Beretta Tomcat 3032 Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG
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In a sea of plastic mouse guns, the decidedly old school Beretta Tomcat stands out with its Inox (AKA “stainless steel”) slide and forged aluminum frame. While this makes it a little thicker and heavier than a modern injection molded pocket pistol, it pays dividends elsewhere.

Beretta Tomcat 3032 Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG

In fact, the 3032 Tomcat has a few unique features that make for a very good deep concealment piece.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG

Diminutive in size, the Tomcat is just 3.7″ tall and 4.92″ long. It’s small enough to stash just about anywhere as long as there’s room for its thick-by-current-standards 1.1″ width. Despite the short height, it still holds 7+1 rounds of .32 ACP in a particularly easy-to-load, single-stack magazine.

Unfortunately, it only comes with one of those — possibly the biggest gripe I have with this pistol, actually. On the plus side they’re available for about $24 (less for a third party version), so perhaps the review can continue after all.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG

It may seem silly to some, but the best feature of the Tomcat is its “tip-up” or tilting barrel design. While tiny guns often get recommended to small people — women, those with small hands, older folks, etc. — that’s usually ill-advised. A tiny gun has a tiny slide allowing minimal purchase and typically has a stiff recoil spring. That can make racking a challenge for some.

In fact, semi-automatic pistols in general can be difficult to manipulate for anybody with less grip strength or dexterity. Just ask the guy I bought my HK P7 from; an older gentleman selling off his entire semi-auto pistol collection due to arthritis that made it too difficult to rack a slide.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG

On the Tomcat, there’s potentially no reason to ever rack the slide. Push the barrel release lever forwards and the barrel pops up, providing full access to the chamber. Simply drop your +1 round into it, click the barrel closed, and you’re good to go.

This whole process can be done with the safety lever engaged, making it safer than chambering a round in most semi-autos. Plus there’s no fear of bullet setback. Heck, it even allows you to clean the chamber, bore, and breech face without disassembling the firearm at all.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG

Not that disassembly is hard. Simply tilt the barrel forward until it stops, lift the front of the slide up off the frame, then pull the slide forwards off the rear rails. There are no other pieces.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG

No, seriously. There’s no guide rod or separate recoil spring. On each side of the frame there’s a little tab sticking up above the grip panel. That tab indexes into a slot in the slide. The tab is the tip of a lever that drives the recoil spring, which is hiding inside the grip staying nice and clean.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG

Heck, there’s no extractor. This straight blowback pocket pistol has few parts that need servicing and is a cinch to clean and lube. It can be field stripped, cleaned, lubed, and reassembled properly by even the slowest clownshoe bloghole in the land.

Or just don’t clean it. Mine went 250 rounds straight out of the box running like a champ until I decided it was too filthy to look at and wiped it down. Barrel up, slide off, wipe wipe with some CLP, and back together fast enough to make a NASCAR pit team blush.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG

Two thumbs up for the Tomcat’s usability, then. Any old or crippled codger could load and maintain it and, thanks to the relatively wide, metal frame and .32 ACP chambering, comfortably shoot it, too. The Tomcat is an absolute pussycat on recoil. A declawed, sedated pussycat. Oooh, she shoots soft for her size.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG
Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG

She shoots pretty straight, too. At seven yards shooting offhand, I was circling around the 1″, 5-shot group mark (red bull is 0.75″ on these targets). During rapid fire, the Tomcat stayed on target and outperformed my expectations with its very solid practical accuracy.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG
Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG

That’s not to say shooting this little gun accurately isn’t without its challenges, though. A pocket pistol should be generally rounded and snag-free, which the Tomcat is. Even its teeny little sights get the low-pro, low-snag treatment. Great for carry and for drawing from a holster, but not so good for bullseye competition.

Again, though, I was surprised by how well it shot in practice. The raw stainless steel finish of the front sight — an integral part of the barrel, by the way — stands out enough in the all-black rear sight that picking it up was easy. Combined with the low recoil, the Tomcat was a cinch to keep right on target.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG

Then again, the aforementioned codger could run into issues staying on target while pulling the Tomcat’s trigger. Seen above at top is the trigger position with the hammer down, ready for a double-action pull, and above at bottom with the hammer cocked for a single-action pull. In both instances the shooter is presented with a relatively heavy, not particularly smooth trigger pull.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox

Eventually I managed to clamp the lilliputian mohaska into TTAG’s Dvorak TriggerScan to provide y’all with a better idea of exactly what a 3032 Tomcat trigger feels like. In blue above is the graph of a long, gritty double action pull weighing in at a peak of just under 10.5 lbs, and in red is a much better — still significant room for improvement — single action pull of about 5.4 lbs.

