Beretta Tomcat vs KelTec P32

**Sorry about the wind. New Mexico gets windy this time of year though it didn't seem that windy while doing the video.**
This is a video comparing the Beretta Tomcat and KelTec P32, both chambered in 32 acp/7.65 Browning. I didn't mention it in the video but neither requires the shooter to ever decock the pistol. The KelTec is double action only while the Beretta has a tip up barrel.

[@jeffmcclendon3835]

I have a gen 1 P32, Gen 2 P32 and a 2022 year Tomcat Inox. I had one of the newer Tomcats with the dark wood grips and threaded barrel. It developed the same frame crack as many of the older, thinner Tomcats. Beretta retired it and sent me the Inox I have now. No problem with the Inox. I have always used 32 ACP ammo that is suggested by Beretta. I have not had any issues with my P32s. I can shoot all three equally well since Pearce makes a pinky extension for the 7 round magazines that allows for a stable grip. A grip sleeve on the P32s also helps with giving the Keltecs more grip area. The plastic grip panels on some of the newer Tomcats are significantly thinner than the big walnut grips. I don't find the recoil of either gun to be the least bit unpleasant. Very easy to shoot. I have to alter my thumbs forward grip on the Tomcat however. If I don't, I will get some significant slide bite. Like the reviewer noted, the Keltec P32 is super easy to pocket carry with virtually no printing. The Tomcat is not as easy to pocket carry due to those really thick grips on the newer models. The slide on the P32 is easy to rack. The slide on the Tomcat can be racked but it is easier if the hammer is cocked. The Tomcat like the Bobcat is just a really neat gun design with all the things that can be done with the tip up barrel. The P32s are just no nonsense guns that work well. Finding a new gen 2 P32 right now is not easy to do.

[@ronquixote1739]

Nice write up. The P32 and Tomcat are very different guns. I did a review of clearing a malfunction in a Tomcat, which could be an issue for those who buy the Tomcat specifically because they can't operate a slide.

[@robertleslie2467]

I have 2 Keltec p32's I rotate as my daily in pocket work guns. My day off in pocket carry's are my Seecamp 32's. Love 'em both for when I can't carry my full size Mil-Spec 1911.45acp. I never leave home without one of those guns on me with an extra mag. I'm not a a hero or a gunfighter. I just want to be able to go home to give my dog loves and treats.

[@ronquixote1739]

The KelTecs are ridiculously easy to conceal and carry.

[@steammccracken2500]

I carry the p32 every day. Considering the Beretta

[@stevenmiller184]

I cannot hear a damned thing. WTF with the wind noise? I have both of these guns. The Tomcat is a beautiful gun.. that jams constantly and without an extractor, clearing that jam is very tedious, it weighs a ton and is fatter than a Glock. The Keltec weighs nothing, is paper thin, cheap and ugly.. but works.... most of the time.

[@ronquixote1739]

New Mexico is a windy place. I haven't had issues with either of them jamming. The Tomcat appeals to those who may not have the hand strength to work the slide, which would make clearing a jam extremely time consuming relative to clearing a jam in the Kel-Tec.

[@Lutz101]

Use the 'closed captions' feature (white box with the letters 'CC' at the bottom of the video) so you can read what he says via subtitles. If the Beretta won't reliably feed FMJ there is likely something wrong with the magazine. Try another magazine, and if that doesn't work have the gun and magazines checked out by a gunsmith.

[@MrMarkmac85]

Was at my local gun store yesterday and they had two Beretta Tomcats one with wood grips the other with black grips look nice but both over 500 if i remember correctly but would enjoy having one.

[@ronquixote1739]

Palmetto and grabagun have them for about $450. You shouldn't have sales tax but do have to pay shipping--I think it is $8 for grabagun but not sure about Palmetto.

[@mikepreslar8686]

The quality of the Baretta, the accuracy, the weight against re-coil and correct ammo, like underwood, the extra round with the tip up and safety factor makes it a winner for me. The grip for me, with large hands fits like a glove. Of all the mini 32's this one hits the best.

