Any Pocket Pistol Paper-Punchers Hereabouts?

[jethrow strait]

Don't know how I ever got into doing this, but it sure is challenging and fun---groups at fifty feet standing build character! Thought it was a bit esoteric----or just nuts---but have found that on a 'good day' with the right load I can regularly keep em within a couple inches.

None of my range buds will have anything to do with it. Was feelin like some kinda dewviant til I saw a post over on the Beretta board by none other than Ed Harris himself, half embarrassed, talking about how much he enjoyed shooting groups with lil 32 auto Berettas. Needless to say, he got no response of content, just one sycophant---serves him right for being so honest as to use his given name on a cyberboard. As a no name, I'm hoping to do better.

My toys are 380s(favorite of urban thugs, lil ole ladies, and Euopean cops in the real world. Shoot cast boolits from 90 to 120 grains. Biggest problem was pickin up the cases, what with 9's and 40's everywhere. Built a little screen with 1" PVC and shadecloth. Problem solved.------jethrow

[fourarmed]

I have a Lee 6 banger for the 93 grain rfn, which turned out to be unloved by my 32 mag. I was secretly thinking of trying it in my 1917 Savage, but I was afraid of being shunned in poolite society.

[45 2.1]

Yep, Walther PP in 32 acp with the RCBS 77 gr. RN shoots just fine.

[StarMetal]

I have a Walther PP .32acp that I shoot the Lyman 74 gr RN (weighs closer to 80 grs) out of. The pistol is damn near target grade in accuracy with this bullet. I occassionaly use this bullet in my 7.62 Tokarev and more so in my 30 Luger.

Joe

[Cherokee]

You have lots of company. I have 3 380's, make that 4 now 25 ACP and 32 ACP as well. Lots of fun.

[Bret4207]

25 Beretta, 380 Astra Constable, Smith Perfected 38 S+W, Charter Bull dog, Star PD. All Pocket Pistols of one sort or another.

[MT Gianni]

3" charter arms bulldog in 4 spcl is as close as I come but it is fun. Gianni.

[Shepherd2]

Kel Tec P-3AT in .380. Only weights about 1/2 pound, groups quite well and isn't too unpleasant to shoot. I shoot it so much I'm been looking at moulds so I can shoot cast.

[jethrow strait]

That's how I got into this pocket pistol thing! Got a Lil Keltec 380. It's recoil doesn' seem any stiffer than that of the 32, and it sure is a go-anyhere handgun, for those times when even the 44 Bulldog is too much. But it aint my idea of a recreational gun! Nonetheless I went out and bought dies, etc. cetc...... So now what???

Why a serious " recreational" pocket pistol, or 2, or 3 of course! I really like the old single-action Beretta 70S, but that damned KGB neck-burner, the MAK in .380 seems to edge it out more often than not! -------jethrow

[David R]

Sorry, no cast boolits in this one, but I have a beretta 21 in 22 Lr. I bet people I can hit a can at 50 feet with it. Then show em I can. I have to hold over the can. Nice made little gun. It can be carried with a live round in the chamber, hammer down and even safty on if you want. I have shot groups at 50 feet, stays in the scoring area.

David

[waksupi]

When Deputy Al gets back from his safari, ask him about cast bullets in the .25 ACP. He loves to talk about it.

[floodgate]

Pocket Pistols HA!!! Now here's a REAL pocket pistol....

And yes, I do load cast boolits; just didn't have any handy tonight. Think a center-fire .22 Magnum, using .22 CCM or Extra-Long Maynard cases. I can hit a barn every time - from INSIDE!

[Wayne Smith]

Humm, got me thinking, too. Anybody loading cast in a Makarov? I've just been shooting Wolf, since I have a case. Don't even have dies, yet. Would need to get it set up to reload and cast. Any suggestions for a readily available mold that makes oversize 9mm?

[jethrow strait]

Wayne, been shooting cast in Mak9s for years(separate event from "pocket pistol" just cause I wanna do it that way). In fact, don't mean to boast(heh, heh!), but I placed third in the 2nd Annual Makarov.com National Postal Match(first shot had to be shot DA)a couple of years ago. Course, they were just getting started back then, and there were only five entries!. But, I can assure you I was the only entrant using Cast Boolits. Nice folks, sent me a bunch of Mak related trinkets. ........and the answer to your cast boolit inquiry is, IMHO, the Makarov.com custom 6 banger Lee 95gr/SWC(yes, I said SWC, only such in existence to my knowledge, feeds fine and makes purty holes in the paper too). You can contact them at Makarov.com. Heck, they are in West Virginy now, not too far from you, at least by western standards.

