My mom hates the trigger of a P3AT I was going to give her. Size, accuracy and recoil were fine. She just couldn't stand the trigger. She is still looking while waiting for her CHL to arrive. I imagine she will steal my XD9 SC though.
My girlfriend doesn't seem to mind the P3AT. She said she didn't understand why "the little pistol jumps more than the big one" (P4X in .40 S&W), but it did not stop her from going through several more mags.
She does not have her CHL yet...but with a purse the size of her's, she could probably carry a Kel-Tec PLR-16 with no problem.
While looking for my wife, she fired both. She immediately hated the P3AT. As for the Bersa - she wants to keep looking.
Funny thing is that she really likes the feel of my subcompact 1911 in .45. She hasn't fired it, but it has her thinking about the 9mm more - especially in the 1911 platform.
I'll echo Mr. Surveyor. I own a P3AT, my 2nd, and I carry it almost daily.
While recoil is snappy, it doesn't bother me a bit to shoot it, and I'm a bit on the slender side. On the other hand, my wife's .38 Colt snubbie gives me pain, but it doesn't bother her. So try one. And say "yes" to a pinkie extension. it makes SO much difference in control, I won't have one with out it, even though it makes it harder to extract from my pocket.
And yes, the P32 is a great alternative. Look at both guns in the Navy blue grip and hard chrome slide rather than the basic black. None of these are pretty, but this version comes closest. I sold my black ones to buy the blue/chrome.
Oh, and I haven't had a failure of any kind with my new guns. The first P32 I had did fail to eject a case on the 48th consecutive round - hot, dirty gun. That did not give me cause to not trust it.
One other thought - my alternate carry is a NAA Black Widow in .22 Magnum. Beautiful little guns, most concealable thing around, and they are built like a fine watch. I don't feel naked with this small caliber, but some will. You could almost buy 2 for your stated budget.
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“Sometimes there is no alternative to uncertainty except to await the arrival of more and better data.” C. Wunsch
Skiprr and other KT owners,
( I don't want to hijack the thread)
We have 2 P32s. One was having light strike problems. When I took the slide apart to look for problems, I found the firing pin was bent. I straightened the firing pin and the light strike problem was cured!
NcongruNT,
Just handling is not enough. Let your GF shoot whatever you are looking at before you buy. I went thru the process with my wife. She turned down a number of what I thought would be fine carry guns.
FYI, She picked a SIG P239/40 S&W and her BUG is a KT P32. She also has a S&W mod. 36 airweight left over from the days when she couldn't manage a semiauto.
If you are serious about her you might have to spend more than $400. Just spend less on the rings to make up for it.
Regards, OE
NRA
TSRA
JPFO
American Legion
USN (69-77)
What did you expect?
Will938 wrote:I have a P3AT, I have had feeding issues with regular FMJ ammo. Never had a problem with the hotter JHP stuff. I don't limp wrist either.
It points very naturally to the point where you don't need those podunk sights they have.
After firing a box of ammo with that piece my hand will start to shake a bit though.
I have the same problem with Brown Bear FMJ in my P3AT. I only use reminton or winchester and have no problems. FMJ or JHP.
I have a P3AT and I love it! Carry it everyday in right front pocket. For it’s intended purpose, it is one of the best pistols available.
Having said that, I would never recommend this pistol to a novice shooter. There are several reasons -
1. Small size and limited sights make it difficult to hit anything beyond a few yards.
2. Trigger really takes practice to master.
3. The take down for cleaning is a chore. Don’t lose the ejector!
4. The grip is so small that the pistol in not really comfortable to fire.
5. KelTec recommends that the pistol not be dry fired. The firing pin can break if you do.
If you have someone new to pistol shooting, do like another recommended, get a quality 22 and let them learn some basic fundamentals before moving on to a CHL carry weapon.
no offense intended, but Commie Ammo is for Commie Guns! Keep the steel cased and bi-metal cased stuff away from the KT's. Use good clean brass cased ammo.
just a suggestion
It's not gun control that we need, it's soul control!
No offense taken. Brass is what works in my P3AT. I tried teh Brown Bear and still have 40 rounds of the stuff. It is much less than Winchester and Remington, so i had to give it a try out for my plinking ammo.
When my wife decided to go for her CHL, the first gun she/we bought was the P3AT. She didn't fire it at all before taking the class, and had to fire the course twice to qualify.
The recoil is pretty radical, heavier than 38 special (but less than 357 mag) through my Blackhawk (yeah, I know, apples and oranges).
After taking lessons from a local lady, and firing quite a few of her guns, she decided that he liked the Browning BDA best, so we head off to the Pasadena Gun Show to look for one. Couldn't find any, but someone told her the Beretta Cheetah (84FS) is essentially the same, so we bought one. She loves that gun. I used it to qualify last Sunday. El Gato said he used to have one and asked if he could shoot it. Of course, I said "Sure". He put five rounds into the little diagram at the upper left that shows how to score the big target.
Bottom line. There are better choices for a woman's carry gun, UNLESS size/concealment are the PRIME consideration.
The P3AT form factor is the perfect size for pocket carry. It is the absolute minimum caliber (IMHO) for defense. But mine and GF’s would not extract properly. It would only pull the spent cartridge half out of the chamber.
We couldn’t get that comfortable feeling for concealed carry.
So I traded them both for a bobbed hammer .38 and .357 from Taurus. The 357 is my pocket carry now.
