Yesterday I took my recently purchased .32NAA Guardian out to the range to test it against my other pocket pistols.  I was really interested to see if the .32NAA ammo did indeed pack enough of a punch necessary to make the gun a good carry gun.

   

   The other test weapons were:  a Ruger LCP.380ACP; a .32ACP Guardian; and a .22 Magnum NAA Pug.  Personal protection ammo was used for each.

   

   

   

   The "test medium" was the latest Grainger catalog, with 1400 pages of thin, tightly packed sheets of paper.  

   

   

   

   I was ready with four catalogs stacked back-to-back, but the books were so tough, not one of the test ammo bullets made it all the way through even the first book!   Shooting distance was 15 ft.   A minimum of two bullets of each type were tested.  Each of the hollowpoint  rounds flattened out nicely.

   

   

   

   Here are the results:  Using the weakest ammo as the baseline (the .32 ACP) the penetration results showed:

   

   - All the self-defense rounds used flattened out admirably (granted, they were smashing into a pretty dense medium)

   - The .32NAA Corbon hollowpoints REALLY threw off some wounding power, with the lead core and copper jack separating and creating TWO distinct paths of destruction per each round.

   - The .22 Magnum round, shot from a Pug, was on par with the .32ACP round.

   - The .380 ACP round, shot from a Ruger LCP, penetrated 30-40% deeper than either the .32ACP or .22 Magnum round

   - The new .32NAA round, shot from a .32NAA Guardian, penetrated 70% deeper than the .32ACP or .22 Magnum round

   - The .32NAA round penetrated 2.5x more deeply than the .380ACP round

   

   Here are closeups of the various bullets.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   Now, I wouldn't take these are pure and infallible test results.   1)  In most cases, I only shot two bullets; 2) My penetration estimates were "eyeballed" and might have had a margin of error of 25 catalog pages or so); 3) the catalogs were not tightly bound together, but sitting upright on their spines inside a cardboard box - this might have created differing densities for different areas of the catalog (i.e., the pages were more tightly bound near the spine).

   

   BUT...

   

   What I was looking for was RELATIVE stopping power - mainly, how did the .32NAA round stack up against the .380ACP round?  I think I proved (to myself, anyway) that:

   

   - The .32NAA round is every bit as powerful as the .380ACP

   - The .22 Magnum round is the equal of the .32ACP round

   

   I'm satisfied...  next:  how does the new Short-Barrell .22 Magnum ammo stack up against regular .22 Magnum ammo?

that 32NAA is an impressive round

   in your opinion, what was more comfortable shooting the 380 ruger or the 32NAA guardian?

   

   nice pictures and thanks for the report

Wow,  nice tests. You are confirming my choice to move to .32NAA. Maybe backed up with a .22 Magnum of the new short-barreled stuff discussed on the other thread.

   

   Well done.

   

   Move over, DB380. The new guy is in town. ;)

Thanks, Collector.

   

   SILVERSHOOTER ---> I wasn't paying that much attention to shooting comfort (I should have - good point) but I'm going to say the .32NAA was the winner in that category.  

   

   Of course, it was being shot from a steel gun, as opposed to the polymer Ruger LCR.  

   

   Neither of them are uncomfortable for me, really.  (I figured if/when I need to use a pocket pistol, my adrenalin will take care of any discomfort issues!)

   

   Hope that helps.

Hey, Doug, if I get some time soon (crossing fingers!), I'll try to supplement your data with some actual chrony numbers. Would be interested to see how fast the .32NAA is actually coming out of the Guardian, plus the new .22 mag ammo.

   

   Heading to Wyoming for the weekend for a family reunion of sorts, though, so it won't be immediately.

COLLECTOR -->  Great idea... I'm going to add something about the new CCI Speer Short-Range ammo, too.  Mine just arrived.  Did you get any of it?

Yup. Got two boxes. Wish I had gotten more. Headed to Wymoing in the morning, though. Probably be next weekend when I get a chance to test it.

Dar,

   

   You're welcome to bring your guns to Wyoming.  In some areas it's hard to find a place where you can't shoot.  But you know that.

   

   Do some grocery shopping on the way back.  We don't have sales tax on grub.  Spend a hundred dollars; save eight in sales tax; buy a new gun to celebrate your savings.

Wahoo for Wyoming!

   

   Utah has either lower tax or no tax on food, too (I forget which--they're always changing stuff like that in the Utah legislature; they want to boost the food tax back up because the state is hurting for cash).

   

   I'm sure I'll enjoy my stay. :-)

id like to spend a little time in wyoming myself. ill be halfway there in september, maybe ill keep going after the conference.

Doug,

   

   

   If you have a few of those catalogs laying around maybe you could try soaking one in a bucket of water for a few hours before testing. I would be interested in seeing the carnage.

I have only one caveat about your test.  It would be stronger if you had used  

   Corbon ammo where available (.380 acp and .32 acp).  Otherwise, it is not a direct comparison.

   Just a suggestion.  It is a good start on building a database.