Anybody have a Kel-Tec in .380?

[Conn AK]

Buddy just bought a Ruger LCP as a back-up and is willing to sell me his Kel-Tec .380 for $150 I've put a few mags through the Kel-Tec and have found it to be fairly good at 21 feet inspite of the non-existent sights and micro barrel. My question is reliability....FTF, FTE, stove pipes. He tells me the only issues he has had is jamming (rarely) when dirty.

[SteelCore]

of in pocket holster, since you don't want lint and pocket debris to get into the gun.

Also, as with all .380s, remember to announce your shot so your target knows he's hit....otherwise, he might get annoyed. ;)

My buddy's wanted one for a few years, until his boss sold him this sweet compact Walther in .40cal...fer 300!

[tanstaafl4y]

I bought my fiancee one and she loves it. I want to buy a second for myself...

I have had very few problems with it. Ocassionally (fewer than 1 time per 100 rounds) the slide will not fully lock in battery. I think she may be limpwristing, but the ctg case extracts.

[jmikey]

Got a P32 as a pocket gun and never had a problem with it. Try to shot 14+ rounds every two months. Close in gun only for me. Yeah Steely, if you put it thru the eye the other person will be annoyed for a micro-second. Then they will just be dead!:wink:

[GearShanty]

When I used to work as a LEO, I carried a Kel-Tec P11 (9mm) on my ankle for a couple of years. It was my main concealment piece for several years after that. It cycled everything I put in it, from 147gr JHP's to 95gr lead reloads. It shot dirty, dry, wet, muddy and full of lint. I hated the long, heavy trigger, but I shot very well with it.

I've handled the .380, but have not shot one. Seems like it would be a lot of recoil for such a short gripped pistol.

I would recommend the Kel-Tecs and at $150 it would be hard to pass up.

[Patria Povo]

A great pocket pistol! Galco make a cool pocket holster for it, too. 300+ rounds and no problems yet. :thumbup:

The hard chromed version is rare, but worth waiting for, imho.

[nowhereman]

I have had one in a .32 acp for a few years now. It stayed in the side pocked of my bag when I went to the beach last year. While I was unpacking a hard gust of wind filled the inside of my car and bag up with coarse white sand. A few months later I was fooling around in the backyard and decided to shoot the thing. I pulled back the slide and it went crunch "you could hear it was full of sand." Chambered a round, and it emptied the mag. BUY THE GUN ITS A GOOD DEAL. I also have a clip on it for concealment, its very light, and better than carrying a rock I guess. Oh I hear they have a 9mm out now "heard" I will upgrade to that pretty soon maybe. One more story, I have a LEO friend who had to get knee deep in a pond for some reason. He forgot about the kel tec on his ankle. He bragged about how he just let it dry out cleaned it up a little and it shoots just fine....

[Milsurp]

I have one and used to carry it everyday. It is a good gun to carry. It's small but has a decent size round. I've used the pocket holster and the beltclip and prefer the clip better. You just have to clean it more often. I don't shoot it often, to me it's more of a defence weapon than a shooter. I had two FTF in about 100 rds when I first got it. None since. I retired it to carry my sig225 but would have no problem carrying one again. Just my 2 cents.

[RandyCOG3]

Also, as with all .380s, remember to announce your shot so your target knows he's hit....otherwise, he might get annoyed. ;)


The first pistol I ever owned was a .380.
You know those cheap, white-ish 2X4's? The cheapest, softest 2X4's you can find?
Shot at one from about 5' away.
Most of the time, the bullet didn't even go all the way into the board, let alone through it. Just stopped with the rump poking out.
A 9mm is the same diameter, and 3X as powerful, and *still* does not have the oomph I think is required...
Technically, though, a .380 will fulfill the First Rule of Gunfighting, i.e. "Have a gun"...
Not knocking anybody or their choices.... but I think I'd rather have a good screwdriver than a .380 at the distances I'd trust a .380... I *know* I'd get better penetration...:eek:

RandyCOG3

[hunter_la5]

for $150 i would jump on it ASAP. the Keltecs are fine pocket pistols. I plan on getting one for my CCW when I turn 21. I've shot my buddy's a few times and it's no "range" gun (considerable recoil for a .380 and no real sights) but for a pocket gun they are hard to beat. I slipped it in my pocket and it's no more of a burden to carry than a cell phone.

[ackspac]

For $150 grab it. I love my P3AT Kel-Tec. I polished the feed ramp and it digests everything I put in it. For a close range pistol the .380 is all you need.

