Thanks to Alamo, who put me onto a dealer in Tamaqua, PA, I am now the proud owner of a new Kel-Tec P-3AT.
Geez this thing really is almost the exact same size and weight as my P-32. It's a fraction wider in the slide and a fraction longer.
First range session should be Tuesday, but here are my impressions thus far.
The machining is AWFUL, grind marks all over the place, the finish is also a little patchy, and the slide to rail fit is a tad tight. Cycling some live rounds through the action revealed that the first round out is a little tight under the feed lips of the mag and a smack on the back of the slide was usually required. Break in, and maybe some fluff and buff should take care of that. The slide needs a lot more effort to rack owing to the upgraded springs, made worse no doubt by the tight slide, break in again I hope.
This store actually had 2 to choose from so I had a choice, but both guns seemed identical in fit and finish - amazing they have 2 when noone else can get any. Even more amazing when you see where Tamaqua is on the map, talk about the middle of nowhere.
One more thing, the slide no longer has a hold open, this was thought to be a bad feature on the P-32 by some, but I can't figure out why you would not want a visual indication that the gun had shot empty.
I bought the P-3AT for the concept of a 7 shot .380ACP that disappears in a pocket so I REALLY want this gun to work in reality as well as in concept, those .380 rounds certainly look big sat by the side of such a small pistol.
Keep your fingers crossed for Tuesday.
Newton
Geez this thing really is almost the exact same size and weight as my P-32. It's a fraction wider in the slide and a fraction longer.
First range session should be Tuesday, but here are my impressions thus far.
The machining is AWFUL, grind marks all over the place, the finish is also a little patchy, and the slide to rail fit is a tad tight. Cycling some live rounds through the action revealed that the first round out is a little tight under the feed lips of the mag and a smack on the back of the slide was usually required. Break in, and maybe some fluff and buff should take care of that. The slide needs a lot more effort to rack owing to the upgraded springs, made worse no doubt by the tight slide, break in again I hope.
This store actually had 2 to choose from so I had a choice, but both guns seemed identical in fit and finish - amazing they have 2 when noone else can get any. Even more amazing when you see where Tamaqua is on the map, talk about the middle of nowhere.
One more thing, the slide no longer has a hold open, this was thought to be a bad feature on the P-32 by some, but I can't figure out why you would not want a visual indication that the gun had shot empty.
I bought the P-3AT for the concept of a 7 shot .380ACP that disappears in a pocket so I REALLY want this gun to work in reality as well as in concept, those .380 rounds certainly look big sat by the side of such a small pistol.
Keep your fingers crossed for Tuesday.
Newton
I do wipe it down with breakfree every few days though.