I was considering trading up, but eventually decided against it. The increase in power was tempting, as was the elimination of any concerns over .32ACP "rimlock". However, I will keep my P-32 instead for the following reasons:
*One more round of capacity.
*It is smaller (not by much, but small is the whole reason for these things!).
*Less recoil and greater controllability.
*I'm not convinced the bugs and durability issues will be completely worked out of such a tiny design built around a comparatively hot cartridge.
As for the rimlock, the answer is simple: ball ammo. FMJ is loaded to the full OAL and doesn't result in rimlock issues. Shorter-OAL JHP ammo does. Why ball ammo? Because I strongly feel JHP ammo out of such short-barreled guns (both the .32 and the .380) is nothing but a morale-booster. Penetration is less with the lighter bullet and expansion (if it happens at all) will be slight. So given that the bullet will likely behave like a ball round no matter what, what advantage is there to a .380 when you'll get more recoil and one less round?
If anybody is aware of any controlled, valid test results firing JHP ammo out of a P-3AT vs. a P-32 please share it with us.
*One more round of capacity.
*It is smaller (not by much, but small is the whole reason for these things!).
*Less recoil and greater controllability.
*I'm not convinced the bugs and durability issues will be completely worked out of such a tiny design built around a comparatively hot cartridge.
As for the rimlock, the answer is simple: ball ammo. FMJ is loaded to the full OAL and doesn't result in rimlock issues. Shorter-OAL JHP ammo does. Why ball ammo? Because I strongly feel JHP ammo out of such short-barreled guns (both the .32 and the .380) is nothing but a morale-booster. Penetration is less with the lighter bullet and expansion (if it happens at all) will be slight. So given that the bullet will likely behave like a ball round no matter what, what advantage is there to a .380 when you'll get more recoil and one less round?
If anybody is aware of any controlled, valid test results firing JHP ammo out of a P-3AT vs. a P-32 please share it with us.