I have a soft spot in my heart for DA/SA guns. I have always enjoyed the DA/SA action and design. Some of my favorite guns include the various hammer-fired CZs, the S&W 3rd Generation guns, the Walther P99, and, of course, the Beretta 92FS. I was issued an M9 during my time in the Marine Corps and loved the beat-up old blaster. This love of DA/SA guns has brought me to the smallest of DA/SA guns, the Beretta tip-up series, specifically the Beretta 3032 Tomcat.
The 3032 Tomcat is the second smallest centerfire DA/SA gun currently in production. The only other option is the Beretta 21A in 25 ACP. It’s also the only 32 ACP DA/SA gun currently being produced. The micro-sized Beretta keeps that famed Beretta appearance, specifically the open slide design and exposed barrel. The Tomcat is a pocket-sized pistol with a fairly unique degree of features. It’s certainly not another KelTec P3AT clone. The Tomcat is an interesting pistol. It’s a gun I like and enjoy, but it is also a gun I wouldn’t recommend to most shooters.
Inside the Beretta Tomcat
While this gun keeps the classic Beretta look, it doesn’t use the Beretta short recoil operating mechanism but a direct blowback design. One of the more unique features of the Beretta Tomcat kind of forces the gun to be a direct blowback design. The Tomcat is a tip-up barrel design. When you press a small lever on the side of the gun, the barrel pops up and out of the gun. This exposes the chamber and allows you to directly load a round into the chamber.
It’s often touted as a great feature for people with reduced hand strength. You don’t have to manually operate the slide. However, the double-action trigger is extremely long and quite heavy. If you have weak hand strength, then it’s likely going to be quite difficult to pull the double-action trigger. There is still some value in the tip-up barrel for most shooters. The slide on the Tomcat is exceptionally small and difficult to manipulate.
Tip-Up Barrel
Additionally, the tip-up barrel is somewhat of a necessity since the gun does not have an extractor. The Tomcat relies on the blowback action to eject the case. If the gun fails to extract, you have to pop the barrel up to remove the round. The same goes for clearing the weapon. You can’t rack the slide to eject the live round.
Loading the chamber also makes life a little easier since the gun lacks a decocker. You can load the chamber without having to worry about the gun cocking into single action. If you do need to decock the weapon, there is a safe way to do so. You can drop the hammer with the barrel tipped upwards. Hit the barrel lever, and then ride the hammer forward.
The Intricacies of the Tomcat
The Beretta 3032 Tomcat is pint-sized but still fairly bulky. The barrel is 2.4 inches long, and the gun’s overall length is 4.92 inches. The Tomcat is 3.7 inches tall. That’s all fairly small, but the 3032 is 1.1 inches wide, making it wider than 9mm guns like the P365, which also holds more ammunition. The gun itself weighs 14.5 ounces. It’s still a pocket pistol. It’s just a bit thick.
We have a frame-mounted manual safety that can be used on either double or single-action modes. The Beretta 3032’s safety is not a drop-safe design. It doesn’t block the firing pin. The weapon should be carried with the hammer down for safety’s sake. You could carry it cocked and locked, but that doesn’t seem advisable. The magazine holds seven rounds, and you can easily pop one in the chamber.
The gun comes with a big piece of paper that states you cannot use ammunition that exceeds 129 foot-pounds. The very small and lightweight Tomcat cannot take the pressure of hotter .32 ACP loads. If you use loads that exceed 129 foot-pounds of energy, then you can crack the frame or slide of the gun.
Most American 32 ACP loads won’t exceed this pressure level. PMC, Remington, and Winchester are fine. Aguila is also fine. I’d stay away from Fioochi and Pvri Partisan loads. You have to be very selective with your ammunition selection.
Ergonomics
The Tomcat has some odd ergonomics. A short and fat grip is quite comfy. The plastic grips are nicely textured and feel good in the hand. The little hump at the rear is supposed to protect your hand, but it doesn’t work well for me. Lots of slide here. The lever for the tip-up barrel is easy to reach and reacts instantly.
The frame-mounted safety is also very nice and clicks up and down without complaint. The magazine release is oddly placed on the grip. It’s a big button on the rear bottom. It’s functional, but you won’t reload quickly, especially since the magazines do not drop free.
Taking the Tomcat For a Walk
Shooting the Tomcat is an interesting experience. Most of us expect a lot of recoil from a gun this small, especially when it’s blowback operated. However, the 3032 Tomcat is fairly soft shooting. It’s very loud but is soft shooting and comfortable. The fat bottom grip must certainly help. Where you can run into a little pain is slide bite. The gun can take a chunk out of your hand if you hold it a little too high. Avoid that because it does hurt.
The minimal recoil makes it easy to shoot the gun quickly and accurately at close ranges. You can spit some pretty rapid double taps with the weapon. It’s also super easy to shoot with one hand, more so than most other pocket pistols. While the grip is quite small, you can get a good two-handed grip on the gun for maximum control.
Shooting Straight
You can shoot fast, but can you shoot accurately? Surprisingly, yes, you can. The gun has some very small sights, but it does have sights. It can be tough to track the tiny blade of a front sight since it blends in well with the rear sight. A little touch-up from a paint pen adds some contrast to the front sight, makes it much easier to see, and amps up the gun’s accuracy.
Lots of people will describe these as belly guns, but that’s because they can’t shoot. At 25 yards, I can hit an IPSC target in the A and C zone. Even from the draw at 15 yards, I can place a shot on a 10-inch gong fairly quickly, in under four seconds. It’s nowhere near as fast as a bigger, easier-to-shoot gun, but it’s still more accurate than most people give the gun credit for.
The biggest problem with the gun is the super heavy double-action trigger. It’s one of the longest and heaviest I’ve experienced. It’s gritty as it moves and is far from smooth. The single action is much better. There is some take-up, but the pull is short and sweet. With the double-action trigger, I’ve found it best to pull it as fast as I can to get accurate shots. The slower I go, the worse my accuracy seems to be.
A Pile of 32 ACP
After shooting several hundred rounds through the gun, I’m happy to say it’s quite reliable. I ran into one issue when a round failed to extract, which created a type two malfunction. A had to hit the tip-up lever and drop the mag to clear the gun. Fixing malfunctions can be quite difficult, and it’s not always a fast process. Tap, rack, bang does not apply with this gun.
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Should You or Shouldn’t You?
The Tomcat is best described as finicky. You have to use the correct ammo or the gun breaks. You’ll get bit by the slide if you’re not careful. Don’t forget the lack of an extractor makes any malfunction clearing a matter of tens of seconds. The double-action trigger sucks, and you can’t carry it cocked and locked. Plus, the guns aren’t cheap. Depending on the variants, the Tomcat can cost anywhere from 450 to 650 dollars. I love the .32 ACP cartridge, but it’s also fairly expensive.
There are other, much less finicky pocket pistols out there that are cheaper and even smaller. They aren’t DA/SA guns, but they function quite well. I love the gun, but it’s because it’s odd, with the micro-sized DA/SA design, the tip-up barrel, and the small, bulldog-like nature of the gun. At the same time, it’s not a gun I’d suggest for other shooters unless they are DA/SA nerds.
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