Well, I jumped on the Kel-Tec bandwagon and invested in a P3AT yesterday. It's the first .380 I have owned in about 15 years - so naturally, I was a bit apprehensive.

I once heard someone say - "You can have the best guns made in your safe, your dresser drawer, or you glovebox - and they won't do you a damn bit of good on the street if shit hits the fan." The sad truth of the matter is that many of us have compact versions of our favorite caliber - such as a G27, Kimber UCII, or Detective Specials. But, wear one of these all of the time, and they can become somewhat of a burden. And for the poor fellas that wear full-size weapons all the time for concealed carry - it sucks. I know many a friend that has simply resorted to leaving the weapon in the glovebox or under the seat because of the tell-tale print or discomfort of wearing. Even worse, some of them have resorted to the ankle holster - which I have always considered somewhat of a widowmaker.

Enter the mouse guns. Drop it in your back pocket and go. I have owned more than my share of pocket guns over the years. My biggest problem with them was that they tended to be in what I consider toy calibers - .22, .25, or .32. Being in law enforcement for the last 15 years, something in my inner-being does not trust excessively small calibers - reguardless of what others claims. When I seen that Kel-Tec came out with a .380 - I took the bait.

I paid $239.00 for mine at a local gun store. I opted for the black/blue version. It came with one magazine, a carry case, a lock, some lube, and a manual. I bought a few boxes of Speer Gold Dot in .380 to give it a range test.

For carry, I chose an Uncle Mike's inside-the-pocket nylon holster. I have ordered a nice DeSantis Sting holster - the one that fits in your pocket and holds the weapon and an extra magazine. But for now, the generic Uncle Mike's will do fine. Its just enough to keep the imprint down to a minimum.

Well - accurate, it is not. But then again, tts not supposed to be. At 15 yards, your shot group is going to look like a dinner plate. At 10 yards, its about half as bad. Within the golden zone of 5 yards, you can manage detail work with it - maintaing a good 3" group. No misfires, no jams, no problems of note with around 100 rounds fired.

One thing that I do question about the P3AT is why on earth do they use 2 springs on the slide guide? They have an inner spring and outer spring. It seems to me that one heavier spring would do the job.

Anyway, I am happy. I won't speak volumes about this weapon - because its a utility tool - pull trigger, go bang, make bad guy fall down. But, for the money, I am happy with a little gun with a modest amount of power that I can carry daily without a problem.

Nice report!

I wont start a new thread as its probably not worthy.

I also recently took possesion of one of these tiny guns.



I question the effectiveness of JHP in .380 and below calibers.....plus I also question the function of JHP in small pocket pistols.

I passed on it and stuck with FMJ, specifically Remington UMC.

Shot 50 rounds without even a hitch of trouble.  The feedramp on my particular gun was really smooth, I believe I could use JHP without issue but again, question the point.

Great little gun.....gave $246 for mine with 1 spare magazine and the KelTec belt clip.  The gun itself cost $210.

I just bought a P3AT too.  It's been perfect, but I only have 157 rounds through it.  It's very good at what it was desinged to do.

I have a blued P3AT too.  It's great.  I just need to go to the range and put some more rounds through it to make sure it's really reliable.

You can replace the sights with better ones, but they may interfere with pocket carry.

I am toying with the idea of purchasing the Armalaser for my P3AT.  I can hit out to 10 yards with it, but I would like to be a little more precise.

I had mine duracoated black.  I love it.

Well, here is my report:

www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=525382

Nice little gun for the money.

James Bond carried a PPK in .380, but I don't see the sense in buying a PPK, wehn you can get the same thing in a smaller package from Kel-Tec...for less money.

I dare to say that the P3-AT is more reliable and about the same comfort level to shoot as the PPK.

The PPKs that I have shot jammed at least once.

My new Kel-Tec has been very reliable so far...even with hollowpoints

For compact application it is difficult to design a spring heavy enough to work alone without taking the surface of the spring wire above the material's fatigue limit. So, if the designer designed it with a double spring set up, he probably didn't do it "just because". If you replace it with a heavier single spring, a solution offered by Wolf Gunsprings and others, you are asking for premature onset of the spring taking a permanent set and failing to cycle the weapon properly. Same goes for the twisted multi strand springs the use to use on the SIG 229. I would hestate to replace it with a heavy single wire spring.

Also, Bonds PPK was a .32, not a .380. Q gave it to him in place of his former .25 Berreta in Dr. No because in Q's words, a .32 had "a delivery like a brick through a plate glass window". Ian Flemming didn't know much about guns.

