Bottom-Feeding .32 Popguns

[willie]

I owned several Kel Tecs in .32, 380, and 9mm and soon became acquainted with their service department. Finally I figured out how to make these pistols run. Heavier Galloway recoil springs were necessary. The extractor in each is powered by a flat leaf spring lying across the extractor. I found success when I used two springs instead of one. Also I used a file to relieve the extractor's inside surface enough to allow it to move father toward the case. The result of two springs and more bite allowed the extractor to work perfectly. The two extractor leaf springs attach to the slide with a screw. Now a longer screw is needed. Find one at a hardware store.

[wmu12071]

The wait time was roughly 5 months to get the email and 4-6 weeks for work is the current estimate. I don't think anyone that can cut dovetails can do it necessarily. In their words:

"What sights are used in the upgrade?

The front sight is a newly manufactured Trijicon night sight. The rear sight is a plain notch sight with cocking serrations that is manufactured by us, in house.

Are there any sight options?

No. The sights are not offered in any other configuration. There are no rear sights currently on the market that will accommodate the design of the slide. We manufacture the rear sight specifically for this sight upgrade and do not offer any other variation. There are no front sights currently on the market that will accommodate the slide except for the front night sight that we currently use.

Are the sights available for purchase without installation?

No. The sights are only offered as a complete upgrade to your slide."

Just got the gun back. went out the the range right after This is a great upgrade. It is dramatically increased my confidence in shooting the gun and now I am back to my trigger press being the limit of accuracy and speed not the sights I couldn't see. If I had another P32 I would be signing up right now for another sight upgrade.

[Moped]

Just got the gun back. went out the the range right after This is a great upgrade. It is dramatically increased my confidence in shooting the gun and now I am back to my trigger press being the limit of accuracy and speed not the sights I couldn't see. If I had another P32 I would be signing up right now for another sight upgrade.

Can you please post a photo. I'd like to see the final results.

[Sal Picante]

Can you please post a photo. I'd like to see the final results.

http://instagram.com/p/B_qVlhAJGf_/

[Gun Mutt]

Do want!

[Evil_Ed]

200 rounds through the gun (32ACP Colt 1903) and can this morning; 100 Aguila, 50 S&B, 50 Winchester - the only issues I had were mag related (turns out 100 year old mags/springs don't really keep up with added pressure from cans ). I can't shoot it for crap with two hands, but one handed it's a way more fun instrument. 7 of 8 into a 3x5 card at 30 feet is really not a problem one handed...the can (AAC Illusion) is still sadly taller than the miniscule sights, but it doesn't hinder as much as you'd think. Two handed, it just squirmed around in my hands as if the grip were made from a water balloon. One handed, way more planted.

It's way more fun than it might look Some first round pop because ...32 down a 9mm tube..but not a whole lot (if any) port pop, and after the first round it was way quieter. Sadly because of the larger bore and all that, every mag change resulted in all new first round pop, then 7 quieter rounds...repeat cycle.

This thing is really fun this way...it's gonna get a lot more range time in this configuration, I think!

[Trooper224]

My only .32.

[LHS]

200 rounds through the gun (32ACP Colt 1903) and can this morning; 100 Aguila, 50 S&B, 50 Winchester - the only issues I had were mag related (turns out 100 year old mags/springs don't really keep up with added pressure from cans ). I can't shoot it for crap with two hands, but one handed it's a way more fun instrument. 7 of 8 into a 3x5 card at 30 feet is really not a problem one handed...the can (AAC Illusion) is still sadly taller than the miniscule sights, but it doesn't hinder as much as you'd think. Two handed, it just squirmed around in my hands as if the grip were made from a water balloon. One handed, way more planted.

It's way more fun than it might look Some first round pop because ...32 down a 9mm tube..but not a whole lot (if any) port pop, and after the first round it was way quieter. Sadly because of the larger bore and all that, every mag change resulted in all new first round pop, then 7 quieter rounds...repeat cycle.

