That's not a 32 ACP, THIS is a 32 ACP

[rintinglen]

This is the Crocodile Dundee version of a 32.

Though this picture is not the best, this is the Arex Rex 7.65 S, an 18 shot, 7.65 x 17 Slovenian Pistol based on a near clone of the SIG 226. Unlike the usual pocket pistols I cavort with, this is a beast. The last time somebody made something like this would be the Skorpion SMG's of the early 60 Communist Czechoslovakian Army. This is 7 1/2 inches long, 5 1/2" tall, and nearly an 1 1/2 thick at it's widest point. The slide is an inch thick. I have only shot a handful of rounds through it, but I am going to load up some more ammo and give it a run through.IMG_3857.jpg

[HumptyDumpty]

That may be my next purchase. Have you had any feeding issues with the magazine?

[Wheelguns 1961]

That’s cool!

[WRideout]

That is a neat gun, Glen. I really like my 32 Auto pistol. It's interesting that the cartridge was used as a military and police item for many years, presumably until enemies and criminals got much tougher.

Wayne

[Plate plinker]

How female friendly is it, that is the question. Always looking at platforms that are suitable for women.

[LDB]

This is the Crocodile Dundee version of a 32.

Though this picture is not the best, this is the Arex Rex 7.65 S, an 18 shot, 7.65 x 17 Slovenian Pistol based on a near clone of the SIG 226. Unlike the usual pocket pistols I cavort with, this is a beast. The last time somebody made something like this would be the Skorpion SMG's of the early 60 Communist Czechoslovakian Army. This is 7 1/2 inches long, 5 1/2" tall, and nearly an 1 1/2 thick at it's widest point. The slide is an inch thick. I have only shot a handful of rounds through it, but I am going to load up some more ammo and give it a run through.IMG_3857.jpg

Where do you get it and what does it cost? I only found 9x19 models on their website.

[rintinglen]

I bought it off Gunbroker from an outfit called Old Steel Historical Guns in Colorado. IIRC, it was nearly 881 dollars, thanks to shipping, fees, Insurance, taxes. Atlantic Firearms will sell you two of the 9mm versions for less than this costs. It is far too big for most women. I wear a large gloves and it is stretch for me.

Truth to tell, this is not a gun I recommend except as a curiosity. I am told that it owes its existence to French gun laws, which prohibit private ownership of military calibers. One version is that it was made for provincial Police agencies, which, unlike the gendarmerie, are or were required to use guns of lesser caliber than the 9mm which serves as France's military pistol. The other version of the story is that they were for civilian purchase for run and gun games like IDPA/IPSC. I have only gun show rumour to go on.

This is very similar to the SIG 226R, save that it has a ambidextrous safety, allowing cocked and locked carry. The decocker also serves as the slide release. I suspect that magazines are unobtanium, so the two that come with the gun will be all that there is. I don't think that this is a stock item--mine has the label on the case marked "demo" and "2015."

[dverna]

"This is 7 1/2 inches long, 5 1/2" tall, and nearly an 1 1/2 thick at it's widest point"

Let me understand this:

A Glock 19 has dimensions of:
Length 7.28"
Height of 5.04"
Width of 1.34"

Some here gush at the manstopping performance of the .32's and you get a mag capacity of 18 with this. But I am old and foolish and think the 9mm is still a better round. I will trade the 15 shot low capacity of the Glock for the added power. of the 9mm and the better range of bullet options. Many who cannot handle the punishing recoil of the 9mm might find this just the right gun for them. Hard no for me.

If I lose some 9mm brass it does not bother me. I still have thousands of cases bought at $30/k. Once fired .32's are $150/k.

[Bigslug]

If James Bond was told that the impact of the .32 was "like a brick through a plate glass window. . ."

. . .is this pistol the actual brick used in the comparison?

I imagine the 9mm to 32 conversion is pretty easy. . .probably just a different barrel, takedown lever and locking block.

