I took three of my 32acp's to the range today: my Colt 1903, my CZ70, and my Beretta Tomcat. I had never shot the Colt before.
I shot about 20 rounds through each of them, a mixture of different FMJ (around 71 grains): Remington, Blazer, Aguilar, and Fiocchi. There were zero malfunctions. Some shots were standing, some kneeling, some rapid fire, some slow. I usually shot in groups of five and tried to adjust POA in between groups. Usually the very first round or two was way off as I adjusted my extra-large hands and middle-aged eyes to the pistol. Let's please pretend that I shot these from farther away than seven yards. As you can see, I am a poor shot.
The Colt was easy to shoot. The way that the rear of the grip is shaped makes it all but impossible for me to hold it in such a way that my thumb would get whacked by the slide. Recoil felt gentle, the softest I've felt in a 32acp - probably due to the locked breech. The sights are small, but not terrible. It is a little bit small for my hand, but not too bad. With some practice I expect to be pretty good with this pistol some day.
I don't care for the CZ70. I bought it to replace the FEG that my MiL wanted so badly. I should have kept looking until I found another FEG. It's just something about the shape. My hand wants to hold it in such a way that the joint at the base of my thumb gets whacked by... something. It might be the decocker instead of the slide, but something whacks my thumb in ways that don't feel good. When I alter my grip enough it's not painful to shoot, but my thumb keeps thinking it's going to get whacked again anyway. The recoil is more noticeable than the Colt. This one just isn't shaped right for me.
The Beretta isn't bad. Its grip is thicker than you would expect. I only got whacked by the slide once. It's a little surprising that I can shoot this thing almost decently, since it is way too small for my hand. It's not fun to shoot like a 22 target pistol, but it doesn't hurt and I can group up my shots a bit once I get used to it. The recoil isn't much. The pistol is small, but heavy enough to absorb most of the recoil.
These are plinkers. My wife and daughter and MiL will shoot them more than anyone. I think that with the Colt I will finally have a semi-auto 32acp that all of them will enjoy shooting.
I shot about 20 rounds through each of them, a mixture of different FMJ (around 71 grains): Remington, Blazer, Aguilar, and Fiocchi. There were zero malfunctions. Some shots were standing, some kneeling, some rapid fire, some slow. I usually shot in groups of five and tried to adjust POA in between groups. Usually the very first round or two was way off as I adjusted my extra-large hands and middle-aged eyes to the pistol. Let's please pretend that I shot these from farther away than seven yards. As you can see, I am a poor shot.
The Colt was easy to shoot. The way that the rear of the grip is shaped makes it all but impossible for me to hold it in such a way that my thumb would get whacked by the slide. Recoil felt gentle, the softest I've felt in a 32acp - probably due to the locked breech. The sights are small, but not terrible. It is a little bit small for my hand, but not too bad. With some practice I expect to be pretty good with this pistol some day.
I don't care for the CZ70. I bought it to replace the FEG that my MiL wanted so badly. I should have kept looking until I found another FEG. It's just something about the shape. My hand wants to hold it in such a way that the joint at the base of my thumb gets whacked by... something. It might be the decocker instead of the slide, but something whacks my thumb in ways that don't feel good. When I alter my grip enough it's not painful to shoot, but my thumb keeps thinking it's going to get whacked again anyway. The recoil is more noticeable than the Colt. This one just isn't shaped right for me.
The Beretta isn't bad. Its grip is thicker than you would expect. I only got whacked by the slide once. It's a little surprising that I can shoot this thing almost decently, since it is way too small for my hand. It's not fun to shoot like a 22 target pistol, but it doesn't hurt and I can group up my shots a bit once I get used to it. The recoil isn't much. The pistol is small, but heavy enough to absorb most of the recoil.
These are plinkers. My wife and daughter and MiL will shoot them more than anyone. I think that with the Colt I will finally have a semi-auto 32acp that all of them will enjoy shooting.
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