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Kel-Tec P3AT

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 9:47 am
by bauerdj
Well after fooling around with my P3AT for almost 6 months I finally got disgusted with it and sent it back to Kel-Tec. The best I had ever done was 25 rds before a FTE. It has had the extractor, extractor spring and button screw replaced, ramp polished and general "fluff and buff", new magazine purchased, etc. all to no avail. Now it is Kel Tecs problem, their customer service has a pretty good reputation, I hope it is justified. (Of course if it is I will be kicking myself for waiting so long to send it back :oops: )

Shipment cost $39.91 via Fedex. Employee handleing shipment was cooperative but seemed somewhat uninformed. She asked me if I was "licensed" and if the gun was "deactivated" so it could not fire. Rather then get into a futile discussion that no license was required to ship it back to the manufacturer I showed her my CHL which satisfied her. Told her it was "deactivated" as in broken and that was why it was going back to the manufacturer, which also satisfied her.

Waiting anxiously to see what the turn around time will be - I am nervous with one of my "puppies" away from the kennel :seeya:

Dave B.

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 10:00 am
by anygunanywhere
I have two 1st gen P#AT's, one blue, one chrome. I had to send one back for FTF and FTE. They tweaked itt and returned it pronto. I hope your experience ends with a reliable mouse gun. Mine are 100%.

My son has a 2nd gen P3. He had FTF and FTE problems as well. His proble was limpwristing. Once he learned how to hold it it was cured.

Anygun

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 10:35 am
by bauerdj
Pretty much eliminated the question of limp wristing; I had two expierienced instructors fire it - both had the exact same problem.

Dave B.

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 10:36 am
by flintknapper
Hope it works out for you.


I'm just going to remain silent, everyone knows how I feel about Kel-Tec.

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 12:56 pm
by DiverDn
I've had a 1st gen for about three years now, I didn't trust it for the first couple of years. It would not shoot through a mag without a fte. I ran about 300 rounds through it over that time. I tried the fluff and buff, polish feed ramp and other things.

Finaly I got sent it back to kel tec and it has been 100% for about 100 rounds. So there is hope for it yet.

It took them about a month to get it back to me and they sent me a check for the bulk of my shipping cost so I'm satisfied with their service.

Good luck, there are some satisfied people out there with the p3at's and some not so satisfied.

Re: Kel-Tec P3AT

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 1:48 pm
by Wilson
bauerdj wrote:Shipment cost $39.91 via Fedex.
I ship my pre-wrapped “machine parts / high-speed hole punch� via UPS ground (3 to 5 days) to CNC Inc (note absence of Kel-Tec in the address) for about $10 which includes $200 insurance. Fortunately Kel-Tec qualifies as an “other than� under the 1986 Gun Control Act, so I need not disclose the contents in writing to the common carrier. If my UPS Store had a big visible sign stating a gun shipping policy, I would likely follow it but fortunately they don’t :smile:

I buy any blued P-3AT I can find for under $125 and any hard chrome P-3AT under $175, so I need to ship cheap, if I can’t fix it myself.

Re: Kel-Tec P3AT

Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 4:24 pm
by pfgrone
Wilson wrote:Fortunately Kel-Tec qualifies as an “other than� under the 1986 Gun Control Act, so I need not disclose the contents in writing to the common carrier.
Wilson, could you educate me on what you're talking about in a short paragraph. Don't know what the 1986 Gun Control Act is about or the significance of "other than." Thanks, Paul

Re: Kel-Tec P3AT

Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 5:01 pm
by Wilson
pfgrone wrote:Wilson, could you educate me on what you're talking about in a short paragraph. Don't know what the 1986 Gun Control Act is about or the significance of "other than." Thanks, Paul
The Gun Control Act of 1968, Public Law 90-618 is on the ATF web site http://www.atf.gov/pub/fire-explo_pub/gca.htm .

After a spirited discussion on shipping handguns via common/commercial carriers (UPS, FedEX, etc.) one of the KTOG moderators posted a summary page, which gives a good overview without my re-typing that drawn-out discussion. See http://1bad69.com/keltec/shipping.htm

Some folks choose to believe the words don’t mean what they say but I’m one of those four corner guys. They like to point to the AFT Question and Answer page question (B9). I like to point out that at the end of that Q&A there is a reference to [18 U. S. C. 922( a)( 2)( A) and 922( e), 27 CFR 178.31] which I believe to be the controlling authority.

Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 8:41 am
by pfgrone
Wilson, thanks for the links. I saved the info just in case I ever need it. Hopefully, I won't.
Paul

Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 8:53 pm
by WNallG30
I sure hope my luck continues. I've had no trouble in 250 rounds with my P3AT. I was leery at first, but the gun store owner here is a great guy and will do all he can to help out if I ever have trouble. He said if I wasn't satisfied to take it back and they would help me get it back to Kel-Tec and get it fixed. Luckily though, didn't have to be done. I hope they get yours taken care of quickly and hastle free. I still don't think I'll be carrying mine until I have more rounds through it. I don't want to have trouble when I need it. Let us know how everything goes. I guess it proves what we've seen on here, it's hit or miss with the little pocket gun, not much in between!

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 3:02 pm
by texag06
Apparently I'm one of the lucky ones too. My P3AT works like a charm and I haven't had any FTF or FTEs in about 300 rounds. :woohoo

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 4:54 pm
by AG-EE
I have not had any trouble out of mine either.

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 5:02 pm
by bauerdj
I sure hope I can say the same when I get it back. If it is reliable it will be the perfect deap conceal gun.

I really can't knock it too hard yet - I have only myself to blame for taking so long to send it back for service, should have done that as soon as I had 200 rds through it and still had problems.

In any event they have had it since first thing Monday morning, lets see how fast they turn it around and how receptive they are to my request that they re-imburse me for the shipping.

Dave B.

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 6:18 pm
by longtooth
They told me it would be a monty & that is the one thing they were right about. Man, when they sent mine back they even had a .32 mag in the gun. They would not believe me until I told the service rep she needed to count the sight holes in the two mags & see that they were different.

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 7:00 pm
by bauerdj
Seems like their customer service runs hot and cold - either they do a real good job or they turn it into a disaster. Seems to be no middle ground. I have not yet received an e-mail responding to the e-mail I sent them, nor have I received any acknowledgement of receipt of the gun. Fedex has a signature of course so I know they did get it.

A month seems a little long but as long as the problems are solved I can live with that.

Dave B.