ccw versus masked bandit with .25acp

[Perd Hapley]

Yeah but pistols are more a badge of office in Europe than an actual useful item.

Over here, cops have to use their pistols constantly, against Wayne LaPierre and other crazy NRA types. 

[KD5NRH]

I'd go up to at least the Kel-Tec P32. It's no bigger, and is almost into "real" caliber territory. Well, Europe actually sort of considered it a service caliber for a long time.

Ask Archduke Ferdinand how well .32 works.

[mtnbkr]

Ask Archduke Ferdinand how well .32 works.

According to Wikipedia, it was a 380 (I always thought it was a 32 as well), but the real point is that he was shot in the jugular.  A 22lr there would have worked as well.

I'd go up to at least the Kel-Tec P32. It's no bigger, and is almost into "real" caliber territory. Well, Europe actually sort of considered it a service caliber for a long time.

I had a P32 back in the day (long before the P3AT appeared).  It was a nice little gun, accurate enough for its purpose and reliable for me.  I worked up some HOT handloads using a 60gr Gold Dot and Alliant Power Pistol powder (based on data and experiments by Clark at THR).  They chronographed at 1200fps IIRC and would penetrate 2.5 1gal jugs of water (the first two exploded, the third had a large entry hole) while expanding to .6" (no signs of fragmentation).  I did have to put a much heavier spring in it.

After about a thousand rounds of hot European 32acp (RWS and such) and a couple hundred of my hot handloads, the frame cracked on the rail.  I discovered it while detail cleaning it one day.  It never malfunctioned.  Presumably my hot handloads caused it, but the crack wasn't in a typical high-stress area.  Kel-Tec replaced the frame and it was fine until I sold it a year or so later.

I now carry a S&W 37 38special.  While it isn't as small as the P32 and only offers 5 shots, I don't have to worry about any particular load not functioning with the gun.

Chris

[BReilley]

In the Jeff Cooper anthology "Fireworks", there is a very interesting story called "Kriegsoberst!", about a German pilot who recorded six or seven hundred confirmed tank kills against the Soviets during WWII... flying a Ju-88 fitted with a pair of large(for an aircraft) cannon, 76.2mm if I remember correctly.
Anyway.  After the war, the man carried a pistol in 6.35mm Browning(.25ACP to us).  Cooper asked him why that pistol, and I believe the response was "I have never been a pessimist."

Much as I respect the individual and his achievements, I do not find that reasoning compelling :)

[roo_ster]

My first gun was a .25acp Phoenix Raven, it was a sweet little gun I wish I had never sold. As long as it was properly lubed it always ran smooth.

I'm now considering one of those little Beretta .25acp pocket rockets-all I need is some dough of course.

I own a Beretta 21A in .22LR.  It is a high-quality pistol.  The .32ACP version is a bit chunkier.

I also own a Kel-tec P32 in .32ACP.  Another nice gun, not as well made as the Beretta, but it weighed the same or less and was 1/2 the width of the 21A.

Both are good choices.  If you were nearby, I'd let you try both.