The STHP has a good street record in .32, but I've been a big fan of the HSK's reliability in 9mm and .45acp. Any info on the HSK's performance? Reasonable guesstimation would lead me to believe the HSK's in .32 are going to do well based on the performance of Federal premium ammo. Thoughts? Results?

Im guessing you will be shooting whatever ammo you pick in a defensive little pistol.  That said,  I have tried speer GD, win ST, and corbon in my Seecamp which I carry when I cant carry 'sumpin' bigger.  My thought is that this is a tiny round moving fairly slow and doesnt have much power/penetration/wounding ability/killing ability so velocity and a good HP are the carry loads of choice. Especially when velocity is a critcal factor for getting a HP to work as designed.

Noticed I started saying I carry one before I started bagging on the .32???  .32 in the pocket beats the glock locked in the car everytime!

The winchester was fairly wimpy out of the seecamp, velocity was 676fps on average and recoil was pleasantly light.  Gold dots averaged about 850fps and the recoil was stiffer but not bad.  Corbon averaged 996 fps and the recoil was a bith!  I found it on the level (actually worse) of shooting a subcompact 1911 with 230+p.  This shit hurts!

I think the bullets on all these loading will  perform at realively the same level since they are all good bullets.  So I went with the most velocity I could tolerate -- Gold dots.  Occassionally I will carry the Corbon but not often.  I really figure that the seecamp is my "poke 'em in the belly and dump the mag" gun and its going to be easier to do it fast with the speer gold dot loading and still have the more velocity than the Silver tips.

Hope this helps...

You haven't tried the HSK's? The next Q would be HSK vs. Gold Dot? I've been really happy with Gold Dot's also. I'll have to try those out. Yeah, my wife likes the Kel-Tec, and now I'm thinking about it more. I always carry a good knife with me where ever I go, having that little .32 in the pocket would be a good idea. Better than having nothing. I can't always carry a good sized gun, even with the Galco deep concealment holster. Even with another gun, it would be good to have in the pocket.

Gold Dot is a much more advanced design than the 1980's Silvertip and 1990's Hydroshok.

Personally I would use the heaviest JHP load i could find that shoots to point of aim in my gun.

Umm...its a .32.

Pray.

On Tactical Forums they tend to vote in favor of FMJ for the mouse guns in oder to get sufficiant penetration.

A little story of a fellow with whom I shoot.  He was in law enforcment in the late 60's.  He was shot with a .32.  He returned fire with his .45.  The .32 started to altercation, the .45 ended it.

A .32 is better than a knife or your fingernails though.

Kent

Gold Dots and HSK's were designed by the same person. My wife wants the Kel Tec. I'm just happy she has shown interest in some guns. I think the Kel Tec is a nice little pistol for the pocket. If I can't carry anything bigger, it'll work. It will be a last resort pistol.

From the tests I have seen, even the best HP's do very little in the .32 ACP. So in a way, I have to agree that using FMJ may be the way to go here. If the HP doesn't expand, that's in effect what you have anyway...an FMJ. So if this is the case, you might as well save on the cost and have the reliability offered by FMJ bullets.

On another note, if there was a good expanding load for the .32, the penetration on this slow/light bullet would really suck. So go for accuracy and penetration and hope the little bullets work well enough to give you time to get to a real gun.

I'm going to try the Fiocchi ball also. Their ammo is a little hotter .

I agree with the FMJ choice. Never sacrifice penetration- especially with the Mouse-Guns.

Quoted: Gold Dots and HSK's were designed by the same person.

Gold dot is a bonded design that does very well in most calibers, even through auto glass.  Hydrashok tends to plug with clothing and fail to expand, or if it expands it sheds its jacket and underpenetrates.

Quoted: A .32 is better than a knife

Depends on the knife. I've seen some pretty spectacular "one shot" stops with a knife. It's hard to continue the fight when your sternum has been layed wide open, and your liver is completly severed in two with a single swipe from a Spyderco Merlin.

I saw another instant stop with a knife when the knifer slashed his oppenent in the face just under the ear. Knife severed the jaw on one side and cut deep into the side of the neck. A little farther back and about an inch lower would have been a decapitation.

damn, man, where do you hang out?

TXL

Hey, I agree the .32 is not a .45.  In fact given the choice between the a 32 with FMJ and a .22 lr, Beretta comes to mind, I would probably chose the .22.  Having chronographed winchester FMJ out of my 32, I have to say this stuff was anemic!  .22 CCI stingers had more muzzle energy.  Different story with the Gold dots and the Corbon.  Yes, the hollow point may fail to perform/expand but I'm still better off since then I have a really fast solid. If the HP works, bonus for me.

CCI Stingers and Quick Shok's are both good .22 rounds. Ask some of the WWII guys that carried suppressed High Standards, two .22's will penetrate the human skull and stop the target (within reasonable range of course).