This thing is really fun this way...it's gonna get a lot more range time in this configuration, I think!

Dude, I would legit love to suppress my 81BBs. I wonder if I can get a .32 end cap made for my Odessa...

[Evil_Ed]

So the BBTH (Big Brown Truck of Happiness) dropped off my latest acquisition...the original idea was, find a beater on Gunbroker for pocket carry in something smaller than my 1903s can fit in (pants pocket, whatever)...and, be cool. My father gave me a couple of wartime Mauser HScs that he had floating around and didn't care for or about (one in the 73x,xxx range stamped as a Police issue gun, the other immediately post war, 96x,xxx) and I fell in love with the platform - very intelligently designed, looks like a fantastic art deco inspired piece...something I think even JMB would have looked at with appreciation had he been alive to see it.

Anyway...what the BBTH dropped off, was way nicer than I was expecting a post war C&R HSc to be...





As you can see in the above photos, it's in cherry condition...but that's not even the half of it. I started taking it apart; field stripped it, took off the grip panels...no carbon in the frame, really. I mean really clean - it was dry as a bone but there was none of the residual blowback that you'd expect in the usual places...I wound up forgoing my usual detail strip and just lubed all the contact points and put the grips back on. I DID detail strip the slide because %99.999 of the time, no one cleans under the extractor and if you ever want a true gauge of how often a gun's been fired...brass on the breech face and carbon under the extractor, with the carbon under the extractor being more reliable, IMO. And this...if it had a box of 50 through it I'd be surprised; certainly no more than 100. Anyway, to get at the extractor, you need to remove the firing pin, thumb safety and then you can get at the extractor. And that, two swipes of a q-tip later, clean.

Fun thing about C&R collecting - most of them are inexpensive, can be shipped to your home, and they're generally really neat! Downside is, every now and again you actually get more than you bargained for and now you're back to square one, if you actually wanted to use it...

Oh, and mags are expensive. Buying a few original magazines will easily cost more than the gun in the first place..no idea how good the KKK (heh) replacement mags are.

I think I have a couple of other mags for it around somewhere; if not, the one will have to do for now. I'm hoping to get it to the range this week/weekend and see how it does. If I remember right, it's pleasant to shoot. It's got a really well done safety that Beretta improved on; when you engage the safety it leaves the hammer cocked but it moves the firing pin out of the way entirely, similar to how Beretta does it - if you pull the trigger the hammer will drop, but hit a bar and not the firing pin. It's one of a few pocket guns you can carry cocked with the safety on if you so choose. The "problem" is if you really need it and pull the trigger, the hammer will fall as normal but no boom...there's no real indication that you have the gun on safe except for the position of the safety - the trigger's not blocked, etc. You can, of course, put it on safe and then decock, and then disengage the safety for a DA first pull...my example really isn't bad (compared to a PP or PPK, it's downright light), but it's certainly not going to be mistaken for an LTT-tuned action.

For reference, here's the two wartime guns; you can clearly tell the quality drop-off between the two. The bottom one has similar markings to the top one; just the light and the blue kind of washed it out. It's not been refinished; the bluing is so fine on it that it's really hard to get a good photo without going nuts trying to get one with lighting, etc!

[Half Moon]

Oh, and mags are expensive. Buying a few original magazines will easily cost more than the gun in the first place..no idea how good the KKK (heh) replacement mags are.

Very nice! I was eyeballing an HSC recently and almost bought it. Got deterred by spring and magazine availability but still might change my mind. They have to be one of the purt-iest pistols ever!

The quality on Triple-K's is generally marginal. They're the only game in town though for a lot of discontinued pistols. One weird thing I've noticed particular to their .32 magazines is mags that in original form are 8 rounders are listed at 7 by Triple K. Pretty sure this includes HSC mags, PP mags, and others. Not sure why they'd download by one in the specs but suspect it has something to do with mag springs. Or not. Odd though.