Actually, aside from a bit of polishing to remove the roughness and grit, I think these trigger pulls in both weight and travel distance are basically ideal for this type of self-defense pistol.

Also on the topic of safety, when the Tomcat’s manual thumb safety is engaged it blocks the sear, locks the slide, and prevents a decocked hammer — yes, the safety can be engaged with the hammer down — from being fully cocked (though it can be half-cocked). The gun can also be carried cocked-and-locked.

While there is no de-cocker function, the tip-up barrel design can increase safety here as well. Simply tilt the barrel to move the chambered round out of the danger zone before manually lowering the hammer.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG

There’s another danger zone right behind the Tomcat, though, in particular for a shooter with dude-sized hands who’s used to gripping a pistol nice and high.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG

I had to consciously hold it lower than my muscle memory dictates, unless I wanted a kiss from the slide.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG

A final, unique note that may warrant some training time is the location of the magazine release. It isn’t in the standard spot just rear of the trigger guard. And it isn’t a European-style heel release, either.

The button finds itself floating somewhere in-between, low and to the rear of the left-side grip panel. I found it best to use my left thumb to press the button while using the rest of my left hand to strip the magazine from the gun.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG

On the range this tiny pistol feels surprisingly good in the hand. Even a man hand. I think it just may well work for anybody. It certainly shoots soft and straight enough to suit any shooter.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox
Jeremy S. for TTAG

It was completely reliable for me except with the Underwood loads featuring Lehigh’s Xtreme Cavitator projectile (review with gel block results here). Although it would have been nice to see it function without the occasional feeding problem, it’s hard to hold that against the Tomcat considering that very unique bullet design.

The pistol fed every other FMJ and hollow-point I got my hands on.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox
Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox (Jeremy S. for TTAG)

Overall, choosing a metal gun in a polymer age can be about more than nostalgia. The Tomcat’s width and mass make it incredibly soft-shooting, and the tip-up barrel design means it’s accessible to shooters of any strength or dexterity level.

Specifications: Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox

Chambering: .32 ACP
Magazine Capacity: 7+1
Slide & Frame Build: Inox (stainless steel) slide, forged aluminum frame
Trigger Mech: DA/SA hammer-fired
Sights: Metal. Fixed front, drift-adjustable rear
Barrel Length: 2.4 in
Overall Length: 4.92 in
Overall Height: 3.7 in
Weight: 14.5 oz
MSRP: $485

Ratings (out of five stars):

Accuracy * * * * 
It ain’t an Olympic pistol, but considering the size of the gun and its sights, I’m pretty impressed. Especially on the range while shooting in more of a practical style, its accuracy was great.

Reliability * * * * 
Other than having some issues feeding those odd Xtreme Cavitator bullets reliably enough to, well, rely on them beyond dropping one into the chamber as my +1, the Tomcat ran smoothly and confidently. Its simple action works well.

Concealed Carry * * * * 
It isn’t as light or as skinny as the polymer .32 ACP options on the market (heck, there’s no shortage of lighter, skinnier .380s), but it’s still a teeny tiny “mouse gun” and it conceals easy as pie.

Ergonomics * * * 
Totally fine, just watch out for slide bite.

Customize This * *
Other than replacement parts, there are a couple wood grip options and various holsters, but not much more.

Overall * * * * 
The Beretta Tomcat is a deep concealment classic and it’s easy to see why. It’s one of the softest-shooting, most accurate little pocket pistols I’ve encountered and the tip-up barrel design is awesome.

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81 COMMENTS

  1. I’m pretty sure yesterday, after 300 comments, we determined that .32 ACP is better than nothing. Not by much, but it is something. At the very least we collectively determined that it’s not-nothing.

    • It and .25 ACP is about the only ammo available these days that’s in stock.

      That matters when ammo is scarce…

    • Yes, there were a plethora of comments on the .32, weren’t there? More comments than I’ve seen in I don’t know when.

      • Well, many of those comments date back as far as 2014. That .32 ACP post seems to be one they revive every few years just for the yucks.

    • With a long enough barrel and a modern hollow point built to expand, but not beyond the capability where the little bullets can’t penetrate deeply enough, the .32 ACP can pass FBI’s gel tests. Is it going to go thru barriers and still be super lethal? Probably not, but for pure self defense and not war zone conditions, the .32 ACP and all .32’s can do the job.

