kel-tec pa3t and +P ammo

[The grons]

I am upset and wrote Kel tec for a refund on some ammo I purchased. I bought some Buffalo Bore .380 +P JHP because the Kel Tec manual says that you can shoot +P ammo but not continuously. Well to the prudent man this says that the gun is rated for +P but not for every single shot. So to double check before I shot I emailed Kel Tec and they said that the gun is NOT rated for +P and should not run more than 1 clip of +P ammo in the life of the gun.

This is a far cry from "the gun will shoot +P but not continuously...I told them that I would like a refund on the buffalo bore $36 ammo because I would have never bought the ammo if the manual said it was not rated for it and only 1 clip can be fired without damaging the gun.

If that doesn't work I might ask for a ful refund on the gun and buy a Ruger LCP. I like the LCP better anyways because of the Slide lock.

 

[Erich]

Well, don't get the idea that the LCP is at all warranted for anything other than standard-pressure, boring, regular SAAMI .380 - because Ruger specifically says that it's not (nowadays).

Good gun, though.

 

[EHL]

Kel tec has a lifetime warranty on thier products, so at worst, your gun would make a trip to the factory if the Buffalo Bore did damage it. (I seriously doubt that it will though.)

 

[The grons]

I know the LCP won't shoot the +P but if I had a chance to trade in a PA3T I would do it for the Slide lock. The Kel Tec doesn't jam or stove pipe too often but when it does; you need three arms to pull the casing or bullet out. I am a little disturbed that the user manual said +P ammon will work; because a maxium of 1 clip of +P is NOT what the manual says. I would have never spent the money on the Buffalo Bore if they were up front in the first place. How anyone can equivicate 1 clip of +P ammo to not continuous is beyond me. If someone shot +P often (but not continuously) and the gun blew up and they lost an eye...Kel Tec would be paying millions in damages.

 

[exdetsgt]

It's just a basic belly gun. Use standard ammo for practice. If you want +P for carry, sure. Just don't start running +P in hundred round lots. There's no point.

 

[EHL]

I think you're jumping the gun here Grons..... Them saying that it would only handle "exactly 1 clip(sic) of +p ammo" sounds like the same legal-type talk that gun manufacturers routinely spout out to cover their arses. You ever read on just about every gun's owners manual how you "should never shoot reloaded ammunition"? They just do it to insure they won't be sued should their gun blow up because of somebody's bad reloads. Their tons of fellas in here that routinely shoot the Buffalo Bore .380 load and there are still mysteriously no reported deaths or dismemberments here on THR, due to this combination of firearm and ammo. Somehow I think the silence is saying enough.

 

[tkopp]

Pull out the barrel and look at it. Check out the chamber at 5 and 7 o'clock. It's a little thicker than a soup can.

Now check out the main spring. Mine's barely powerful enough to coax a hollowpoint up the feed ramp.

The gun is what it is. Light, inexpensive, tiny. It succeeds at being a handy .380 you can drop in your pocket and forget. As exdetsgt says, in the unlikely event you're attacked and need to use the weapon, it's probably not going to blow up in your hands from firing 3-7 high-pressure rounds. After that the police will confiscate your weapon and you may never see it again anyhow. Even if you do, it's done you the $300 worth of good it cost in the first place Heck, you could even pop off 3-4 at the range to make sure they cycle properly. Just don't practice regularly with the stuff.

Heck, my officer model .45 will fire .45 super loads at 50% higher pressure than .45 ACP. I ran through a few rounds before I figured out something was very, very wrong. Sustained use would probably see me with a slide imbedded in my smile and a broken slide stop rolling around on the floor, but a few rounds? No big deal.

 

[The grons]

Thanks everyone for your input!

 

[DasFriek]

If you can afford to shoot +p Hollow points from BB for target practice you should be able to afford a more expensive gun that can handle the power of +p.
As small and lite as the KT and LCP im surprised they don't fly into a million pieces after a few clips.

The first sentence of my post is a joke,and not meant to offend you the OP.
But i really do think your not looking at this situation correctly.

 

[Gary A]

I thought there is no established +P rating for .380. Has that changed? Seems self-evident to me to not shoot over-pressure ammo in P3ATs and LCPs, although it seems Ruger has been more attentive to what they say in their literature than Kel-Tec has been in this case.

 

[trimore]

duplicate info

 

[MachIVshooter]

I've run handloaded 102 grain Remington GOlden Sabres through mine in fair quantity with no ill effects. The P3AT can handle it.

As for KT paying for your ammo, that's just not reasonable. If you were that concerned, should have called them before you bought it.

 

[The grons]

As for KT paying for your ammo, that's just not reasonable. If you were that concerned, should have called them before you bought it. You re right, but I'll bet you that with their life-time guarantee and the way the manual is written; they have had to replace a lot of guns and barrels.

 

[The grons]

If you can afford to shoot +p Hollow points from BB for target practice you should be able to afford a more expensive gun that can handle the power of +p.

My intentions were to run 2 or 3 clips at the range to make certain that there wouldn't be any feed issues; then to have kel tec tell me that "not continuous use" meant no more than 1 clip during the life of the gun...I felt that the user manual was misleading.

 

[Loanshark]

How much do you want for the rounds? I'll shoot them and carry them in my kel tec...