[superspud]

well, i finally did it, i bought me a pocket gun. i have a glock 19 but i wanted a gun that i could just carry in my pocket no matter what clothes i wear.

anyway, so i bought a box of gold dots and went to the range. i chambered a round, then reloaded the magazine. fired the first round, JAM!

the second round would not feed into the chamber.

after unjamming it, i fired several clips without a round chambered first without a problem.

when just playing with my gun, i find that 3 out of 5 times when i load a mag, put it in a gun then try to chamber a round the slide gets stuck back and the round does not chamber. i have to jiggle the slide, then the round will chamber

any ideas?

 

[3wbdriver]

Shoot 200 rounds for breakin, go to sleep, and call me in the morning. ;D

Seriously, give it a couple hundred rounds without the extra round in the pipe , then give it a try after it's had some breakin.

 

[Wilson]

any ideas?

Buy some inexpensive round nose brass cased .380 ammo. Clean, Lub and shoot using one less round until the pistol wears the rough spots down. Then go for the full load mag with one in the chamber.

I would also recommend adding finger extensions to your extra magazines for longer range sessions to improve control during break-in.

Wilson – who’s the unofficial extension guru

 

[superspud]

where can i get those extensions? i was looking for them, could not find anything

 

[The_Fall_Guy]

What series is it? J3, H, ?

 

[Packer]

where can i get those extensions? i was looking for them, could not find anything

  You can get those magazine extensions from Brock at:

http://www.ktog.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=2503;action=display;num=1144727732

  He has the +1 rounders or the Bersa +0s. You can also get the +1 rounders from Kel-Tec:

http://kel-tec.com/

  Re your chambering problem:

You could polish your feed ramp or sand it with 600 grit wet or dry paper until it is very smooth.

  UMC .380 FMJ is a good practice/break-in ammo. D ick's Sporting goods usually has it on sale.

Packer.

 

[rcmodel]

any ideas?

You didn't say, but I assume you cleaned it and properly lubed it prior to taking it to the range?

These guns are more dependent on proper lubrication then most other guns because of their small size & power-to-weight ratio. (especially during new-gun break-in)

Many people use grease on the slide rails instead of light gun oil for best results.
Here are some lube instructions:
http://www.ktog.org/tecwerks1.htm#Lubrication

http://www.goldenloki.com/guns/keltec/care2.htm

rcmodel

 

[Packer]

Good point, rc! Unless that slide moves slick as goose grease, it won't function right.

Packer.

 

[z71bill]

Its not uncommon for a new gun to jam - when you have one in the pipe + a 100% full magazine. My 40 S&W carbine had a statement right in the owners manual - to reduce magazine capacity until after several hundred rounds.

IMO - two things cause this problem.

The magazine spring is new and will be a little tight - although the P-3AT magazines don't have real strong springs it could be causing your problem - or making a small issue worse. Load up the magazine and lock it away in a safe place to help break in the spring.

BTW - This is the reason you want to ALWAYS test the gun with any new magazines before you use the gun for SD - to make sure it does not jam.

But - Just normal break in - is the most likely cause.

If you take the gun apart and turn the slide over you will see a shinny silver rail going down the middle of the slide. This rail "rubs" the top cartridge in the magazine when the slide moves back (after you shoot) - the front edge then "grabs" the next cartridge out of the magazine and pushs it into the chamber. It is a good idea to polish this area so it is smooth (600 grit wet dry) - but I would not use heavy oil or grease on it. It will come in contact with the cartridge that is in the top of the magazine - you don't want oil and grease to get on the cartridge.

I like to shoot a new gun a few hundred times before I do anything to the feed ramp - although a little polishing is OK. (Polish with 600 or higher grit wet dry - sand with 400 grit wet dry) if you sand too much off the feed ramp - your barrel just turned into junk. My understanding is sanding just speeds up the process - you get the same result just shooting. It is much easier to sand a little bit more off latter - than it is to add some back if you sand too much off!

 

[Wilson]

where can i get those extensions? i was looking for them, could not find anything

The finger extension in the center is a NAA which requires some minor modification to fit a Kel-Tec magazine. It can be purchased at http://www.naaminis.com/guardacc.html#parts #MZ-FPK, with installation instructions on Darvell’s web page http://www.geocities.com/PocketGuns/P32ext.html .

The Bersa Thunder finger extension on the viewers left can be installed with out alteration. One source for this extensions is here http://www.bersafirearmsusa.com/parts_380lt_mat.php Part #48.

Wilson – who’s always for better control

 

[rcmodel]

Load up the magazine and lock it away in a safe place to help break in the spring. 

IMO: Loading it & unloading it will do more good.
Compression cycles from use, or repeated flexing, is what eventually weakens a spring, not staying compressed over time.

Initial spring set occurs in the first 24 - 48 hours after loading.
Nothing much will happen after that unless you use it.

rcmodel

 

[Packer]

+1

 

[z71bill]

Questions about magazine springs have been kicked around before -

I do think that loading a new mag full helps take some of the extra tension out of the spring. Mainly because I have done it several times.

Since the election and pending change in congress I think the 10 round magazine capacity limit (Brady Bill I think?) has a good chance of being placed back into law. So I ordered 2 new magazines for my M&P 40. They hold 15 rounds. When I first got them it was very hard to get even 14 cartridges in them - no way #15 would fit. So I let them sit with 14 for a few days - then unloaded them and was able to put it 15 - it was still hard to get the last round in - still very tight. So I left them loaded with 15 for two weeks. Now I can get #15 loaded with just a little bit more effort than the others.

No doubt that using a magazine will also reduce the spring tension - and it is also more fun to break them in by shooting with them. But I wanted to have a couple of extra high capacity magazines put away for a rainy day - and and this worked for me.

 

[superspud]

went back to the range today. all they had was Blazer FMJ so i bougth 100 rounds

all 100 rounds went through perfectly with an exception of one jam. It seems like the bullet got caught on the magazine and did not feed correctly b/c the slide closed on it with the bullet sticking straight up out of the top of the slide. it did not get chambered

other than that, everythin worked great. I shot several 7 round bursts quite quickly

one thing i noticed (besides that this gun hurts the hell out of my hand) is that they get VERY dirty. I field stripped it and man, what a mess. so i cleaned and lubed it up again..

 

[Packer]

  That was a stovepipe. Some of these guns are sensitive to dirt. Some need to be cleaned after 50 rounds. Some can go 1200 rounds without cleaning or failures.

  Just to be sure, check the tightness of your button head screw. It might be starting to loosen.

  You can lightly sand all of the rough edges from the hand grip. That will help your hurting hand. If that doesn't work, a Kraigster tube grip is cheap and very effective:

It is VERY much easier to limp wrist one of these little guns--Especially when your hand gets tired.

It is nearly impossible to limp wrist this gun from a very firm, push-pull grip:

1. Place strong hand on grip with finger alongside trigger guard.
2. Cup weak hand as if you were going to drink water from it.
3. Rotate weak hand 45 degrees toward your body.
4. Place palm against front of strong hand fingers, with thumbs nearly parallel.
5. Line up on target and push forward with strong hand while pulling back with weak hand.
This will lock your wrist and prevent limp wristing.

Single hand grip:

1. Line up on target.
2. strain hand forward as if you were trying to get the gun closer to the target.
This will lock your wrist and prevent limp wristing.

If you are using one of these grips, and you get malfunctions, it is NOT limp wristing, but the gun that is causing them.

Packer.