Seecamp Mouse Gun

[pietro]

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I just acquired a DAO .32ACP Seecamp, with an extra magazine & a leather pocket holster.

It reminds me of the Browning & Colt .25ACP vest pocket guns.


https://bruceeimer.wordpress.com/files/2009/05/dscf1355.jpg?w=300


I gotta take it to my club this week (weather permitting) to give it a shakedown.

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[TyGuy]

My Pops has been eyeing the Seecamp .32s for a while now. Looking forward to the range report. I have a soft spot for .32acp

[dverna]

I had one. Made to work with Winchester Silvertips only. Did not keep it long.

[alamogunr]

I've got an article somewhere that has a long discussion of what ammo will work with Seecamp. I've still got a couple of boxes of Silvertip. I believe that Speer Gold Dots were mentioned as OK. I take mine out about once a year and fire a couple of magazines just to remind myself of it's shortcomings. It is a good thing that it doesn't have much recoil. There isn't much to hold onto.

[pietro]

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AFAIK, the gun was initially built around the Winchester Silvertips.

From the horse's mouth: http://www.seecamp.com/ammunition.htm


We recommend the following ammunition:

•Winchester Silvertip 60gr. HP
•Federal Premium Hydra Shok 65gr. JHP
•Speer Gold Dot 60gr. GDHP
•PMC Bronze 60gr. JHP

Not enough known:

Magsafe (no personal experience, varied feedback from customers)

RCBD (No personal experience)

Corbon (I have seen a bullet separate from the case on emptying the chamber.
The rounds from this box had an uneven bulge around the case mouth and were not completely concentric with the case).



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[W.R.Buchanan]

I find it funny that 100 years ago the 32 ACP was the quintessential Personal Protection Caliber and there were many guns made in that caliber here and especially in Europe.

I saw a movie recently about a bunch of Czechs who assassinated a Highly placed German General in Prague during WWII using .32 Colt pistols because their Sten Guns Jammed !
The Germans turned the town upside down looking for them and finally found them in a Church where they were trapped. They held the German Army off for 6 hours using only their .32's and Sten guns (which they got working) until they ran out of ammo. They all kept one round in reserve to kill themselves with in the end.

The Germans killed thousands of Czechs over that episode.

Now if you don't have at least a 9MM with 17 shots you are not capable of defending yourself because anything less will bounce off of the new tougher people we have these days.

Randy

[rintinglen]

I'd have bought one if it had any sights at all. But Old Man Seecamp felt that it was only a belly gun and didn't need any sights. Go figure. I find laughable the notion that one can predict the range at which he will need his pistol. Wherever the adversary is when the shooting starts is what you need to be able to hit.

[Led]

I find it funny that 100 years ago the 32 ACP was the quintessential Personal Protection Caliber and there were many guns made in that caliber here and especially in Europe.

I saw a movie recently about a bunch of Czechs who assassinated a Highly placed German General in Prague during WWII using .32 Colt pistols because their Sten Guns Jammed !
The Germans turned the town upside down looking for them and finally found them in a Church where they were trapped. They held the German Army off for 6 hours using only their .32's and Sten guns (which they got working) until they ran out of ammo. They all kept one round in reserve to kill themselves with in the end.

The Germans killed thousands of Czechs over that episode.

Now if you don't have at least a 9MM with 17 shots you are not capable of defending yourself because anything less will bounce off of the new tougher people we have these days.

Randy

Agree completely with this. I carry a Beretta Tomcat regularly.

Later,
Stephen

[pietro]

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Combat instinctive shooting = focusing on the target and not the sights.


https://www.chuckkleinauthor.com/Uploads/images/ICS%20Cover2(3).jpg

[wbbh]

The Seecamp is an excellent little pistol. I've read the recoil spring should be replaced occasionally.

[JWFilips]

32 ACP is an excellent caliber and has great penetration! Not to mention in 4'' or greater barrels it is a tack driver
But yet folks still choose the 380 acp....From experience I would not

[Petrol & Powder]

I remember when the Seecamp 32 was the HOT pistol to own. There was a waiting list and the guns were selling way above list price.

Those little pistols were like gold back in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

[alamogunr]

I remember when the Seecamp 32 was the HOT pistol to own. There was a waiting list and the guns were selling way above list price.

Those little pistols were like gold back in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

Tell me about it! I bought 3 back in '95. Gave one to each of my sons and kept one. I got an extra magazine with each one. I think I waited about 6-8 months for them. I don't regret it but I'm not sure the sons really know what they have. One of them has never opened the box.

