Beretta 3032 Tomcat inox

[owejia]

After research on this model, may look at getting one for cc. Good, bad and the ugly opinions please. Arthritis creeping into my hands, making racking slides more difficult. Have no problem carrying 32's or 380 pistol as self defense guns. Wife's hand are worse  than mine so would be a good night stand gun for her also. Really like the simplicity of the Tomcat model.

[xsubsailor]

A pretty good review of it.

https://youtu.be/63qF-4TV3So

 

[Grayfox54]

I've never been very fond of the little Berettas. While they are small, they tend to be wide. To me it feels like you've got a baseball stuck in your pocket. That also makes it difficult to get out quickly. If you get a 3032, buy it new. The early versions had problems with the slide cracking. They fixed this in the later models by making the slide even wider.  

The .32acp isn't a bad little cartridge. I have several guns in that caliber. However, you can get .380s in the same size package and its a much better caliber for self defense. Not to mention that good self defense ammo is much more available and cheaper. 

If racking the slide is the problem, I'd suggest a locked breach style .380 such as the Colt Mustang, Sig P238 or Kimber Micro. (BTW: they're all pretty much the same gun. Just different prices.  ) The locked breach design requires a much lighter recoil spring than on blowback .380s. They're much easier to rack and have lighter recoil when fired. However, they are basically scaled down 1911s and are best carried cocked and locked.

If you're looking at .32s due to recoil sensitivity, I'd suggest a small frame revolver in .32 S&W Long, .32 H&R magnum or .327 Federal. The 327 will also fire the .32 Long and H&R with no problem as will the H&R fire the S&W Longs. My wife had arthritis in her hands and for her the answer was a 2" S&W Model 30 in .32 Long. She loved that little gun and could shoot it quite well. The recoil was very light and didn't bother her at all. 

[Parrothead]

^^ what he said. Even a small revolver (smith, Ruger, etc)  in .22 mag would be hell on the receiving end. 

[Murgatroy]

For me, a carry gun needs to be point and shoot. I am less concerned about the caliber than I am about ease of carry and point and shoot. Right now my EDC is a Micro Eagle. If I thought I could pull of a Glock 26, I would. Because Glock. The big thing with a pocket gun is less about the caliber, or even weight, but how will you draw and present? That is something that weighs heavily on me. I carry my Micro Eagle in a pocket holster, but realistically, it is draw, remove holster, present. IMO that is too much. I am also a slim guy that wears form fitting clothes. This is honestly the type of stuff that keeps me up at night.

 

[Fourtyfive]

I have one, excellent little pistol, mine is all black standard model.

Edited January 24, 2019 by Fourtyfive

[TomInMN]

Since you mention .380, it might be worth a moment to look at the S&W Shield 380EZ.

Maybe a bit bigger than your looking for, but on the easier side to manipulate the slide.

[Ronald_55]

53 minutes ago, Murgatroy said:

For me, a carry gun needs to be point and shoot. I am less concerned about the caliber than I am about ease of carry and point and shoot. Right now my EDC is a Micro Eagle. If I thought I could pull of a Glock 26, I would. Because Glock. The big thing with a pocket gun is less about the caliber, or even weight, but how will you draw and present? That is something that weighs heavily on me. I carry my Micro Eagle in a pocket holster, but realistically, it is draw, remove holster, present. IMO that is too much. I am also a slim guy that wears form fitting clothes. This is honestly the type of stuff that keeps me up at night.

 

Try being a fat guy in tight clothes.....

[Murgatroy]

1 minute ago, Ronald_55 said:

Try being a fat guy in tight clothes.....

I was a fat guy once, I wore loose clothes. It was a lot easier to conceal. Now I feel like a chick in the mirror checking to make sure I am not printing.

 

[TomInMN]

6 minutes ago, Murgatroy said:

Now I feel like a chick in the mirror checking to make sure I am not printing.

 

"Honey, do these pants make my gun look big?"

[Ronald_55]

2 minutes ago, TomInMN said:

"Honey, do these pants make my gun look big?"

If @Murgatroy says he wears yoga pants with a built in holster  I am leaving.  lmao...

[TomInMN]

6 minutes ago, Ronald_55 said:

If @Murgatroy says he wears yoga pants with a built in holster  I am leaving.  lmao...

Haven't you heard? You're supposed to "dress around the gun". He'd be wearing a holster, with built in yoga pants...

 

ERA: I'm sorry for the total hijack of this thread. I've also heard that Seecamp makes a nice small pistol, though I have no direct experience with them.

Edited January 24, 2019 by TomInMN
Apologies, and also complications due to autocorrect

[Moped]

9 hours ago, TomInMN said:

"Honey, do these pants make my gun look big?"

Funny, ask my wife that all the time.  I pocket carry a Ruger LCP 99% of the time, I always ask her before we leave the house, if she can tell if I'm carrying or not.

I used to carry a little Keltec P32, that I found easy to rack.  After I bought the LCP, I gave that pistol to my daughter to carry.  Great little pistol. I may get another one.  Really liked it!!!

[peejman]

16 minutes ago, Moped said:

Funny, ask my wife that all the time.  I pocket carry a Ruger LCP 99% of the time, I always ask her before we leave the house, if she can tell if I'm carrying or not.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who struggles with that. It takes way more effort than I think it should to convince myself to not worry about it.  

A guy I know carries a G19X IWB. The butt of the pistol sticks way out and to me, it's comically obvious. Yet no one seems to notice or care. I see that and wonder why I have to talk myself into wearing the 9 on my belt (which is nearly invisible by comparison) instead of the 380 in my pocket.  

 

That aside, I'd agree that the tomcat is quite wide by current standards. Give the Shield 380 EZ a look.  

[owejia]

All the pictures on Gun Brokers only show made in USA, was hoping for a Made in Franklin, Tn stamp on them, or is the pistol so small hard to put that many letters on it?

[Capbyrd]

1 hour ago, owejia said:

All the pictures on Gun Brokers only show made in USA, was hoping for a Made in Franklin, Tn stamp on them, or is the pistol so small hard to put that many letters on it?

It would be Gallatin, not Franklin.   


And I don't know that the Gallatin plant has made any.   I don't think these guns are big sellers so they may do small runs every few years rather than constant production.  

 

[owejia]

My bad, old memory.

[221 Fireball]

Carried one of these for awhile, but went through several .380s since. Then I bought a Smith M&P .380 EZ. So much easier to rack than ANY of the others, and shoots like a bigger gun. You should take a look at those. With a good pancake holster, will conceal nicely too. Only problem I had was once my wife found how easy it was to rack and load, she wanted it. Guess I need to buy a second one.

[The mailman]

If you might be interested in a Colt 1903 in 32 let me know.

[Moped]

13 hours ago, bluemailman53 said:

If you might be interested in a Colt 1903 in 32 let me know.

I always wanted one of these!!! Beautiful pistols!!!

[Mike.357]

Colt 1903 are the shizznit.