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Originally Posted by regal /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I have a NAA .32 Seecamp clone. My wife just got her CCW and I wanted to know if there are any newer small Seecamp type pistols on the market now?
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Seacamp-type pistols may be cute as a bug's ear, but they have several basic practical problems. May we first agree that most purchasers of these dinky pistols are doing so for self-defense? One, they are not as reliable as a Seacamp, which was not the epitome of reliability itself. No semi-automatic pistol should be deemed individually reliable until it's had at least 200 rounds through it.
I pinch my fingers enough reloading 9mm to know that reloading .25ACP, .32ACP, and .380ACP would be absolutely no fun, and factory loads in these are $20USD+ per fifty rounds. So most owners of these dinky guns do not get enough practice or demonstrate their pistol's reliability enough to warrant carrying it. And a back-up gun by definition should be almost more reliable than a primary pistol as it is to be used only after the start of a cluster coital event.
Two, pistols of this class do not provide enough grip and sight radius to provide reliable practical accuracy. If practical fire power is bullets actually striking bodies in vital areas, then practical accuracy has to be part of the equation. This line for me is my ability to shoot consistent headshots with a pistol at twenty yards under stressfree conditions employing the same ammunition as will be carried in the gun.
Three, .32ACP is below the minimum for a reliable self-defense pistol caliber. Sure, it's better than nothing, but the principal role of a self defense handgun is to stop a determined attacker with one or two vital hits. For me .35 caliber handguns with short barrels represent the minimum acceptable self defense power level. And I would always rather have a .45ACP.
So in this class of small handgun, I kind of like my Kahr PM9 (9mm Para) or my old S&W Model 38 alloy frame Bodyguard (.38Spl). For me, with the right ammunition they satisfy all of the requirements outlined above. And as I load both calibers, I make a point of practicing with both regularly.