.32 ammo question/opinions?

[Bob79]

Well, my seecamp .32 came in today, along with my 200 rounds of Silver Tip ammo.

Now being a .32 round you want to get optimal power, and from what I've read a lot of people carry FMJ in their .32 (I've read some of this in the Kel tec P32 thread somewhere). With the Seecamp I can't carry FMJ, and from some stats I've seen Corbon 60 gr, and Fiocchi 60 gr looks like the best to try in my pistol. The Corbon looks like it has more velocity and energy than the Silver tip, along with better expansion, and about the same penetration. Now the Fiocchi has numbers lower than the Cor bon for Velocity and energy (although not a big margin) but has much better penetration (almost like a FMJ round).

Now obviously reliability is factor #1, and they will all have to be tested for that, and managable recoil (although I've routinely shot 158 gr +P though my airLITE 11.5 oz revolver w/o it bothering me a bit). So am I splitting hairs here? BUT if I can get a noticable increase in stopping power w/ a reliable round, than I'm all for it.

All opinions welcome !

 

[MICHAEL T]

You will problly find silvertips and gold dots will be only 2 reliable Remember gun was made to use silvertips . 32 aren t high on the stopping power list. Make sure reliable and that you can hit were you aim. Best you can do with 32.

 

[Mark whiz]

For carry ammo - I've found the silvertips, Gold Dots, & Fed Hydro-shoks to be about equal in the accuracy category, with the silvertips being the least accurate (but not by much). I can't speak for expansion/stopping power since I've not shot anything but paper with them. So , to cover my tracks, I load the mag alternating each bullets - that way if one works better than the others, the perp will get at least 2 of them since a .32 is an "empty the mag" type of firearm when it comes to protection of life & limb.

 

[Felonious Monk]

My choice

After a whole bunch o' trying this that and the other, my wife and I decided on the following in our P32's:

A hollow point (Gold Dot, Golden Saber, Silver Tip) in the chamber, and Fiocchi, Dynamit Nobel or S&B FMJ rounding out the mag.

We've done all kinds of combinations of Glasers, RBCD, etc. and would still consider one of the prefrags in the chamber, but as was previously mentioned, a 32 is a "get off me", empty the chamber caliber, so that's what we plan and practice for. YMMV.

Regards,
FM

 

[WonderNine]

My gun also does not allow the use of FMJ.

The Fiocchi 60gr.'s are extremely hot. I chrono'd some out of my Autauga .32's (very similiar to a Seecamp) 2.1 inch barrel at 1,000 fps. They don't run in the gun reliably either since they're so hot. Turns the little thing practically into a CZ-52 style flamethrower towards dusk and they hurt to shoot. Also broke my extractor using Fiocchi's. The gun still works though minus the extractor.

The favorite load I use in my .32 is the Hornady XTP JHP 60gr..

Chrono's about 830fps on average. Hotter than the Silvertip with better penetration (mostly because they don't open up out of a short barrel).

Silvertips are terribly anemic, my gun was actually throwing some of the cases forward and I had a dud round in the last box. The gun did run flawlessly with them though aside from the dud which had a hard strike on the primer. No more Silvertips in .32 ever again for me.

 

[alamo]

My Autauga .32 works very well with Gold Dots. As WonderNine mentioned, the Autauga is very similiar to the Seecamp. It is an HP only pistol too. Silvertips were recommended in the owners manual but I called them once about ammo (when they were in business) and found they all used Gold Dots. Might try those in your Seecamp as Larry Seecamp has recommended them as well.

 

[WonderNine]

alamo:

In an email to me Rusty claimed that "If you are carrying the pistol for self defense then I recommend Glaser Safety Slugs. It is by far the best load for what the pistol was designed for."

I emailed him back what I thought of light pre-fragmented ammo (not good), but I guess it's worth consideration. I might buy some just to try them out.

He also mentioned:

"We tested for the most part with Winchester Silvertips but found that Speer Gold Dot ammo functioned the best."



My personal favorite for the Autauga is still the Hornady XTP JHP 60gr.

Oh one more thing he mentioned:

"We had the same results from the Hornady. Good operation but poor expansion."

 

[alamo]

Interesting. I didn't know that. I don't think I had actually talked to Rusty about ammo, believe it was the customer service gal - said all of them used Gold Dots.

I had heard after the pistol was in production they did some testing and Silvertips didn't perform all that well (no idea what kind of tests they did though) but Gold Dots worked pretty well. Guess they put Silvertips in the owners manual because it was considered a good load and that's what Seecamps used. The manual doesn't say Silvertips exclusively but only HP in any case.

 

[alamo]

Bob79, I assume you've seen this site -

http://www.goldenloki.com/ammo/gel/32acp/gel32acp.htm

 

[sm]

Beretta Alley Cat. [ The Tomcat with Ashley's] I once had.

Win. STHP, and Fiocchi FMJ were 100% reliable, accurate , scary accurate.

To be honest, I didn't try to many other loads, didn't really pay as much attention to the others when I did. I had aleady decided on staying with STHP and the Fiocchi, after running these in initial tests.

Some loads I have filed away as being "that good" and proven by using over the years in a variety of platforms. The STHP and Fiocchi are two such loads. My "go to" loads to test for reliability, and POA/POI, one might say - I was again very pleased by performance.

 

[gunfan]

Seecamp .32?

Winchester STHP ONLY! USE OF ANY OTHER AMMUNITION WILL VOID THE WARRANTY!

Scott

 

[alamo]

Winchester STHP ONLY! USE OF ANY OTHER AMMUNITION WILL VOID THE WARRANTY!

What if Larry Seecamp says it's OK? See the postings by the late Kentucky Rifle. He was a friend of Larry.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=50261&highlight=larry+seecamp+gold+dots

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=913&highlight=larry+seecamp+gold+dots


I also used to have an old gun rag article where Larry says it's OK to use some other types of HP.

 

[Bob79]

Seecamp

I haven't fired it yet, but I am impressed with the quality and size, boy its small (but still can get a decent grip).

Mine is in the 44,000 serial # range, and my instructions were stamped w/ the same red letters "Winchester Silvertip Ammo Only". I spoke to the gun dealer where I bought it, and they said that Seecamp has said basically if you can fit 4 in the mag, then it will shoot. Now obviously you must test a particular round to test its reliability. That Seecamp32.com website also lists a message that is supposed to be from Larry Seecamp in 2001 where it says something to the effect of "if you have a gun serial #31,000 or higher you can shoot other ammo, and recommends Fiocchi, Gold Dot, & glasser"

I think I am going to compare the Silvertips with the Corbon load, Gold Dots just don't seem like they perform any better than the Silvertips (from what I've read). Corbon is know for its quality and "hot" loads, so I figure if the Corbon can prove reliable then I'll go with it since it has more velocity/energy, and costs virtually the same.

 

[Majic]

The Seecamp was designed around the Silvertips. Some have reported success with the Golddots, but only the Silvertips have remained the most reliable in the little pistol.