Seecamp: King of the Mouse Guns

A couple of years ago, I went on a "guns I've always wanted to have" kick.  One of the guns I acquired during this shameless binge is a Seecamp .32 automatic.  I remember reading about them back in 1985 when they were introduced.  All the gun writers who reviewed them mentioned the obvious quality of the guns, pointing out that they were hand-fitted nearly to the level of a custom gun.  They immediately came to be regarded as the "Cadillac" of the pocket guns, and there was a waiting list of over a year to get one.  I really wanted one.  The idea of a high quality pocket pistol made sense to me.  Anyone who carries concealed regularly will tell you that it aways comes down to a compromise between effectiveness, concealability, and convienience.  There are times and circumstances when a small pocket pistol is the best (or sometimes only) option. 

These excellent guns are basically built around a single cartridge: the Winchester silver tip hollow point.  That's what they're tuned for, and that's what Seecamp recommends you shoot in them.  I couldn't locate an silver tips locally, so I bought a box of UMC 71 grain FMJ rounds and decided to see what would happen.  The first thing that happened (or more correctly, didn't happen) was the inability of the rounds to be loaded into the gun's magazine.  They were too long, and would not fit.  It dawned on me that the silver tips are 60 grain bullets, and I theorized that the 11 grain difference in bullet weight - or more precisely, the accompanying increase in bullet length - was the real culprit behind the ammunition limitation.

 

While I was thinking through all of this, I remembered another odd thing I noticed when I first received the used Seecamp.  A part of the magazine was loose in the box, and the magazine had been assembled without it.  The part is a sort of "L" shaped plate whose long side fits vertically along the spine of the magazine. It's main purpose is to retain the magazine's floorplate.  I recall thinking that was sort of strange, why would someone take that part out of the magazine and leave it out?  In one of those eureka moments, I disassembled the magazine, and reassembled it without the L-shaped plate.  Sure enough, without that part, it is possible to load 71 grain cartridges into the magazine.  I guess the gun's previous owner had figured that out, and just left it that way.  So, the thickness of that particular part was essentially the reason for all 60 grain ammo recommendations.  But would it work without that part?  A trip to the range showed that, yes, while the magazine would function without the part,  without it, there was nothing holding the floorplate in place.  If you're not careful, the floorplate will slip forward and dump the spring and follower - along with all of your cartridges - onto the ground.  A solution?  Sort of, but not a very good one.  Especially so as the Seecamp is a self-defense pistol. 

I should point out here that I'm perfectly happy to load my Seecamp with silver tips and carry it that way.  By this point, the question had become just a "can it be done" sort of thing that shooters sometimes indulge in.  There was nothing really to gain from taking this any further except information, and maybe a little bit of satisfaction.

With that understanding, I did a little experimenting.  I found that my gun will function perfectly with the heavier bullets - no problem.  I went along like this for a while, because the cheaper factory ammo is almost invariably 71 grain.  I just didn't feel like spending nearly a dollar a round to shoot my Seecamp.  So, I took the part out of the magazine before each trip to the range, then put it back in.  

I am a long time reloader, but I never seriously considered reloading .32 ACP because the Seecamp is my only gun in that caliber, and I just don't shoot it enough to justify keeping an inventory of the additional components.   By pure chance, I found a deal on a good set of Hornady dies, and bought them in case I wanted to start loading .32 auto.  I haven't loaded any, but having the dies gave me another idea.  What if you bought the cheaper 71 grain ammo and simply seated the bullets the thickness of the L-shaped plate deeper?  I tried it.  The magic number ended up being about .020" and the rounds loaded easily into the magazine.  They fed, fired, cycled, ejected perfectly.  So I had found two ways to use cheaper ammo in my Seecamp:  take the magazine part out, or seat the bullets more deeply. 

Does seating the bullet deeper increase the pressure of the cartridge?  Sure it does.  Does it increase it dangerously so?  Not even close.  Remember, we're only talking about seating the bullet about two one-hundredths of an inch deeper, and the .32 auto is not really a fire breathing, high-pressure cartridge to begin with.  There was no discernable difference in blast, report, or recoil.  A very careful examination of the primers of the spent casings showed no hint of the flattening or cratering indicative of excessive pressure.  The only thing that seemed to suffer a little bit was accuracy, but my perception of that is purely subjective since I did not include that variable as part of my experimentation.

So what does all of this prove?  Well, not a lot really.  It confirms that the Seecamp pistol was designed around a specific cartridge of a specific bullet weight.  That's hardly a news flash, the Seecamp website explains that very clearly.  Like most shooters and reloaders, I like to tinker and experiment in my hobby.  I guess it just presented me with a challenge, and I wanted to see if I could figure out a way to solve it.