I got a CA .380 as Trainer for CA .32 H&R

[Oninotaki]

So I came to a conclusion two weeks ago that .32 H&R magnum is just too difficult to find and to expensive to shoot it regularly enough to get good enough with it to be comfortable with it as my EDC.

Long story short after looking at all possible options I concluded that the CA Pitbull in .380 is the cheapest to shot, most similar platform, with closest ballistics to the CA Professional in .32 H&R that is my preferred EDC.

So I ordered one up from my local Dunham's and picked it up yesterday. It's lighter than I expected because even though it is the same barrel length and frame size, the Pitbull is on an aluminum frame and grip, while the professional is on stainless steel. The difference is 4 oz(18 oz compared to 22 oz), and I will try to close that gap a little bit by seeing if CA will sell me one of their stainless steel grip frames and swapping that into the Pitbull.

Other than that they are almost identical in the hand, on the draw, and on the trigger pull.

If the weather clears up I will shoot them both today and see if this was a good idea, or an awful one. The ballistics on paper sound so similar that I will be stunned if I can even feel the difference between the calibers.

The Pitbull is in the middle, my EDC Professional is on top, and my range/practice Professional is on the bottom.

 

[Oninotaki]

Quick update,

The .380 feels very similar to .32 h&r magnum and both guns are shooting nearly identically for me. This is a big win! The H&R I had on hand was hotter than the .380, but they were closer than anything else I have shot before. Certainly much closer than .32 s&w long or .327 federal mag.

I did get one fail to fire from the single box of .380 I had to test the gun win. I thing it's the ammo because I could not get it to go off at all. The brand is norma and was the cheapest .380 fmj I could find at dunhams when I picked up the gun. $22.99 for $50 which is so much cheaper. Norma is a new brand for me, so I am not sure what kind of quality it is.

Loading the .380 took a few tries to learn. Once I got it down they would load with a very satisfying click as the retention system snapped into place. I wouldn't use it for primary self defense because it is the slowest reload I can think of, but as a training tool where I want to be slow and deliberate with my actions it is just fine.

 

[Tallball]

Nice pick up. I did something similar. Recently bought a 9mm Taurus snub for practice. Cheaper to feed than my nice 38's, and keeps the wear off of them.

 

[Oninotaki]

Nice pick up. I did something similar. Recently bought a 9mm Taurus snub for practice. Cheaper to feed than my nice 38's, and keeps the wear off of them.

That's exactly the line of thought I had.I even debated getting a Talo Taurus 905 and using 9mm for training. However I thought 9mm would just be a little too much oomph for a .32 h&r trainer. Sounds great for .38 special however.

 

[ChiefTJS]

For the cost of the new gun you could have bought everything to reload for the .32H&R. Then you could really jump down a rabbit hole.
35 years ago I thought I'd save some money and reload my own .357 Magnum, now I have stuff to load for cartridges I've never even had.

Seriously, if you can control yourself then reloading can be a great way to have cheap training ammo.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

FWIW, here's a video of my system for cranking out .32 H&R practice wadcutter ammo -- I use more of it than any other centerfire round. There are even faster rigs, but I enjoy the process and this Lee system runs at about the same speed as my brain these days.

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If .380 is a good fit for you, then well done. Ammo is certainly priced to sell these days. I sold both of my .380s because I kept getting the brass mixed in with my 9x19.

 

[Riomouse911]

Good idea.

.32/.327 factory ammo, and .327 brass, are all non existent today. Good idea to go to a gun/cartridge combo that you can find so you can get some trigger time in.

Stay safe.

 

[Tallball]

After I get more of the important work done on this dilapidated house I'm living in, I plan on starting to reload ammo.

Until then, I've been shooting mostly 9mm and 22lr.

I predict the OP will be pleased with the practice piece. In my experience, practice with small revolvers is practice with small revolvers and it carries over just fine.

I've been practicing hard with a 9mm snub and slowly improving. The improvement is still there when I occasionally shoot a 38 snub. Bet it works for the OP, too.

 

[lincen]

This is where I’ve bought some 32 long recently. They have excellent service and free shipping when the order is $200 or more.

500 Round Case - 32 SW Long 98 Grain LRN Prvi Partizan Ammo - PPH32SW | SGAmmo.com

SGAmmo.com, bulk ammo sold by the case at the best lowest prices for sale anywhere online

www.sgammo.com

 

[Oninotaki]

For the cost of the new gun you could have bought everything to reload for the .32H&R. Then you could really jump down a rabbit hole.
35 years ago I thought I'd save some money and reload my own .357 Magnum, now I have stuff to load for cartridges I've never even had.

