Selling a pistol: question for members

[Callahan]

I'm thinking of selling my Kel-Tec P32 (32 ACP) and buying a Kel-Tec 3AT (380 ACP) to replace it.

My question is this: Is it worth the trouble or do you think I'm not gaining all that much and should just stick with the .32.

I have one 7-round and one 8-round magazine, plus a pocket holster for it.

I'm also thinking of selling a .380 that does not carry that well.

[5ontarget]

I have the 3AT, and it has some reliability issues that I have not yet ironed out. I have been on a couple of kel tec boards and they have detailed procedures on what needs to be done to make them reliable. Once this is done, people seem to really like the little 3AT. The bigest problem is smilies as many people call them. I believe it is from the bbl striking the bullet in the magazine during the cycle. often leads to jams and fail to feed...and some setback no doubt. I'd recommend this gun only if you are not afraid to tinker with it some. You have the .32 so I won't go into details of the gun. The dimensions and overall feel is the same, just a bigger bullet, bang, and recoil.
If you need the forum addresses let me know, I'll give them to you when I get on my other computer that has them bookmarked.

[Callahan]

5ontarget said:

I have the 3AT, and it has some reliability issues that I have not yet ironed out. I have been on a couple of kel tec boards and they have detailed procedures on what needs to be done to make them reliable. Once this is done, people seem to really like the little 3AT. The bigest problem is smilies as many people call them. I believe it is from the bbl striking the bullet in the magazine during the cycle. often leads to jams and fail to feed...and some setback no doubt. I'd recommend this gun only if you are not afraid to tinker
with it some. You have the .32 so I won't go into details of the gun. The dimensions and overall feel is the same, just a bigger bullet, bang, and recoil.
If you need the forum addresses let me know, I'll give them to you when I get on my other computer that has them bookmarked.

Interesting. I have heard only about problems with the slide not locking open after the last round. None of the gun magazines (of course) have mentioned reliability problems. Even Gun Tests gave it a good review, even recommending it over the P32. My .32 has been absolutely reliable. The .32 cartridge is subject to rimlock so I only use round ball in it, except for the first two rounds. I may do that wire fix that they talk about in the Kel-Tec forums to allow me to use hollowpoints. May stick with the .32 for a while now.
Anyway, how many rounds have you put through the 3AT? I've heard Kel-Tec's customer service is very good.

[MLB]

I can't comment on the Kel-Tecs, but if you're primarily looking to beef up your caliber in a small handgun, you might want to consider the Kahr.

.40 cal in a steel package just a bit larger than my PPK/S sounds appealing to me. If I could just get over the Moon thing...

[Callahan]

Thanks, but the Kahr, small as it is, is still too big and heavy. The smallest Kahrs weigh about 18 ounces; the Kel-Tec P32 and 3AT weigh 6.6 and 7.2 ounces, respectively. They are about 7/8s on an inch thick vs. about 1.1 for the Kahrs. A K-T in you back pocket looks like a wallet. It's the only pistol I can easily carry.

They are also quite a bit more money! ;D

[5ontarget]

Unless they've changed the model this year, there is no slide lock on the 3AT. There is a guy on the forum that makes one you can install. Breakdown is a little bit harder, as yuo have to hold the slide open and pull the takedown pin at the same time.

I have not done the fluff and buff on the gun. That combined with some ramp work/mod will fix the problems I have with my gun.
I too have heard customer service is great from kel-tec. They are currently having hard chrome slide exchange for $20. Depending on how much time I have in the next few weeks, I may send it to them to work on. I've been meaning to do it for 8-10months now. (clearly not very high on my priority list)

I have only put about 300 rds through this gun. I put it back in the cabinet till I got it functioning more reliably...

Something else I've noticed, it is really hard on brass.

Prices on the 3AT seem to going up locally. They are currently going for about 230-250. I got mine last year for $200.

[Callahan]

5ontarget said:

Unless they've changed the model this year, there is no slide lock on the 3AT. There is a guy on the forum that makes one you can install. Breakdown is a little bit harder, as yuo have to hold the slide open and pull the takedown pin at the same time.

I have not done the fluff and buff on the gun. That combined with some ramp work/mod will fix the problems I have with my gun.
I too have heard customer service is great from kel-tec. They are currently having hard chrome slide exchange for $20. Depending on how much time I have in the next few weeks, I may send it to them to work on. I've been meaning to do it for 8-10months now. (clearly not very high on my priority list)

I have only put about 300 rds through this gun. I put it back in the cabinet till I got it functioning more reliably...

