Background
Tiny, itty-bitty, minute, and diminutive are all words that describe the P3AT to a T. America has a long love affair with small pocket pistols, from classics like the .25 ACP Baby Browning to the Colt .32 ACP M1903 Pocket Hammerless. But taming the relatively powerful .380 ACP inside a truly micro-sized package is a challenging feat.
In 2017, Taurus gave it a shot with its now-discontinued Spectrum, which was plagued by some reliability issues, and North American Arms introduced its attempt in the heavy (20.4 ounces) Guardian in 2001. But the task of packing .380 ACP into an extremely lightweight micro gun isn't easy, and KelTec proved to be well ahead of the curve when it came to crafting the fun-sized P3AT.
Released in 1999 and based largely around the even tinier .32 ACP P32, the P3AT broke the mold. This extremely small pistol also came in at a hummingbird-like weight, just 7.9 ounces unloaded, and still managed to pack in 6+1 rounds of .380 for a highly concealable self-defense package.
While KelTec may have cracked the code for micro .380s, it was Ruger that doubled down on it when the company launched its LCP line in 2008. You could be forgiven for thinking the P3AT is a member of the LCP family at first glance.
That’s because the LCP borrows heavily from both the profile and function of the original P3AT. The guns are so similar that I’ve found the P3AT and the LCP can share many of the same holsters. Like the P3AT, the LCP and LCP II both host a 6+1 .380 ACP capacity. But KelTec crammed that capacity into a gun that weighs nearly 27 percent less than the LCP II.
Related: LCP II Review – What Do You Get With an Itty-Bitty Pistol?
Alas, as the LCP series rose in popularity, KelTec decided to finally cease production of the P3AT in 2022. Though, there are still plenty floating around if you’re looking for what is still the lightest and one of the trimmest .380 semi-autos ever made.
Specs & Features
I picked up this well-used and clearly often-carried P3AT pistol at my local gun shop recently. It’s a single-stack, hammer-fired, locked-breech, double-action-only design, but with a bit of a twist.
Unlike many other DA-only pistols, the P3AT’s hammer does not automatically reset after you pull the trigger. The slide must recoil to the rear to re-cock the enclosed hammer. Since there is no hammer spur, actuating the slide is the only way to reset the hammer.
That means the gun does not have second-strike capabilities for rounds that fail to fire after pulling the trigger, which is a relatively rare occurrence. Still, it makes up for that in its simplicity and extremely small size.
Here’s a quick rundown of the specs:
- Weight: 7.9 ounces
- Length: 5.15 inches
- Barrel Length: 2.75 inches
- Sight Radius: 4.07 inches
- Height: 3.56 inches
- Width: 0.82 inches
- Trigger Pull: 6.56 pounds
To put the weight in perspective, my current cell phone comes in at a heftier 8.5 ounces. Loaded with 6+1 Federal 99-grain Hydra-Shok Deep hollow-point bullets, the P3AT weighs a scant 11.4 ounces.
The trigger is nothing to brag about. That’s true of most tiny guns, but the P3AT is better than many I’ve tested. Mine came in at a long 6.56-pound pull, though I’ve heard of others that average closer to 8 pounds. The trigger-pull distance is right around 0.6 inches with a 0.85-inch reset.
You’ll hear two clicks as the gun resets the trigger. While the reset is fairly long, I did not have any short-stroking issues when testing the gun. The pull is surprisingly smooth with little stacking. The break is predictable, so you can stage the trigger if you are trying to go for accurate shooting.
Accuracy, however, was hardly the intent when KelTec’s engineers designed the P3AT’s sights. The gun is meant to be as snag-free as possible. That leaves it with an extremely stubby front sight post and a very basic notched rear.
KelTec skipped adding a slide lock/release on the P3AT to keep it simple, thin, and remove any additional snag points. I don’t mind that because the gun is hardly something you want to speed reload or pull out for tactical uses anyway.
I did find the grip texture to be a bit of a surprise. Unlike the brand-style – “gator grip” – texturing KelTec puts on most of its guns, the P3AT has a much more sensible diamond pattern that offers more control.
