Absolute smallest automatic available ...

[DivCurlGrad72]

Just saw this on YouTube by chance and thought it might be relevant: .32 ACP Beretta Tomcat.

 

[thorborg]

I have a Keltek P32. its worked well for me, for 1 inch extra length, you get a larger caliber, thinner, much lighter, lower height, then the all steel Baby browning.
The Keltek weighs less fully loaded 9.4 oz than the Baby browning does empty.9.7oz
32 tomcats by Beretta work good too but are even heavier at 14 ounces unloaded.
Heavy stuff bang around a lot in loose clothing where the Keltek is more static and sedate.
Of the .25's, the baby browning would be considered the most reliable I believe.

 

[ma96782]

The Kel Tec (.32 ACP) on top of my DiamondBack 9mm.


Side by side.




THEN.....
The thing about the .32 Kel Tec is that it's the same size as the .380 Kel Tec (Kel Tec says so).

Aloha, Mark

 

[CountryGent]

Just saw this on YouTube by chance and thought it might be relevant: .32 ACP Beretta Tomcat.

My wife often carries one of those. It is a fine pistol that has served us well. It is, however, downright chunky, width-wise, compared to some autos. Still it is solid piece.

 

[BSG 75]

Check out what I found on GunBroker.com!
Smith & Wesson 61-2 Escort .22LR Stainless - Semi Auto Pistols at GunBroker.com : 829885012

I've seen the Escort from time to time. But I don't have a good frame of reference for how small it actually is. Smaller than the Baby Browning and/or P32?

The escort is very very small... the best part is they are easily suppressed due to the threaded barrel bushing. The adapter is about $30.

I remember seeing a YouTube video somewhere listing the Escort as one of the worst pocket pistols of all time.

This isn't the video but the opening comments are interesting:

Both guns, while compact, are unergonomic. The design, with the recoil spring over the barrel (à la the 1900 Browning), forces the hammer pivot rather low, leaving a very short grip on a pocket pistol. A woman might get two fingers around the short grip, but most men will only get one. It is a mystery to me why Smith & Wesson chose to copy an outmoded 60 year old design.

I get the impression, when reading early reviews of the Escort, that the writers were trying to find something nice to say about it: it is simple, light, easily disassembled, has good sights. But the Escort wasn't critically accurate, didn't point naturally, and the magazine only held 5 rounds. No one liked the look or the feel of the gun, and it was a resounding commercial failure.

S&W Escort

Ruger LCP or Beretta Tomcat .32ACP



get my vote. These .25ACP Colts and Beretta are really small but I wouldn't trust my life with one. It might just make the bad guy angrier if you shot him with one.

 

[CountryGent]

Anyone own/shot one of the tiny North American Arms automatics? Look interesting to my eyes. The .25 NAA and .32 NAA cartridges, particularly the former, are strangely alluring.

 

[Wombat of Doom]

I'd reccomend a 32acp. Recoil is next to nill. A n FN 1910 or a mauser 1913 might work. I would expand your date range as 32 used to be a lot hotter and there are some VERY well made 32s from the turn of the 20th century to the 50s that are exceptional. The Walther PPK in 32acp is absolutely wonderful. I have a fair number of .32acps. I own one 2 modern ones, and I like the one I just got but haven't shot yet, (but a beretta 81 is not a deep concealment gun.) but find the beretta 3032 to be clunky and not real fun to shoot. The Sig p365 is not much bigger than it either.

 

[Wombat of Doom]

My wife often carries one of those. It is a fine pistol that has served us well. It is, however, downright chunky, width-wise, compared to some autos. Still it is solid piece.

I find it the least pleasant 32 I own to shoot, and I have quite a few. A lot of the old .32s are not short barreled or that short of handle, but they are slim enough to fit in anything. CZ50, FN 1910, Colt 1903 all disappear in a pocket fairly well. the 3032 with its fat slide, not so much.

 

[CountryGent]

If I went with the Escort, I promise not to mount it under my sleeve. Maybe.

 

[Wombat of Doom]

the naa .32 has my interest, but it is DAO which I don't like.

 

[nammac]

Smallest I'd go is 1911 style .380, a la Colt Mustang... Preference today would be the Springfield 911, decent sights and trigger, making it possible to put the rounds on target, where you want them, out to longer personal defense distances.

 

[CountryGent]

I find it the least pleasant 32 I own to shoot, and I have quite a few.

I haven't shot her 3032 much, though I have a few times. The last time we were together on the home range, which was like a couple weeks ago, she was nailing any of the steel targets with that little pee-shooter. (Her old man was rocking a .44 Magnum). So don't know, but the beloved seems to like it.

the naa .32 has my interest, but it is DAO which I don't like.

Ugh, good point. I'm with you in not being a fan of DAO. I suppose a "shoot at bad breath range auto" I can roll with it. Otherwise, no thank you.

 

[drstrangelove]

The smallest I've ever shot are the Walther TPH 22lr and the Beretta 950bs Jetfire 25acp. Both require care to not cut you hand with a recoiling slide. They fit in pants pockets easily. Neither failed to function perfectly.

 

[BillM]

Size chart here: https://gear-report.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/PocketAutoComparisonPg1_aug14.png

Pretty hard to beat the P32, although I would like to have a 32 Seecamp just to have one!

 

[CountryGent]

Size chart here: https://gear-report.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/PocketAutoComparisonPg1_aug14.png

Pretty hard to beat the P32, although I would like to have a 32 Seecamp just to have one!

Thanks; printing out the file now.

 

[Ura-Ki]

My Cougar is still a pretty slick little compact all things considered, and the PPK is still considered the gold standard for pocket carry pieces! I know the smallest size possible seems ideal, but I still want effective stopping power, at the least a .32 ACP!

 

[RedRover]

C'mon look at this beauty. You know you want it...

 

[CountryGent]

C'mon look at this beauty. You know you want it...

View attachment 614576

LOL. Ew, a Raven. Will it explode like the POS Jennings my father owned so many decades ago? Who knows, but I'm not taking the risk.

 

[jbett98]

I have a mint S&W Escort and I've never shot it, so I don't know how it functions.
Found it at a local gun store in the original box, along with the factory leatherette pouch and just couldn't pass it up for the price they were asking.
I have a collection of the 2213, 2206, 422 and 622/622VR models with the model 2213 suppressed being my favorite.

 

[BillM]

Was not aware there was anybody still making a clone of the Baby Browning----but they are. Some
interesting versions, including some that are more art object than gun.

PRECISION SMALL ARMS, INC. > Categories

OUR BACK STORY IS HERE >>> " about-us-greetings " THE PSA-25 PRODUCT LINE IS HERE >>> click on the picture below

precisionsmallarms.com