Kel-Tec P3AT Range Test

[telewinz]

Just got back from shooting 50 rounds of .380 lead reloads thru my band new Kel-Tec. Perfect performance At 50 feet I was able to put 25 rounds on a 9" paper plate. With better sights and eyes I good do a lot better, I'm using 10 year old glasses while waiting for my news ones to come in. I must admit that the front sight was pretty much a blur so I resorted to shooting one handed and it seemed to increase my hits. Tore a little flap of skin on the web of my hand after about 25 rounds but using a golf glove next time should take care of that. I think the pistol is capable of excellent accuracy, better than needed or what I'm capable of. Whats nice is that I had 6 P3AT pistols to choose from so I was able to select the one with the lightest trigger pull. It's a KEEPER! No problem taking it apart, pretty much a straight forward process, next I'll polish the feed ramp and lube it a little. The magazine is easy to load with no sharp edges unlike other small pistols I own.

 

[azrael]

Gravy

I shot mine yesterday...only put 30 or so rounds through it to stay "intune" with it...all went into the a-zone and head at 7ft

 

[goalie]

Pulled mine on a guy trying to steal my wifes purse last night after a wedding. My urine stayed in the bladder at 0 feet. Purse is still in my wife's possession. It is now officially the best $225.00 my wife ever spent. (According to her. She bought if for me for my b-day in mid-March, and I doubt if she will ever ask me why I am carrying to a wedding again either)

FWIW, If the wifey had not bought me a P3AT, I would have had a NAA mini-.22 in my pocket. I would have liked a shotgun, but the .380 felt a hell of a lot better than a mini-.22 would have felt.

 

[cratz2]

Glad to hear everyone made it out with no new holes, goalie!

When talking about deep concealment guns, one of the things people rarely mention about the NAA mini revolvers is the lack of intimidation factor. Granted, no one wants a gun pointed at them, but the NAAs are so small, that there is probably a decent chance in dim light that the bad guy wouldn't even know a gun was being pointed at him.

On topic, glad to hear more positive reports on the P3AT... I think it's one of the few guns almost all gun owners should have one of.

 

[Dave R]

Traded my P-32 for a P-3AT over the weekend. Will post a range report when I get the time to write one, but overall I'm impressed.

I did NOT find the .380 any harder to control or shoot than the -32.

 

[horge]

Thanks for the report!
Any chance for pics?



Goalie ---great going!!!
Glad you both came out of it safe and sound!

 

[Pylon]

Goalie, thanks for sharing that story with us! Its not often we get actual real life stories of people pulling their guns. And even more rare that a P3-AT is pulled. Glad it all went well!

-Pylon

 

[Jim PHL]

I also traded my P32 for a P3AT. I have a little more confidence in the .380 but still prefer a larger caliber when circumstance and mode of dress allow. The thing with the KT's are they are so carryable there is never a reason to be without one. I even carry it in the pocket of elastic banded 'gym-shorts'. The .380 definitely has a little more 'pop' than the .32 but is more fun than painful. I don't know whether it's the individual gun or something to do with the .380 vs. the .32 but I am also much more accurate with the new one. Last time out: 50 rounds, 1-hand, two hand, slow, fast and at various distances - all 50 within the 7 ring of a B29 target. ("Shrunk-down" version of the full-size B27 silouette style target.) Roughly your 9" paper plate size hole pattern. I'm lovin' mine.

 

[JShirley]

Just got latest SWAT. It has a P-3AT review.

John

 

[The_Shootist]

P-3AT

Joined the P-32 brotherhood over the weekend and can't wait to get back to the range to put another 150 rds through it (to see if I re-assembled properly after cleaning it )

One reason I went with the P-32 was it was supposedly easier to practice with rather than the .380 version. Maybe I'll have to get the P-3AT as well...grin.

The P-32 IS easy to practice with - which gives me more confidence in it as a carry gun. Its really becoming my "go-everywhere" pistol vs my SP 101.
Now, I'm wondering if I should have stepped up immediately to the P-3AT.

 

[GigaBuist]

I'm convinced now that my P3AT troubles are just a matter of limp wristing the thing. I could swear I head a Death Grip on the thing the last outing (yesterday) but I got 7 failures to eject out of 50 rounds.

I'm putting a Hogue Handall Jr. on it for the next outing to see if that helps. Next comees the magazine extension if that doesn't do it for me I'm just going to have to sell the darned thing to somebody with beefier hands I think... or just train with it until it becomes natural to grasp my firearms with a more solid grip.

It can't be normal that I'm bleeding on the joint where my thumb meets my hand after shooting this thing. Definately need to do something about the way it fits into my hands.

 

[alamo]

The Houge Handall, Jr. and magazine extension will definitely help, I've got both on my P-3AT. Here's some good info. on them:

http://www.1bad69.com/keltec/handalljr.htm

http://www.1bad69.com/keltec/p3at-fingerrest.htm


I also cut a couple of strips of some premium Dr. Scholls foot pads and inserted them vertically on the back side of the grip under the Handall, Jr.
It adds some horizonal length to the grip and makes it easier to get a hold of it. It also makes the trigger pull seem a tad shorter.

Making sure your wrist is locked is important. I limpwristed a few times with mine, only time I've ever had it happen with any pistol including my P-32s. I was anticipating the recoil when I shot due to the fact that I was in a small indoor range with 10 lanes. This was just prior to deer season and about 5 of the lanes were occupied by guys sighting in their deer rifles. The sound of the deer rifles was incredibly loud and after a couple of mags, I started losing my concentration and was a bit jittery right as I was about to shoot, expecting the earshattering "BOOM".

 

[GigaBuist]

FWIW, KelTec does have their own P3AT finger extension now. It might not even be listed on their webpage -- wasn't last I checked.

Saw a guy on gunbroker.com selling them. I sent an email to KT asking if that was legit and they said yep -- they just got them in and sent 'em out the door.

I think I'm gonna go order one before you guys nab his stock.

 

[alamo]

Is there a picture of them on gunbroker? Link?

 

[Big_R]

Link to GunBroker

http://forthehunt.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=17218778

Ryan

 

[alamo]

Thanks - that's the +1 extension like they've had for the P-32. Thought maybe it was their own grip extender like what they have for the P-11.

 

[yzguy]

P-3AT finger extension info:
http://www.1bad69.com/keltec/p3at-fingerrest.htm

 

[kokapelli]

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I have both the KT + one extension and the Bersa extension. IMO, the Bersa finger extension functions perfectly and is the best looking of all the finger extensions being used on the P-32 or P-3AT. It looks like it was made for the KTs. Of course it does not give you a + one extension! YZ's previous post has the link for Eagle Imports where you can order the bersa extension.
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[Kimdo]

Grips and extensions

I tried both the Hogue Jr. and A-grip on my P-3AT. Both helped but neither was perfect. I think that Flyer's "Pro-Grip" mod may be the best answer but havn't tried it. This extends the backstrap by about 1/4" and adds cushion without increasing the width.
The Bersa extension made the largest difference in recoil control for me and made the grips unecessary. Of course a couple hundred rounds down range may have helped a little. No feed, eject, or casing to the forehead problems since.
So far I havn't got the KT +1 extensions to function reliabibly and am back to using the Bersa floor plate. I'll sacrafice one round for reliability.
KT has cornered the market on the lighest, smallest, most powerful pistols on the market.
That is, if you have the wrist to control them.
Kim
P-3AT
P-11
P-.357sig
P-40