Many years ago I tested a variety of .32 ACP and .380 autopistols to determine which of the ones then currently available were the most natural pointers using Applegate technique, and were most reliable. The Colt M1903 Model M pocket model, Type II without the magazine safety was widely issued during WWII and into the Vietnam era. It was normally carried with its chamber empty, hammer cocked and safety off with loaded magazine inserted, racking the slide with the weak hand concurrent with the draw stroke. This method originated with the Hong Kong police, but is widely attributed to the Israeli's who learned it from the British.
Testing under car-jacking and kidnap scenarios determined that a pocket pistol must be capable of safe carry with its chamber loaded, and be capable of immediate fire by means of the trigger stroke only, without having to manipulate a mechanical safety lever. German police experience greatly influenced training and doctrine with the pocket pistol. If a pistol has to be fired through the pocket it is best to do so holding it inverted and slightly raised so that ejected cases fall down into the pocket away from the gun, reducing the risk of jams. DA revolvers with a fully shrouded or enclosed hammer are best for firing through the pocket, as any exposed hammer may snag in lining.
Best choices for pocket pistols available pre-1970 for this purpose were the Walther PP and Mauser HSc. Of current offerings the Beretta Tomcat INOX in my opinion is more reliable, has a better grip, is a more natural pointer and is more accurate than the Ken-Tec. Its double-action trigger also permits a repeat strike on a misfired primer by repeating the trigger stroke, whereas the Ruger LCP requires the slide be racked to eject the misfired round and to chamber another one.
The Beretta system works better for people previously schooled in DA revolvers whose first impulse is to simply restroke the trigger, whereas the Ruger system is suitable only for trained and practiced in single-action autopistols such as the M1911, and whose whose first impulse upon a misfire is Tap-Rack-Bang!
If combat isn’t your job, but you have other essential, and dangerous tasks to perform, the purpose of a gun carried by a clandestine operator was to neutralize immediate threats from contact to 20 feet to facilitate escape to complete the mission. In the words of the late Harry Archer, “If you stand and fight you’ll never live to shoot them all.” The goal was rapidity of fire, accurate, multiple hits at close range, maximum control, with minimum muzzle flash and recoil, discreet profile and minimum weight and cube of “the package.”
While a .32 ACP is never first choice as a defense gun, it is better to have any gun than none, if you might be tempted NOT to carry and leave a larger gun at home and thus take your chances. Whenever using a marginal caliber, shot placement, reliability and penetration are most important. In the .32 ACP stick to European hardball, such as RWS, Sellier & Bellot, Privi Partisan or Fiocchi, which actually does give 900+ f.p.s. in chronograph tests, whereas US makes tested seldom get 850 and use a lighter 71-gr. vs. 73 grain bullet. No hollowpoint ammunition currently available in .32 ACP produces reliable expansion in barrels as short as 2.5 inches. When fired from barrels longer than 3 inches which do permit expansion, penetration is inadequate. Some pistols steadfastly refuse to feed hollowpoints and the lighter weight bullets in some popular ammunition have insufficient recoil impulse to reliably cycle older WWII era Euro pistols balanced for 73-grain hardball.
We are not talking "one shot stops" here and do not make comparisions on a round-for-round basis. For a pocket gun to have any effectiveness the user must practice "shoot and scoot" to produce multiple hits quickly. Think of a .32 ACP as firing a single round of buckshot from a sawed off shotgun in which 8 pellets are fired serially in about 2-2.5 seconds, versus instantly.
