Welcome to the club Wandering Man. Yep you are limp wristing it a little. You have to get a firm grip on the little rascal and hold it down as much as you can. Things will start to come together with a little more practice. I have had one now about six months and I think it's great. Just remember these are the last chance gun for up close and personal. Like my buddy says stick it in their face and pull the trigger twice. If they don't let go pull it twice more. Good luck.

Originally Posted by Wandering Man

Only ejection failures were when I tried to fire it with just one hand. I suspect it was a weak wrist problem.

This worries me as a self defense shooting may likely be one handed.

Thanks for the report.

I suspect it's a wrist-locking issue, as well. Mine works fine one-handed, whether strong or weak hand. Possibly after a few more break-in rounds it will correct itself.

As far as the slide not locking back, that's obviously a concession to making the gun tiny. I don't think it's a huge deal in a pocket gun. The gun is still faster to reload than a revolver, anyway, if you bother to carry a spare mag at all.

Originally Posted by propellerhead

This worries me as a self defense shooting may likely be one handed.

I'll be giving one handed shooting another try, I'll let you know the results.

Originally Posted by Mike Barham at Galco

if you bother to carry a spare mag at all.

Given its purpose, I doubt that I will ever carry a second mag.

WM

I got a spare mag but I only use it at the range while practicing. I been doing a lot of point shooting at 10 to 15' and I am starting to get fair at it. To me that is the range I will use it in more than likely. Lock the wrist Wandering Man.

I ran another 60 rounds through her today. Four rounds of Speer Gold Dot, and 50 rounds of WWB, and the remaining 6 rounds of Monarch.

I had to push the slide into battery a couple of times, but no other problem. I was able to inside the ring on the target at 7 yards.

I mostly practiced point and shoot at 3 yards. She did very well, nice groups even without aiming, and even with one hand.

No failure to ejects.

My hand hurts, but overall, I am liking this gun.

My 5'4" 110 pound wife shot the gun without any problem ... she still prefers her Bersa.

WM

Originally Posted by Wandering Man

I ran another 60 rounds through her today. Four rounds of Speer Gold Dot, and 50 rounds of WWB, and the remaining 6 rounds of Monarch.

I had to push the slide into battery a couple of times, but no other problem. I was able to inside the ring on the target at 7 yards.

I mostly practiced point and shoot at 3 yards. She did very well, nice groups even without aiming, and even with one hand.

No failure to ejects.

My hand hurts, but overall, I am liking this gun.

My 5'4" 110 pound wife shot the gun without any problem ... she still prefers her Bersa.

WM

Huh. Mine ran like a top right out of the box, no break-in or anything required. WWB, Gold Dots, whatever. Just lubed it and off we went.

I don't doubt your wife likes the Bersa better - the P3AT is a thumper in comparison! And as you have no doubt learned, it stops hurting when you stop shooting.

Originally Posted by Mike Barham at Galco

And as you have no doubt learned, it stops hurting when you stop shooting.

Actually, my hand continued to throb for about a half hour afterwards.

But then we did a lot of shooting yesterday, with more than just the Kel Tec. I also shot my wife's Bersa (.380), my Ruger P89 (9mm), and my Kimber (.45 ACP).

WM

I've had mine about a yr. now. No problems with kick,feels comfy! My only gripe with it is where you eject the clip. My thumb would hit it every so often and,well,you can guess what happened. I tried to mentally pay attention to it. No dice. What I ended up doing was to form a blob over it with a glue gun. It works just fine, although it's not perty. Anyone else ever have that problem?

Originally Posted by Wandering Man

Actually, my hand continued to throb for about a half hour afterwards.

But then we did a lot of shooting yesterday, with more than just the Kel Tec. I also shot my wife's Bersa (.380), my Ruger P89 (9mm), and my Kimber (.45 ACP).

WM

Before I deployed here, I shot about once a week. I seldom fired more than a half-box from the P3AT in one sitting, unless I was testing for reliability. It thumps a bit, but it never actually hurt me. I find the KelTec more pleasant to shoot than an alloy J-frame with +P.

Those other guns are soft shooters compared to the P3AT or a J-frame! Maybe cut back on the round count a bit?

Originally Posted by Mike Barham at Galco

Maybe cut back on the round count a bit?

Definitely.

I'm just shooting a lot in the beginnig to get used to it, see what problems there might be, and to see how it handles with different shooting styles.

I haven't had the problem with the mag release. I did forget once, though and let the slide hit the top of my left hand. It didn't hurt, but was a good reminder to keep both hands out of the way when firing.

I was real pleased with the one handed point and shoot practice at close range (three yards).

WM

I just put 50 more rounds of ball through my P3AT (total 100) and have yet to have a hiccup. I am seeing a rim form around the guide rod hole in the slide - what some call "peening", but it doesn't appear to be enlarging the hole and I don't intend for this to be a range gun anyway. I'm very satisfied. Pretty darn accurate for what it is.

I have a Kelltect 32 that I like a lot. I debated the 380vs 32 version for a while - but online, overall, it seemed like the 380 version hat a slightly higher rate of problems. I know this is a very unscientific survey - but still...

Anyway, the little 32 works great. Very little recoil too. If the ammo wasn't so expensive, I could shoot it all day long because it is so mild.

I manufactured some light load .380's last week, and got over to the range to shoot them with the Kel Tec.

It's downright pleasant to shoot, now.

Trouble is, my wife is making me save the ammo for her Bersa.

WM

Originally Posted by Shipwreck

I have a Kelltect 32 that I like a lot. I debated the 380vs 32 version for a while - but online, overall, it seemed like the 380 version hat a slightly higher rate of problems. I know this is a very unscientific survey - but still...

Anyway, the little 32 works great. Very little recoil too. If the ammo wasn't so expensive, I could shoot it all day long because it is so mild.

I have both and agree that the 380 has more reported problems. I believe it to be the extractor. I don't like the way that it has to come out when you field strip it so it has a tendency to move causing jams. And being a BOZO I might be way off.