I have had some nagging issues with my P3AT (EDC weapon) that caused me to second guess it's reliability in a life-or-death situation. I was getting multiple FTE's per mag shooting WWB flat nose ammo. I thought that the flat nose might mimic the profile of the HP's that I carry. Carry ammo is either Speer Gold Dot (when I can find it) or Pow'r Ball.
I tested the Gold Dot and Pow'r Ball (only a mag or two because of cost) and both ran fine. It was my extended practice sessions that were problematic.
Before I packed it up and send it back to Kel-Tec I wanted to do everything I could to rule out operator error. I searched and read everything I could about limp wristing with a small carry weapon (lots of threads here on KTOG) and I also followed GoldenLoki's lube guide. Lastly, I found a good youtube video on disassembly of the P3AT [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T-z59HDeTk[/ame] and used blue lock-tite on the extractor screw (I was having to tighten it every so often).
My local Wally World is stocking Federal 95 grain FMJ round nose, so I picked up a couple of boxes and headed out to the range to test my EDC. I had two FTE's in 50 rounds (one while I was firing strong hand only) and the other was apparently random. The last 30 I shot "rapid fire" as fast as I could pull the trigger and stay on target. Those went without a hiccup.
My question is- have I proven it "reliable"?
My only comparisons are my Glocks (17 for competition and 19 for "heavy carry"
those have both been great and my 1911 which has had some issues.
What do you all do to ensure your P3AT passes the "reliability" test? Any words of wisdom for my situation?
I tested the Gold Dot and Pow'r Ball (only a mag or two because of cost) and both ran fine. It was my extended practice sessions that were problematic.
Before I packed it up and send it back to Kel-Tec I wanted to do everything I could to rule out operator error. I searched and read everything I could about limp wristing with a small carry weapon (lots of threads here on KTOG) and I also followed GoldenLoki's lube guide. Lastly, I found a good youtube video on disassembly of the P3AT [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T-z59HDeTk[/ame] and used blue lock-tite on the extractor screw (I was having to tighten it every so often).
My local Wally World is stocking Federal 95 grain FMJ round nose, so I picked up a couple of boxes and headed out to the range to test my EDC. I had two FTE's in 50 rounds (one while I was firing strong hand only) and the other was apparently random. The last 30 I shot "rapid fire" as fast as I could pull the trigger and stay on target. Those went without a hiccup.
My question is- have I proven it "reliable"?
My only comparisons are my Glocks (17 for competition and 19 for "heavy carry"
What do you all do to ensure your P3AT passes the "reliability" test? Any words of wisdom for my situation?