Seecamp 32

[Old_Grouch]

The boss bought a Seecamp LWS 32 from a customer last Friday. I fretted over it for 4 days and today I bought it. It dates to about 2003 (the box has a 30 Year Anniversary sticker on it). $480.00 for the absolutely pristine gun, box with all paperwork, both mags, and 3 boxes of Winchester Silvertip (minus the 15 rds that the original owner fired through it).
I love working in a gun shop.

Q: What's the last thing a gun shop employee learns?

A: How to take home a paycheck.

 

[unclenunzie]

Congrats on your new-to-you Milford. Who needs a paycheck anyway

 

[Ohen Cepel]

Excellent little pistol! Very well made.

Check their website for HP ammo they recommend.

 

[Old_Grouch]

Check their website for HP ammo they recommend.

Ya, I saw that but as I have 3 boxes of Silvertip and will likely never shoot it anyway, I think I'm good.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

Ya, I saw that but as I have 3 boxes of Silvertip and will likely never shoot it anyway, I think I'm good.

With that hoard of Silvertips you waited 4 days to buy it!?!?!?!?!

Enjoy! Agreed, that you are likely well set on ammo.

 

[trackskippy]

I have an older "Silvertip only" LWS32. A couple of years back I ran out of the Silvertips I had and about had a heart attack when I saw what they were getting for them now when I went to buy some more.

I went on Seecamps website and these were one of the brands they were recommending now, and they shoot and function well in my gun. Fairly reasonably priced too.

 

[unclenunzie]

The PMC is cheap, works, and yep, on "the list". People used to consider it practice ammo when Actual Silvertips were available. I can't recall seeing any in years, I think they are discontinued. PMC should work...

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

I worked part-time in a bookstore for about 6 months back in 1986. Thanks to the employee discount, I think I actually spent more there than I earned.

 

[Old_Grouch]

This just keeps getting better. I picked up the bag the ammo was in to put it away and found that I had misunderstood the deal. I thought he had said I could have the "three boxes, one [of which was] partial". It turns out that it was 3 boxes AND one partial (35 rds).
Now excuse me while I go buy a lottery ticket.

 

[vanfunk]

Nice job Old Grouch. I’m sure that Seecamp will serve you well! I am looking for one too, when all I’m able to do is stuff a little gun in my back jeans pocket, etc. i have lots of those moments when I otherwise go unarmed for a variety of reasons, and a little Seecamp .32 might be the ticket.

 

[Old_Grouch]

Nice job Old Grouch.

Thanks. The interesting thing here, to me, is that Seecamp started producing these in 1973; 51 years ago. I first became aware of them in the mid 70s. I have been an avid pistol shooter/lover/enthusiast/collector for all of those 51 years and this is the first one I've ever seen in the flesh.

 

[.38 Special]

That was quite the "inside baseball" gun back in the day. Let us know how many one-shot stops you get!

 

[.38 Special]

I worked part-time in a bookstore for about 6 months back in 1986. Thanks to the employee discount, I think I actually spent more there than I earned.

I was considering that course, during the same time period, and my then-wife gestured theatrically at my groaning book cases and said "I counsel against this path, Kemosabe".

 

[Jaywalker]

That was quite the "inside baseball" gun back in the day. Let us know how many one-shot stops you get!

I recall when Evan Marshall, before he became "Marshall and Sanow," slipped into into his first report for American Handgunner the controversial 32 Auto Silvertip because it kept showing up successfully in the reports of officer involved shootings. That first report showed three out of five one-stop shots, by that early definition.

 

[halfmoonclip]

Congrats on your new-to-you Milford. Who needs a paycheck anyway

Yeah, I was offered a job in my local shop, it would have been fun, but I would have needed a new safe.

