Picked up a new P3AT yesterday after having flawless performance for several years from a 2nd Gen P32. Cleaned the new piece and took it out to shoot. In the second and third magazines, had a failure to extract which I took care of by dropping the mag and popping loose with a pocket knife. No problem, new gun, etc. 4th mag had a failure to extract that locked the gun up. Casing locked in the extractor and nothing would move. Removed slide and couldn't get it to free up. Dropped by gun shop on way home and he used an allen wrench and finally got it apart. , suggested using Sellior and Bellot ammo instead of cheap stuff I was using for breakin. Anybody ever have this happen. Thanks
No, I've never had it happen but I don't ever use the cheap stuff. Winchester White Box is about as cheap as I'm willing to go. It sounds like you were using Tula or Wolf steel cased or maybe Blazer aluminum cased.
Was it factory reloads? I've seen guns lock up like that with steel cased ammo in tight chambers, but obviously that wasn't the case. I've also seen that with "plated" reloaded bullets where the copper plating winkled up around the case mouth when the bullet was seated and that little wrinkle of copper jammed up in the chamber.
I've used only S&B and PMC FMJ and have had no problems. Plus you can find each relatively "cheap" if you shop around.
Tight, dirty or slightly crooked chamber. Never happened on my KT, but my Kahr P380 will lock up if it gets too dirty or I try to run some old physically dirty ammo. Will also do it often with the steel/lacquer Russian stuff, too. Buff it out real shiny with a Q-Tip and some polishing compound. In-out strokes and a lot of them. A few hundred everytime you take it apart. It will loosen up, promise. Could be done with a dremel and felt cone, but you could overdo it if not careful. If your smith didn't put loctite on the frankenbolt, it will probably loosen itself and you'll have FTEs in your future. ...forgot to add, next time it locks up, drop the mag, find an old wooden table at the range and put the top edge of the slide against the edge of the table and push down. Should rack and pop right out. I always save a few expended casings and see how they fit in the chamber after they've expanded. If you've got to push them in or pry them out - polish.....