That’s appreciated in such a small gun, and I found it plenty grippy on the range without being uncomfortably abrasive for concealed carry. KelTec also raised the magazine release far enough to make it easy to use without shifting your hand but still not easy to accidentally bump.
The gun has a very short barrel at just 2.75 inches long, which helps keep it small. But KelTec put that barrel on an extreme diet to keep the gun light. The barrel is only 0.05 inches thick, compared to your standard Glock 19 barrel at 0.11 inches thick.
KelTec also kept the gun incredibly simple and used just a basic retaining pin to lock the slide and frame together. You can pry that pin out with a fingernail, knife, or small flathead screwdriver. From there, the gun breaks down into dual recoil springs (one housed inside the other), a narrow guide rod, barrel, slide, and frame.
Range Time
Little pistols are rarely meant for much more than close-range self-defense shooting. The sight radius on the P3AT is very short at just 4.07 inches, and the sights themselves are minimal. Still, I decided to see what I could squeeze out of the P3AT at 20 feet.
At first, I figured it would be more of a point, shoot, and hope experiment. Then I saw my first grouping. I put 250 rounds of a mix of .380 ACP through the gun for testing. That included 50 rounds of 99-grain Federal Hydra Shok Deep, 100 rounds of 70-grain Federal American Eagle, 50 rounds of 94-grain PPU, and 50 rounds of very budget-friendly steel-cased 95-grain Sergeant Major Munition FMJs.
I had no issues with the quality Federal and PPU ammo, but the dirt-cheap Sergeant Major Munition ammo resulted in 12 failures to extract out of 50 rounds. I do not fault the P3AT on this fact given the LCP II, LCP Max, and even the larger Ruger Security-380 all had similar issues with that ammo. Regardless of the ammo, the range results were a bit surprising.
Here’s my first target at 20 feet:
And here’s a follow-up target using both the original six-round magazine and two nine-round extended magazines:
I had a few low flyers on each target. The trigger is long enough that I think I tended to over-pull and yank some of my shots a bit low. The recoil with my 99-grain Federal Hydra-Shok ammo was quite manageable when I used the extended nine-round magazine. Popping in my much shorter six-round mag resulted in a noticeably jumpy pistol.
The gun is so small and lightweight that it likes to lever upward in the palm of my hand after each shot when I use the six-round magazine. It’s controllable enough, but attempting to shoot rapidly resulted in unpredictable groups at 20 feet.
That said, you can shoot the gun fast, and it would likely get the job done if you were shooting at extremely close ranges. Slower, more deliberate shooting at 20 feet could only reliably yield groups in the range of 4 to 6 inches for me. As far as micro concealed carry guns go, that’s about all I would really expect. The real advantage is it's extremely concealable and carriable.
Normally, I dislike shooting such small guns. They often become painful, and the muscle in the crook between your thumb and pointer finger takes a beating. After 250 rounds, the P3AT wasn’t so bad. No extremely small .380 will be pleasant, really, but it was surprisingly not painful for a gun that comes in at just 7.9 ounces.
Pros & Cons
Here’s my short list of the pros and cons:
Pros:
- Very easy to conceal and carry
- Extremely small and lightweight
- Decent trigger
- Decent grip texture
- Raised magazine release
- Affordable
- Reliable
- Relatively accurate
- Snag-free design
- Simple to use and maintain
Cons:
- Snappy in the hand
- Crude sights
- No slide stop/release
- No second-strike capability
-
Limited capacity
Final Thoughts
There’s just something to be said about a gun that is so small and lightweight that even those that copied the idea couldn’t really beat it. The P3AT is truly a micro gun, and I’m glad I came across this one at my local shop. It’s a humble little trendsetter and a cool piece of engineering.
I have been carrying it as a backup pistol for several weeks now, and I barely ever notice it’s there. It’s so lightweight and small that I could easily see it as a go-to running gun, boot pistol, ankle gun, or pocket pistol. While KelTec has ended production of new P3ATs, the company still has parts and accessories like extended magazines on offer, and the guns are still floating around online if you want one, new or used.