Quoted: Also, Bonds PPK was a .32, not a .380. Q gave it to him in place of his former .25 Berreta in Dr. No because in Q's words, a .32 had "a delivery like a brick through a plate glass window". Ian Flemming didn't know much about guns.

a .32

Well, I stand corrected...

I carry more firepower than James Bond

I'm really pleased with mine.  I've put 150 rounds through it with no problems.

I keep it loaded with 3 Cor-Bon DPX and 4 Remington 90gr FMJ.  Carry it front right pocket, no printing, no problems.  

Uncle Mike's #0, Houge Jr., and the NAA base plate which doesn't interfere with drawing and provides better grippage.

People gripe about the caliber, the same people who carry a full-size 1911 concealed inside the waist-band.  Sounds good, till I point out I can fire 7 rounds before they even finish drawing.

http://myweb.cableone.net/brandon1337/kt2.jpg

My P3AT had to be replaced.
It was an early model which suffered from the faulty assembly pin problem. Shooting it damaged the frame, so Kel-Tec gave me a new gun!!
The replacement has been, for all intents, faultless!
I load it with the Remington 88gr JHP.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/denfoote/P3AT.jpg

I just bought a P3AT. It shot very well, although two out of threee types of ammo shot left 2" at 7 yds. I may try to file the back notch wider to the left to move the impact left. It functioned flawlessly and shot fairly accurately. I am definitely glad I bought it. It is riding in a DonHume No. 80. It rides high and tight and makes concealment easy and comfortable.

It ain't no target gun, but I believe that it is reliable and will be a great carry gun. It doesn't hurt that it is 380 instead of 32 like my guardian.

I just spent the last hour dehorning my keltec. The plastic had all kinds of sharp spots and flashing that was rubbing on my figer as I fired the little devil. I used a sharp knife to scrap the flash line inside the trigger guard and on the surface of the trigger to smooth it. I also chamfered the edges of the trigger. I like the smoother feel of the trigger on this type of pistol. The biggest thing I did was to chamfer the edge of the out and inside of the mag well. I also chamfered the outside edge of the magazine. Now there are not two sharp edges facing each other to create a grating pinching action between the mag and grip. I may do some more dehorning on the plastic to make it even more comfortable.

If you go to the KTOG site Kel-tec owners group They have a very good  Fluff and buff you can do yourself. to these little guns, when done with your handy work at the kitchen table the little bugger turns in to a sig its so much smoother it just glides. A little time a little 400 grit 600 grit sand paper emery cloth polish it up. its a amasing transformation! I even take the burrs and mould marks off the plastic grip frame. My barrel will look like chrome with a little work with the  sanding   But to be good with these little guns you have to shoot them , and shoot them some more. As time goes on the triggers will get a lot smoother these little guns require a good break in. In time you will amaze you self with how good you can shoot the little thing. good Luck   Have fun with them!

I have a P3AT as well. It has never given me a hint of trouble. I even used it once in an IDPA BUG gun match and it worked out great.

I carried that gun in my front pocket to work ever day for a little over a year when I lived in MI and no one ever had a clue. Now that I work from home it just sits in the safe.

I am starting to think about a summer carry gun though. Right now I can get away with my G17 because I can throw a light jacket on, but in the summer when it's 100+ degrees that isn't going to fly.

I'm curious as to why people are sceptical about the .380 in a hollow point. Is it because of the light impact force or concerns over expansion or fragmentation.

I shot 2 rounds of Cor-Bon DPX into a bucket of water and they both expanded perfectly I would think they would do the similar in a person but I am certainly no ballistics expert.

Quoted: I'm curious as to why people are sceptical about the .380 in a hollow point. Is it because of the light impact force or concerns over expansion or fragmentation. I shot 2 rounds of Cor-Bon DPX into a bucket of water and they both expanded perfectly I would think they would do the similar in a person but I am certainly no ballistics expert.

From what I have "heard" from police officers, they said that the .380 is more useless against those wearing multiple layers of winter clothing.  IMHO, there are only 4 weeks out of the year here in South Louisiana where individuals would wear clothes too heavy for a .380.  Regardless, anyone who tells me the .380 is useless always gets asked to volunteer to be shot by a round or two.  To date there are no takers, and I wouldn't want to be hit with a .380 round.  Although I hope I never have to test this out, I believe 7 rounds of .380 would be enough to take the fight out of a bad guy trying to kill me.  If not, feet don't fail me now.

Another new P3AT user here also. Took it for a spin last week. Runs perfect. Have a DeSantis Nemesis on order. This will support my Glocks as a BUG well.

Last weeks test:
3-5-7 yard. Speer TMJ, Independance, Speer Gold Dot. Flyers are my doing