if you buy online.

Back in 2011, I was looking for a deep-conceal gun, and was deciding between the P32 and the P3-AT. The smaller gun won out for three reasons: lighter recoil/muzzle flip, allowing for faster follow-up, last-shot slide-lock, and an extra round in capacity. At the time, Taurus was also selling a .32 version of their TCP, but it didn't offer a higher capacity than the .380 version (both had last shot slide-lock features.)

The P32 goes with me everywhere, though usually as a backup (to another KT product, the PF9.) I have since acquired a Taurus TCP in .380 because I saw it for a good price, but that .32 is still usually the "go-to" for micro-carry. I have carried both a few times. The P32 is just a pistol that still amazes me in what the maker accomplished with the idea.

I have a KT32 that I got when they first came out. One trip back to FL for an upgrade and I love the little thing. It's my gun for when I don't want/need to carry a gun. Tried the 3AT and didn't like it at all; too much snap, no lock-back, and one fewer rounds. I load mine with a hot 71 gr. JHP in the chamber and another on the top of the mag...all the rest FMJ. No feed problems at all.

Tallball said:

but it has a "trench" instead of sights.

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Mine has little nub sights on a flat top.

Dan-O said:

Doesn’t like jhp.

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Both the one I lost in the fire and it current replacement have fed the Fiocchi 60 grain XTP load with no issues. The bullet goes all the way to the front of the magazine. Pay attention when filling the magazine and rim lock is not an issue with them.

Mine is in my pocket as I type this. I always carry it around the house and to the gym. It often sees duty as a bug too. Even with the 10 round magazine it disappears in your pocket. I only shoot ball in mine.

Personally I believe the Keltec 380 and the Ruger LCP should have been designed in 32.cal from the beginning and not 380. The 32. is a much more pleasant gun, (actually very mild). While I carry a 380 from other manufactuers, I do carry the Keltec on days when I dress very lightly due to heat in summer. I started carrying the Keltec with the Underwood Defender/Cavitator and very reliable with that defense ammo and all the training FMJ I have shot. At just 6 1/2oz unloaded, it makes for extremely easy carry.

The P32 is small enough that I can pocket carry in some pants that my LCP is too bulky for. I would take a LCP over a P32 for the extra power of the 380 acp over the 32 acp. Sitting at a desk in work pants every day the P32 doesn't print as much as the LCP which is much better for my office enviroment. If I am out in public I will carry the LCP at a minumum but usually carry the DB9 (9mm) or XDs in 45 acp.

I don't know what all the hubub about a micro 380 being hard to shoot is all about? If you have arthritus or very weak hands maybe but I can't imagine the LCP 380 recoil being much of a challenge for most... especially with a little practice.



The P32 is in the top row and grey. The LCP is next to it in black. They look very close in size when side by side but the P32 is noticable less bulky if you pick up both of them. The DB9 in the center can be a bit of a punishing beast due to its small size, light weight and 9mm ammo. But if I ever have to use it I doubt I will even notice the recoil under all the adrenelin. These are self defence guns not range guns after all.

MikeInOr said:

The P32 is small enough that I can pocket carry in some pants that my LCP is too bulky for. I would take a LCP over a P32 for the extra power of the 380... but sitting at a desk in work pants every day the P32 doesn't print as much as the LCP which is much better for my office enviroment.

I don't know what all the hubub about a micro 380 being hard to shoot is all about? If you have arthritus or very weak hands maybe but I can't imagine the LCP 380 recoil being much of a challenge for most... especially with a little practice.

The P32 is in the top row and grey. The LCP is next to it in black. They look very close in size when side by side but the P32 is noticable less bulky if you pick up both of them.

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The 380's are not hard to shoot. But some are much milder to shoot than others.

I have the p3at, sure it's like holding an exploding credit card when you fire it but it's a carry a lot and shoot a little kind of gun


380 is a better defence round than the 32. Get the 380

The LCP is very hard for some to shoot. I hated it the first time I shot one. Just a very unpleasant affair. And I am not recoil sensitive. Yes, I over came it with thousands of round shooting them, But even now when I go back from shooting others, the recoil and slap of the LCP is significant compared to others. Many folks are now looking for a milder alternative.
And any small 380 is NOT for everyone.

Jeb Stuart said:

The LCP is very hard for some to shoot. I hated it the first time I shot one. Just a very unpleasant affair. And I am not recoil sensitive. Yes, I over came it with thousands of round shooting them, But even now when I go back from shooting others, the recoil and slap of the LCP is significant compared to others. Many folks are now looking for a milder alternative.
And any small 380 is NOT for everyone.

