I got to try out a nearly brand new one. The guy said it kept jamming. Being a kel tec I didn't know what to expect. The gun weighs nothing, it feels like a toy. Loading it up with 30 rounds doesn't add much more. The trigger is pretty nice, a little bit of take up to let you know its there but no dragging before it broke. Factory specs say its set a 5lb, its the lightest 5lb factory trigger I have ever seen. I figured it was just new gun syndrome. I pretty much hand fed the first 2 magazines through it. 2 more mags had cleared up most of the failure to feed and failure to eject problems. Oiled it down with some CLP and that helped even more. Then the trigger started sticking as in I had to get my thumb behind the trigger and pop it forward. I took it apart and see where its hanging up, about 5 seconds with a dermal tool should fix it. Sticking a piece of duct tape behind the trigger fixed it as a temp fix and confirmed where the problem is. After about 150 rounds I was able to do 2 insane mag dumps through it with out any problem. Any feeding problems from then on were almost all when the mag was really full. So loading it nam style and putting 4 or 5 less rounds in the mag should prevent most of the feeding problems. Leaving the mags fully loaded for a few weeks may break in the spring so it feeds all 30 with out any problems. For me the lighter weight bullets shot tighter groups. Standard 40gr Winchester were the worst, 30 and 35gr CCI were noticeably better. Your results may vary. 30gr made the best muzzle flash. Recoil is very low. The gun does not come with any tools for further break down or sight adjustment. You will need a 0.050'' allen wrench to adjust the sight. This is the only time I have ever used a 0.050'' allen wrench. Only the front sight is adjustable. To take apart the rest of the gun beyond basic take down you will need a 3/32 and 5/64 allen wrench. I think I want one. I better start buying ammo now! If you are unfamiliar with 22 mag pistol they make a decent muzzle blast. Its not obviously a rim fire like a 22LR would be. It looks and sounds like a center fire round. Some people may be annoyed by the heal clip mag catch. I don't mind too much because small guns like a small backup pistol might use this type of mag release system. But this gun holds 25 to 30 rounds so mag changes are not as big of a deal, fast mag changes are more important on pistols that hold 7 or 8 rounds. The only thing I didn't like about it was the lack of a last round hold open.
I won mine in a card game. Shot it last year in the local Zombie shoot and did quite well, even on the bonus gong at 80 yards. I ran most stages on one magazine. It's a fearsome little beast for its' size and weight, and I know a petite lady who uses one for home defense. My bigger is better mentality had to give that choice some time to sink in. 30 rounds of .22 Magnum in an easy to handle, accurate handgun is a pretty strong deterrent. I like it a lot.
I've only had two issues with mine. First was finding one, the other was extremely stiff mag springs (at first.) I've only used CCI 40gr and have been quite satisfied...
Found one like NIB with 3 extra mags and sold it to my wife's uncle who had been wanting one for a long time. Sold it to him for what I had in it-$450.00. Have to be honest, I've never been a fan of Kel Tek stuff, but their newer offerings like these aren't bad at all. Sometimes I wish I'd kept it,lol. But I know me and going through a hundred dollar brick every time I took it out would get old. Glad you figured out the issue with yours. So far the one I sold has had no problems.
How big is the grip? I am curious as I would like to find a pistol that would fit the wife's small hands. She shoots the Glock 19 but doesn't like it as it's too big and too much recoil. This would have less recoil but the .22 mag round would do some damage. I assume one can purchase .22 mag in hollow point? Anyway, what's the grip like wondering if worth looking into?
Umm, I'd guess that she might find the grip on the large side. I don't think it's as big as the 19 but it still is a double stack mag. As far as the recoil, nothing to it and yes you can get the .22mag in HP-it's all I buy.
I am going to look into it. I have a rifle and pistol .22 LR and really don't want another ammo type but this might be a special case. I will see if my local area has one that I can look at...also will check out the cost of .22 mag ammo. EDIT: OH! I wanted to ask if this comes with a threaded barrel just in case suppressors are taking off the hit list?
My wife has small hands and she can hold on to it pretty good. The grip is about the size of a 1911 but a little thinner. Since these were crazy popular I'm sure there are threaded barrels out there. But you can't use a 22LR suppressor. It will destroy it. May need a 5.56 or 5.7x28 suppressor, but 5.7 has a weird metric thread like 10x1mm. I guess I should see if I can find a threaded extended barrel that would be a good buying point. But it's going to need something like a 5.7 can with a recoil booster because this kel tec uses delayed blow back, so a simple dumb can with no moving parts probably won't work, if you want the gun to cycle.
Kel Tec says DON'T use a suppressor on the PMR 30 or at least the instruction manual on mine says that. For quiet I really like the Ruger 22/45 and std velocity ammo with a can.
Yeah for a quiet gun something 22LR with a straight blow back system where the barrel doesn't move would be best.
I've also read that heavier bullets work best. Funny, those 30gr V-max work really well, maybe my gun missed the memo.