Hundreds - if not thousands - of pages have been inked over the years by gun writers either extolling, denouncing, or waxing ambivalent in consideration of the proper place - if any - to be occupied by so-called "mouse guns" in the self-defense venue. Most have taken care to note that the rodent-like moniker broadly applied to this diminutive genre of handguns was coined to describe physical size more than power. Never was this caveat more appropriate than today, when palm-sized repeating weaponry can be had chambering everything from the .22 short to such venerable and potent calibers as the 9mm Luger, .40 Smith and Wesson, and that hard-hitting old warhorse, the .45 ACP. There are, it would seem, mice, mighty mice, and even mightier mice. The one constant that governs them all, however, is that when it comes to concealment, size matters.It’s been a while back now that I found myself at Cabela's, staring through the display case glass at one of the newest mouse gun offerings, a miniature semi-auto pistol chambered in .32ACP, designated Model P32 and made by Kel-Tec. It was small and mostly charcoal black, small and flat, small and razor thin, and just plain small! As I ogled it, the P32 beckoned me to hold it, to heft it, to work its action, to release and re-insert its magazine - to sight along the top of its narrow slide, to gently tease its trigger. I got a tingle up my leg. It was lust at first sight.
The P32 was born to live in deep cover, I thought and imagined what that might mean in the real world of undercover police work, back-up guns, and the growing fraternity of CCW license holders. Spurred by curiosity and smitten with desire, I surrendered myself to the wiles of the tiny black pistol. While the "outfitter" went back to the warehouse to fetch a boxed example of the P32, I sidled over to the ammo racks and returned to the counter with a couple boxes of Magtech .32 ACP ammunition, one each in 71 grain hard ball and 71 grain JHP.
With paperwork completed and money tendered, the “outfitter” escorted me to the threshold (a big-city custom that seems out of place here in Boise, Idaho), where I took possession of the tiny cardboard box that held my new mouse gun, a blued steel magazine, a sky-blue, zippered ballistic nylon pouch, instruction manual, and a rather sturdy-looking gunlock with two keys. All of that, plus the 100 rounds of MagTech ammo set me back a skosh under three Benjies. Jackpot!
Kel-Tec’s website confirms the P32’s mouse-like dimensions. Unloaded, the pistol weighs just 6.6 ounces. Stuffed with ammunition, the 7-round magazine adds a miniscule 2.8 ounces, bringing the P32’s fighting weight to 9.4 ounces. Its 2.7-inch barrel fits neatly into the steel slide assembly, which accounts for most of the P32’s unloaded weight and a good deal of its overall length of 5.1 inches. Height for this model is 3.75 inches. Width (thinth would be a better word) is 0.75 inch, making the P32 a skinnier package than many popular tricked out cell phones. I couldn’t wait to test its bona fides at Impact Guns’s indoor public shooting range.
The P32’s blued steel magazine holds 7 rounds of .32 ACP (also known on the Continent as 7.65 Browning), but I opted to load only 5 on the range. The little magazine effortlessly swallowed up the Magtech 71 grain FMJ rounds I fed into it, after which I relocated it smartly into the grip frame, where it clicked into place. A quick rack of the slide and the pistol was ready to go, double-action style. With a Birchwood Casey "Shoot N C" target center overlay applied across the 10 ring of my 25-yard slow-fire pistol target, I pushed the button that dollied it out to the 5 yard line, took a firm, two-handed grip (well, as much of my two hands as I could bring into contact with the gun), lined up the rudimentary sights, and coaxed the trigger through its seemingly interminable course of travel.
Travail would be a better term, as the trigger stroke is laboriously long, though not overly heavy. Let’s just call it deliberate. After what seemed an eternity (in range time, anyway) of easing that trigger back, the gun went off – quite by surprise, I must admit. That having been my first shot with the P32, I had no idea when (or if) the trigger would break and let the hammer fall. I brought the sights back to point of aim and let fly the remaining 6 rounds within about one second and nary a jam between them. I could see little splashes of yellow appear on the black overlay as I fired, so I knew the sights were at least useful if not match-worthy.
I pressed the dolly button again and the tram ferried my target back to me. As it approached, I counted 4 yellow splotches to the right of X on the overlay, and one outside of it, high and to the right. Hair-splitting accuracy? Nope, but I judge it to be acceptable for defensive scenarios such as I might encounter in or around the places I am wont to go, and a reasonable trade-off against the size, weight and concealment limitations of its larger, more accurate competitors.
Accuracy and function proved similar with Mag Tech 71 grain FMJs and JHPs, and Winchester’s 60 grain Silver Tip hollow points were strong contenders on both counts. Fiocchi’s .32 ACP recipe featuring Hornady’s 60 grain XTP bullet turned in a disappointing performance, with about 80% of rounds feeling and sounding grossly underpowered, including far too many squibs. Felt recoil with the Mag Tech and Silver Tip rounds was moderate, giving follow-up shots a reasonable chance of connecting with their intended point of impact. Report and muzzle blast were also moderate, less pronounced than I had expected from such a disgruntled belly gun.
Bottom line: the P32 exceeded my expectations in terms of accuracy, reliability and function.
The Kel-Tec P32 disappears into just about any pocket with ease. It fails to “print” except in the snuggest of confinements. Holsters for the little .32 are popping up like weeds in a well-fed lawn these days. My personal favorite is the Galco “STOW-N-GO”, a rough-out, inside-the-pants model with a wide belt-grabbing clip on the outside. It carries high enough to allow for short jackets or shirts worn untucked, and snugs up to the body just behind the crest of the hip for comfortable, virtually invisible carry. Stuffed clip side out into the front pocket of a pair of khaki pants, the STOW-N-GO prints just like a cell phone.
Someone wise in the way of the gun once noted that a handgun is something you use to get your hands on a rifle. That may be true on the battlefield, but in the world of concealed carry – especially in warmer climates – compact, highly-portable firepower that’s convenient to carry and quick to get into action beats the next best thing hands down every day of the week.
Online Resources:
http://www.kel-tec-cnc.com/p32.htm
http://www.impactguns.com/store/boise_map.html
http://www.birchwoodcasey.com/sport/index.html
http://www.magtechammunition.com/sitepages/pid103.php?productId=429<emplate=details&templateId=14&pageId=103&search=details
http://www.winchester.com/PRODUCTS/catalog/handgundetail.aspx?symbol=X32ASHP&bn=1&type=30
http://www.fiocchiusa.com/cat_centerfire.html
http://www.usgalco.com/HolsterPG2.asp
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