[dougader]

I bought 3 at dealer cost around 1996 or so. I think it was $379 each, plus 4 extra mags per gun at like $20 each.

I also found it hard to NOT try and use the non-existent sights. If I remembered to point shoot I did ok, but ultimately I'd try and sight the gun and completely miss a B27 silhouette target completely at 7 yards....

So I sold my gun used for about $900 and bought a j-frame S&W snubby. My brother and GF had me sell theirs, too, and they both went for above $1000. The extra mags I sold for $50 each and all of them went FAST.

I tried the Tomcat and didn't like it either. Now I pocket carry a Glock 43. More punch, and 7+1 (8) rounds with a Taran Tactical +1 base pad.

Wouldn't mind an old Colt 1903 in 32 auto...

[Ed K]

I had one. Made to work with Winchester Silvertips only. Did not keep it long.

Ditto, mine would keyhole most every shot with the only recommended bullet.

[Petrol & Powder]

The Seecamp LWS-32 is a well made gun. It is, however, made for a very specific niche. It is a close range, hideout pistol.

It has some excellent engineering and the DA trigger was far more advanced than some give it credit for. While there were certainly other DA pocket pistols before the LWS-32, there were not many in that tiny size. I think it's easy to forget how ground breaking the LWS-32 was, in its day.
In the 1980's there just wasn't anything else in that class. You could get a gun of similar size with a SA trigger or you could get a slightly larger gun with a DA trigger; but there was nothing of that small size and high quality with a DA trigger.

After the success of the LWS-32, competition appeared. The NAA Guardian, the Kel-Tec and other pistols appeared at lower cost. There was even a patent infringement lawsuit when someone produced a copy of the LWS-32 before the patent expired.

It is all too easy to take for granted what is now available. Pull out an old copy of a 1980's "Shooter's Bible" and look at what was available in that era. There's a reason why guns like the Detonics Combat Master and the ASP conversions of the S&W compact pistols were being offered. There was a gap in the market for small combat pistols, including small DA 32 ACP hideout guns, like the LWS-32.

[charlie b]

^^^This

"Back in the old days" there just were not a lot of choices for small carry guns. That's why so many carried snubbies and smaller caliber semi-autos.

I did like the Colt 1903 I had. It was a concealed carry gun that checked almost all the boxes. Thin, rounded edges all around, potent enough caliber, filled the hand well, and it was accurate for such a gun. I got rid of mine when I bought a 9mm for carry.

[FergusonTO35]

I'm sold on the Kel-Tec P32 myself. Mine eats anything I feed it and is very accurate for it's size.

[JSnover]

^^^This

"Back in the old days" there just were not a lot of choices for small carry guns. That's why so many carried snubbies and smaller caliber semi-autos.



^^^ And That.
I tried for a couple of years to get my hands on a Seecamp but it just wasn't gonna happen. I eventually bought Tomcat and a P35. Maybe they're less than ideal for carry but as a belly gun I understand them and in my experience they're fun to shoot.

[Petrol & Powder]

My two complainants about the 1903 Colt are the tiny safety and the tiny sights.

I had one about 10-12 years ago (really should have held onto that one :sad:) . It was a great gun and I agree with Charlie b, it checks almost all of the boxes. If I could have modified the safety so that my fat thumb could have reliably hit it, I think I would have held onto it.
The bore on mine was clearly a victim of corrosive ammo and poor maintenance before I got it but it still shot well.

I knew an older gentleman that carried a 1903 as a self defense gun. He was an amazing marksman and I would never suggest he was under equipped.

[grayscale]

My wife read about the Seecamp in some Sci-fi vampire killer Babe book and wanted one. Well what ya gonna do? I ordered her one last christmas. The only round that would run in it was the Hornady Critical defense 60 gr. hollow point, but that worked very
well. Then she asked me if I could load something with a little less snappy recoil. She has arthritis in her hands. So after some research I powder coated the Lee .310 round ball and loaded it over 1.5 gr of Bullseye with a styrofoam disc cut from a meat tray.
I wasn't expecting much for accuracy, just a load that would be easy on her hands that she could shoot at 5 yds. It worked. less
recoil than a .22, soft shooting for her hands, But the big surprise; more accurate than than the factory 60 grainer or my handloads with thes same bullet. I made an empty shell box jump all over the range out to 15 yards.

[AndyC]

Interesting. My director at work was a big Seecamp fan but the one he bought years ago (.32 acp DAO) was sent back to the factory a number of times for reliability issues - I think he's given up on it now.

[W.R.Buchanan]

FYI : Good article on reloading the .32 ACP in the current issue of Handloader Magazine.

Randy