Recent Purchase and Range Report.
I bought NIB SG Parkerized P-3AT for $280 on Sept. 20 at a local gun shop but couldn't get to the range until Nov 16.
I had a lot of time between buying and actually shooting so I spent some of the time "readying" the gun and myself.
I got two extra mags (3 total). Added Bersa finger extensions to them.
http://www.bersa-llama.com/380litepts.html part #48. Added O-rings above the finger extensions. Cleaned the mags (weren't really dirty) and lubed them inside with silicone spray. Polished them outside with car polish.
For the pistol - I field stripped and cleaned it (wasn't really dirty) polished the chamber, feed ramp, and hood, with #600 then #800 emery cloth (it was pretty shiny but it had some Parkerizing on the outside edges of the feed ramp). I deburred the trigger (it was a little sharp on the edges - I just rounded the edges a bit). I added a Pachmyr slip-on grip (trimmed it to fit around the mag release).
http://www.pachmayr.com/pachmayr/index.htm model 4. Added a foam insert about 1/4" thick inside the slip-on grip at the backstrap to give the grip a little more depth. I have a large hand with long fingers which made the trigger pull challenging. The foam insert helped - I may even add a bit more. I painted the front sight day-glow red and the rear sight day-glow green. I lubed it with Miltec oil and SlideGlide grease (great stuff - you need just a very, very thin coating and it doesn't drag and build up like most grease does).
http://www.brianenos.com/pages/slide-glide.html
I dry fired it with A-Zoom snap caps a couple of hundred times in a number of sessions.
http://www.lymanproducts.com/azoom/index.htm I wanted to get used to the trigger while keeping the sights on target. Tried various gripping and trigger pull combinations. Finally found a combination the seemed good. The trigger and the slide smoothed out quite a bit during the dry firing. I cleaned and lubed it once again after the dry firing sessions.
Got 50 rounds of Federal American Eagle 95 gr. FMJ,
50 rounds of Remington High Velocity 95 gr. FMJ,
40 rounds of Federal Hydra-Shok 90 gr. JHP,
and 40 rounds of Speer Gold Dot 90 gr. JHP.
At the range I did most firing at 7 yd., some at 4 yd. Some slow fire from the bench (no sandbags etc. - just rested elbows on bench). Some slow fire standing, some rapid fire standing - all two handed, strong arm fully extended, weak arm bent (sort of Chapmanish).
This is my first gun and I haven't fired a firearm in 40 years so I was a little apprehensive. I expected a lot more recoil than I actually got. It was very manageable (maybe because of the slip-on grip with insert and finger extensions). All went very well. The P-3AT was great and I was pretty good too. Mostly fairly tight groups - averaged about 3" at 7 yd. slow fire, not more than 2" from POA (with a few flyers of course). Most groups were 2" high/right. The 4 yd. firing was rapid fire in a self-defense mode. Must work on that (especially since that's what I got the gun for) - was mostly within 5" of POA, five inch groups and a lot of flyers.
Shot 170 rounds:
50 rounds of the FMJs slow fire- no malfs. Cleaned and lubed the gun.
40 rounds of the JHPs slow fire- no malfs. Cleaned and lubed the gun
20 rounds of the FMJs rapid fire- no malfs.
20 rounds of the JHPs rapid fire- no malfs.
12 rounds of the FMJs in 2 to COM +1 to head pattern - no malfs.
12 rounds of the JHPs in 2 to COM +1 to head - no malfs.
16 rounds mixed ammo in 2 to COM +2 to head pattern - one FTEject on the next to last round (gun was pretty dirty, 79th round since last cleaning).
I'm extremely happy - the gun's a keeper - I'd trust it completely for its purposes
Now I have to get as good as the gun!
