P3AT fail.... was .380 Goodness

[Netpackrat]

Been wanting one of these for a while now, but today I finally made a trek to my favorite gunshop in search of the Kel-Tec P3AT. They had a couple of them under the counter among several other .380s, one with a green frame and one with the black frame. I asked for the black one, and was asked if I wanted to also check out the Ruger.... I said no, and since he was polite about asking why not, I gave him the short version (not supporting companies who rip off others' designs) and left it at that. He got out the Ruger anyway, so I still wound up handling it, but one felt much the same as the other, and then next thing I knew, I was handling a Sig P238, and then some other .380 that was probably bigger than the P230 that I already had. Ended up leaving with the P3AT, an extra magazine, and a few more boxes of Hydrashoks. I know there are other, newer rounds available, but my Sig likes the Hydrashoks, so assuming the Kel-Tec doesn't choke on them, that's what I am going to feed it since I have a bunch of them already, and in the interest of simplicity. If it doesn't like them, then I can always try something else, and just use the rest in the Sig. Now I just need to test fire it, and select a pocket holster.

Here is a picture of Mortimer posing with the new mouse gun:



And another one with the "big brother" Sig P230:

[NVGdude]

my Sig likes the Hydrashoks, so assuming the Kel-Tec doesn't choke on them, that's what I am going to feed it

My P-3AT feeds Hydra-Shoks just fine, as well as every other round I have put through it. I normally carry Gold Dots in all calibers though.

[Netpackrat]

My P-3AT feeds Hydra-Shoks just fine, as well as every other round I have put through it. I normally carry Gold Dots in all calibers though.

That's good to know. When I bought the Sig, the only two decent defensive rounds were the Hydrashoks and Corbons. The Sig had issues with the Corbons (wouldn't always set them off on the first primer hit), so I've been using the Federal round ever since. I'm not opposed to other ammo, but since by now I have many hundreds of Hydroshoks through the Sig, there would have to be some huge improvement available in order to get me to switch. I know I am starting from scratch as far as demonstrated reliability in the P3AT goes, but at least this way I'll only have one type of carry ammo to worry about, and it may even be worth just buying a case or two to keep around. Actually, I'm going to try working up a JHP handload that both pistols like too, just in case .380 ammo ever gets scarce again, just so I will have options. Probably do the same thing for my 10mm as well, since the availability of Silvertips is still kind of spotty in this locality. Wouldn't want to ever carry with handloads, of course, but if that's all you can get, one does what one must.

[Netpackrat]

Bit of an update; I went to a local police/security retailer today, that usually has a pretty good selection of holsters and stuff. I ended up buying a couple of Desantis holsters for it; a Nemesis pocket holster (which is what I went there looking for), and a clip type IWB holster. The IWB holster turned out to be a bit of a waste, maybe if I wore a less substantial belt it would be OK, but the Nemesis is nice. I was going to order a nice leather pocket holster for it but I may not bother now, at least not right away.

I also found that they sell .380 Hydro Shoks in boxes of 50 that are marked for law enforcement, at a substantially lower per-round cost than the boxes of 20 that I had been buying at the gun stores. Despite the markings, they don't appear to care who they sell it to, and I am pretty sure it is the same product other than the packaging.

[Netpackrat]

I've evidently got the old one, but for now I need a holster, so I am probably gonna keep it. I found the GuruDave holster last night and was planning on ordering one of those. If they will take it back I may return the IWB unit I bought to the store.

[AlaskaTRX]

Sooo... uhhh... whatcha going to do with that Sig?

[Netpackrat]

Liz never cared for the revolver I bought for her, and she likes the Sig, so..... As far as that goes, I really like the Sig, so I expect it isn't going anywhere. Sorry.

[Combat Controller]

I bought the Ruger becuase it was better finished and I already have 1911's by 12 different makers

It shoots anything but I really like the Winchester Ranger ammo for it, really smoking out of that little barrel. Great for when I can't carry a gun and so small and light!

[Netpackrat]

I test fired it yesterday. My hand is still sore, and I have a blister on the back of my thumb and the knuckle of my trigger finger where the inside of the trigger guard was smacking it. First, I put 100 rounds of the Hydra-Shoks through it, which functioned with no hiccups whatsoever. Discovered that the slide needed to be absolutely pulled back to the stops (which you are supposed to do anyway), or sometimes I would have to tap the back of the slide to chamber the first round, but there were no malfunctions in use. I also took 100 (plus 12 loose in a baggie) rounds of handloads that I originally loaded up for the Sig. I know you are supposed to work back up to max in a new gun, but these are standard pressure loads out of the Lee manual (IIRC), and since the P3AT is able to handle +P anyway I'm not real worried about them hurting it. Still, I am probably going to back off a bit for future reloads, because they recoiled with more force then the Hydra-Shoks. That's probably due as much to being loaded with a 102 grain LRN as opposed to the 90 grain JHPs, so I'm going to look for a different mold as well. I couldn't quite bring myself to fire the second box of 50 reloads.

Accuracy was surprisingly good all things considered. At 5 yards, I had no trouble whatsoever keeping all my shots within a 6" radius, and I think it is capable of better of one slowed down and really took more time at it. I'm pretty happy with the way it shoots overall for a pocket pistol. Once in a while during mag changes I would get a mag that wouldn't drop free, and I got some weird misfeeds with my handloads sometimes, but since it did fine with the JHPs I am not going to worry about it. I think since my Dillon dies resize down to minimum, that they may not always be coming off the magazine lips correctly, but I'll need to do some checking with a calipers.

Brass distribution seems to be fairly random, and I suspect what is happening, is that it throws them almost straight up, so if the pistol is canted even a little bit, that is the direction the brass is going to go. I ended up being able to find almost all of it however, which was pretty good considering I test fired it in the yard out at our cabin, and the ground is pretty uneven with lots of twigs and rocks.

The test firing was the last thing I did before packing up to come home yesterday. As I was loading the Jeep, there was a brown bear snooping around the area, which was a little disconcerting. I'm glad he didn't come by earlier, or there would have been a real good chance of facing down Ursus Horribilis while holding a .380 automatic (granted, with a 10mm on my belt, and a .450 Marlin nearby). Pretty sure I was making enough noise with the shooting to keep it away, but then again when I yelled at it, it didn't seem to notice or give a shit, and just kept on going the way it was going.

[Netpackrat]

I bought the Ruger becuase it was better finished and I already have 1911's by 12 different makers

At this point, I don't think that John Browning really cares.