In the gun world, the classic ‘you get what you pay for’ is a very real thing. Spending extra money on guns and gear often results in obtaining better guns and gear. Is it always true? Well, as they say, “Only a Sith deals in absolutes.” How do we know if we don’t try? With that in mind, I took out two of the few modern production .32 ACP handguns on the market to see if the price stumps everything. Those two guns are the Beretta 3032 Tomcat and the Kel-Tec P32.
The Beretta 3032 takes the crown as being the expensive option. Prices on this gun vary wildly. It can be had for as little as $400 and up to $600. There seem to be odd times when the gun is priced higher than usual. Regardless, it’s still the more expensive option.
The KelTec P32 is like most KelTecs, meaning it’s affordable. The P32 can be tough to find at times, but even when it’s tough to find the guns, they cost anywhere from $180 to around $250. I purchased both of mine for less than $200.
Breaking Down Our Competitors
The Beretta 3032 Tomcat is one of the smallest DA/SA guns on the market. In fact, it might be the smallest centerfire DA/SA gun on the market. The little gun looks like a shrunk Beretta 92 series and has that famed open-top, exposed barrel design. The 3032 Tomcat is an all-metal gun with a simple single-stack magazine and a total capacity of just seven rounds. It’s a neat little gun and is super small, making it a great pocket pistol option.
The Kel-Tec P32 predates the .380 ACP pocket pistol but more or less sets the blueprint for the pocket .380 craze. The P32 is a double-action-only, hammer-fired, single-stack, polymer frame gun. It’s a locked breech with a short recoil system and also uses a single-stack magazine That holds seven rounds of .32 ACP. It’s uber small and a great choice for pocket carry.
Let’s break down which of these guns is better and see if extra cost equals extra performance.
Recoil and Control
The benefit of using the .32 ACP over the .380 is control. The .32 ACP has half the recoil of the .380, and from these ultra-short barrels, there isn’t a big ballistic difference. With that in mind, is one gun softer to shoot and easier to control than the other? The heavier and thicker Beretta seems like it would be softer shooting, but it suffers from using a straight blowback system.
The P32’s locked breech design takes a ton of sting out of the little gun. It might be lighter and thinner, but it still has less recoil and is more comfortable to shoot. For fast follow-up shots, the Kel-Tec P32 is the winner. In several timed drills, I had an easier time putting multiple rounds on target with the P32.
The P32 is softer recoiling and a really pleasant shooter all around. With that said, the Beretta isn’t going to beat you up or hurt your hand; there is just a noticeable difference between the two guns.
Accuracy
Tiny guns and accuracy can be an interesting conversation. Neither will be particularly impressive compared to a bigger handgun. I used a 10-inch gong and started at seven yards firing three rounds. I then repeated that at 10, 15, and 20 yards with both guns. The Beretta tended to be the more accurate option.
Both guns have very small sights, but the Beretta sights are slightly larger and the better overall option. Being able to swap to a single action on demand made a huge difference in accuracy. The light and short trigger pull helped eliminate some of that human error. If we compared double-action triggers, the Kel-Tec would win, but the Beretta’s single-action system is excellent.
Ergonomics
Both guns are very small and provide a very small grip that often leaves your finger hanging off the gun. Small grips suck, especially for my hands. The Kel-Tec has a more traditional placement for its magazine release. Beretta moves it to the bottom rear of the grip, which is odd but still useable. The Kel-Tec also found a way to pack in a slide lock into the action, which makes reloads faster and gives you that visual, “oh crap, I’m empty” indicator.
The Beretta offers a tip-up barrel design. This allows you to load the chamber directly with a round, meaning there is no need to rack the slide, which can be valuable for those with weaker hands. This is a neat feature that helps make it easy to add that +1 to the gun’s barrel. The Beretta does have a slide-bite problem that will leave your hands bloody if you grip too high.
Reliability
Oof, this is a very important category, often where the money is made — and where it’s spent. Both guns are reliable, but the P32 is slightly better. There are two main reasons for this. First, the Beretta Tomcat’s grip allows you to get really high on the gun, which results in slide bite. That slide bite can also result in malfunctions because you’re slowing the slide down. The KelTec has a pronounced overhang on the grip, which eliminates slide bite.
Additionally, if you buy a new Tomcat, you get a piece of paper from Beretta advising you not to fire ammunition that exceeds 129-foot pounds. If you do, the gun could break, and Beretta won’t cover it. Is that a problem? The best ammo for carrying exceeds 129-foot pounds. This results in you having to do math when you buy ammo to shoot your gun. Who wants to do math?
Carrying It
Which gun is easier to carry? I’ve mentioned early on that the Kel-Tec is lighter and thinner, and it’s significantly lighter and thinner. At 6.6 ounces, the P32 is super lightweight and completely disappears in your pocket. The Kel-Tec P32 measures out to only .75 inches wide, meaning less printing and a more pocket carryable design.
The Beretta 3032 is 1.1 inches wide, making it wider than the Sig Sauer P365, which fires a bigger round and holds more of them. The 3032 also weighs 14,5 ounces in total, making it more than twice the weight of the P32.
Both guns are easy to pocket carry, but the KelTec is easier to pocket carry all around. It prints less, is more comfortable, and is smaller, lighter, and overall easier to carry.
Money is Everything
I still think that the idea that you get what you pay for is very true in the gun world. For many, a 600-dollar AR-15 is fine, but a 1,200-dollar AR-15 is better suited for competition, duty, and heavy use. The same often goes with handguns, shotguns, and even gear like mags, lights, and plate carriers. However, sometimes, the more expensive option is not the better option.
In the case of the Kel-Tec P32 and the Beretta Tomcat, the P32 seems to be the better gun. It’s more ergonomic, more reliable, less finicky, and has less recoil while being lighter and thinner. That being said, the Beretta is still all kinds of cool and a fun gun to own if you can deal with its eccentricities.
