Re: Kel tec 380 vs lcp

fzr confused · Post by **fzr confused** » 10 Mar 2009, 12:26

I have been looking for an lcp for awhile but can't find one in stock. A dealer friend of mine has the kel tec in stock. Should I just get it instead? It's for my gf by the way

sabotteur · Post by **sabotteur** » 10 Mar 2009, 12:54

I've got the 380 kel tec. For a female shooter, I'm not sure I'd recommend it. My wife hates it, but will carry it when she doesn't take her purse. Here are her concerns/complaints:

- The trigger pull is very heavy, this is to compensate for a lack of safety
- The recoil causes her trigger finger to hit the inside ledge of the trigger guard, and thus hurts her finger
- There is no safety
- The sites have an extremely low profile and are not marked thus making it difficult to make a quick and accurate target alignment when shooting at anything made of paper.

Me personally, I love the gun. All the faults I listed above are part of the design which makes the kel tec so concealable. But then again I had a different requirement for a concealed pistol than she did. I carry mine usually in my front pocket of my jeans, with the belt clip hooked over the pocket. Just looks like I have a pocket knife. They have a leather holster now that is shaped like a wallet, that you slide the gun into, and it has a hole for a draw finger and a hole for the trigger so that you can pull the holster from your pocket and shoot from holster if you need to. Would allow you to instantly use a gun if pulling your 'wallet' out to fork over your cash to a would be mugger.

If your GF is just looking for a self defense concealed carry gun, then I'd recommend it. If she is looking for something that she can do some plinking with, I'd have to say pass, as this isn't what this gun was made for.

Just my two cents.

reads · Post by **reads** » 10 Mar 2009, 14:15

My daughter, sister, and mother, all have shoot my keltec, none of them like the long,hard triger pull, and the two fingers hold.
I personally like the gun.
they did like the colt mustang, sig p232, and ppks.

fzr confused · Post by **fzr confused** » 10 Mar 2009, 14:44

well this gun, like most kel tecs will not be a range gun so shooting isnt a problem with us. it is just for self defense so her liking it isnt as much of a concern as her being able to carry and conceal it lol. right now she carries my glock 23, which is somewhat small for me, but hell i am a much larger frame. she gets mad because she has to then carry her bigger purse, which she says "looks stupid" when she goes on walks around the block. she has a crazy ex that always seems to pop up just once you think he is gone, so i dont let her leave without a gun

. she loves to shoot though, her fav for some reason is the ak, which i think her liking it the most is pretty cool :guns: . as long as this gun is reliable i think i will get it. i picked up the paperwork after work tonight and will pick it up in the morning. i have a kel tec p11 which i can NOT stand shooting, but it is very reliable and is great for a backup gun or hell even a primary carry gun, but not a range gun. just like my taurus pt140.....freaking HATE the triggers on both of these guns. but like i said as long as she can pull the gun out fast and pull the trigger and get the BG it should be fine. i hear the same problems/concerns or whatever you want to call them but the LCP has the same issues. but thats not what these guns are meant for, so im cool with it

fatherfoof · Post by **fatherfoof** » 10 Mar 2009, 14:47

How is their reliability? Way back they had a bad rep for being jamomatics. But as I said, that was long ago. You older guys will remember Kimber was junk not worthy of paperweight status; they regrouped financially and today are highly sought after. Is the KT the same?

fzr confused · Post by **fzr confused** » 10 Mar 2009, 14:55

i dont think any kel tec will ever really be "sought after" lol...but i have 2, the p11 and the sub2000 (in .40) and both have functioned perfectly fine...but i have no clue about the p3at....

stg2ahn · Post by **stg2ahn** » 10 Mar 2009, 14:57

I have always known keltec to make excellent guns, for the money.
That being said, every ruger I had was of better quality, but they cost more too.

The LCP and p3ATs' are what I call, " belly poppers" They are guns you aim at an assailant no more than a couple yards away, if that. Then you shoot, empty the mag, then throw the gun at the bad guy, then scream and run until you get to safety or you get to your main FULL SIZE pistol. I would say aiming beyond 7 yards is not the purpose of the gun.

Here are some articles to digest..
http://www.gunblast.com/Ruger-LCP.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.gunblast.com/Ruger-LCP2.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.gunblast.com/KelTec_P3AT.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

stg2ahn · Post by **stg2ahn** » 10 Mar 2009, 14:59

fzr confused wrote:i dont think any kel tec will ever really be "sought after" lol...but i have 2, the p11 and the sub2000 (in .40) and both have functioned perfectly fine...but i have no clue about the p3at....

sorry for off topic question..

What kinda mags does your sub2k use? Have you had issues with the magazine staying in the gun? Shot a sub2k 9mm with glock mags and sometimes the mags would fiddle loose.

fzr confused · Post by **fzr confused** » 10 Mar 2009, 15:07

yea i use glock 22 mags in it and i have never had that problem...the only problem i have ever had with it was when i was stupid and accidentally put my glock 23 mag in it....yeah, i felt like an idiot when i figured it out. didnt help that it was the FIRST time i tried to shoot the gun :wall: . but i have never had a mag wiggle loose or anything along those lines in it.

as far as it being a "belly popper" that is fine by me really, any gun is better than no gun lol. she wont be pulling the gun on a BG that is across the street (in most cases) and if she did, i am sure the BG wouldnt then all of a sudden feel the urge to get as close as possible lol. a .380ACP has enough penetration to do its job, but yes a bigger gun is much more suited. a tiny gun is better than her just screaming, which i am sure she would do if she pulled the gun too lol

sabotteur · Post by **sabotteur** » 10 Mar 2009, 15:16

To answer the reliability question on the Kel Tec, I've put about 200 rounds through mine with 0 FTFs. One of the guys thats in my office has put about 700-800 through his, over half of them reloads with 0 FTFs. I know about 4 or 5 other folks that carry this and have yet to hear of a single reliability issue.

