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Kel Tec 380

woodchuckjohnwoodchuckjohn Member Posts: 207 ✭✭✭
edited May 2013 in Ask the Experts
Just bought a Kel Tec 380 compact pistol. Had some Pierce Ammo and tried it out. Failed to function and cycle. Who knows what ammo this little gun likes.

Comments

  • rufe-snowrufe-snow Member Posts: 18,650 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I would try commercial FMJ. Which it should function with, no problem. Although being a locked breech mechanism like a 1911, it will function best with hotter loads, IMHO.

    You didn't note if it was used or new when you bought it.

    I've owned a number of Keltecs over the years. Sometimes the brand new ones will require a breaking in, before they function 100%.

    EDIT #1, Most problems I've had in the past with personal protection ammo malfunctions. Were based on the flat nosed hollow point bullets misfeeding and causing jambs.

    Hornady in recent years has produced a new type of self defense ammo called Critical Defense. It has a taper nose bullet that has a plastic plug. This seems to be the best of the self defense loads, to prevent the jambing problems.

    I'm sure if you tried it in your KelTec, it would function better then the other self defense ammo that you had problems with.
  • woodchuckjohnwoodchuckjohn Member Posts: 207 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    It is a new pistol. Thanks for your thoughts.
  • riley priley p Member Posts: 217 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I'd second Rufe. I've owned a P3A for several years. Right out of the box it didn't run well at all. Now with many hundred rounds through it there isn't much it won't shoot. When it was new the hammer spring was sprung a little out of round. It had an eccentric loop on the coil that rubbed on the frame. I whined to KelTec and they sent a replacement right out. I had it in two days. Many of them at the club where I shoot. Some say they run better with the higher end defensive ammo then they do with the economy 100 grain FMJ stuff. My 2 cents...
    RP
  • jeffb1911jeffb1911 Member Posts: 2,113 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Had mine for about ten years now. Got it used, and have run a lot of ammo (10k or more in that time) through it, seems to have gotten better with age. Either in my pocket or clipped onto my vest while on patrol. Seems to like to rust though in those sweaty conditions, so weekly/bi weekly cleanings will be a must. Other than that it's much better than it gets press for.
  • TxsTxs Member Posts: 17,809 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Your experience is not unusual.

    Over time I've seen a lot of these little Kel Tec pistols show up on the range as officers qualify with their secondary/off-duty gun. Quals are conducted using agency issue duty ammunition, which means these people are all shooting the same type major brand, first run defensive stuff.

    The Kel Tecs are inexpensive and easy to carry/conceal, but as modern design, hideout sized semiautos pistols go it's been my observation they're the most problematic. They're the brand I most commonly see disqualfied for carry due to malfunction rate.

    My intention is not to just bash on you for your purchase. I'm only giving an honest, unbiased observation of how multiple samples of these pistols perform using high quality ammo. People having to send their gun back - sometimes repeatedly - is not uncommon.
  • partisanpartisan Member Posts: 6,414
    edited November -1
    I've owned one for several years, and keep it loaded with Hornady hollow points, which function great. A new one needs a little break in period, but don't be afraid to carry it with some good hollow points. Shoot a few different ones, and go with what functions best. I will say as a pistol instructor, that most jams with this light pistol are caused by "limp wristing" the pistol. Make sure you have a tight grip whenever you are searching for the best ammo.
  • bambihunterbambihunter Member Posts: 10,760 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I used to shoot Gold Dots through mine, as well as FMJ type. Mine is the first generation meaning it has the internal extractor and not the external ones of the current model.

    Some of these need to have the feedramp polished. Most use a dremel, cloth polishing bit, and Flitz.
    As some have mentioned, these seem to "shoot in" meaning they function better as you shoot them more. You didn't say exactly how your gun was jamming (failure to eject, failure to feed, etc) which would help narrow it down to what it is doing. One wouldn't expect much customer support from such an inexpensive firearm, but in my experience when helping others with theirs, they were quite helpful and didn't really argue if you needed to send it in.

    I recently made the switch to Doubletapammo and it really gives the little .380 a pop.

    As was mentioned above, they do start rusting eventually if they are in contact with your body, though it took mine ~6 years to start doing that. Now that it has started, I have to oil it every few weeks during the summer. I have two holsters, both for the right front pocket and one has an extra mag holder which is nice. The other one is a little smaller without the mag holder and is nice for shorts pockets.
    Fanatic collector of the 10mm auto.
  • ap55ap55 Member Posts: 167 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Mine ate anything including Spanish sub. mg. ammo, it also had a polished ramp when I got it,there is a Kel Tec forum with lots of tips.
  • beantownshootahbeantownshootah Member Posts: 12,776 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Txs
    The Kel Tecs are inexpensive and easy to carry/conceal, but as modern design, hideout sized semiautos pistols go it's been my observation they're the most problematic. They're the brand I most commonly see disqualfied for carry due to malfunction rate.

    My intention is not to just bash on you for your purchase. I'm only giving an honest, unbiased observation of how multiple samples of these pistols perform using high quality ammo. People having to send their gun back - sometimes repeatedly - is not uncommon.

    I've seen a number of these, and every single one (including my own) jammed a lot.

    The issue, not to put too fine a point on it, is that the parts are only "tumble" (ie rough) polished, and they require either quite a bit of shooting to break in, or manual polishing of the contact areas (the so called "fluff and buff").

    They also definitely will choke on hollowpoint "defensive" ammo. They probably "shouldn't", given that its a modern design, but they do. Ball ammo runs these guns better. Arguably, ball ammo is probably better anyway in .380s because the limiting factor in efficacy in small calibers like this is typically penetration, and ball ammo offers better penetration than hollow/soft point.

    One big problem here is that .380 ammo is just scarce. Right now, basically none is available on store shelves anywhere. Yes, you can buy it on the auction site, or maybe gunshows, but its running close to $0.75 per round shipped. Personally, if I'm going to pay $0.75/round I'd like it to be premium .357 magnum, not dinky ball .380s!

    The 500 rounds necessary to ensure adequate functioning would literally cost more than the cost of the whole gun. . .in part explaining why most owners, I think, haven't properly broken in their guns!
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