Gotta love the concept of a French law that prohibits civilian possession of military cartridges. Just makes me want to point out, "And the Resistance movement that helped liberate your country in 1944 was manned by WHO and was operating with WHAT?"

[SiliconeSword]

A fella on YouTube called J0lly made a good video on that recently. Nice gun but tons of malfunctions due to too much slide+spring and maybe mag issues.
I like the idea though but a ground up build would be a lot nicer

[rintinglen]

Yeah, my hand loads were 1005 fps from a Colt 1903 and they were falling on the bench a mere foot and a half from the Rex. There is just too much metal to move for the 7.65's modest recoil to shove around.

I don't think you'd be well served to try and convert this to a 9mm. There are extensive lightening cuts inside the slide and the breech face would be a little tight. You'd need a complete slide and barrel set up as well as mags. It might be possible to convert it to a 380, but Why?

This is not my recommendation for a defensive firearm, not even as a 32. It is a range toy, neat in quirky, odd sort of way, but not a functional choice for self or home defense, unless you are French. But if you want the most you can get from your 32 ACP, that 4.1-ish inch barrel will let that 7.65 be all that it can be.

[P Flados]

The gun price and the need for constant purchases of new brass argue against chasing down any of these that are out there.

Otherwise, it sounds like it would be a great range toy with a very low cost to reload (using boolits of course) and it would be very easy to shoot gun.

Bottom line: I want one, but I know better.

[JohnForrest]

A 30 Super Carry 1911 would be much more practical.?!

[Drew P]

"This is 7 1/2 inches long, 5 1/2" tall, and nearly an 1 1/2 thick at it's widest point"

Let me understand this:

A Glock 19 has dimensions of:
Length 7.28"
Height of 5.04"
Width of 1.34"

Some here gush at the manstopping performance of the .32's and you get a mag capacity of 18 with this. But I am old and foolish and think the 9mm is still a better round. I will trade the 15 shot low capacity of the Glock for the added power. of the 9mm and the better range of bullet options. Many who cannot handle the punishing recoil of the 9mm might find this just the right gun for them. Hard no for me.

If I lose some 9mm brass it does not bother me. I still have thousands of cases bought at $30/k. Once fired .32's are $150/k.

Not all guns are purely logical based. In fact, I’d argue that once you have your Glock, your mossberg and your ar15 (and maybe a deer rifle if you’re into that) you really don’t “need” any reliable, logical guns. They can all be pretty much novelty after that. And this would certainly be in the novelty section of my safe, which is by far my favorite section lol!

[P Flados]

A 30 Super Carry 1911 would be much more practical.?!

Getting into 30 Super Carry at this point is ?????.

A quick search found:

No used brass in stock at a handful of places. Was around $0.30 each when they had it.

Starline has not added this round to their inventory.

Ammo is still out there. At around $0.40 each.

[Noah Zark]

Glen: How is a 7.65 x 17 Slovenian differ from a 7.65x17 / 32 ACP? I asked my AI assistant and it could not find a reference to a 7.65 Slovenian.

I have two French SACM 1935A and one MAS 1935S pistols in 7.65 Longue and they are a hoot to shoot. Sort of a weaker 30 Super Carry, for which I have a S&W Shield Plus chambered. And a slew of .32 ACP pistols of various types.

Noah

[Good Cheer]

I bought it off Gunbroker from an outfit called Old Steel Historical Guns in Colorado. IIRC, it was nearly 881 dollars, thanks to shipping, fees, Insurance, taxes. Atlantic Firearms will sell you two of the 9mm versions for less than this costs. It is far too big for most women. I wear a large gloves and it is stretch for me.

Truth to tell, this is not a gun I recommend except as a curiosity. I am told that it owes its existence to French gun laws, which prohibit private ownership of military calibers. One version is that it was made for provincial Police agencies, which, unlike the gendarmerie, are or were required to use guns of lesser caliber than the 9mm which serves as France's military pistol. The other version of the story is that they were for civilian purchase for run and gun games like IDPA/IPSC. I have only gun show rumour to go on.

