What ammo does the P-3AT not like?
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bpisler
Member
In the shooting i did before i sold
my P-3AT it didn't like wolf,UMC or
S&B.I had FTE with the wolf,the S&B
seemed to be too hot.Spent cases
would have flatten primers and it seemedhave more recoil than the others.
The UMC seemed to be real dirty and
after 15 to 20 rounds i would get all
types of failures.I did not have any
promblems with blazer brass,WWB or
american eagle.
my P-3AT it didn't like wolf,UMC or
S&B.I had FTE with the wolf,the S&B
seemed to be too hot.Spent cases
would have flatten primers and it seemedhave more recoil than the others.
The UMC seemed to be real dirty and
after 15 to 20 rounds i would get all
types of failures.I did not have any
promblems with blazer brass,WWB or
american eagle.
priv8ter
Member
S&B
S&B is Sellier & Bellot. I believe they are a Czech company. It's a bummer you have found them to be too hot...I've been thinking of picking some up to try in my P-3AT, because I don't think I'm going to get good expansion out of the Hydra-shok's that are in it right now.
I have never had any real problem with mine, as far as ammo it likes. I have had serious problems with ammo that I like though! I made the mistake of buying a box of Cor-Bons for it...made it through 5 rounds and decide to use the rest of the box in my Firestorm. Bit of a handfull.
For FMJ ammo, I use American Eagle, and haven't had any problems with it, either.
greg
S&B is Sellier & Bellot. I believe they are a Czech company. It's a bummer you have found them to be too hot...I've been thinking of picking some up to try in my P-3AT, because I don't think I'm going to get good expansion out of the Hydra-shok's that are in it right now.
I have never had any real problem with mine, as far as ammo it likes. I have had serious problems with ammo that I like though! I made the mistake of buying a box of Cor-Bons for it...made it through 5 rounds and decide to use the rest of the box in my Firestorm. Bit of a handfull.
For FMJ ammo, I use American Eagle, and haven't had any problems with it, either.
greg
wally
Member
Mine fails to extract nearly half the time with steel cased ammo (Wolf, Silver Bear, Brown Bear, Barnul). No problems with anything else I've tried including CCI aluminum blazer.
--wally.
--wally.
bpisler
Member
The S&B i fired were FMJ's,if i was
to carry a P-3AT i would use FMJ's.
I doubt any hollow points would
expand in real world conditions.The
exception might be the Remington
102gr golden sabers.
to carry a P-3AT i would use FMJ's.
I doubt any hollow points would
expand in real world conditions.The
exception might be the Remington
102gr golden sabers.
Bobo
Member
First, many guns, not just Kel-Tecs are fussy about ammo.
These are some of the common ammo complaints with some Kel-Tec P-3ATs:
Sellier & Bellot have hard primers and sometimes don't fire.
This has been fixed with good results by some by clipping three or four coils from the firing pin spring.
Steel cased ammo such as Wolf have had failure to extracts (FTEx).
Aluminum cased ammo such as CCI/Blazer have had FTEx's.
Winchester White Box (WWB) has had FTEx's.
The best thing to do would be to shoot about 200 rounds or so through the gun with ammo other than those mentioned.
If you keep the gun clean and lubed during the 200 rounds you should have little or no problems with ammo.
After shooting the 200 rounds and the gun is well broken-in, then you could try some of the ammo mentioned as problematic if you chose to.
Personally, after shooting about 300 rounds of Federal American Eagle FMJ, Remington Green Box FMJ, Santa Barbara FNMJ, Federal Hyra-Shok JHP, and Speer Gold Dot JHP through my P-3AT without any problems, I then shot 100 rounds of CCI/Blazer and 200 rounds of WWB with no problems. I haven't tried Wolf or S&B and don't intend to.
I have settled on WWB for range work because it's inexpensive, reliable, quite accurate and quite clean; and for carry, a combination of Santa Barbara because it's a powerful, accurate, non-expanding round and Gold Dot because it's supposedly a good expanding and pretty good penetrating round from a P-3AT.
I may change my expanding round to Cor-Bon DPX after some more people post the results of tests. So far, from all I've heard it sounds like very good stuff.
These are some of the common ammo complaints with some Kel-Tec P-3ATs:
Sellier & Bellot have hard primers and sometimes don't fire.
This has been fixed with good results by some by clipping three or four coils from the firing pin spring.
Steel cased ammo such as Wolf have had failure to extracts (FTEx).
Aluminum cased ammo such as CCI/Blazer have had FTEx's.
Winchester White Box (WWB) has had FTEx's.
The best thing to do would be to shoot about 200 rounds or so through the gun with ammo other than those mentioned.
If you keep the gun clean and lubed during the 200 rounds you should have little or no problems with ammo.
After shooting the 200 rounds and the gun is well broken-in, then you could try some of the ammo mentioned as problematic if you chose to.
Personally, after shooting about 300 rounds of Federal American Eagle FMJ, Remington Green Box FMJ, Santa Barbara FNMJ, Federal Hyra-Shok JHP, and Speer Gold Dot JHP through my P-3AT without any problems, I then shot 100 rounds of CCI/Blazer and 200 rounds of WWB with no problems. I haven't tried Wolf or S&B and don't intend to.