      .25 is where I draw the line. More reliable than .22, but not more lethal. .32 is more lethal, as low in recoil, and available in extremely small and light pistols like the Kel Tec and if Ruger would get off their ego driven asses and finally make the LCP 2 in .32 we’d have the best .32 pocket pistol money could buy.

      Why they don’t do that IDK. It’s not like the LCP can’t handle a smaller caliber than .380.

  2. I’m sure it’s a dandy however I don’t do mouse guns.

    I do own a .32,a S&W model 1 1/2 from the 1870’s but it’s a game gun for punching paper.nothing more.

    • Carried a 1911 from 1965 till turned 72 then went down to light weight 9 mm. Sometimes I also carry a Beretta 21A in 22 L R as back up ( these little Beretta 22’s were issued to my unit in Vietnam ) Stopped by my dealer today 2/8/ 21 and he had a used 32 with 4 mags & a real good price kinda thinking about buying it

    • Have you tried screaming hysterically then falling to the ground, pretending to have a grand mal seizure, and urinating and defecating yourself? When they turn away in disgust it gives you an opportunity to run away. Trust me, it’s very effective. Not as effective as government paid armed security (thank you very much tax payers), but it does work.

      Eric Swalwell 2020

      • Might could fake the seizure. The rest is right out, my potty training was far to deeply ingrained. Training against that would be considered antisocial at least, and perhaps a war crime otherwise by employing poison gas.

        Burrito’s, nom :p

        • I play dead, not shit myself. If Sawell is on board with ” if the militarys got it you can have it too” then yeah vote for us

        • Geoff, wonder if possum has had his jabs? 🙂

          possum. Of course he’s on board with military grade weapons for all. He keeps telling us he’s going to give us gun owners nukes. 🙂

  3. I have always liked the tip up barrel option for someone who has trouble racking the slide. Although the S&W shield EZ is making that less relevant.

  4. I have owned a Tomcat since 1997 and a 21A in 22LR longer than that. Yes I love a mouse gun and at least one of them are in my pocket at any given time in a DeSantis Trickster pocket holster. Well crafted, sweet shooting little guns that are surprisingly accurate. I have to admit that my wife’s SW Bodyguard 380 is easier to conceal…. but I just love these Beretta’s. Wish they still made the old 86 Cheetah in 380 with the tip up barrel……..

  5. I’ve met several guy’s who carried this. One old grouch who bounced from several Illinois & Indiana gunshops. He bragged he carried one in ILL and was never caught…he also hated Taurus because his old Taurus tip-up 22 didn’t work well. Duh. Better than nothing like I said yesterday & 2015.

  6. People get offended when we bring up Florida Man. And since we POTG are known for our sensitivity and our PC we just don’t do those posts anymore.

      • jwm, not offended by it. Simply tired of it. There comes a time when a subject looses its humor. But here’s one for you. Do you know why there are no “California Man” stories? Because there are no men left in California! 😆

        • That’s why the state of ca had to import men like me. I was born and raised in wv. I came to ca at the .gov’s request to provide stud service for the ca women.

          And it worked. There’s 40 million people in ca now. I admit I am a bit tired, though. 😉

      • @jwm Not sure what a Florida man is. Never met one. I do know if you’re the cause of the California population growth. That explains why they are nearly all confused transgenders, homeless crackheads or space cadets. Inbreeding is a major factor in those maladies. Which backwoods 6 toed holler did you come down from in WV, Just Wondering?

  7. I’ll stick with my .380 for deep concealment (it disappears) but I can see wanting like this if you have trouble racking a slide and don’t want the recoil of a featherweight revolver

    • Those are exactly the reasons I bought my Tomcat. I don’t have the problem someone mentioned below about hammer bite. It fits my hand such that how I pick it up just naturally comes up with the sights aligned and my finger webbing well below the pinch zone.
      If it wasn’t this it would probably be a revolver in .357 with light loads down around standard loads for 38 special, to tame the recoil.

  8. I’ve been thinking of something like this, love my Berettas and adding another to the stable isn’t a bad idea. The plus side is .32 ACP is about all that’s on the shelves locally.

    • “The plus side is .32 ACP is about all that’s on the shelves locally.”

      This, right there.

      Yeah, it’s not a first choice as a round, but .32 beats a sharp stick and having any gun beats no gun at bad breath range. Stick it in the attacker’s face and change his mind about attacking you…

  9. Great gun. Accurate.

    I’m still waiting for a polymer framed version with a 10 round magazine.

