goalie
Member
My wife got me a P3AT for my B-day this year. I got out to the range on saturday to break it in. I had heard both polar extreme ends of the spectrum on quality and reliability, so I really had no idea what to expect when I shot the little thing for the first time.
Accuracy: Much better than I thought it would be. I am not sure if I just lucked out, or if they are all like this, but my little gun's point of aim with the minimal sights was dead-on with the point of impact. I could shoot the whole magazine into a fist sized area of the chest on a target at 7 yards with aimed fire, and I hit the head 12 for 12 from 5 yards slow fire. The only time I was not able to keep all the shots in a nice group was when I backed off to 25 yards just to see if I could do anything from that distance with the tiny site radius. Rapid fire at 5 and 7 yards left all the shots as hits, usually with a paper plate sized group. I am actually quite pleased with the minimal sights, as they line up quickly.
Reliability: Once again I was quite pleased. I was tempted to do the "fluff-and-buff" that people talk about on KTOG, however, I wanted to see what it would do right out of the box so I held off. I put 125 rounds through it, all FMJ, with no malfunctions. I plan on carrying ball ammo in this caliber anyhow, as I want as much penetration as I can get, as it is my belief that, in a .380 with a barrel this short, expansion is a crapshoot at best with any ammo, so I may as well take the added penetration and learn to shoot it well.
Overall Impression: For under $250 I now have a truely pocket sized, reliable .380 that I can actually shoot well for those times when I cannot carry a gun. I want to thank everyone who posted stuff that encouraged me to finally get a pocket pistol, it really is easy to carry.
Accuracy: Much better than I thought it would be. I am not sure if I just lucked out, or if they are all like this, but my little gun's point of aim with the minimal sights was dead-on with the point of impact. I could shoot the whole magazine into a fist sized area of the chest on a target at 7 yards with aimed fire, and I hit the head 12 for 12 from 5 yards slow fire. The only time I was not able to keep all the shots in a nice group was when I backed off to 25 yards just to see if I could do anything from that distance with the tiny site radius. Rapid fire at 5 and 7 yards left all the shots as hits, usually with a paper plate sized group. I am actually quite pleased with the minimal sights, as they line up quickly.
Reliability: Once again I was quite pleased. I was tempted to do the "fluff-and-buff" that people talk about on KTOG, however, I wanted to see what it would do right out of the box so I held off. I put 125 rounds through it, all FMJ, with no malfunctions. I plan on carrying ball ammo in this caliber anyhow, as I want as much penetration as I can get, as it is my belief that, in a .380 with a barrel this short, expansion is a crapshoot at best with any ammo, so I may as well take the added penetration and learn to shoot it well.
Overall Impression: For under $250 I now have a truely pocket sized, reliable .380 that I can actually shoot well for those times when I cannot carry a gun. I want to thank everyone who posted stuff that encouraged me to finally get a pocket pistol, it really is easy to carry.
