Carrying! A personal thing!

[Playboypenguin]

Come on Playboy whats with the skewed photos...with the 32 you sensitive and with the 44 you look insane

That is what I call my OPF..."Official Photo Face".

Every time I have ever had my picture taken for a state or federal ID that is what I end up looking like for some reason.

[WhiteFeather93]

Ha ha I have the same hat!
I think whats scary-er is seeing those big hollow points staring at you ready to back up their brother in a heart beat!

Back on topic I think if you are happy with a .32 than so be it. I mean it is Texas, if you get into a shoot I'm sure they'll be at least 5 other people jumping in at a moments notice. (Joking!)

Carry what you feel comfortable with. Let everything else happen when it does. Because no matter what you carry when its time....

Also situational arwareness plays a big role. If you are gonna play in the ghetto be prepared.

[essexcounty]

I don't think a .32ACP should be quickly dismissed. It certainly is a poor choice for an offensive weapon. The average civilian's encounter will be at close range and He needs a weapon that won't be left on the top of his dresser because it's a bother. It was a standard for decades in Europe and at one time saw use in large city police departments. Bridgeport, Conneticut comes to mind. A .32 and the right mindset is not a thing to be triffeled with. Essex

[Playboypenguin]

Also situational arwareness plays a big role. If you are gonna play in the ghetto be prepared.

I have tried to drill that into my partner's head for years. Things like being aware who is around if you get out of your car at a gas station, walking to the far outside of the sidewalk when you pass dark doorways or alley entrances, paying attention to what is behind you or around corners, etc.

These things help avoid bad guys. Also, just by being aware and looking alert you can make alot of bad guys think there are easier targets.

[Tanzer]

+1 Playboy, If you go to New York and stare up at the buildings some call you a tourist, others call you a victim. BTW - I for one was not looking at the hat until it got mentioned. Yikes!

[WhiteFeather93]

I think situational awareness goes much farther than most people think.

Things like watching a blind side and alleys. But also demography plays a big role as to how I pack and dress.

City, Country, region, laws. These should all fall under situation awareness. If you are strolling about a rural area there is no need to be on defcon 3 and have three spare mags a bowie knife and a back up.
A .32ACP in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing can mean the difference between acceptable and not.

[cpaspr]

Wildalaska has access to just about anything he might want, but in the one encounter that I'm aware of where he needed a gun, it was a .32 ACP that saved the day. As in most instances, no shots were needed. Just the presentation of the gun was sufficient.

And while he took a lot of guff from several people on this board about the size of gun he was carrying, the important thing to remember is that the only thing that saved his butt was that he had a gun. A mousegun, but a gun none-the-less.

I have access to larger guns as well, but when I carry it's usually a .380 Sig. Why? Because it carries well and I can hit what I aim at. That is what is important. That you will carry it and that you can hit what you aim at. I'd rather be able to spit and hit than have to spray and pray.

[Wildalaska]

Yeah and at that time I wished I had my M1A

WildwithabayonetAlaska

[Double Naught Spy]

Wildalaska has access to just about anything he might want, but in the one encounter that I'm aware of where he needed a gun, it was a .32 ACP that saved the day. As in most instances, no shots were needed. Just the presentation of the gun was sufficient.

Right, so that this is understood, the fact that it was a .32 acp did nothing. Since no shots were fired, an empty gun would have sufficed. More often than not, since no shots are fired, empty guns would work most of the time, but as with a tiny, underpowered caliber fired from a very short barrel, you don't want to have to count on it to save your life.

Heck, you want to talk about intimidation, I have a wonderful accounting from Forestburg, Texas in the 1860/70s or so where a man, his wife, daughters, and daughters' friends held of an Indian raiding party with a single shot rifle and broom handles stuck out the windows. No shots were fired.

[Wildalaska]

but as with a tiny, underpowered caliber fired from a very short barrel, you don't want to have to count on it to save your life.

Shot placement baby.

a.32 in the nose is better than a 45 in the fleshy part of an upper arm

WildnoseshotAlaska

[cpaspr]

WA had the .32 ACP and was capable of putting the bullets where he wanted if he needed to. A gun that he had and could place his shots with was better than one he didn't have, even if he could place his shots even better with that one that he wasn't carrying.

The original poster and his wife have chosen to carry .32 ACP mouseguns. The guns are small enough that they will carry them. The guns are from reputable manufacturers. If they are proficient with these weapons, then more power to them. May they never truly need them, but if they do, they'll be confident in their abilities to use them.

