Keltec .32 opinions

It's my "pocket gun", and so the one I most often carry concealed. It's really nice to add the Pachymahr grip and the extended mag on it so you get a little better grip. Sights are tiny, and it's a minute-of-pie-plate gun at 20 yards for me, but I point shoot with it well and it's about a 3 inch offhand for me at 10 yards.

I think they're a decent buy for the money in terms of being a true pocket pistol. I went with a P3AT mainly because I have a whole lot more .380ACP ammo than I do .32ACP. The only thing I did to mine was sand down and smooth out some of the rough edges of the polymer frame. Other than that it's been good to go out of the box.

The KT P32 is the gun that I carry when I can't carry a gun.

I bought one for my wife but she kept limp-wristing it, and it kept jamming. Since it worked for me I took it and got her a S&W Airweight. With a Nemesis holster it’s always in my pocket.

Rudolph31, that's not your DC3, is it? My favorite aircraft of all time, in either civilian or C47 configuration.

I had an early 1st Generation Hard Chrome slide P32. Good little gun, easy shooting and ran very reliably. Traded it off towards a Kahr PM9.

Also had a P3AT, but didn't care for that one and replaced it with an LCP.

First of all, I'm not short of carry guns, big or small; I've owned a Kel-Tec for several years now and I am very satisfied with it. It goes bang each and every time I pull the trigger and it will digest any .32 ACP I feed it.. It is light and small and disappears in my front pocket ( with a Headley pocket holster ). The trouble with a big gun is it's very size, too often it is left at home on routine trips such as to the store for a loaf of bread, not so the P-32. It stays in my pocket from the time I get up until I retire for the night. Yes, you could say I like the little gun, I think it's the cats meow.

I’ve had a Gen 1 for several years. Never had a problem with it. More dependable and less ammo finicky than my Seecamp.32.

If you get one that works they are great pocket pistols (most do). Just beware they are prone to rimlock if you load h/p bullets or shorter oal bullets in the mag. The .32acp is a semi rimless ctg. & the rim of a round on top can slip over the one on the bottom & turn your 8 shot into a single shot. If I'm going to load h/p or shorter oal length bullets like Buffalo Bore fn lead I load one in the pipe & one on the top of the mag & no more. K/T's customer service has been better than most & they have a no gimmick lifetime guarantee.

I have had one for about 9 years now. I carry it when I need a very very small gun.

It has been 100% reliable for me and is accurate enough for what it is. I usually shoot and carry Fiocchi ammo in it.

The Kel-Tec P32 is a nice small pistol at a good price.

I bought an extended magazine and it really helped me get used to shooting it. Now I carry the P32 with the short mag in a pocket holster and like it a lot. With practice it now shoots a consistently usable self-defense sized group for me at ten yards.

I had two -- sold one off and kept one. 100% reliability with both. As others have said, if you use shorter rounds (hollowpoint or bluntnose), you can get rimlock. The fix for that is a magazine adapter -- it's a spacer that Kel-Tec used to sell on their website. I don't think they sell it anymore, but you can do a homemade one or stick with round-nose FMJ.

One upgrade I would recommend is the Northwood aluminum trigger. It's a bit of a PITA to install, but the results are worth it: a much nicer feeling trigger. Buy some extra frame pins before you start, as they have a tendency to become deformed when you drive them out. Also, be prepared to do a bit of sanding on the front of the slot where the trigger comes through the frame. The aluminum trigger is a little thicker front-to-back, and if you don't have enough clearance in that part of the frame, it won't reset. You don't have to take much off -- just relieve it a tiny bit. The instructions say you might have to do this, but if I were doing it again I'd do it right off the bat -- saves you having to disassemble the pistol again when you find out your trigger isn't resetting.

Some folks prefer .380, but the .32 version is a pretty amazing compromise of size vs. recoil vs. capacity. Mine literally sits in a shirt pocket, and sometimes does. I use the slide clip and it is basically completely invisible no matter what I wear. I have run 10 miles with it clipped inside Underarmor and never noticed it. (I did wipe it down afterwards!). I have a single BuffaloBore hardcast solid atop a magazine of Fiocchi FMJ.

