Kel-Tec 380 cleaning, spring and ejector mistakes

[kyreb]

I bought one about a year ago. I have shot the snot out of it and carry it almost daily. I have fed it a steady diet of WWB at the range along with some gold dot and ranger HPs. However recently I have shot a box of Cor-Bon Powerball thru it and now use that as my carry load. This load is a handfull in the little gun, but I like what I have read about this ammo and frankly just like the confidence factor of carrying "ball" ammo that has the capability to expand.
Overall, I have been very pleased with the gun.
Recently I picked up a second P3AT. I planned to break it in, then give it to the wife for her CHL (purse gun). So far, I have run a box of WWB thru it , again without a hitch.

This weekend, I fieldstrip and clean both guns. The carry gun had not been fired since its last cleaning, but being a pocket gun, it tends to gather lint. Also, the last time I cleaned it, I was in a hurry and really did not do as good a job as I should have on a carry piece. (bad move I know. This was really driven home as you will see below.)

SPRING ISSUE: On the original P3AT, the outside recoil spring has one hell of a kink in it. (The inside spring is fine. ) The kink was large enough that it had to drag along the frame when shot...actually I wonder if it would have functioned after the first shot.

I called Kel-Tec and they are sending me a couple replacement springs at no charge. No problem there. However, I am curious if this has happened with anybody else. I am also looking for input as to whether the stout Cor-Bon ammo may have contributed to the spring failure.

EJECTOR WARNING: This is more of a "heads up" on a stupid thing I did. When cleaning the pistols, I started to reassemble the newer gun first. The ejector fell out on the table. I was surprised it was not a "pressed in" part. It sits in a couple of grooves in the frame and is loose enough that it will fall out if the frame is inverted.
Anyway, I was surprised enough to check my original P3AT (my carry gun) Sure enough, the ejector was missing. Obviously, it had fallen out during my last cleaning and I had not noticed it. Bottom line, I had been carrying a single shot .380 for the past couple months. Lessons learned.......thought this was worth sharing on several very obvious points.

BTW Kel-Tec is sending me a replacement ejector at no charge. Believe me, I will really watch this as I clean these guns in the future. Rick

[longtooth]

I also lost mine a few yrs ago cleaning it. I never found it. YOu are in some good company. They charged me for mine. Another example of some having problems w/ them & others get top shelf service.

[Mike1951]

I had been carrying a single shot .380 for the past couple months.

Not completely sure about this, but in the old days, I spent a lot of time on KTOG.org. I thought I remembered that they would function without the extractor.

[longtooth]

Ejector. Being a blowback they will still throw the spent out, just no telling where.

[trvlgnome]

I was lucky I guess. Mine fell out the very first time I cleaned it. Thought I had broken the gun after only 180 rounds. Strange set up but I couldn't be happier with mine.
I'm interested in trying the expanding ball ammo as well, mine eats any ball ammo I throw through it but sometimes it doesn't like to chamber the first round with JHP's.

[Mike from Texas]

Yep, I did the same thing. First time I stripped and cleaned, I heard something go "tink" in the kitchen sink and promptly go down the garbage disposal. After taking the garbage disposal off and fishing out the little part, I looked, scratched my head, looked some more, scratched my head some more and finally got out the exploded part view in the owner's manual and found out it was the ejector. That would probably be a good little object to have a spare or two lying around.

[mbw]

The Kel-Tec P3AT 380 is not a blow back design, it is a Browning locked breech design.

[pfgrone]

That would probably be a good little object to have a spare or two lying around.

I discovered that the best way to guarantee you'll never need a replacement part is to buy some spares for "just in case". I've got magazine springs, recoil springs, etc. in a shoe box that I can't even remember what guns they were for.