I have settled on WWB for range work because it's inexpensive, reliable, quite accurate and quite clean; and for carry, a combination of Santa Barbara because it's a powerful, accurate, non-expanding round and Gold Dot because it's supposedly a good expanding and pretty good penetrating round from a P-3AT.
I may change my expanding round to Cor-Bon DPX after some more people post the results of tests. So far, from all I've heard it sounds like very good stuff.
I was ready to trade mine in for a different gun for a while. It wouldn't feed anything I put in it without at least two problems per magazine. I polished the feed ramp to a mirror finish using wet/dry sandpaper and a buffing wheel and I just got back from the range. I used FMJ and HydraShocks and it worked like a charm. It's a keeper now it seems.
MICHAEL T
Member
CorBon has 2 KelTec's in 380 they use for testing .The new DPX 380 was designed with the Kel Tec in mind. That is the best carry SD ROUND for Kel Tec going. HERE'S A LOAD DESIGNED WITH YOU PISTOL IN MIND I carry the 90gr CorBon in all of my 380's and Corbon in 32 in my Kel Tec. I also shoot the S&B ammo fro practice Seems I red that the Ammo KT uses to test with.
Hey if you wear it out they will give you another. and theirs no factory 380 ammo thats going to hurt the pistol.
Hey if you wear it out they will give you another. and theirs no factory 380 ammo thats going to hurt the pistol.
I have some experience on this subject. The answer is it varies wildly but steel cased are never good. Many people modify the feed ramp on their 3AT. Any change to the feed ramp can radically change the preference for ammo.
Also there are two main versions of the 3AT with some additional minor variations depending on date of manufacture. All versions and variations have different ammo preferences and can vary from pistol to pistol. All versions of the 3AT have a problem with "smilies". Smilies are caused by the feed ramp striking the front of the bullet that is next in line to be fired. The feed ramp leaves a dent on the bullet that resembles a smile. Some 3ATs do very bad with hollow point bullets because of how the feed ramp cuts into and snags the next in line bullet. Other 3ATs do just fine but test yours to be sure.
My first two 3ATs liked white box Winchester FMJ Semi Waddcutter the best. My current 3AT with my current feed ramp modification likes FMJ round nose the best.
The 3AT can be very finicky with ammo. Also the 3AT must be kept very clean and lightly lubed. If you fire your 3AT it is very important to field strip it and give it a good cleaning and oiling before you CCW it. This is one pistol you must never slack on cleaning. I polish my 3ATs feed ramp with a Dremmel during every cleaning.
Test your 3AT with a variety of ammo. Fire your 3AT then eject the magazine and then eject the newly chambered round. Observe the severity of the smiley. The main thing to look for is if the feed ramp is cutting into the bullet in such a way as to inhibit the bullet from ridding on up and allowing it to chamber. Also the smiley might alter the terminal ballistics of your hollow point round.
If your 3AT does not do well with your preferred hollow point; then you can at least have your preferred hollow point as your first chambered round.
Also there are two main versions of the 3AT with some additional minor variations depending on date of manufacture. All versions and variations have different ammo preferences and can vary from pistol to pistol. All versions of the 3AT have a problem with "smilies". Smilies are caused by the feed ramp striking the front of the bullet that is next in line to be fired. The feed ramp leaves a dent on the bullet that resembles a smile. Some 3ATs do very bad with hollow point bullets because of how the feed ramp cuts into and snags the next in line bullet. Other 3ATs do just fine but test yours to be sure.
My first two 3ATs liked white box Winchester FMJ Semi Waddcutter the best. My current 3AT with my current feed ramp modification likes FMJ round nose the best.
The 3AT can be very finicky with ammo. Also the 3AT must be kept very clean and lightly lubed. If you fire your 3AT it is very important to field strip it and give it a good cleaning and oiling before you CCW it. This is one pistol you must never slack on cleaning. I polish my 3ATs feed ramp with a Dremmel during every cleaning.
Test your 3AT with a variety of ammo. Fire your 3AT then eject the magazine and then eject the newly chambered round. Observe the severity of the smiley. The main thing to look for is if the feed ramp is cutting into the bullet in such a way as to inhibit the bullet from ridding on up and allowing it to chamber. Also the smiley might alter the terminal ballistics of your hollow point round.
If your 3AT does not do well with your preferred hollow point; then you can at least have your preferred hollow point as your first chambered round.
Will Fennell
Member
Luv's Pow'rball
I haven't tried any ammo mine[P3AT] doesn't like....but so far it Loves Corbon Pow'rball. Its fast, and smoooooooth feeding. If you want something that is fast, will expand, and is the smoothest feeding round I've tried, get some Pow'rball.
I want to try DPX next, but if it doesn't feed reallysmotth, I'm sticking with Pow'rball.
I haven't tried any ammo mine[P3AT] doesn't like....but so far it Loves Corbon Pow'rball. Its fast, and smoooooooth feeding. If you want something that is fast, will expand, and is the smoothest feeding round I've tried, get some Pow'rball.
I want to try DPX next, but if it doesn't feed reallysmotth, I'm sticking with Pow'rball.
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