There are others. Never had much luck with the Lee RN offering, but the Lyman variant was ok. As I recall, Deputy Al, thought the RCBS RN was good, but I have yet to try it myself.

Much as I hate to end with a pitch for a commercial cast boolit, especially from a company that recently raised it's prices by fifty per cent, I have had exceptionally good luck with the Meister 93grRN, but I bought my inventory from a local shop(no freight)way back when for $27 a thou.----jethrow

[fourarmed]

That is a nice-looking revolver, floodgate, is that what they call a Velo Cat?

[floodgate]

That is a nice-looking revolver, floodgate, is that what they call a Velo Cat?

Fourarmed:

Ray probably would, but it is better known as a "Velo-DOG" - for bicyclists to zap threatening canines. There was even a version made to fit into the end of the handlebar and look like a hand-grip. It is really the old .22 Extra-Long Center-Fire Maynard from 1882, picked up in Europe around 1900 as the Velo-Dog, and recently revived by Cooper Arms as the .22 Cooper Centerfire Magnum - loaded a LOT hotter, of course. A couple of the "gang" here have these. It has also been necked down into a .17 CCM. This revolaver will be a companion to a Stevens #44 "parts" rifle I hope to finish putting together during our rainy season. (Of course, I've been saying that for the last three or four years.) The current Boxer-primed Fiocchi brass shown in the photo is nearly worthless: it is under-annealed, and cracks when fired, even in a fairly tight chamber - also, it gives about 50% misfires. Older Fiocchi Berdan stuff from the 1970's works fine, but is a pain to reload. I lucked into the last few hundred cases Cooper had in stock, but a couple of the brass suppliers are making them out of .22 Hornets. They are also easy to make from 5/16" brass rod stock, if you have a lathe; a Sinclair small primer pocket uniformer finishes that part of the job. I need to get going on the rifle and report results.

Floodgate

[Ed Barrett]

I confess I'm a PA63 cast shooter. It's the Hungarian light weight clone of the Makarov which is a clone of the Walther PP. With 2.0 Gr of Bullseye and 90 Grain cast it will make tiny groups and doesn't seem to kick at all, I can get it to work the slide reliably at 1.6 Gr. but I want some power. <G>

[crazy mark]

I shoot the 38 S&W and a accutek and eaa 380 auto's. Mark

[imashooter2]

My first pistol was a Walther PP in .32 ACP. I've shot an awful lot of 90 grain SWC out of that thing. Each one lovingly hammered together in a Lee Loader. I haven't shot it for years now...

[9.3X62AL]

Waksupi--

I DO NOT reload--or even shoot--the 25 ACP. The 25 ACP die set's sizer die gets used as a low-rent neck sizer for the 25-20. On another note, during our trip through Canada, horses were referred to as "Waksupi Herefords", and beef cattle as "Alberta Percherons"--in commemoration of your observations on Canadian table fare. You'll be famous in that province in short order--I guarantee it.

I mess around with a Walther PP in 32 ACP quite a bit, using Lyman #313249 at 800-900 FPS for some pretty good target work. My view is that the 32 ACP is a lot more accurate than the 380 ACP overall.

The RCBS 95 grain x .365" RN feeds and functions flawlessly in my East German Makarov, and I just kept adding WW-231 until I got to its design limit of 1100 FPS. Start loads were listed max/380 ACP loads. Any 95 grainer at that speed is a little fierce from a pocket blowback, but the caliber is a real step up from the 380 ACP.

For the esoteric times, I also stuff Lyman #313249's into 7.65 French MAS M-1935 pistols. This is sort of a 32 Super Auto, and the caliber was the French issue sidearm prior to WWII. They resemble a SIG P-210 that shrunk in the wash, and are a locked-breech Browning toggle-link design......so they aren't exactly a pocket pistol, although the Nazis probably thought the pistols were cute and that the French were thoughtful to provide them as gifts in 1940. The pistols were presciently supplied with two magazines and a white flag from the factory. A few original spare mags exist, but the flags were worn threadbare prior to D-Day, and are seldom encountered.