This is very similar to the SIG 226R, save that it has a ambidextrous safety, allowing cocked and locked carry. The decocker also serves as the slide release. I suspect that magazines are unobtanium, so the two that come with the gun will be all that there is. I don't think that this is a stock item--mine has the label on the case marked "demo" and "2015."

In the 1980's there were Bernadelli .32ACP pistols with six inch barrels imported from France.
They may have started out as police weapons if memory isn't playing tricks.

[country gent]

There were also full sized 32 free pistols made for some Olympic matches. Extremely accurate and shoot. Not sure if like the 1911 38spl they were set up only for light loads.

I did once see a 32 SW long barrel and mag for 1911 pistol.

[rintinglen]

As far as I know, the Slovenian Arex Co. made these for standard 7.65 x 17 (32 ACP) for sale and use in France. Now, I know that the Austro-Hungarian Frommer Stop pistol ammunition was loaded much hotter, and have read that some other European ammo was +10% hotter than the American SAAMI specs, but I know of no Slovenian "hot stuff."

I have some cast 84-ish grain boolits that I am going to red line to see if I can get a little more energetic ejection. The stuff I tried was 75 grain RD RNFP over a max load of WW231 that was getting 1005 fps from my Colt 1903. I'll see if that powder charge can bump up the heavier boolit to get better functioning.

[rintinglen]

I have spent a little more time examining and fiddling with this gun and thought I'd report on it. Now I did find a video on this gun, which is a little surprising, given that there are few of them in the US, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BzZJnpuf78. He had a lot of issues with failures to feed, and eject, which I did not experience, but he was shooting factory ammo, and I was using a top end reload.

Anyway, here goes. The Arex Rex Zeros S 7.65 is a DA/SA near clone of the the SIG 226. It is 7 1/2 inches long, 5 1/2" tall, and nearly an 1 1/2 thick at it's widest point. It weighs just over 2 pounds on my old postal scale (4¢ stamps, anyone?). It comes with 2, 18 round magazines, a black plastic case, some brushes and 2 cleaning rods, one for the brushes and the other slotted for use with patches. There is no manual nor paper work in the box. The DA pull is pretty much on par with my SIG 229, at WAG, 11-12 pounds and a little jerky. The single action has a long take up with a relatively nice break at ~5 pounds. The reset is comparatively short. Unlike the SIG, the Arex REX has an ambidextrous safety and no separate slide release. Instead, the decocker serves both as a decocker and as the slide release. If the slide is back, you have to depress the decocker twice: once to release the slide and once to lower the hammer. The safety seems to disengage the trigger bar from the sear, but I don't know if it blocks either the hammer, the sear, both or neither. The grips are black with a fine stippling on the lower portion and vertical, linear serrations on the front and rear of the grip frame. The three dot sights are steel and drift adjustable. I believe they are identical to the ones offered on the 9mm Rex pistols. If so, there are aftermarket replacements, reportedly including night sight versions, available for purchase.

1791 leather has several holsters available and there are some kydex holster manufacturers who list this gun in their catalog.

I cannot speak to accuracy of this pistol: the target had 60 shot holes liberally scattered on it when I got around to firing the Rex and all those 32 holes look alike to me. As previously mentioned, I am going to I am going to load up some stouter stuff to assure good ejection and function, and will check accuracy at that time. Now if you want one, I'd buy it now, but only if you are prepared to make ammo for this gun--I doubt that it will run with any commercially available ammo. At least, once it gets even the least bit dirty and the lube wears thin.

I believe that some parts from the 9mm guns may work for repair purposes, but don't crack the slide, break the extractor or lose a mag. Mr. J0lly in his video stated that only 200 were made and of those, he did not know how many were imported into the United States. I doubt that there is a stock pile of parts floating around a Slovenian warehouse someplace to fit these.