Forum rules
Welcome to the Leverguns.Com General Discussions Forum. This is a high-class place so act respectable. We discuss most anything here other than politics... politely.
Please post political post in the new Politics forum.
I just bought a Keltec P32, 32 acp pocket pistol for a price too cheap to pass up. Mainly for deep concealment situations, and as a backup to my regular carry gun. This is my first 32 acp, so I've been reading about the best choices for SD ammo. It seems most recommended FMJ in these tiny guns to ensure adequate penetration. Just wondering if there is any HP ammo that will reliably expand a bit and still get 12-14 of penetration in ballistic gel. From the videos I've watched most HP fail to expand at all and barely hit 10-12 inches of penetration.
Trying to think of a better solution, I remembered I had a Ranch Dog mold for the 380 acp that followed his WFN design of his other molds, and sure enough, he did design a 75 gr bullet for the 32 acp. That could well be the best option for a SD bullet. I'm not sure I want to fumble around trying to reload these tiny cases though.
I would not use HP's. If you have to shoot through an arm to hit the vitals a 32 HP ain't gonna do it. I would not trust shooting Jello unless they have several layers of cloth and a large bone to shoot through. Angles change really fast and shots in those kinds of situations are not stationary. The two things I want is reliability and penetration. I want adequate penetration from the worst possible angles.
Hi Ted. I have no personal experience (thank goodness) with them, but I have heard good things about Hornady's "Critical Defense" ammunition. I often carry with it, but in larger rounds.
I hadn't considered it, but that would be an advantage of the fixed barrel 32's and 380's. Many of the current bug guns are locked breech and can be pushed out of battery.
.
As unpleasant as it sounds, the anatomic and ballistic reality of the sub-38/9mm rounds is that a mouth or nose shot is probably what would be needed to quickly incapacitate an aggressor. That's presuming you are staying midline and angling slightly upwards, which might not be the easiest thing to accomplish during an altercation. Even attempting to just punch someone in the face is likely to result in that punch being pushed aside if they have good reflexes, and so getting a firearm to that position may be difficult.
But I've heard others who have experience or knowledge of such things say that a solid-point is better than a hollow-point in that it is less likely to be stopped by clothing. Makes sense. Dunno if 'filling' the hollow-point with a plastic blob counteracts that or not, but lots of ammunition makers do that.
Whatever you decide to use, I think I'd try shooting a few rounds at an old coat or something, put over a pillow or bale of straw (or splurge on some ballistic gel), to see just what happens to the bullet, and how far it penetrates.
Fortunately I am 'lanky' in build, dress sloppily, and live in a state and area where CCW is assumed, so carrying a full-size 'duty' pistol is the easy answer.
It's 2025 - "Cutesy Time is OVER....!" [Dan Bongino]
AJMD429 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 12, 2026 9:59 am
.
As unpleasant as it sounds, the anatomic and ballistic reality of the sub-38/9mm rounds is that a mouth or nose shot is probably what would be needed to quickly incapacitate an aggressor.
There’s a great deal of truth in this statement. A smart man might train for this very thing.
I just saw that Buffalo Bore offers a 75 gr. hard cast FN load advertised at 1150 fps. That may well be the best option here. This is what Tim says about it.
"This 32 ACP+P ammo will better all American made 32 ACP+P ammo by 110 fps to 150 fps with a heavier bullet than any other American made 32 ACP ammo.
Item 30A/20 is a 75gr. HARD cast bullet with a flat nose. It is traveling over 1,000 fps out of my 3.4 inch Beretta Mod. 70. We've used a flash suppressed powder so that you won't be blinded by your own gunfire in the dark. This is significant as well over 90% of all civilian shootings in America occur in low light when the criminal element is out and about. Also, this flat nosed, nonexpanding, hard cast, bullet will penetrate deeply and will do much more damage than the typical round nosed FMJ bullet. Round nosed bullets tend to slip and slide through living tissue, doing little damage as opposed to a flat nosed bullet. The flat nose not only wounds much more than a round nosed bullet, but it actually keeps the penetration straight and thus deeper. Notice the below velocities from my personal 32 ACP pistols. These are real world guns and thus the speeds are realistic and not the exaggerated speeds you'll see produced from laboratory test barrels. What you see with Buffalo Bore Ammo advertising, is truly what you get in the "real world" where it matters. You can expect 20+ inches of straight line penetration."
Ed Harris has written extensively (and positively) on the 32 Auto, it's worth the time to search out his posts over on Cast Boolits. The point that's applicable to the discussion here is that European 32 ammo is loaded to higher pressures than domestic fodder. You might find a good load without having to pay boutique prices.
I still carry a .32 from time to time. Normally, with FMJ or Underwood, sold penetrators. I have word enough murder and shooting to know where they work.
The hard cast flat point would be my choice.
I always wondered about the penetration of Winchester White box flat point fmj.
This guy did the gel test for us on it: https://youtu.be/EkppVPfFS48?si=DUbnlfnDLqwHq1EL
Guy I used to know would claim that the purpose of a handgun was to slow the other guy down for the knife fight you were going to have to have anyway. If you look at it that way...