    Guess we’re on a 32 kick. 380 next week? Recycling all the oldies.

  10. I bought one when they first came out. The safety was much smaller than the current model and I had to file it down further because it would slice your thumb open. They also had lighter slides and almost all of them would crack the frame over the hole where the trigger bar connected to the trigger. The aluminum was paper thin there. I never noticed my frame was missing a chunk of aluminum until I read about the problem in online forums. Beretta only warrantied the gun for a few years and almost everyone’s gun wasn’t covered anymore. Beretta would take the old guns in trade and make you a deal on the new Inox like the one tested. I never shot the replacement and sold it new in the box. I didn’t buy another Beretta for 20 yrs, and that one had to be sent back before I could even shoot it. My old 3032 was accurate and reliable though. While pretty, the newer .380 pistols like the LCP and LCP 2 are much thinner. I’d consider the Tomcat nifty but obsolete.

  11. “I had to consciously hold it lower than my muscle memory dictates, unless I wanted a kiss from the slide.”

    Slide-bite kinda comes with tiny semi-autos, it seems.

    My AMT Backup in .380 when I had it was bad about that.

    Pay attention at the range, and you likely won’t notice the pain if you need to use it for a DGU…

  12. I had a Tomcat once. Couldn’t bring myself to carry it. .32 ACP and all. Had a Walther PPK/S .380 ACP. Carried it one time.Went back to my Colt Series 70 .45 ACP. Never went into harm’s way wishing I had a smaller pistol.

    • When I first started carrying a 1911 it certainly seemed heavy compared to the 9mm , now I hardly notice the weight. With an ISWB holster it seems just as easy to conceal as any other gunm, well kinda.

      • A good holster makes a tremendous difference. I can definitely feel the weight of my .45 HK over my p365 but it’s not at all uncomfortable.

      • Possum! You never did say who the bladesmith was that made your new knife. Be interested to know. Might buy a knife from him.

        • My girlfiend bought it for me, she won’t tell price but said it was equal to her car insurance and phone bill. Won’t say from where she bought it, but she did go to Branson MO with her son in law 3 weeks before I got the knife. It has no markings on it like initials or names. It looks very much like a Dan Guderie knife Guthrie Oklahoma, don’t know address now or if hes still working, haven’t seen him for 30 – 40years.

        • That’s a shame. Usually there’s a blade stamp. A week’s pay + is a good rule of thumb for a knife. Anyway, if you like it….

        • possum you sure have a great girlfiend, I want one to buy me a forged AK folder…. do they make girls like that anymore? I guess yours would do it actually, is she free anytime soon? lol

  13. I shot a .22 version of this once. It was fun, but did have feeding issues. And it was mostly accurate, with everyone of us shooting it having at least one flyer out of a mag. Weird.

    • Mine needed the feed ramp polished, which I did, with a dremel felt and some Blux Max polish. That did increased the reliability quite a bit.

  14. God awful DA trigger , need to change finger position for SA , have to pull the trigger as you place finger on hammer to lower the hammer and hope you find the half cock .

    Then if your real lucky the slide won’t crack , from normal use .

    • The cracking issues are well documented and if Jeremy is going to give this a rave review, he should shoot it more and report when the cracks start because it’s not that long into the life of the guns apparently.

    • I got one of the later Inox Tomcats, and I have a feeling this will be among the last guns I ever sell – I figure I will need the tip up barrel when I am too old and frail to pull back a slide. I bought it in 2019, and only found out about the frame crack issue during the waiting period (10 days in my state) but decided to go through with it anyway. It was fitted with a heavier slide. Also Beretta warns you to only use lower powered ammo “no greater than 120 ft lb”; foot pound ratings are something every ammo maker has on their web site.
      I have a thousand rounds through it and no trace of a crack, yet.

  15. Have the Bobcat Model 21A in blued. Bought it early this year at one of the few Gun Shows before everything closed down. Have fed it over 2k of CCI Stingers and Velocitors and standard Federal bulk ammo in 22 long rifle. Not one jam or FTF, FTE or other problem except for a handful that would not fire after a good solid primer edge strike. Just ejected them and went on. Shots go where I want them.
    Carry it once in a while in an Uncle Mikes pocket holster.
    Did get the railroad tracks cut across the web of the hand by holding a little to high just like the writer. Small price to pay for this great little pocket pistol.
    Everyone that has shot it, is looking for one for themselves. Glad to hear that Beretta is making and shipping them again, although now they are much more costly than what I paid for mine.
    Hope you find one for yourself, you can’t go wrong.