[tomoshenko]

I have a pf9 I use for concealed carry. After initial 50 rd breakin it digests everything.
I shoot it regularly and am pleased with the accuracy.
9mm P+ bites the web of the hand a bit in these small pistols but that shouldn't be an issue with .380.
$150 is a good deal.

[SteelCore]

I had the same exp with a Bryco arms .380 I had in the 90s. I shot a board and went "dayum...I could do better with a shlinghsot or a bow!"

Dumped it.

"if you put it thru the eye the other person will be annoyed for a micro-second"
--The eye is a super tinny target in a hi-stress situation...I prefer the bigger bullet so I can just go center mass.

I carried .380, 9mm, and onnce I hit the .45, I knew I found the rite one. You knnow why so many .45s are single stack 7+1 mags? Because that's all ya need, with flying ashtrays.

[jmikey]

:thumbup:Can't argue that Steely!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v508/mikey43/1PI9140LP.gif

[okie shooter]

Thats a good deal, if as advertised, I would be on it.

[SteelCore]

Jmikey, that is perhaps th nicest SA .45 I've seen! yours?

[ackspac]

I had the same exp with a Bryco arms .380 I had in the 90s. I shot a board and went "dayum...I could do better with a shlinghsot or a bow!"

Dumped it.

"if you put it thru the eye the other person will be annoyed for a micro-second"
--The eye is a super tinny target in a hi-stress situation...I prefer the bigger bullet so I can just go center mass.

I carried .380, 9mm, and onnce I hit the .45, I knew I found the rite one. You knnow why so many .45s are single stack 7+1 mags? Because that's all ya need, with flying ashtrays.
Have you tryed a .380 with Cor-Bon hollow points lately? I know the ammo was crap years ago, but this stuff will go through a wooden door now days.

[jmikey]

:icon_biggrin:That's a pic from the SA website but I gots one just like it! Still carry that little Kel-Tec in my pocket a lot when it's hotter than hell down here.

[ackspac]

:icon_biggrin:That's a pic from the SA website but I gots one just like it! Still carry that little Kel-Tec in my pocket a lot when it's hotter than hell down here.Yea, I carry my Kel-Tec in my Speedo when its hot outside:rockon:.

[ctdemolay0405]

my dad has a P3AT and it is jam happy

[SteelCore]

will me more useful than a kel-tek, hot day or cold. You can cut stuff with it.

"I know the ammo was crap years ago, but this stuff will go through a wooden door now days."
-->I can go thru a wooden door. I am just not impressed with 30cal pistol ammo with 2 exceptions:

762x25:That is an impressive design.
.357 Magnum: Does almost anything a caliber starting in .4 needs to do, but past 50 yds it has the same limitations as all pistol ammo.

[nowhereman]

Yes I hear the .32 and .38 cals just sting a bit:rolleyes: Yes we all need to carry a 1911:rolleyes: Yeah I will try to remember that the next time I work with a patient who got one side of there head turned to mush from a .38:rolleyes: Did I roll my eyes again:rolleyes:

[brewskzilla]

.380 is a good belly gun caliber. Anyone further than 10 feet away will likely punch you in the face, mistaking the bullet for a thrown rock.

[jmikey]

Like Justin Wilson said about wine, "the kind of wine you drink with this is the kind you got"! Buy the Kel-Tec at that price! Cause if you ain't got a 45, a 380 is still better than a sharp stick. BTW, I like 357's and 45's but I sold every 40 cal cause that round is another way to sell ammo. Anything starting in 4 ain't necessarily the answer, I do have a 50 cal Hawken repro if you really need a bigger bullet? Can you say "horse pistol"?

[tomoshenko]

I did some Corbon +P 115 HP testing out of my 9mm PF-9..
Filled 5 gallon pails with water and shot from 15 feet.
Pails very "convincingly" ruptured with an explosion of water.
Oh yeah, the 44mag really makes them disintegrate but I can't fit it in my pocket...

[nowhereman]

Stop being paralyzed "it was only a .380" Stop that darnit your faking. You know it was a rock or just Bruce Lee's fists of Fury....:rolleyes: Wow....

[ackspac]

will me more useful than a kel-tek, hot day or cold. You can cut stuff with it.

