kel-tec p32

[HavokCycle]

for ages ive had a P32 sitting around in my safe.. which ive decided to carry more often, on dates, etc, due to its supreme concealability. i do intend to replace it with a ruger LCP at some point but for now i have the P32.... which i'm about to throw in the trash.


ive been carrying it for a few months but hadn't fired it for years. not being comfortable with this i took it to the range last weekend, which it fired fine.. i ran thru the defense loads that were in the mag and loaded with the lead soft points i had.. all this ammo is close to ten years old.

the problem comes from.. i now have a round jammed in the MAGAZINE... it won't chamber, and i can't force the SOB loose without the use of tools.

i'm nervous about using force and kicking off a round. any advice??

 

[45fan]

Drop the base plate off the magazine, and see if the round will come out the bottom? if it wont come out the top, that is the only other way that its coming out, other than destroying the mag...

 

[Mgderf]

I like my P32, but it did give me reason for pause on one occasion.
I had carried it for some months, and sweating as I do it caused a problem.

I pulled it out one evening to clean it. When I went to pull the trigger I noticed there was NO (ZERO) tension on the trigger! It just came back with no resistance and did not reset.

I started looking it over and found that the hammer spring had rusted through on the bottom of the grip. The hammer spring is exposed on the bottom of the grip.
I ordered another hammer spring and replaced it. Everything was back to normal.

My concern was, and is, that I did not notice the hammer spring being a problem until it was non-functional.

I still like the pistol, but I don't carry it every day, and I check the action routinely now.

I have since purchased a total titanium Taurus model 605 .357mag for EDC.

Titanium won't rust.

 

[HavokCycle]

Drop the base plate off the magazine, and see if the round will come out the bottom? if it wont come out the top, that is the only other way that its coming out, other than destroying the mag...

baseplate is plastic, and i'm fairly certain if I pry it off i'll ruin the mag. if that is my last recourse than so be it, i will do so. i was hoping to save the mag as its the only one i have. i can pick up others yes i'm sure - i don't care much about the ammo, i can buy that as well. i was hoping to save the whole thing if i could, but honestly i'm really more looking for an explanation as to why this happened. i'm trying really hard to keep faith in kel-tec but if its crap, its crap.

as to the above post, the gun itself functions fine. no issues with it itself, tho the sweat matter is concerning as i do keep this pistol in my front pocket - again, supreme concealment.

 

[Mgderf]

baseplate is plastic, and i'm fairly certain if I pry it off i'll ruin the mag.

Look closely at the base-plate of your mag. There is a small circle (button) in the middle.
Use a tooth pick, or ball point pen to depress the button, then slide the base plate forward.

They are made to come apart easily.

 

[sloughfoot]

Look closely at the base-plate of your mag. There is a small circle (button) in the middle.
Use a tooth pick, or ball point pen to depress the button, then slide the base plate forward.

They are made to come apart easily.

^^^^^^THIS. I am looking at mine now. The little button is right in the middle of the base plate. I have been carrying mine in my front pocket for the last 5 years or so. No sign of rust. I don't understand how it can get rusty in a pocket.....You take it out every night and look at it, right?

Why do you think this, or any other pistol, will not require ANY maintenance?

 

[Mgderf]

^^^^^^THIS. I am looking at mine now. The little button is right in the middle of the base plate. I have been carrying mine in my front pocket for the last 5 years or so. No sign of rust. I don't understand how it can get rusty in a pocket.....You take it out every night and look at it, right?

I wore it in an inside the waistband Uncle Mike's nylon holster. Yes, I know better now.
I did look at it daily, at least I thought I did.
I just did not realize that there was an exposed piece of the spring metal on the end of the grip.

Live and learn.

When I was 18 I knew everything.
The older I get, the dumber I get.

 

[sloughfoot]

yeah, I know what you mean. I used to have daughters laughing at me and saying "oh dad". Now I have grandchildren laughing at me.

I know about the hammer spring. Mine is full of lint. I just ran a tooth brush over it and cleaned it out. I bad too.

 

[n9znd]

I had a P32 for a while and loved it. The problem with mine was Rim Lock. It did it to me a few times and I lost confidence in the little thing. I have a P3at now and it is my little buddy and is with me when my Fruit-A-Looms are on. It has been perfect. I know that all the later Kel-tecs have had all the updates and are pretty reliable. If you are having Rim lock in the mag there is a fix for that. Jim

 

[trip9901]

I have the p3at and it did the same stuff to me. Took the mag apart and cleaned it up. I also cleaned up the feed ramp with crocus cloth and I haven't had any failures at the range since. Not a bad $200 gun if you ask me.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

I think you just have to be realistic in maintenence and expectations. They are supremely concealable, but do need maintenence and cleaning, and sometimes need the Keltec fluff n buff to be reliable.

Several years ago I had one given to me and was told it wouldn't extract. The extractor.... was full of pocket lint.

 

[hps]

I love mine, carry it ALOT!!! DONT DRY KELTECS!! (boogers up the screw holding the extrator in). When inserting a mag into the firearm, push the mag release button. When taking a mag out, push the base of mag in while pushing mag release. Mag release is plastic and WILL wear out. When loading mag AFTER EACH ROUND U PUT IN THE MAG TAP MAGAZINE WITH THE PALM OF UR HAND!!! THIS PREVENTS RIM LOCK.
ZERO malfunctions of any kind its prolly 6yrs old and my son has been shooting this gun since hes been 6, so u know theres some "Limp wristing" going on.
One last tip USE GREASE!!! No OIL!!! and clean and re-lube often.

 

[HavokCycle]

i finally got around to dealing with this. thanks for the help, i never noticed the baseplate button. came out fine and cycled just fine, manually, even with the same ammo. i did notice the offending round had a primer strike but it still cycled.

i'm still wondering why this happened? i'm not familiar with the term rim-lock, but if its what i imagine, the rims got stacked in bad order and lapped in a bad spot? if thats true then this is something just inherent with rimmed autos?

 

[hps]

the 32 round is a SEMI RIMMED cartridge thats why, It catches on the rim of the next rd put in the mag. IF you tap the mag in ur palm AFTER EACH ROUND LOADED INTO THE MAG this will not happen.

Another point i forgot, When you take the firearm apart before you pull the pin place ur index finger on one side of the pin and ur middle finger on the other side of the pin push in at those 2 points BEFORE YOU PRY OUT THE PIN.

 

[n9znd]

There is a lot of info on www.ktog.com about rim lock and ways to fix it. Easy fixes. Jim