New Addition

[Adamant]

It has been a few years since I have bought a brand new gun. I have fondled and oogled over this guy for several months now. I finally adopted him on Monday. Hope to take it out Sunday and give it a work out. Special thanks to Steve Silvers at Silvers Firearms in Old Fort Tn. He has a great selection and best prices within 50 miles of Chattanooga!!

What have you guys done to customize your P3AT?

[vaiger]

I love my P3AT and use it most of the time for my EDC. It is so easy to carry, you forget it is there. I added the finger extension to one magazine and the +1 extension to the other. The +1 serves as a great finger extension with the added benefit of having another round, so I will probably add antother +1 to my other magazine. I primarily use a pocket holster in front or rear strong side, but occasionally carry it with the belt clip, in a tuckable holster or with a belly band type holster.

I just saw a really cool laser for it from laserlyte that is much lower profile than all of the others I have seen.....and it was under $100. Only negative I see is that you lose the belt clip option.

These little guns can be picky on ammo and I would advise you do a fluff and buff as soon as you can.

Enjoy the P3AT!

[Jonnin]

Take a look at thektog.org -- they have a bunch of ways to customize the KT pistols and a forum full of owners who know them inside and out.

[JAB]

In 'public' I mostly carry mine either in a homemade pocket holster (which I made to be able to also carry a spare mag) or in a FOBUS. Even in the FOBUS carried OWB it is so small that it will disappear under just a t-shirt. I did find that with the grips against my skin the rather aggressive 'checkering' rubbed my side like sandpaper but a trimmed Hogue Handall Jr. solved that problem as well as making it easier/more comfortable to shoot (unless I am mistaken, Pachmayr now has a slip-on grip sleeve made specifically for the LCP, P3AT, etc. and last I heard Hogue was planning to release one.) The mag I carry in the gun has the 'pinky extension' while the spare mag has the flat, factory baseplate just because it carries better in the aforementioned pocket holster that way. I haven't tried a +1 extension but I do have one of the 9 round extended mags that Kel Tec sells (also extends the grip.) The length of that mag would defeat the purpose of a small carry gun if carried in it, IMO, but it could make a pretty good backup/spare mag for carry. One of these days I have to remember to take pics of my P3AT in its current configuration but as of right now I don't have any.

Generally speaking, I can't stand IWB carry but I have found that I can do okay - at least for short periods of time - with carrying the P3AT in a belly band worn a little low so that the grips are positioned just above the waistband of my pants as they would be in most IWB holsters. At home, I often carry the P3AT that way under loose fitting shorts with an elastic waistband. With a t-shirt tucked in under the P3AT/belly band and a button up (dress) shirt tucked in over it, I have also used that method for carrying at a friend's wedding and a funeral for another friend's grandmother. It was completely hidden and no one 'made' me despite hugs being given and received, etc. I don't/wouldn't use the belt clip (my own, personal and somewhat contrarian opinion is that clips are for carrying ink pens and pocket knives - and I'm not so sure about the pocket knives) but it seems to work fine for those who do use/like it.

Edited September 15, 2011 by JAB

[vaiger]

Adamant, is that a hard chrome gun or is it blued and just the lighting makes it look like HC?

I forgot to mention grips in my post above. Without a grip or mag extension, the gun is not very fun to shoot IMO. With either of those, it gets much better. I also use the Handall Jr grip sometimes, depending on how I carry. I don't like the feel of it when I carry. There has been some talk on thektog.org site about Tractiongrips. I will probably be trying those soon, but with a magazine extension, the grip really does not bother me too much.

[Guest TnRebel]

The only thing I did was add the pinky extension .. it makes a world of difference

[Adamant]

Vaiger, Yes, it is hard chrome. Its just a cell phone picture. I figured the hard chrome finish would hold up best in and out of my pocket.

I dig the pinky extension but I'm just worried about it defeating the purpose of a pocket gun.

[vaiger]

I have the blued finish and really wish I had gone with hard chrome. I would love to find someone local to cera coat or refinish in hard chrome, but I don't know of anyone in middle TN and I don't want to mail it off. On the pinky extension, with the +1 I don't really notice a difference in my pocket. The curved pinky extension does seem to print worse than the +1.....at least with my pocket holster.

[Guest bkelm18]

I regret selling my P3AT sometimes. It was a good little pocket rocket. I've got a Polish P64 that I can carry if even my 442 is too big for the occasion. Though the P64 is even more unpleasant to shoot than the P3AT was.

[JAB]

The curved 'pinky extension' makes no noticeable difference in any of the methods I have used to carry the P3AT. I do find the spare mag easier to carry with just the flat base plate and not only in the pocket holster. In fact if I am carrying the P3AT in its FOBUS I have found that the spare mag will fit into the nylon belt sheath that came with a cheapo Winchester mini multi-tool I got at Walmart. With the flat baseplate, there is enough room for the velcro that holds the flap down to fasten. With the pinky extension, not so much.

[Jonnin]

I regret selling my P3AT sometimes. It was a good little pocket rocket. I've got a Polish P64 that I can carry if even my 442 is too big for the occasion. Though the P64 is even more unpleasant to shoot than the P3AT was.

Trade it in on a real makarov (pistol design, not caliber). The 64 bites the hand more with felt recoil and has a stout da trigger pull. I am not a fan of the 63s and 64s.