"I know the ammo was crap years ago, but this stuff will go through a wooden door now days."
-->I can go thru a wooden door. I am just not impressed with 30cal pistol ammo with 2 exceptions:

762x25:That is an impressive design.
.357 Magnum: Does almost anything a caliber starting in .4 needs to do, but past 50 yds it has the same limitations as all pistol ammo.
My P3AT is my back-up gun. I carry an automatic knife, if god forbid any threat keeps coming that close, but honestly with the Cor-Bon hollow points, and the new Buffalo-Bore +P .380s', if you havent tryed them you'd be pretty dammed impressed. I thought of the .380 as a girly-gun caliber a few years ago till a buddy of mine went ape-crap over his P3AT. I went to his house and he shot right through an old door out on his property, From 5' the round went through the door. I bought a P3AT the next week. CTDEMOLAY, your dad needs to polish his feed ramp to keep the gun from jamming. Its really no different than the old .45s if you wanted to feed hollow-points through them. Polish the ramp out with a Dremmel and the Kel-Tec will be flawless.

[RandyCOG3]

I had the same exp with a Bryco arms .380 I had in the 90s. I shot a board and went "dayum...I could do better with a shlinghsot or a bow!"

Dumped it.

"if you put it thru the eye the other person will be annoyed for a micro-second"
--The eye is a super tinny target in a hi-stress situation...I prefer the bigger bullet so I can just go center mass.

I carried .380, 9mm, and onnce I hit the .45, I knew I found the rite one. You knnow why so many .45s are single stack 7+1 mags? Because that's all ya need, with flying ashtrays.

Couldn't agree with you more, amigo.
Plain ol' FMJ hardball makes my old .45 very happy and reliable. 7+1 seems very adequate... needless to say though, there are 3 more mags around, just in case the bad guy can't take a hint. As a wise man once said to me about it: If you want an accurate .45 that can reliably feed hollow points, go buy one. So, my WWII Ithaca M1911A1 remains as it was built... sloppy and yet reliable.

As for +P rounds in .380 (or anything else), I'd be afraid to use them in anything but modern designs from a quaility mfr. My .380 was a Model 34 (1934) Beretta of wartime production with an eagle holding a swastika in its claws, which would have been a keeper from that perspective...if it had the right magazine and was not nickel plated at some point in time, poorly...... a $100 gun at best...

RandyCOG3

[ackspac]

Couldn't agree with you more, amigo.
Plain ol' FMJ hardball makes my old .45 very happy and reliable. 7+1 seems very adequate... needless to say though, there are 3 more mags around, just in case the bad guy can't take a hint. As a wise man once said to me about it: If you want an accurate .45 that can reliably feed hollow points, go buy one. So, my WWII Ithaca M1911A1 remains as it was built... sloppy and yet reliable.

As for +P rounds in .380 (or anything else), I'd be afraid to use them in anything but modern designs from a quaility mfr. My .380 was a Model 34 (1934) Beretta of wartime production with an eagle holding a swastika in its claws, which would have been a keeper from that perspective...if it had the right magazine and was not nickel plated at some point in time, poorly...... a $100 gun at best...

RandyCOG3
Some of you guys seem to be missing the point. For 1, I cant conceal a 1911. 2. Im referring to the P3AT as a back up weapon only. and 3. The days of the Bryco and the .380 ammo back then SUCKED!!!!!!!!! Those days are now over. The .380 ammo has came a long way. And the Buffalo-Bore +P .380 rounds were tested in the Kel-Tec as a model platform that can withstand the +P rounds. Yea I know the 1911 is the greatest gun ever built (when it works) but it is a huge weapon and is nonconcealable on alot of people.

[RandyCOG3]

Some of you guys seem to be missing the point. For 1, I cant conceal a 1911. 2. Im referring to the P3AT as a back up weapon only. and 3. The days of the Bryco and the .380 ammo back then SUCKED!!!!!!!!! Those days are now over. The .380 ammo has came a long way. And the Buffalo-Bore +P .380 rounds were tested in the Kel-Tec as a model platform that can withstand the +P rounds. Yea I know the 1911 is the greatest gun ever built (when it works) but it is a huge weapon and is nonconcealable on alot of people.

Nah, we all get the point.:thumbup:
We're just being whiny.

RandyCOG3

[Conn AK]

Couldn't agree more about missing the point...as I am the original poster. The question was reliability of the Kel-Tec, not how big and powerfull your gun is. I have a few 9mm pistols and a .44 that would probably get the job done, but they're rather difficult to conceal while on the beach with my family. Even carrying a 5 shot revolver w/2" barrel in a pocket holster sucks when it's hot. For a buck-fifty, the Kel-Tec fits nicely in my pocket. Reliability is my concern. I am willing to bet any doubters that a .380 will ruin anybody's day on the receiving end within 20 feet.

[nowhereman]

Couldn't agree more about missing the point...as I am the original poster. The question was reliability of the Kel-Tec, not how big and powerfull your gun is. I have a few 9mm pistols and a .44 that would probably get the job done, but they're rather difficult to conceal while on the beach with my family. Even carrying a 5 shot revolver w/2" barrel in a pocket holster sucks when it's hot. For a buck-fifty, the Kel-Tec fits nicely in my pocket. Reliability is my concern. I am willing to bet any doubters that a .380 will ruin anybody's day on the receiving end within 20 feet.