Like WA said, at the time, he would have preferred his Garand. But that isn't what he had with him. But he did know that if he needed to use the little gun, he could hit what he aimed at.

As has been said many times and in many ways (so I'll just tweak it one more time) "A mousegun you have with you is better than the machine gun you left at home."
______________________

as with a tiny, underpowered caliber fired from a very short barrel, you don't want to have to count on it to save your life

You don't really want to be in a position to where your life is in danger in the first place. It all boils down to having a gun, any gun, on the very rare occasion that you need one. Second rule of gun fighting for when the first rule gets violated - bring a gun. (First rule being: don't be there in the first place.) Corollary to second rule - know how to use it.

[meanoldman]

I'm a 1911 guy. Always have been. Live in Texas and in the summers I end up carrying a Seacamp more than my Wilson. It's just too damn hot. I have a PM9 that I use if I feel I am going someplace dangerous (like 6th street). I would rather have the Seacamp in my pocket than nothing at all and I don't wear enough clothes sometimes to make it worth my while to carry a full size. Just my 2 cents.

[tshadow6]

Unless one has any actual combat experience, one should not belittle another's carry choice. A .32 in your pocket trumps a .45 in the gun safe.

[ShootemDown]

I'm happy with a .32 acp in the pants pocket.

If I know there is danger, I will be better armed, but If I'm not expecting anything, then the 32 is fine..

[Wildalaska]

If I know there is danger, I will be better armed

If you know you will be in dangert...dont go...

WildcowardslivetofightanotherdayAlaska

[rantingredneck]

I carry a .45ACP 90% of the time. The other 10% is a .32NAA in the pocket and the .45 in the truck.

I shoot my .32NAA enough that I know what I can do with it at reasonable self defense ranges. If that little .32 caliber bore doesn't scare them off then the six rounds in the chest will certainly bloody their wardrobe, muss their hair, and generally ruin their day.

I'm with WA on his post above too. If you know you're going into harms way, don't go.

[Double Naught Spy]

Shot placement baby.

a.32 in the nose is better than a 45 in the fleshy part of an upper arm

So true, and yet few people are able to place well aimed shots under stress using guns with good sights with a decent sight radius and so I see the likelihood of reliably being able to place surgical precision shots with tiny guns (usually with fairly crappy sights).

But since head shots with a .32 are what we are talking about, there is a nifty story here...
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/...ght=pawn+sword

I corresponded with Dave Philips at one point. As I recall, one of those four shots did manage to travel through an eye, only one of the four fired at about arm's length.

Unless one has any actual combat experience, one should not belittle another's carry choice. A .32 in your pocket trumps a .45 in the gun safe.

While 100%, why carry a .32 instead of a .45 if you have the ability to carry a .45?

So a .32 in the pocket beats a .45 in the safe. From the story above, a .32 in the pocket beats a Glock on the desk. Of course, that is one of those "better than nothing" logic ideas because you are comparing what you have against that which you don't have access, or rather, nothing. Comparison against nothing makes everything that isn't nothing appear better than nothing. So, bad body odor beats a .45 in the safe, but do you want to count on body odor for protection? Probably not. A Daisy Red Rider single cock BB gun is better than a .45 in the safe.

In Dave's case, a Glock on the hip would have beat a .32 in the pocket, but he made his decision to keep the Glock on the desk, forgot about the .32 in his pocket while being run through and beat, recalling simply that he could not get to his Glock, then remembered the .32.

[threegun]

So true, and yet few people are able to place well aimed shots under stress using guns with good sights with a decent sight radius and so I see the likelihood of reliably being able to place surgical precision shots with tiny guns (usually with fairly crappy sights).

Lets go with the least powerful round which requires precise shot placement into an event which reduces precision shooting abilities...........that sound smart to me.

People have made the decision to carry. That usually means they see a potential to have to defend themselves. They then decide to carry the smallest because larger guns are harder to carry. Kinda seems foolish to see the need for a gun, understand the limitations of smaller calibers, realize that stress reduces precision, and still carry small.

If its all you can carry yes its better than no gun. I live in Florida (shorts and T-shirt heaven) and still carry a Glock 23 with a spare mag. I feel many try to justify carrying smaller either by saying they can't conceal bigger or believing that they are as well armed as possible with a mousegun.