Seriously, if you can control yourself then reloading can be a great way to have cheap training ammo.

Yeah I was really tempted to go that route, but it's gonna be at least until next spring before I am able to get a reloading area setup and I got impatient.

 

[Oninotaki]

FWIW, here's a video of my system for cranking out .32 H&R practice wadcutter ammo -- I use more of it than any other centerfire round. There are even faster rigs, but I enjoy the process and this Lee system runs at about the same speed as my brain these days.

Playeur

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If .380 is a good fit for you, then well done. Ammo is certainly priced to sell these days. I sold both of my .380s because I kept getting the brass mixed in with my 9x19.

That's a lot slicker and smoother a process than I thought it would be. I may eventually end up going that way.

 

[Oninotaki]

Good idea.

.32/.327 factory ammo, and .327 brass, are all non existent today. Good idea to go to a gun/cartridge combo that you can find so you can get some trigger time in.

Stay safe.

That's what I thought. It's already paying off in convenience. Being able to just pop into a dunhams after work and grab a 50 pack of .380 is pretty nice. The similarities between the two models of revolver and cartridge strength is really what sold me on the idea.

 

[Oninotaki]

This is where I’ve bought some 32 long recently. They have excellent service and free shipping when the order is $200 or more.

500 Round Case - 32 SW Long 98 Grain LRN Prvi Partizan Ammo - PPH32SW | SGAmmo.com

SGAmmo.com, bulk ammo sold by the case at the best lowest prices for sale anywhere online

www.sgammo.com

Those are actually what I was initially using for practice. But they have about half the felt recoil to me. So the jump between longs and h&r magnum was a bit frustrating. My patterns would open up significantly between the two. Not .327 out of a snubbie bad, but 2 inch circle to full palm bad. I want to be able to get that .32 h&r to a nice small circle and longs just weren't doing it for me.

 

[lincen]

Those are actually what I was initially using for practice. But they have about half the felt recoil to me. So the jump between longs and h&r magnum was a bit frustrating. My patterns would open up significantly between the two. Not .327 out of a snubbie bad, but 2 inch circle to full palm bad. I want to be able to get that .32 h&r to a nice small circle and longs just weren't doing it for me.

I can certainly agree with that. As my hands get older, I do enjoy shooting the 32 longs as I am trying to improve my double action skills. Thankfully I had bought a good bit of 32 magnum ammo when several folks here in NC were switching to other calibers. Also have everything for reloading the various 32’s. Got all that expecting Hillary’s first term as president…….

 

[chicharrones]

You know, it just occurred to me that my CA Undercoverette in .32 H&R successfully fires Euro .32 ACP ammo. My Euro ammo has a slightly thicker rim than my USA made .32 ACP, which headspaces the cartridge better for a good firing pin hit.

Cheap .32 ACP is about twice as much in price as cheap .380 ACP, but cheap .32 ACP is about one third the cost of JHP .32 H&R.

 

[Boom Vang]

FWIW, here's a video of my system for cranking out .32 H&R practice wadcutter ammo -- I use more of it than any other centerfire round. There are even faster rigs, but I enjoy the process and this Lee system runs at about the same speed as my brain these days.

Playeur

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I've never seen that loader in action. Very economical operation. At that speed, you learn to make every shot count!

 

[Oninotaki]

I can certainly agree with that. As my hands get older, I do enjoy shooting the 32 longs as I am trying to improve my double action skills. Thankfully I had bought a good bit of 32 magnum ammo when several folks here in NC were switching to other calibers. Also have everything for reloading the various 32’s. Got all that expecting Hillary’s first term as president…….

Stocking up when you see it is the way to go for sure. I was able to get about 20 boxes of the Hornady .32 h&r and I thought that meant it was coming back into serious production, but when I got down to 15 boxes and I hadn't seen anymore on the shelves I started to seriously think of an alternative.

I tried the .32 s&w longs from Prvi Partizan which are decently available but found them to be gentle enough that the skills weren't transferring enough over to when I would switch to a box of .32 h&r of any kind.

Reloading .32s is next on my list. I got everything I need to reload .410 since that has essentially disappeared. However I don't have the space in the house to set this up and am looking at doing a full repair and remodel of a large shed I have specifically for this. If I am lucky I will get that wrapped up in time for next spring. In the mean time I want to continue to get range time in, and that's where the .380 comes in. So far it is doing the job great. Already had more time with it across two weekends than I have had with the .32 across 4 months.