I got mine in 2011, and I'm glad I did. Never had any problems with it except for when I was introduced to rimlock during my first outing with it. I was using Winchester's flat-tipped FMJ.

I carry it a lot, usually as a second gun, but it's my primary during travel to and from my no-carry EMS job site. Then, it's carried with Kel-Tec's 10-round magazine in place. Eleven rounds of .32 is nothing to sneeze at, and the extension makes it easier to grip (though it's still ridiculously thin!) When it's a BUG, it wears one of its original seven-rounders.

Unlike many of the micro-.380 guns of its day, the P32 also has a last-shot slide-lock, though that feature is appearing on some of the newer (but bigger) incarnations of those .380 pistols.

I have this same model and have carried it quite a bit, probably 90% of the time. I did the fluff/buff out of the box and have yet to have a hiccup with this piece. I have a Taurus TCP .380 but can't find a pocket holster I like with it so it is in the safe and the P32 in the carry rotation at all times.

Armybrat said:

I had an early 1st Generation Hard Chrome slide P32. Good little gun, easy shooting and ran very reliably. Traded it off towards a Kahr PM9.

Also had a P3AT, but didn't care for that one and replaced it with an LCP.

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I just don't think it is powerful enough to stake my life on. Or a 380, for that matter, but I would much sooner go with a 380.

I have the thutty-two and feel no need to get a similar .380.
It is what the old timers called a "vest pocket pistol" which were then .25s or derringers.

I carry one pretty much anywhere that doesn't have a metal detector. I really like .32 in its various incarnations and have several, and don't stock .380 ammo. The .380s in this size are a bit snappier, and the .32 gets an extra round. I'd pick up whichever, depending on which ammo you already use. If you don't stock either, you could do a whole lot worse than a P32.

I have a Kel-Tec 32, and I was surprised that it was reasonably pleasant to shoot, and could be shot more accurately than I would have guessed. Mine is reliable, too, with the limited number of JHPs I have fired from it, as long as I use factory magazines (either the 7 round or the 10 round). I bought an aftermarket 10 magazine that would not feed round 1. The gun is lightweight, flat, and has a modern (i.e., Glock style) trigger mechanism. The sights and grip are good for its size.

I know 380 is the preferred choice now, but I like this 32 better, myself.

Guns like the Kel-Tec 32 are why 25 caliber autos have become obsolete, and "pocket auto" size 32s and 380s have become obsolescent. (I hope I am making that distinction correctly, and like everything in this post, it is only my opinion.)

The Kel; Tec P32 is a nice little gun. I have owned two or three in the past. I prefer the 32 Kel Tec over the 380 Kel Tec. Pleasant to shoot has last shot hold open and they are very reliable. My only vice is with the 32 round itself and not the gun. The 32 has a slight rim and you can get rim lock when you use the shorter length hollow points. Ball ammo is fine and not a problem. I believe they make a fly wire that fits inside the magazine to prevent rim lock. I would stick with ball ammo for carry, the hollow points really don't work well and if they do you get shallow penetration. The 380 doesn't get rim lock because it's a rimless case.

My second generation P-32 often rides in a DeSantos pocket holster in my front pocket. My experience has been 100% reliability when shot with S&B or Fiocchi ball ammo. Accuracy is center of a dinner paper plate at 7 yards, not bad considering the sights. I was fortunate when I got mine to obtain one with the hard chrome plated slide. Recoil is very manageable due to the locked breech. I highly recommend the P-32.

If I'm going to load h/p or shorter oal length bullets like Buffalo Bore fn lead I load one in the pipe & one on the top of the mag & no more.

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No need to load short. If you want to carry HP's in your P32 (despite that many only use full ball ammo for self-defense), then just make a "flyer wire". Instructions linked below:

http://www.keltecforum.com/articles/a5/a5.html

I am not a Keltec fan but I am a P32 fan. I've had a couple and they have been reliable and soft shooting little pistols. The PF9 and P3at that I owned were not keepers.