  16. The Tomcat is a real beauty, and I really like the .32 ACP round. Would love to have a ‘Cat for the collection or as a range toy. For a deep conceal carry, well…IMHO there are better options out there, even in .32 ACP.

      • If you just gotta have a .32 ACP, there’s still the Walther PPK, the NAA .32, the Kel-tec, and the Beretta 81BB if you can find it. I only got a Tomcat because I was certain it was going to go off-roster in my state (california) and I like the tip-up barrel. But the smallest caliber I really want for serious emergencies is .380, for which I already own two guns (a Bersa thunder and a Ruger LCP), and you can’t find the old Beretta 86 Cheetah, tip-up .380 anymore in my area, which along with a forged AK folder, is one of the few guns I want and don’t own yet –

      • A .380. The only reason I bought a Tomcat was for the tip up barrel and the other things Beretta about it NOT the crummy caliber. I’d get a Beretta Cheetah instead if you want a mouse gun. At least .380 is a viable defense round

        • I’m not understanding why you think that six one hundredths of an inch make all that much difference. Shot placement is far more important than the caliber in a defensive confrontation. You put a 22 long rifle in the middle of the bad guy’s chest and forehead and the fight is over. No less so than if you’d shot him with a .357.
          I suggest you go to the range and get some targets with full sized bowling pin silhouettes and put them at 7 yards and have someone time how quickly you can do that classic double tap with each caliber you have. You might be surprised, but maybe not. Either way it will be a fun exercise.
          And why a bowling pin you ask, because if you hold a bowling pin up with the bottom of the pin about level with the bottom of your sternum, you will find that it is a good approximation of the almost instantly lethal shot zone on a human being.
          If you can find a range that runs bowling pin shooting matches they are a lot of fun. Targets that react when hit are much more fun than the precision shooting of paper targets.
          So I ask that you consider what I’ve said and make up your own mind again. If you still feel that the 32 acp is a crummy caliber I’d be happy to buy your Tomcat.

  17. My grandfather was shot during an armed robbery of his grocery store by a criminal armed with a .22 caliber, semiautomatic mouse pistol. The bullet was deflected by his tie tac which was embedded in his sternum. The bullet then skated along his ribs to come up test under his arm pit where it remained until he died two decades later.
    My grandmother was not so fortunate when she shot herself in the side of the head with a .22 caliber rifle. Alto the bullet fragmented as it penetrated hey skull and the fragments were embedded only a few centimeters into hey brain, she died of a certain hemorrhage.

    The disadvantages of mouse pistols being acknowledged, I suspect that a reliable pistol sich as the Beretta that can stitch a line from an assailant’s crotch to their sternum is going to dissuade further aggression and motivate them to sell medical attention even if it doesn’t kill them outright.

    • My gosh dude, I’m genuinely sorry for all the tragedy your family has gone through! Yours is easily the most hair-raising comment I’ve read

  18. I have a Barretta Tomcat and I loved it until the frame cracked after shooting about 500 rounds through it, I sent it back to Barretta to be repaired willing to pay for the repair since I had had it over a year but they sent it back to me unrepaired with a red tag on it unsafe to fire. When I contacted them about it they said that gun was not made to last. When I googled it on the internet apparently I am not the only one who has had this problem. Just about everyone who did not just throw it in a drawer and never shoot it has had this same problem.

    • I know of plenty of Tomcat owners with the frame crack who just kept shooting it. I bought mine in 2018, the Inox model they sold after the issue became known. Beretta simply added more metal to the slide, to make it heavier, which makes it recoil with less “snap” I suppose – and this was Beretta’s entire answer to the problem. That and warning owners to only use ammo of less than 120 ft lb rating. And in fact I have 1,000 rounds of the specified weak stuff .32 ACP through the pistol, and no frame crack.
      But probably the real answer to the frame cracking problem would be to machine the frame with more metal in that area. But nothing like this is ever as simple as it sounds, so it’s a real can of worms that Beretta doesn’t want to open. The 3032 pistol was made from 1996 to 2013 and is out of production, maybe for good… so the chances of Beretta ever fixing the frame cracking issue is probably nil.

  19. Does it harm the gun to remained cocked for long periods? Although I’m usually comfortable carrying the Tomcat with a chambered round (hammer down, safety on), when I *do* want an empty chamber then I’d like the hammer already cocked to make racking easier.

