Me and the 32 ACP

2/12/02

Elsewhere on this site I have mentioned the fact that handguns make me nervous. I have stayed with revolvers because I am more familiar with them. However, a buddy of mine purchased a Ruger P90 45 ACP late in 2001 and after watching him shoot it and shooting it myself I decided that maybe I should give auto's a try.

I already have a 45 Colt so I thought I might enjoy a small auto to start with. I began my search thinking maybe a little 22 mag or 25 ACP. Just something to plink with because anyone who enjoys shooting knows that plinking is an excellent teacher. My thinking was if I could afford to shoot it a lot, I would get used to it faster and have a better understanding of what makes auto's tick.

Checking the shops I frequent most, all I had come up with that sparked my interest was a NAA single action 22 Mag. You know the one that fits into a belt buckle. Never handled one of those before and it was pretty neat. But here I am back at revolvers again. That wasn't really what I had in mind.

I had about decided that this was going to be trickier than I thought. I stopped by one more local shop at lunch one day and cruised the cases. I spotted a medium size auto. It looked like it might actually fill my hand. The tag was flipped over of course so I had to flag down the salesman and have him check it out for me.

He read the tag as he pulled it from the case. "CZ 32 Auto" and he perked up like he was familiar with CZ and the gun itself. He stated that CZ makes a great gun and that this one was a fine little auto. It was kind of weird actually because he seemed sincere. He did not seem to be anxious to convince me just because it was what he had available. I explained that I had little or no experience with auto's and he was more than happy to show me how it functioned.

It looked simple enough, then he handed it to me. Pretty cool, it actually had some weight to it and had a nice size grip on it. It is a model 70, which as I have come to understand, they quit making around 1982. There was a second clip with it which just made it more inviting. I had him check the price on some ammo and it was like $12. My brain automatically says 66% of that price for a box of reloads (because I know I will end up reloading for it) so it sounds like some pretty cheap plinking to me.

I was back with the permit the next day, picked up a box of shells and went into their indoor range. What a riot ! Burned up almost the whole box and was wishing I had another box. Best part was I was actually hitting with it. It jammed on me a couple of times but I kept my composure and carefully rectified the situation.

Once I got home with the gun, I took it apart and scrubbed heck out of it. Carefully, I put a loaded clip into it, pulled the slide back and dropped it forward. The slide hung and did not pick up a shell. I took the gun apart again and oiled it a little heavier. No change in behavior. It was still having problems picking up the first shell. I decided that the clip could be the culprit and I cleaned it up best I could. Rubbed the top inside part of the clip with a lightly oiled Q-Tip and started all over again. Smooth as glass, the slide picked up a shell and was ready to go. At the range, the jams had gone away. Then it turned into just how fast will this little hummer operate. My brother got tickled while watching me shoot because at one point he counted 3 pieces of brass in the air at one time.

Before I could get the dies and bullets purchased, I had already burned up 3 boxes of factory stuff. I had to get to this 66% range quick or find another game to play. It scatters brass like ashes and I was only recovering 80 or 90 percent.

I jumped in and bought 600 pieces of brass off of eBay, ordered dies and a box of 500 bullets from Midway and started loading.

Here are some pictures of the gun. It has some holster wear on it and no doubt has seen plenty of use.

If you are interested in purchasing one of these little guns, they can be had at Auction Arms.com for around $150. Just go in and search for "CZ 70", there are lots of them floating around.