I have had a concealed carry permit for years and have carried a Bursa 380. When I first saw the Kel Tec P-3AT I knew it would be a great carry handgun. I checked out a friends and I can easily carry in my back. I traded my Bursa for a new P-3AT. My husband and I went to the forest and this is where the excitement changed to regret. We shot about 50 rounds and the slide hung back each time. Not once did the slide return. SO DISAPPOINTING. I called Kel Tec and they told me to return it for warranty work. It would take about 4 - 6 weeks. I mailed the gun on February 11, 2010, and they received it February 16, 2010. Today is April 25, 2010, and they are still telling me that it is almost ready which is what I have been told each time I have called since the last of March. Not only am I disappointed but I have nothing to carry. I have been told that only 5% of the P-3AT's have this problem. Seems like something should be done about the 5%. And if it takes this long to repair one of the 5% maybe a new P-3AT should be sent instead of repairing???? My husband was also going to purchase a P-3AT but he is now looking at other options.
Sorry to hear about your bad experience. With that, any gun can have lemons, regardless of the brand. If you expect a company to be perfect in everything they do, well, that just doesn't happen, regardless of company. I have a p3at and would trust my life to it. Give Kel-Tec a chance... If they're taking long with your gun, they might be back logged with other stuff, they're a small company and have a lot of stuff to do.
I am sorry to here of your problem. K tec will get it fixed CS is good. I have the P3AT and a P-11 both are great and I trust my life with them.
Too bad you didn't check in here before you sent it back. Almost surely, we could have helped but we would have needed some more details. For starters, the gun is about 1/3 the weight of the Bersa and has a very light slide. For that reason, it needs to be properly lubed to include grease on the slide rails, barrel lugs and hammer interface on the bottom of the slide. This reduces the friction. Secondly, it needs to be broken in with decent quality, full metal jacket, brass-cased ammo. Especially during the break-in period, jacket hollow point rounds are more difficult to feed and can get hung up on the feed ramp, which is what it sounds like it was doing. These ultra-light guns are often ammo-selective, especially during the critical breakin period. I would always suggest trying several different brands of FMJ ammo during breakin before ever sending it in for service, and I would never return one that was not even broken in. After 100-200 rounds, the metal to metal parts have worn smooth, the friction/resistance is much reduced, (broken-in), and the gun will then function more smoothly. You might also have helped by polishing the feed ramp a little. KT service seems to be running more like 6 - 8 weeks these days so you'll have to be patient. When you get it back, remember how to break it in properly and you should be fine. Mostly, lube it according to the link I posted and take it out with several brands of brass-cased FMJ ammo. Your issue is far from the norm. Most of these function quite well out of the box but occasionally some need that little extra TLC and/or different ammo and good lubrication (grease) during the break-in period. Once broken in you should have no problems but be aware that after break-in you may also have to experiment a little with self-defense (JHP) ammo. Inherently, these pocket guns sometimes play favorites among ammo. Also make sure you are not limp-wristing the gun, as that can also cause a failure to feed. What I have addressed are some of the more common occurrence with similar small, light semi-autos, and the P3AT is among the smallest and lightest. Of course this is why we like it. Good luck and I hope this has helped.
Hang in there! Once your weapon is returned home to you and you break it in, I'm sure you will come to find that there is nothing else in it's class. For me, it fills the role of lightest/ thinnest/ easy to shoot/ reliable/ surprisingly accurate pocket rocket that such a small amount of money can buy! You also might consider doing a conservative level "fluff and buff" as found on KTOG. It was so easy to do, and really smoothes out the overall functioning. Blueline
Welcome to KTOG. I feel your pain. :'( I came to this forum some time ago because of several out of the box issues with my first P3AT (J2Rxx). I was able to get it running reliably without having to send it to Kel-Tec but not without help from folks here and parts from Kel-Tec. Liking my now reliable J2Rxx so much I got a second P3AT (JPMxx) in HC/Grey. My second P3AT was and is to date issue free.
Sounds like it needed a fluff and buff and a break in period..I think 70 per cent of us went through the same thing,but once you do the F&B you will love it..and remember not to limp wrist it ..
