Brigid over at Mausers and Muffins has a post on her blog about pocket pistols, and that made me think of my experience with these little pea shooters.
The smallest pill popper is the Colt .25 cap, from the 20's, but all steel and still shooting quite nicely. Love that color case hardening - not needed any longer with today's high quality steels, but still very photogenic.
My second is this Seecamp California Special, spitting the .32 acp. No sights, and some recoil, but getting more and more reliable the more lead goes down the pipe and she breaks in. Some aftermarket checkerboard grips help in the looks department.
Both are designed for point blank battle, and are not all that useful over about 15-20 feet. Nevertheless, they are known for having the bullet bounce around inside the target, rather than pass through, and thereby do significant damage. I wouldn't want to be tagged by either one.
A shot gun would be better for close quarters social work, but you can't drop that in your front pants pocket.
Mine are fun to shoot, and require good trigger control and intense concentration for target work, which is simply good practice for any handgun.
I understand that the Seecamp is still on the California registry of approved guns, but for how long? Get yours today!
I have a fun little Keltec P-32. Just had it out this past Wednesday for the first time in a couple years. A buddy wants to buy a little pocket piece, so I let him take it for a test drive.
ReplyDeleteDouble the price! Keltec's are bad ass!
DeleteNot selling it. He just wanted to try one before he decided on what to buy. Gave me a reason to load some ammo and take it to the range. Got the Blackhawk .32-20/32 mag convertible out of mothballs and sent a few of the mags downrange, too. That was a mistake. That six shooter was so much fun that I just had to order a Super Blackhawk model 810 in .44 magnum. Always wanted either that or a Smith & Wesson model 29. My inner cowboy made me go single action. Besides, the Smith cost half again as much...............
DeleteBoth are good choices for close, wet, kinetic work.
ReplyDeleteYes, very close. There's so little rifling available in that Seecamp that sometimes the bullet tumbles. Not a problem at point blank range, maybe even a feature.
DeleteFirst rule of all these pocket guns: No limpwristers need apply!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you mentioned this. My buddy was having problems shooting my P-32 where sometimes the gun would not completely come into battery. I have never once had that problem with the P-32 with any ammo whether it's factory or my reloads. I shot it after him with no issues. He shot a few more magazines and still experienced that problem. I need to take him to the range again and see if that's what's happening. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteTaminator013: When I purchased my Kel-Tec P3AT (.380 cal) I wanted to break in the gun by firing 200 rounds through it, after which I planned to clean it thoroughly and replace the recoil spring. Since this is not a 'range friendly' gun, I purchased a velcro wrist stiffener that was made for carpel tunnel syndrome sufferers, and wore this throughout the session. I probably saved my wrist, plus I think I 'trained' myself to keep a locked wrist thereafter when firing this particular gun. Hope this helps.
DeleteThanks, I'll have him try that.
DeleteThe High Standard .22 magnum derringer is also an outstanding pocket pistol.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I just have bigger pockets but my .357 LCP has been rather nice. Granted, I do most of my practice shooting using .38s but that is an advantage of the .357.
ReplyDeleteSeecamp .32 is on the CA DOJ list until the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteThe very similar NAA Guardian is not approved in CA.
Hi Standard DA is no longer available new, but a private party FFL transfer is possible.
The Davis D series DA is not approved in CA.
Beretta Tomcat .32ACP is approved in CA.
=T.W.=
Similar to High Standard DA
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amderringer.com/das.html
Not approved in CA.
=T.W.=