Yesterday was my lucky day. Picked up a ...

[PcolaDawg]

Kel-Tec P3AT and .380 ammo to go with it.

I've been on a waiting list for a P3AT for a couple of months. They finally got one (and only one) in and my name was at the top of the waiting list. This particular gun shop doesn't like to sell a gun without ammo if they can help it, so they kept some boxes of .380 and held them in the back to offer to those that buy a .380 handgun from them.

So I am pleased. Wasn't sure if I'd have to wait another three months just to get some bullets so I could shoot the gun.

 

[tkopp]

Welcome to the club.

Take it to the range and enjoy the snappy recoil, the sharp grip, the near total lack of sights. Rack the slide and make sure it loads reliably with whatever you're planning on feeding it -- many (including mine) will occasionally hang with the slide back, providing almost but not quite enough force to make it climb the ramp into the chamber. I'll need to send it back to Kel Tec for polishing, which can take a while.

Get the extended magazine floor plate. You get one more round in the mag, and now you can hold the grip with two fingers instead of one and a half. Consider a Hogue rubber grip for range trips -- it will save your hands some bruising during the break-in period.

Desantis' Nemesis inner-pocket holster is more grippy than the Uncle Mike's, and a touch larger. If you wear slacks, it's the better choice. Mike's size 2 is fine for jeans and other smaller-pocket pants.

Paint the sights! Exactly how you do it is up to you, but anything's better than stock. If this is your sole CCW and not a back-up gun, consider a crimson trace. I'm fine with the stock sights out to 5y or so, and that's MOArsehole. Forget MOAngle!

The triggers are long, smooth, amazing. There's no stop before the breaking point, but one can anticipate it. You're entirely capable of 'staging' the trigger before letting the hammer drop for increased accuracy, but I don't recommend practicing it. In a stress situation I wouldn't trust my hand to stop convulsing a millimeter before firing so I could line up a shot.

You can't dry fire this weapon. You will wear out a screw that stops the hammer. Get you a snap cap.

And enjoy a very pocketable pistol! For all I just said, these are little gems that, with a holster, can be dropped into any pants pocket and forgotten until needed. Great for shorts and a tee shirt in the coming summer months.

 

[Eightball]

I'm more surprised you got some .380 than the firearm itself

 

[geronimo509]

so they kept some boxes of .380 and held them in the back to offer to those that buy a .380 handgun from them

That sounds like a really smart gunshop. Keeps the gun-buying customers coming back!

 

[PcolaDawg]

Take it to the range and enjoy the snappy recoil, the sharp grip, the near total lack of sights. Rack the slide and make sure it loads reliably with whatever you're planning on feeding it -- many (including mine) will occasionally hang with the slide back, providing almost but not quite enough force to make it climb the ramp into the chamber. I'll need to send it back to Kel Tec for polishing, which can take a while.

Get the extended magazine floor plate. You get one more round in the mag, and now you can hold the grip with two fingers instead of one and a half. Consider a Hogue rubber grip for range trips -- it will save your hands some bruising during the break-in period.

Desantis' Nemesis inner-pocket holster is more grippy than the Uncle Mike's, and a touch larger. If you wear slacks, it's the better choice. Mike's size 2 is fine for jeans and other smaller-pocket pants.

Paint the sights! Exactly how you do it is up to you, but anything's better than stock. If this is your sole CCW and not a back-up gun, consider a crimson trace. I'm fine with the stock sights out to 5y or so, and that's MOArsehole. Forget MOAngle!

The triggers are long, smooth, amazing. There's no stop before the breaking point, but one can anticipate it. You're entirely capable of 'staging' the trigger before letting the hammer drop for increased accuracy, but I don't recommend practicing it. In a stress situation I wouldn't trust my hand to stop convulsing a millimeter before firing so I could line up a shot.

You can't dry fire this weapon. You will wear out a screw that stops the hammer. Get you a snap cap.

And enjoy a very pocketable pistol! For all I just said, these are little gems that, with a holster, can be dropped into any pants pocket and forgotten until needed. Great for shorts and a tee shirt in the coming summer months.

Thanks for the good advice. I appreciate it. I was surprised that the P3AT is so similar in size to the P32. Almost identical. Also, it does have quite a bit more 'bite' to the kick than the P32.

 

[PcolaDawg]

That sounds like a really smart gunshop. Keeps the gun-buying customers coming back!

Absolutely, I thought it was brilliant. I was a bit depressed that I had just laid down $300.00 for a new gun and I wouldn't be able to shoot it for who knows how long for want of bullets.

I asked 'em if they had any .380 ammo as a joke, and they just smiled and said - "Wait right here." - and came back with some. And it was simply to make sure the customer was happy when he bought a particular gun.

Very smart, and it did make me very happy.

 

[ByAnyMeans]

Love my p3at. I have a magazine fitted with a plus one and a standard one. It depends on concealability which one is used but the other goes in the opposite pocket. I tried many different grips before I found these absorbing pads and pre-sized and cut slip on grip. http://www.ktaddons.com/products.htm
They really took the sting out of this little pocketgun.