Sling shot = .380? Yeah ok... Some whoppers going around on this thread whew....:airtight:

[Conn AK]

Most of this century, until the mass production of the 9mm, police and criminal alike carried and used deadly force with the .38 One of the most common guns used in murders in NY City in the '80s was the .25 cal Raven. Ask anyone who works in a city emergency room what any handgun at close range does to the body human. .380 is not an ideal round, but weight to ballistics is ideal for a small platform semiauto. Yeah, I'd rather carry my Bulldog, but when the weather is hot, that becomes difficult if not impossible.

[97th Signalman]

Gun Tests just did a comparison of the Keltec and the new Ruger .380 LCP. The reviewer slightly favored the Keltec P3AT over the Ruger LCP. He liked the coarser checkering on the Keltec as he thought it gave a more positive grip the Ruger's fine checkering. I don't have either one as I am not really a fan of the .380 caliber.

http://www.gun-tests.com/issues/20_6/features/Ruger-Kel-Tec-Pocket-Pistols5616-1.html

[hunter_la5]

my dad has a P3AT and it is jam happy

CT, has he tried sending it in to Kel-Tec for servicing? They are supposed to have real a real good service department and are generally pretty good about fixing the lemons that come out of the factory, from what I hear

[nevada]

I have P32 Keltec. It 's ammo sensitive, but 100% with what it likes. Had it for over five years now. I would recommend it in 32 or 380. I also recommend a pocket holster to keep it oriented properly in the pocket.

[ctdemolay0405]

he'll worry about sending it back when he gets back from his deployment in the middle east

[nevada]

This Colt is heavier empty than the keltec is loaded.

25acp + slingshot = still 25 acp. :nonono:

[ackspac]

he'll worry about sending it back when he gets back from his deployment in the middle eastGodspeed and give him a big thank you from me. My oldest son (USMC) thinks he is going to be sent to Afghanistan in a couple of months.

[rifleman]

give a thanks from me to both of your relatives.

[ctdemolay0405]

he's in Bahrain, so he's not in the fighting, and mom's living over there with him. i'm heading over there in august to see him and visit the mid-east

[RandyCOG3]

Couldn't agree more about missing the point...as I am the original poster. The question was reliability of the Kel-Tec,

Wellllll........
Perhaps *we* are missing the point....but....

If I may presume so much as to compare this board to a family (which ain't too much of a stretch...).... and you came to a family reunion with your propective bride, and, later, many, many, many of the family said to you that her weight is wrong, wrong height, boob/waist/butt ratio is all wrong, hair color is wrong, feet too big/too small..makes too much/too little money for "you", drives the wrong sort of vehicle, lives in the wrong place, etc....and all you wanted to know is what to do on the honeymoon...:rockon:.
Well, sir, that's your privilege...on behalf of all of us that hijacked the thread, we apologize...

Grumble, grumble... 3 guesses whom, exactly, "missed the point"...

We're on YOUR side, ya know? Not relative to the reliability of the weapon in question, but I'd take a 2-shot .45 derringer over anything ever made in .380 ( 9mm Kurz) no matter what. There goes the concealability and $ issue...

RandyCOG3

(I had a feeling the .25ACP fans would jump in on this...)
Pbffft.

[rifleman]

kel-tecs are a nice little gun and for the price, i'd say sure, if you dont like it sell it.

[nevada]

There are 25 acp fans? Oh. You mean the 25 acp Pistols! There are some nice looking ones out there. I see nothing wrong with the 380. I would have bought that if it had been available at the time I bought my 32. A 45 won't stop a crazed doper any better than a 380, but most everyone else do NOT want to get shot with even a 22. Get it, do some practice shooting, enjoy.

[SteelCore]

"380 is still better than a sharp stick"

After me daughter uses this sharp stick on ye, she said I can keep the pistol as a trophy!

Buwaahaaahaahaa!

[jmikey]

:thumbup:Kel-Tecs are too small to make good trophies. I would just run from that little cutie and if that stick had about another foot of reach it would be better than a mousegun!

[SteelCore]

Well, I guess I'd make a necklace outta it then...or a cigarette lighter. ;)

[jmikey]

:icon_biggrin:Smoke im if you got im!

[3fgburner]

I've had a P3AT for a couple of years now. If I'm carrying one of my usual guns, it's the backup. If I need to be discreet, it's the one I hide.