    • Pocket lint loves to collect if the hammer is back. I carried my blued 3032 for a while with hammer back, empty chamber. Then I got a DeSantis IWB holster & felt secure enough to carry it safety on, 1 in the pipe, hammer down in DA mode.

  20. Just put another 50 rounds through my older blued 3032. It has eaten about 1k rounds of <130 lbs/ft and another 150 or so rounds of Fiocci 170ish lbs/ft ammo over the course of the last 9 or 10 years of ownership. As long as you had an early (pre 1999 or so) model, or a later Inox model, you are fine. Its just the blued 2000+ models that have issues.

    Models owned:
    Blued 21a in 22LR
    Blued 950a in 25ACP
    Blued 3032 in 32ACP
    INOX 3032 in 32ACP
    Burnt Bronze 92FS limited run Italian Police trade-in that was then refurbished, got factory trigger job, and cerakoted frame & slide. Sweetest gun that I own.

    Berettas like to run just a hair on the wet side. I've never lubed (or cleaned for that matter) my glocks. But berettas like to be oiled just a touch between range trips or bi-weekly if a carry gun.

    As to 25acp vs 22lr. Look at barrel length tested. In a 2" barrel, 25acp has 10 to 20% more lbs/ft of energy.

    As to 21a ammo- federal bulk lead nose works best in all of my 22lr semi-autos (2 rugers & 1 beretta). Anything else, especially jacketed bullets like to jam.

  21. Recently got an INOX model. Had to send back to Beretta because the barrel latch wouldn’t hold and the factory mags wouldn’t feed. All rounds nosedived. Had to disassemble the mags to get the rounds out. Can’t wait to get it back. Oh, by the way, to avoid cracks, don’t use any rounds above 71 grain. They have a muzzle energy below 130. Most of the foreign 73 grain rounds (S&G; etc.) exceed the 130 recommended as maximum by Beretta.

  22. I have had my .32 Beretta now for 24 years. Have never had any problems or issues as described with the later models. Best ammunition I have found which still seems to be readily available is the Sellier & Ballot 7.65mm/73grs/4.75g. Use on a fairly regular basis, and while the cleaning is easy, I do recommend a scheduled regimen. I have never posted on the Internet or a forum like this, so I apologize if this seems stiff and formal. I’m old. Be nice. Addressing the issue of small/concealed and caliber. My other “ladies” gun is the even smaller and lighter Ruger LCP2. .38 caliber, Remington UMC rounds. Also seems to be fairly available and inexpensive on the market. The point of these weapons IS precisely the size. And for the comments about damage as compared to larger caliber and larger firearms, I’m afraid that is more for image than anything else.
    As the term goes “mine is bigger than yours”. Larger caliber weapons can go THROUGH a person. They can be treated and live. In 35 years of experience, a smaller caliber round into the head is death. It does not go through, it bounces around inside the skull and destroys everything in the way. I apologize again if this is the wrong place to post something like this, but after years of dealing with people waving around their Glocks, Sig Sauer, Colt .45’s, ect, I just felt like there may be two sets of gun owners that most people don’t or won’t come to recognize. Those who have them, and those who use them. Ta for your time.

  23. Well put, sir. Add to this the fact that in 80% of defensive gun uses the gun is not fired, and caliber becomes more irrelevant. If the Tomcat fits your hand, as it does mine, it is a splendid carry gun. I liked mine so much I bought a second one.

  24. I bought my Beretta 3032 Tomcat around 2001 the first time I saw one. I have wrist problems, carpal tunnel surgeries on both hands, with a botched surgery the second time on my left hand so I have trouble racking the slide on my wife’s 1911A1 and I wanted a pistol I could carry and not worry about heavy recoil should I ever need to use it for self defense. I keep the magazine full and one in the chamber with the safety on and the hammer down. I don’t have any trouble with the double action first pull and can put follow up shots very close to the first one. I can hit what I aim at with this pistol as long as it’s not more than about 15 yards away. I don’t have any idea how many rounds have gone through it but I love my little Beretta. It sure hurts less to shoot than my GP100 4″ .357 Mag. And that hurts a lot less than my oldest firearm a nice SS Ruger Redhawk with about 5,000 rounds through it. It was all I had for a long time and I shot bowling pin second chance style matches with reduced loads. 250 gr at about 1100 FPS. Lots of fun but that was before my wrists went bad the second time. So I’m thinking about a Ruger 5.7 pistol and carbine for fun and I’ll keep carrying my Tomcat till I can’t release the barrel to insert one up the pipe so to speak. It’s loaded with 60 gr hp factory loads and I need to get some more darn it… LOL

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