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I gotta agree, when it comes to inexperienced new shooters looking for a carry gun, especially women, the brutish sales clerk will push for either a .38 snub or an LCP. The snub will be "too bulky", so the LCP it is. Off to the range for a test drive and a few shots later and it's being returned with the explanation it's "too much" but the guy working the counter will say it's either learn to live with that or get a rape whistle and a stun gun because anything less than .380 is only gonna piss the attacker off more.

The fact is .32 caliber is better than 0 caliber and the less unpleasant shooting with such a small gun is, the more they're going to want to shoot it and get better at it and be proficient with it.

Back in 1968 importation of the small 22LR, 25acp and 32acp semis was not banned because they were cheap, unreliable or ineffective.

MikeInOr said:

I don't know what all the hubub about a micro 380 being hard to shoot is all about? If you have arthritus or very weak hands maybe but I can't imagine the LCP 380 recoil being much of a challenge for most... especially with a little practice.

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I don't get it either. I could shoot my LCP all day except my fingers start to hurt from loading the mags. I've even let my mother, who's shot about 2 guns in her life, put a few mags through my LCP and she loved it.

Dan-O said:

Recoils less. Doesn’t like jhp. Hold open on last round.

Well placed .32, or bad breath distances, will do the job as well.

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ppu hollow point work fine in my two. has to do with overall length so no rimlock. no advantage to them though they dont expand from what I've seen.

I had one of the early Kel-Tecs and wish I still had it. It was the best pocket auto I have ever owned. Yo just forgot you had it on you. And mine would feed hollow points (Speer Gold Dots) just fine but I didn't shoot many of them because of the cost. FMJ was my normal load. I solved any rimlock issues by modifying my ammo. No more rimlock.

I found a Taurus TCP for sale cheap and bought that to replace the P32. Its close at 10oz but the recoil is much greater than the 32acp. Its not a gun I would recommend to a new shooter because of the recoil. And its harder to rack the slide than the Kel-Tec. Something that was often mention when the 380 version of the P32 came out.

The hard to rack slide is why I got my TCP so cheap. The previous owner got a S&W EZ 380 to replace it. And its not that its so hard to rack but hard to get a grip on.

bassjam said:

I don't get it either. I could shoot my LCP all day except my fingers start to hurt from loading the mags. I've even let my mother, who's shot about 2 guns in her life, put a few mags through my LCP and she loved it.

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I have heard the same thing form folks that shoot the LCR357. I shoot the LCR9mm and am fine with the recoil. But it is at the point right before discomfort. I shoot pocket guns often, about each week. The Beretta Pico and the Kahr cw380. Many times will take both to compare how I am shooting them. They are very close to my perception of recoil. Very close. And both very mild, easy shooters. The Kahr is a tad more mild, but just barely.Both are not snappy.
Every now and then, I will take my LCP and shoot it. Man, I feel the difference right away. Much more snappy. Significantly. And I am not new to the LCP. Burned up 4 of them from shooting them to death over the years.Yes, I became immune to the recoil, but it took time.
The Keltec 32.cal is less than the Pico and the Kahr and yet weighs about half that of the two. I do not think many folks would have a hard time with the Keltec.

All of the little blowback .380s are snappy as all get out. The Glock and the Llama Especial (mini 1911) are the only .380s I have ever actually enjoyed shooting. There are a whole bunch of .32s I like shooting, so the caliber is a win for me. On top of that though, between the p3AT and the p32, you get a smaller gun in every dimension with the p32 and the weight savings is huge. The minimalist holsters for the p32 will actually hold them and can be carried as a necklace/bolo or ankle carried without any real discomfort. Pretty safe to say I’m in the camp of the p32, and I keep bidding $100 for them on Gunbroker and usually don’t lose by much. I will snag one soon.

jar said:

Back in 1968 importation of the small 22LR, 25acp and 32acp semis was not banned because they were cheap, unreliable or ineffective.

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Correct. They were banned by *size* requirements, regardless of being cheap, unreliable, and ineffective.

Get the .380. Hugely wider choice of ammo, greater availability of caliber, and .380 eliminates the inherent
feed unreliability of the semi-rimmed .32 case. Size, weight & capacity differences are too small to consider,
and the .380 is a more effective round.

WestKentucky said:

All of the little blowback .380s are snappy as all get out.

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P3AT is locked-breech.

Steve762us said:

P3AT is locked-breech.

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Still snappy as all get out.