[P3ATonmeDAILY]

I am a brand new owner of a P3AT and love the size and weight of it a ton.

I picked it up at a gunshow for $250 after tax, new right out of the box.

I went straight to the range to fire some rounds through see how she liked what I was feeding her. I got some 380 acp from georgia arms. The first 50 rnds went through like a dream. I figured I should probably stop there without having anything to clean the gun but decided Id go a couple more magazines since I was sticking em in fairly tight groups from about 7 yards.

On about the 63 rnd I pulled the trigger and saw a huge flash followed by gun powder slamming into my face. Good thing I was wearing eye protection. I looked down at the gun to notice the magazine was hanging out of it. I pulled the magazine out and the top bullet was covered in black dust. Never experienced this before but I was a little shook up to say the least.

Anyone experienced anything like this before??? Any advice for an excited newbie p3at owner gone nervous? I've got her apart right now cleaning it for the first time.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[alamo]

Sounds like a bad round of ammunition. Was the pistol damaged?

 

[rcmodel]

Sounds like you had a classic Case Failure (Kaboom) with the Georgia Arms reloads.
Lucky you were not hurt, or the gun damaged more seriously.

(I imagine the plastic magazine catch has been sheared off when the mag was blown out, and probably will not retain magazines any longer.)

Personally, I will not shoot reloads, unless I reload them myself, and know what is in them, and some history of the cases used and the care taken in reloading them.

If you stick with name-brand factory fresh ammo, you will never have a case blow-out like this one again.

rcmodel

 

[guru2sum]

Does the Kel-Tec warranty cover Georgia Arms reloads? Does Georgia Arms have a warranty?

Sounds like a gunsmith needs to check out the gun before firing again.

G2S

 

[rcmodel]

I think it is unlikely the gun was harmed, other then a damaged mag release.

What I think happened was an old & weak reloaded case let go over the feed-ramp cut and released pressure into the magazine well. (Thus, blowing the mag out)

This would not have harmed the barrel, slide, or otherwise over-stressed anything, except possibly the plastic grip. (inspect it closely for cracks)

Had it been a high-pressure round like a .223, it would have taken the gun apart, and possibly also the shooter.

rcmodel

 

[TxCajun]

It could have been a weak case or even an over-loaded round I guess. IIRC, the KT owner's manual dictates factory new ammo. However, if there is a problem that requires service, they will undoubtedly handle it. I agree with what rc said... in total. With any luck, all you'll need is a good cleaning, lubrication, inspection, a new mag catch (if the mag won't stay engaged), and some decent factory ammo. That the gun held together and you were not injured is a big plus. One of the issues with gun show purchases is now coming into play. Do those guys have a brick and mortar shop? Can you take it to them and have their smith inspect the gun?

 

[xcop1105]

also purchased a p3at today and went directly to the state game lands to shoot without cleaning or fluff&buff. i also had a box of reloads i bought at gun show. the range is closed untill aug 31. came home and read your thread. will not use the reloads now. it will be factory ammo for me . the closed range just might a blessing .

 

[TxCajun]

I would clean and lube the gun before shooting anyway as KT does not do so after test firing:

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

 

[rcmodel]

+1 Txcajun

Your chances of total success with any new gun, not just KT's, is always better if you clean, inspect, & lube them before shooting them the first time.

Many makers ship guns covered with preservative oil or grease to keep rust at bay during long-term storage & shipment.

This is not lubricating oil, plus, many times the bore is full of it as well and can raise pressures.

rcmodel

 

[P3ATonmeDAILY]

Your probably right about the casing. I might put them through my glock again but not the KT as that was scary.

I did fire it about 3 more times after inspection and showing it to the local armorer. But this time I stood behind a bullet proof wall reaching around with one arm. It seemed to fire fine again. But that was all she wrote for the day.

I have since disassembled it, cleaned and lubed as well and will only shoot factory ammo from now on.

Thanks for all the quick info.

I will do a long and detailed search after today but right off hand will a few of you spit off your favorite 380 rounds?

 

[xcop1105]

ok it makes sense to follow your advise. will clean and lube before first range visit. i have a p32 for about a year now love the gun no problems but i did clean and lube it before first range trip. hope the p3at is as trouble free. serial#jcsxx will watch for peening but hopeing the problem is solved.

 

[rcmodel]

I will do a long and detailed search after today but right off hand will a few of you spit off your favorite 380 rounds?

These two ammo polls are getting pretty dated, but will give you a general idea.

Carry Ammo Poll
http://www.ktog.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=104;action=display;num=1114175613;start=0

Practice Ammo Poll
http://www.ktog.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=104;action=display;num=1114175321

I would avoid Russian Wolf, Brown Bear, etc. as it is all steel-case ammo, not brass, and many folks feel it is hard on guns.
Russian Wolf Gold is brass-case, but I haven't heard much about it.

Some like CCI Blazer aluminum-case ammo, but again, I steer clear of it, mainly because I can't reload it.

I have personally had good luck with Sellior & Bellot, Federal American Eagle, and Mag-Tech FMJ for practice.

For carry, my gun is loaded with Federal Hydro-Shock JHP right now, although Corbon DPX seems to be the odds on favorite here on KTOG for maximum performance from the .380 ACP cartridge.
It was not on the market yet when the poll was done.

rcmodel

 

[virtual-rj]

practice with any good fmj

i carry winchester ranger sxt, ranger le when the wife wants to part with some, and either corbon dpx or golden sabre when that is unavailable.

in short, carry what your gun likes.

 

[PshootR]

I have had the same thing happen to me while shooting commercial reloads in my 9mm P-11. The cases blew out, 4 times, over the feed ramp. Lost a mag catch on the last occasion. The reloader (Space Coast Bullets) said he had never had complaints about that happening before, but he gave me factory ammo in exchange for my unused plastic bags of his reloads without my even asking him to. I have never had this happen with factory ammo. I suspect that the problem my be caused by the very light weight slide of Kel-Tecs combined with overused brass cases.

PshootR

 

[c0wboi38]

Sounds like a well built weapon helped protect you from harm.


.380 ammo? For practice usually American Eagle FMJ. Carry ammo is exclusively Corbon DPX in all guns.

 

[kaltectom]

In my opinion, the P3At is not a pistol that you want to be using with reloads. Mine will handle the inexpensive stuff...Walmart Winchester, Remington and some others ok. But I agree with staying away from Wolfe.
In fact, I don't think buying reloads at a gun show are a very good idea unless you have experience with the seller.

 

[nicneufeld]

Any major name brand brass-case FMJ should do fine. I steer away from the flatnose Winchester FMJ, but that's because it gave my Bersa 380 fits, not because I knew it was incompatible with the P3AT (never tried).

I shot a whole bunch of American Eagle FMJ and CCI Blazer Brass FMJ this weekend, and I lean towards the American Eagle...had some hiccups with the CCI, may or may not have been the ammo's fault.

For carry, I carry Golden Saber 102gr, but CorBon DPX is the Favorite Son of the forum. I've seen data that indicates it would outperform GS and most other hollowpoints in penetration and expansion, but for that matter .357Sig will outperform it too, so I chose Golden Saber as a compromise because its available and not too expensive. CorBon can get hard to find at times (and is always very dear).