25 vs 32 vs 380 vs 9mm (in one sitting)

Jayne

Jayne

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For reasons of science, we did a little head-to-head testing of 4 pocket(ish) guns:

Beretta Jetfire, .25 ACP
Keltec P32, 32 ACP
Kahr P380, 380 ACP
Kahr PM9, 9mm

Testing was done on an IDPA target at 7 yards and a popper at 10. We did a table start with all of them, just to see how hard it would be to get a good firing grip yet not having to have the same holsters for each.

The numbers aren't that surprising, but we did learn that familiarity matters. The Kahrs were mine, and I did much better with the P380 than anything else and it's the one I shoot most often. I did OK with the P32, it's similar enough to an LCP, and I did horrible with the 25, serious case of slide bite. Hard to make good hits when the gun is biting back. The PM9 was just a touch slower than the P380 for me.

If your scenario involves 3-5-7-10 yard encounters where you can get a two handed grip and look for the sights, the PM9/P380 were dominant for most shooters. Enough sights and usable triggers to make solid A zone hits.

If your scenario involves 0-3 yard encounters firing wildly one handed just sorta pointing at stuff... holy cow the 25 ACP dominates. On the timer I was 2x as fast with the 25 than anything else. Yes they're 25s, but you can dump 8 of them really, really fast out of that thing. The 32/380 were significantly harder to do one handed, recoil was harder to control. I realize it's just physics, but I had no idea the 25 was that much of a mousegun! The owner of the 25 was happy to win the 0-3 yard mag dump category since that's how he imagines using it "in real life".

keltec_p32_test_2.jpg

Out of frame there is my G34, also ran with that just to see what full size does. Fastest to be sure, but only around 15% faster in this test than the PM9.
 
@Geezer and I were talking Sunday about 25s. I went to two inquests and he was aware of one. 3 men all Monsters..well over 6 feet and closer to 300 than 250. Killed with one shot each from a .25. I own the death gun in one of the ones we were talking about. I have had Much respect for them since the 1960s when this happened.
I saw four men testify the last words the big Man spoke were......Why you've killed me....
 
In another thread I told about a guy getting shot at 25 yards away with a 25 ACP hollow point round. Bullet hit him in the throat and cut his spinal cord killing him instantly.. I sure as hell don't want to be shot with any caliber bullet
 
The guy that I was telling Billy about was a tough ol' country boy. He was in his early 20's, just over 6 feet tall, had longish hair, and in great physical shape. He worked as a logger and sawmill hand. He was all muscled up from day after day of hard physical work. During the summertime he seldom wore a shirt. His name was Larry but we all called him Tarzan. Stacking cross ties every day will make a man out of ya, he was a man.

One Saturday night he was at a local beer joint and he and another guy got into a disagreement. He was always being challenged just because of his looks. Everyone wanted to start something with the muscled up guy. Tarzan could always hold his own and never held a grudge. Most times he and his challenger would end the night having a few beers together. This night was to be a little different. They took it outside and it turned bad. Tarzan was shot with a .25 cal Raven and died on the spot. He was hit, one shot, right at the corner of his eye right at the bridge of his nose. This happened in 1974. He and I were the same age, not close friends but we knew each other, we hung out at some of the same places. Every now and then I'll think of him and wonder how his life would have turned out if that night would have been different.

I had my Baby Browning out at Battery Oaks a few weeks ago to put a couple of mags through it. I was thinking about Tarzan that day.
 
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Under the right circumstances most any caliber can kill. The shooting at the Holocaust museum in 2009 was by an 88 year old man with a Winchester 1906 .22 rifle. He killed a security guard with one shot. Is a .22 rifle the ideal defense weapon? I think most would say no but it's better than nothing.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/guard-killed-in-holocaust-museum-shooting/

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Don't forget the Israeli sky marshal who stopped four heavily armed terrorists attempting a hijacking in February, 1969, with his .22 cal Beretta Model 70. He did it again, although not alone, in May, 1972.
 
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Interesting read. And this is why I was always willing to take a pocket 22 or 25 over nothing, because no caliber is useless. The cases of folks getting shot 15 times and still going happen with every calibre, it's just how some folks are.
 
I can clean a plate rack with my P32 and it rides in my pocket like a wallet. It’s never my first choice for carry but it’ll do.
 
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