[@ronquixote1739]

Beretta makes nice guns and the triggers are generally very good on their double actions. Curiously, I saw something in a Girsan ad for a 14T magazine with a spare round on the bottom. Apparently they've had enough issues with malfunctions to justify building a magazine that carries a round that can be pulled from the bottom and dropped into the barrel. For the Tomcat you'd just have to carry a loose round in a pocket to avoid having to drop the magazine, strip a round, reinsert the magazine, and then drop the loose round into the barrel. www.americas1stfreedom.org/content/gun-review-girsan-mc-14t/

[@dynamicfirearmsinc432]

I have almost every 32 Acp from old Larry Seecamp to the new MA Seecamp company. The new Beretta tomcat from Tennessee. Then many years ago the North American arms guardian 32 (brick). Last but not least the second gen Kel Tec 32. The Kel Tec is the best hands down. Not because the last round locks open because it’s a browning type lock up. Where the others are blow back the ammunition selection is not really good when you have a blow back because if you use a lot of high pressure ammo you will break the gun in time. Kel Tec you can use Fiocchi ball ammo that cartridge in the back has more of a slope so you don’t get that rim lock which I never got any of my guns. Some people say with those European 32 ACP loaded high-pressure they say that ammunition comes very close to 380. Kel Tec test all there pistols P32 with magtech because the primers are foreign and they’re very hard primers if they go off with mag tech most of the time I go off with anything. They do proof the gun with Corbon Kel Tec and they will tell you can you plus P through their P32. If you do shoot that ammunition in the P 32 it can handle it.In those other guns BLOW BACK you will in time have problems.

[@ronquixote1739]

Thanks for the comment--lots of interesting tidbits. If you like 32s, I have videos of the FN 1910 and Colt 1903 on my channel as well as a Beretta 81, Llama and Walther PPK. The ammo has improved with Military Arms Channel and Lucky Gunner doing some excellent ballistics videos.

[@mikem9366]

Looks like Vegas down by Sloan ...the p32 is my next gun 👍👍👍👍 good video....get a wind sock next time

[@ronquixote1739]

P32s are cheap and I really didn't like the Ruger 380 version that I replaced my first P32 with--too small of a gun for the 380's recoil.....which says a lot about the size of the P32.

[@giorgiopietropaolo4775]

Beautiful video. Vote: 0!!!!

[@ronquixote1739]

My production values aren't the highest.

[@jamesanderson9612]

I’m a big bore guy. I usually conceal carry a 45 acp or 10mm, but I loving the 357 sig more and more. But in terms of pocket pistols, the P32 leaves the Tomcat in the dust. Size, weight, accuracy and reliability is much better in Kel Tec, and that’s coming from a guy who has bashed Kel Tec for years, but the P32 is the exception…it’s a keeper

[@ronquixote1739]

Keltec often has great ideas but then doesn't execute them very well. The P32 is one of their best products. When Ruger came out with their 380 version I traded my Keltec away and regretted it due to the 380 being just too much for the P32 platform in terms of control and follow up shots. It wasn't long before I traded away my Ruger and picked up another Keltec.

[@johnscreekmark]

I prefer the TomCat. I have shot both. The P32 is definitely easier to conceal. My TomCat is the old, thin-slide model with a Crimson Trace grip laser. Quite accurate for such a small gun. And yes, the trigger cover (frame, if you will) is cracked…but it’s no big deal. Just use a Dremel and make a relief cut over the crack so it doesn’t buckle and interfere with the slide action. I have no problems with mine.

[@ronquixote1739]

The Tomcat's grip fits my (small) hands better than the P32. I did a video on clearing a Tomcat malfunction and in that respect the P32 has a decisive advantage for anyone with hand strength issues. The clearing process for tip up barrel pistols is so convoluted that Girsan has made a magazine for their Beretta 86 knockoff that has a spare round held at the bottom of the magazine floor plate.

[@Just1American1966]

"Pee-three-two"? I've owned mine, purchased to back up a "Pee-Eff-Nine", since 2011. I love having it, but it never occurred to me to call it that. ;-) Late last year, though, those two guns have been largely replaced by the Taurus G2C and the Ruger LCP-MAX.

[@ronquixote1739]

I've had real issues with Taurus products over the years. I did buy (and review) a Rossi 92 in 454 Casull but I've had nothing but trouble with Braztech handguns.

[@daverotroff6873]

There is probably some good info here. If you could hear it.

[@ronquixote1739]

New Mexico can be a very windy place. It seems to blow harder when I'm doing a video.

[@erikwaters4672]

I carry my KelTec P32 in my front pocket all of the time in a pocket holster. Am I worried about printing? Sure, but I don't act hyper-aware of that. Most people are too concerned with their own lives and doing what they need to do to live them in a day-to-day mode that they don't notice you, and the bulges in your pockets.

[@ronquixote1739]

You're right about people not noticing what is around them. I've open carried in New Mexico and been around people for 10+ minutes before they noticed that I was carrying.

[@TheLonelyMan64]

What is the irony of wearing a BMW shirt while talking about a keltec?