[Trip20]

Originally Posted by threegun

Xrocket, If trouble was coming at you right now. No way to escape or defuse. It is either stop the threat or be stopped. You have your seecamp .32 or a 9mm of your choice sitting in front of you. What are you going to grab and why?

That would be a great poll even though I think we can all foresee the outcome of such a poll. I also think we can all guess at the reasons why that outcome is so easily foreseeable.

That's why I find it odd that those who carry smaller rounds have a hard time admitting that they are making a significant concession.

Originally Posted by tshadow6

one should not belittle another's carry choice.

I really do not believe this is about belittling one's choice of carry. It's not the choice that's the problem, it's the irrelevant justifications used to make a choice appear just as good as any other.

"A .32 in the pocket beats an Abrams tank in the driveway."

"Most often no shots are fired so a .32acp will work just as well as a .45acp"

And someone’s bound to swing in here sooner or later for the inevitable:
"The .22lr has taken more lives than X, Y, and Z calibers put together."

Ad infinitum, and all irrelevant to the fact that the smaller calibers are poorer performers. And selecting one for whatever reason is a compromise, period.

I can completely understand choosing a smaller weapon in a smaller caliber due to the clothes one is wearing, for comfort, or for a million other reasons. But one loses me when one begins to justify their choice with poor rational.

[Playboypenguin]

Unless one has any actual combat experience, one should not belittle another's carry choice

Oh cool!!! Doe sthat mean I have carte blanch to insult peoples firearms? Look out Glock carriers.

[Freetacos]

I beleive the CIA found the .32 acp useful as did other secret organizations. I've seen many security videos where thugs run like mice when they so even think their victim is pulling a gun. Although you must be prepared to use it if you are going to pull it.

[Whirlwind06]

I have had this debate w/myself. I have resisted getting something like the .32s or other mouseguns. The smallest I've gone is an Airweight .38 S&W. for pocket carry. I do get intrigued at times with the Seecamp .380 (Rob Leatham carries one, I've heard, but haven't verified).

What I have learned is this: If I have an excuse to carry something smaller than my regular carry gun, the Glock 19 (or 1911 sometimes), I've copped out (i.e., gotten lazy) and resorted to the smaller gun. Then, I feel undergunned and guilty. I have never needed my G19, so in reality it's theoretical anyway. I compete in USPSA/IDPA with the G19 though, and I know what it will do in my hands.

I know this happened to me.
Had a KT .32 that I ended up carrying much more than I wanted to.
Sold it and bought the KT P11. That is now the gun I carry when I don't need a gun.

[threegun]

Freetacos,

I beleive the CIA found the .32 acp useful as did other secret organizations. I've seen many security videos where thugs run like mice when they so even think their victim is pulling a gun.

Trip20 said it best....

Ad infinitum, and all irrelevant to the fact that the smaller calibers are poorer performers. And selecting one for whatever reason is a compromise, period.

Usefulness is irrelevant in performance.

[Tanzer]

I've been leaving this alone, but time to chime in. Here in RI, my wife was denied her CWP because I already have one. That may sound insane to many of you, but if you lived here, it wouldn't. Having one is a big deal here, they're as rare as vegetarians at a Texas BBQ.
What she qualified for (you're qualified by caliber), and was ready to use, was a .32 - It was the largest caliber she was comfortable enough with to shoot for qualification score (borrowed the instructor's w/ longer barrel - never seen one so big before - would have carried a kel-tec).
I have a thread in the archive; "Had to Brandish it" - as it turned out, she had grabbed it during the incident since I use it for BUG/Deep concealment, and it was in the car. She made it very clear to me that it was ready to go and that having it helped her. It made her concentrate on the situation and afforded her "some" comfort. What a surprise that nut would have gotten if for any reason he had gotten past me and to the car - a .32 Hydrashock at point blank. Having that mousegun brought her attention to her training, and I dare say she did well. I wish I knew I had backup all the time.
When she works late, I pick her up via tender (we're at mooring in the harbor) at the marina dock after midnight. I am armed, I wish she could have her .32 at the ready, she is a trained and capable backup. If it weren't for awkward laws... oh well, been there already.

[Whirlwind06]

I've been leaving this alone, but time to chime in. Here in RI, my wife was denied her CWP because I already have one. That may sound insane to many of you, but if you lived here, it wouldn't. Having one is a big deal here, they're as rare as vegetarians at a Texas BBQ.

Every time I think Ohio has crappy CCW laws I read something like this. And I realize that it is not as bad as it could be.