Need to look in my records, thought I had one of these an eon ago. I recall it was snappy to shoot. Was there a North American version as well?
For the OP, nice catch; more like a little piece of jewelry than a pistol.
Moon

 

[usp9]

The interesting thing here, to me, is that Seecamp started producing these in 1973; 51 years

The .32acp caliber Seecamp was not produced until 1984 or 1985. Prior to then the only available Seecamp was a .25acp. It's a shame the Seecamp forum was allowed to simply vanish. It was a huge source of information and history... much of it communicated by Larry Seecamp himself.

I have a very early LWS32, (1986), from when they were all but handmade and the magazines were produced in-house and not really made to come apart. The current mags are a wonder in comparison. I've fired every brand of 60 gr. HP ammo I could ever find and all were reliable. If the round could load in the magazine then the gun fed and fired without problem. The only ammo I didn't like was Corbon. Although it worked, it was noticeably hotter and hurt. I mostly shot WST all these years but did from time to time carry Gold Dot or Hornady.

OP, enjoy your new pistol. Be sure to read the manual as the Seecamp has some unusual features and traits.

 

[unclenunzie]

Yeah, I was offered a job in my local shop, it would have been fun, but I would have needed a new safe.

Need to look in my records, thought I had one of these an eon ago. I recall it was snappy to shoot. Was there a North American version as well?
For the OP, nice catch; more like a little piece of jewelry than a pistol.
Moon

NAA still makes a version of the Seecamp, I have had one a long time. They did away with the heel mag release in favor of a standard button. I prefer the Seecamp design in a pistol that tiny. Both can be snappy being blowback.

 

[Old_Grouch]

the Seecamp has some unusual features and traits.

Yeah, one of which is that the magazine holds some of the parts in when the trigger is pulled.

Both can be snappy being blowback.

The Seecamp is delayed blowback. I don't know about the NAA.

 

[unclenunzie]

The Seecamp is delayed blowback. I don't know about the NAA.

Yup. The NAA is straight blowback, the Seecamp has a chamber ring to provide the delay. Both snap, but I found the NAA more snappy even being heavier., and doesn't fit my hand as well as the LWS32.

 

[halfmoonclip]

the Seecamp has a chamber ring to provide the delay

What, the brass expands into the ring, to slow extraction?
Pure blowback guns are such a balancing act of slide velocity and lifting the cartridge stack.
Moon

 

[unclenunzie]

What, the brass expands into the ring, to slow extraction?
Pure blowback guns are such a balancing act of slide velocity and lifting the cartridge stack.
Moon

Exactly, its a small ring into which the brass expands to slow unlocking so they can keep the slide weight down.

 

[silicosys4]

I have had one for a little while now, it has a niche and it serves it well. Where it excels is deep cover and extreme convenience. It is very easy to conceal even down in a boot with a pocket holster, or in an inside jacket pocket, a shirt pocket, a jeans pocket, a belly band holster, etc. Aside from a strip search it is easy to make this gun hard to find and hard to accidentally reveal.
Its high on convenience as well. Its small and light enough that once its in your pocket with a well molded leather pocket holster you can easily forget its even there for the rest of the day. It is no more uncomfortable or noticeable than a well-worn wallet or familiar set of car keys.
Once you own one there really are no more excuses for not having at least something.
It will often ride along as backup to a Sig P365, just because why not.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Don't blame you, I'm going to buy the first one I come across that I can hold and inspect (not online)... as long as the price is reasonable.

I'd take 380 or 32 either one...I don't need it, have a perfectly good pocket pistol (Bodyguard 380), I just want one.

 

[Old_Grouch]

Both snap, but I found the NAA more snappy even being heavier.,

One of our customers is the retired head of the SD Highway Patrol. He told me once that they had at one time considered an NAA in .32 NAA (essentially a .380 necked down to .32) to issue as backups to the troopers.
NAA sent them a couple for testing. They tested them and nixed the idea. He said he'd never fired a handgun as unpleasant to shoot as those.

 

[Reinz]

I have 3 of the 32 Seacamps and one 25.

My experience with the 32’s is similar to usp9. They will fire anything that fits in the mag.