Something else I've noticed, it is really hard on brass.

Prices on the 3AT seem to going up locally. They are currently going for about 230-250. I got mine last year for $200.

5ontarget,
The p32 does not have a manual slide lock but the slide locks back after the last round is fired. To release you just pull back a fraction and let fly. Only way you can lock the slide back otherwise is to put an empty mag in it and pull back. 3AT is supposed to work that way, but I hear the mags sit to low. I would think by 300 rounds it would be pretty fluffed and buffed...

[MLB]

I wish my ppk/s had a slide lock. When I hand over a handgun, I prefer to have the slide locked open. You need to have an empty magazine handy to do this in my case (as well as with the 3AT it seems).

[5ontarget]

Callahan said:

Interesting. I have heard only about problems with the slide not locking open after the last round.

From the Kel-Tec home page on the 3AT "The P-3AT is a semi-automatic, locked breech pistol, chambered for the .380 Auto cartridge. It has been developed from our highly successful P-32 pistol with negligible increase in weight and size. The slidestop has been eliminated and the magazine capacity reduced to 6 rounds due to the larger cartridge."

I just glanced at some of the member profiles, and noticed fobos has the 3AT as well...maybe we'll hear from fobos too.

[5ontarget]

Well now you’ve got me curious again. That and I just received my order of 1000rds of .380. Weather was nice enough (mid 30’s) for me to get out and shoot. I shot another 100rds through it, 50 Winclean with the truncated nose, and 50 Federal standard ball stuff. I noticed more ramp impact with the Winclean compared to the Federal. I was getting some fairly regular extraction problems. It would either pull the case part way out and thus creating a jam, or it would fail to pull it out at all. There would be a nice mark on the case where the extractor tried, but failed to pull the case out. When it did extract/eject, man it sent the brass flying, I found some 12ft behind me. No it didn't roll or bounce that far, it was thrown that far. I picked the brass out of the snow.

Then I got on the two Kel-Tec forums I know of www.ktrange.com and www.ktog.org and got to looking around. The extractor is a problem Kel-Tec is aware of and fixed after my gun was produced. They will send replacement ejectors to those of us with older models. Other news, the slide is an all new design, and new exctractor as well for 2005. Although it is not yet listed on their web page yet, here is a link to some pics www.ktrange.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=2873&sid=0d608a07b8883db696c8c1aa573a3ad1 It looks more box-like.

Sooo, off to request a new extractor and someday get the fine grit paper and files to do a little feedramp modification...or send it in to KT.

[Callahan]

Well, it sure as he** will be easy to spot the new model! Thanks, much. I had just about given up on that pistol. If it functions, though, I don't care what it looks like!

Now, back to my question. Is it worth it to upgrade? I have the hard chrome slide, belt clip, 8-round mag and 7 round mag for the P32. Pretty nice setup.

[Fobos]

I bought my P3AT about 6 months ago... 500 rds later, I've not had a single malfunction while on the range.

There's only one issue I have with it... when chambering the first round, I have to give the slide a bit of a "nudge" to get it to move forward.

I have a lot of faith in this handgun, and I carry it as a backup even when packing my 1911 or 92FS...

[Callahan]

Fobos said:

I bought my P3AT about 6 months ago... 500 rds later, I've not had a single malfunction while on the range.

There's only one issue I have with it... when chambering the first round, I have to give the slide a bit of a "nudge" to get it to move forward.

I have a lot of faith in this handgun, and I carry it as a backup even when packing my 1911 or 92FS...

Fobos:

So, you're saying if you are trying to chamber the first round, and you draw the slide back slightly, it won't go forward when you let go, you have to give it a nudge?

[Callahan]

OK. I've pretty much decided it's not worth the trouble to upgrade from .32 ACP to .380 ACP, and therefore go from about a 66 pct. one-shot stop to 71 pct. one-shot stop.

[MLB]

Think of it this way Callahan, if you get two shots off, you move up to:

0.66+(1-0.66)*0.66=0.87

Say, 87% stop by my way of thinking. (You'll have to get TMan, our resident mathematician to confirm) ;D

[Callahan]

Yeah, anything worth shooting once is worth shooting twice or more. You'll have to help me with that formula, though! ;D