The only problem I've had is some of the ammo won't feed in the magazine. If the bullet tip, especially in hydroshock and other pre-fragmented bullets is too flat, it gets caught and won't feed past the first chambered round. I've got golden sabers in mind for carrying and they feed fine.

Post by **jmz5** » 10 Mar 2009, 18:32

I went with the LCP after handling them both.

fzr confused · Post by **fzr confused** » 10 Mar 2009, 18:36

i still have my LCP on order from impact....but like many have said i will never get it from those d-bags.....i ordered it in oct-nov area....

dtask · Post by **dtask** » 11 Mar 2009, 00:14

Impact is a bad joke. I had mags for a Sako Quad on order for a year and a half before I got ONE of the four I ordered and it was damaged - probably a return. To add insult, they tried to up-charge me on the mag stating that the price had changed from the time my order was placed. The guys aren't bad if you go into their store in Ogden UT (and they have a great range) but their website and delivery capabilities are, let just say, a touch ambitious.

fzr confused · Post by **fzr confused** » 11 Mar 2009, 05:08

just picked up the P3AT

....nothing i consider a cool gun, but a gun purchase is a gun purchase and i am happy

:clap: . i have been going through withdrawals since i havent bought a gun since december

.

stg2ahn · Post by **stg2ahn** » 11 Mar 2009, 07:38

:guns:

:thumb:

fzr confused · Post by **fzr confused** » 12 Mar 2009, 08:43

cant find the damn ammo anywhere!!!!!! and everywhere online is back ordered

....i guess i can teach her how to throw the gun real hard.... :wall:

stg2ahn · Post by **stg2ahn** » 12 Mar 2009, 09:06

pretty scary when ammoman.com is out of almost every caliber out there. Even the WWII era calibers and odd ball calibers.

Vortec MAX · Post by **Vortec MAX** » 12 Mar 2009, 12:22

fzr confused wrote:cant find the damn ammo anywhere!!!!!! and everywhere online is back ordered ....i guess i can teach her how to throw the gun real hard.... :wall:

Ammunitiontogo had 50 round boxes of .380 Law Enforcement Federal Hydra-Shoks last night for about 2 hours. I bought five boxes when I first saw it. It was gone within two hours of that. It is hard to get!

Mike

fzr confused · Post by **fzr confused** » 12 Mar 2009, 14:24

i found some at 1 local shop, they only had the aquilla 90gr's, but i still picked up 2 boxes. he had a few more but i dont plan to shoot it much, so 100 rounds will cover me for awhile. i have several boxes of hornadys on back order.

Vortec MAX · Post by **Vortec MAX** » 12 Mar 2009, 16:25

Hey they are listing the Hydra-Shoks on Ammunitiontogo again. I'm sure it won't last long.

Mike

TEKTITE · Post by **TEKTITE** » 01 Apr 2009, 11:41

My $0.02- My EDC is the Kel-Tec P-32; 100's of rounds thru, and no problems. It's a great gun for the price & EDC; "don't leave home without it"

moreland281 · Post by **moreland281** » 13 May 2009, 16:23

My wife carries the KelTec 9mm and she loves the gun itself (size,weight,etc..) the only thing she wishes was better was the pull.

fatherfoof · Post by **fatherfoof** » 13 May 2009, 22:12

Sab, I appreciate your factual data re functionality vs I'd shoot the BG and us and so blah blah. This forum is above paraphrasing supermarket mags with Dep Dawg writing on something he knows nothing about. I appreciate you staying with 1st hand fact and not spinning what a gun mag says you have to believe since the gun advertizes with them. We have too many "I are a expert cause I shot a gun and read a mag from the supermarket." Sab, stay with us, we need guys like you!

fzr confused · Post by **fzr confused** » 14 May 2009, 14:42

moreland281 wrote:My wife carries the KelTec 9mm and she loves the gun itself (size,weight,etc..) the only thing she wishes was better was the pull.

the p11? if so, i got one of those too and that is also my only complaint....trigger pull is WAY too long.

usmuggler · Post by **usmuggler** » 28 May 2009, 13:45

I bought 2 3ATs when they first came out. Had lots of stovepipes. Every other round would jam. Mostly failure to ejects. The ejectors on the early guns had a design flaw but Kel-Tec fixed that and sent me new ejectors. Since receiving them I have not had any problems with reliability. I usually put a couple hundred rounds thorugh it in a day at the range, as long as you occasionally clean the blue jean lint out of it I think it will go bang when needed.

I carry mine everyday on and off duty. I have found that Ball ammunition gets much better pentatrtion than factory self defense loads. Also I have to Qualify with it from 25 Yards and it drops about 7 inches at that range.

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