 

[chicharrones]

Reloading .32s is next on my list.

If there is any cartridge that forces me to take up reloading, it's going to be due to .32 H&R magnum.

Now we have two revolvers that can chamber the cartridge. Feels like I'm going all in.

 

[Oninotaki]

T

You know, it just occurred to me that my CA Undercoverette in .32 H&R successfully fires Euro .32 ACP ammo. My Euro ammo has a slightly thicker rim than my USA made .32 ACP, which headspaces the cartridge better for a good firing pin hit.

Cheap .32 ACP is about twice as much in price as cheap .380 ACP, but cheap .32 ACP is about one third the cost of JHP .32 H&R.

That's a pretty interesting piece of info. I have never had a problem with any of my .327 or .32 h&r revolvers firing .32 acp, but I also have not kept track of the country of origin of the .32 acp I have been using.

I certainly wouldn't mind having any of my 7 shot revolvers cut to use .32 acp in moon clips either, but when I asked TK customs if they would do it they basically told me no.

 

[Oninotaki]

If there is any cartridge that forces me to take up reloading, it's going to be due to .32 H&R magnum.

Now we have two revolvers that can chamber the cartridge. Feels like I'm going all in.

Oh I am all in on this one. I am up to four revolvers that can chamber it, looking at a 5th and desperately hoping to find a Henry in .327 that can chamber it as well. No going back for me

 

[chicharrones]

That's a pretty interesting piece of info. I have never had a problem with any of my .327 or .32 h&r revolvers firing .32 acp, but I also have not kept track of the country of origin of the .32 acp I have been using.

I certainly wouldn't mind having any of my 7 shot revolvers cut to use .32 acp in moon clips either, but when I asked to customs if they would do it they basically told me no.

I found out about the rim thickness difference several years ago when I bought a chamber adapter to fire .32 ACP in a .308 rifle. The bolt would close on the USA made .32 ACP, but wouldn't close on the Euro ammo. I "adjusted" the adapter's headspace to allow the bolt to close on Euro ammo.

Before headspace adjustment.


Lapping tool to adjust headspace.

 

[TTv2]

Could have tried to find .32 S&W Long ammo and saved yourself buying another mediocre Charter revolver.

Not trying to throw shade, I just wouldn't buy any Charters these days unless I absolutely wanted the revolver. Buying a trainer due to lack of ammo for an easy to reload cartridge or easier and cheaper one in .32 Long is illogical.

 

[chicharrones]

Could have tried to find .32 S&W Long ammo and saved yourself buying another mediocre Charter revolver.

Not trying to throw shade, I just wouldn't buy any Charters these days unless I absolutely wanted the revolver. Buying a trainer due to lack of ammo for an easy to reload cartridge or easier and cheaper one in .32 Long is illogical.

Hindsight from other forum members is always 20/20.

 

[shanep0017]

That Norma 380 ammo is horrible, I got a box because it was cheap, on sale for $12.99 as opposed to $25+ for every other kind of 380 ammo. Now I know why it was on sale, it's literally the dirtiest ammo I've seen, 380 or otherwise. I started having failures to eject and couldn't figure out why, when I cleaned the gun there was so much soot and unburnt powder it was unreal.
I've never seen anything like it and I'm surprised all I had was 2 or 3 failures from it. I'll never buy that ammo again, you can rest assured it was most likely the ammo giving you trouble.
On a side note I really wish they would've made the 380 pitbull smaller like the Taurus 380. A 380 pocket revolver would be awesome. Unfortunately the Taurus ones are almost impossible to find.

 

[Oninotaki]

Could have tried to find .32 S&W Long ammo and saved yourself buying another mediocre Charter revolver.

Not trying to throw shade, I just wouldn't buy any Charters these days unless I absolutely wanted the revolver. Buying a trainer due to lack of ammo for an easy to reload cartridge or easier and cheaper one in .32 Long is illogical.

I tried .32 s&w long for this purpose and just found it to be light enough in felt recoil to be lacking for a variety of training purposes.

No worries on shade. If I had a reloading set up already going, or had the space readily available to set it all up quickly I would have done so. For now though that is at least 6 months down the line.

I wanted to be able to get better at every aspect of handling my EDC as possible sooner rather than later, and this seemed like the most expedient method to do that. Plus now I have a weird .380 acp revolver, and who doesn't want weird revolvers?