[@ronquixote1739]

The Kel-Tec is the Smart Car of the gun world. Their products are deliberately different and distinctive with quality control problems and systemic production issues. If I had to equate BMW to a gun manufacturer I'd probably pick Beretta--refined and well made but exactly what you expect with no real surprises.

[@DeanMk1]

@@ronquixote1739 My brother had a smart car when he lived in europe. It had the turbo diesel engine, which was never offered in America. He loved it. Said it would really scoot.

[@ronquixote1739]

@@DeanMk1 Those cars fit Europe much better than the US. It isn't surprising that they get better engine choices there than here.

[@DeanMk1]

@@ronquixote1739 The diesel couldn't pass emissions. That's why it was never brought to the US.

[@ronquixote1739]

​@@DeanMk1 They could have cheated the system like VW.

[@robertbandusky9565]

BMW hasn’t made a god vehicle since 2003, the E39 5

[@ronquixote1739]

I've had good experiences with their 335xi and i4.

[@voxfan7403]

Which has more recoil?

[@ronquixote1739]

I perceive more recoil from the KelTec but it is much thinner than the Beretta and I can only get 2 fingers on the P32 as opposed to all 3 on the Tomcat. But neither has much due to it being 32 acp either way.

[@Sklounst_Actual]

@@ronquixote1739 Would you say the P32 has the same recoil or less (slightly, moderately, significantly?) than comparable 380s like the P3AT, Bodyguard, and LCP? I would think it would be moderately less, but I saw one video where the reviewer said he thought the P32 had more snap.

[@ronquixote1739]

@@Sklounst_Actual I originally had a P32 in 32 ACP and sold it when I bought Ruger's rip off of the Kel-Tec in 380 ACP. I ended up selling the Ruger because I found the recoil to be significantly more pronounced and bought a 2nd (this one) Kel-Tec in 32 ACP. I bought a Bodyguard for my father that I tried out - to make sure it worked, of course.... - and didn't like it at all but that was more due to the ergonomics of the pistol not working for me. 32 ACP is underrated. Military Arms Channel and Lucky Gunner have both done really good ballistics videos on the cartridge that show it is worthy of consideration. For tiny guns, the 32 is a good choice as the mild recoil lets you get back on target rapidly and the gun isn't a chore to shoot--which means you'll actually practice with it.

[@Sklounst_Actual]

@@ronquixote1739 Thanks for the reply! I have a Bodyguard I'm thinking of trading for a P32. I figure that if I have something that small, I want to be able to shoot it well. And I've seen those videos too, big fan of Lucky Gunner

[@ronquixote1739]

@@Sklounst_Actual If you can shoot the Bodyguard well you should be able to transition to the P32--but it depends on the ergonomics and how they work for you. When at the store spend some time dry firing the pistol - unless you have a friend with one that you can actually shoot - and focus on the sights picture while pulling the trigger.

[@ayokay123]

The only thing better than the wind noise is the low resolution video and poor camera work.

[@ronquixote1739]

Nah. This comment is better than all of that. Thanks for the chuckle!

[@Fetchem1222]

@ayokay123 damn bro.

[@jasonashley4579]

Well the kel tec will require less maintenance and be far cheaper to repair than the BMW🤷‍♂️

[@ronquixote1739]

Very true. BMW is German for Buy More Warranty.

[@ludditeneaderthal]

Sorry, but a p32 is NOT DAO. Its "partially trigger cocking". The hammer will not trigger cock from fully dropped. DAO will. The SCCY CPX-2 is DAO, the P32 is not (nor is any Kel-Tec)

[@ronquixote1739]

Interesting. Thanks.

[@trocadeconhecimentos4580]

Eu escolheria a keltec é muito mais fina e mais leve a finalidade é passar despercebida

[@ronquixote1739]

El Keltec es más fácil de ocultar.

[@ericvonp]

Guy criticizing the p32 grip but targets better than that of the Tomcat….funny

[@ronquixote1739]

The P32 is a bit small even for my small hands. It is a very handy carry gun though, a true pocket pistol.

[@clmco36]

Doing a gun review with a BMW t-shirt on? 🤣

[@ronquixote1739]

I more often wear a Buffalo Bills shirt, with similar flak from viewers.

[@woodystemms3799]

The wind noise is awful!

[@ronquixote1739]

There's a reason that you see so many wind turbine blades being driven around New Mexico. Sorry.

[@chutethemall8099]

I couldn't hear you, so I only tried for three minutes. Please dub in a proper sound track, or just try again. Sorry, but I had to give it a thumbs down, and I have both of these guns.

[@ronquixote1739]

Southern New Mexico can be a very windy place. I'm not technically proficient and my attempts to use software to take out the wind were even worse than the wind noise.