Anyway, last weekend I took the PMR out to the range where my Gun Store Guy (hereafter known as GSG) takes students for qualifying shoots after their class on concealed carry. He's a certified instructor, has taken several armorer courses (not entirely sure which ones -- let me know if you need to know more), works behind the counter at the gun store and is generally a stand-up guy.
I loaded the magazines for him to demonstrate how they worked (he was shooting 40 grain CCI Maxi-Mag FMJ, the same as I shot during my test firing), gave him a basic tutorial on how the gun worked (he kept forgetting to disengage the thumb safety, amusingly enough) and then let him shoot it. I didn't shoot the pistol at all.
He was shooting at target at 15 yards. I regret that I didn't get any pictures of it afterwards, but I was too busy getting a free trigger job on my Glock and by the time I got done, he'd already taken it down and thrown it away. I can tell you that while he didn't score shots exclusively in the 10 ring, he was consistently hitting a head-sized target at that range.
Interestingly enough, we didn't experience a single keyholing issue this time around. I don't know if this is due to variation of ammo batches, or of the barrel just needed some "breaking in." Either way, I'm pleased to report that the problem seems to have disappeared.
Here are his thoughts on the PMR-30.
- What I liked most about the pistol was that it felt really easy to use. It felt like one of those guns that you could take to the range and shoot all day. I'm a big advocate of hi-cap mags and the 30 round mag in a pistol can't be beat. There is next to no recoil and a little bit of muzzle rise. Fiber-optic sights picked up the target quickly on follow-up shots. I would compare the feel of this gun to a FN 5.7 but without the price tag. [1]
- The only negative to the gun is the magazine. You need practice to load it because the rounds can get stuck in the mag. I understand that Kel-Tec has procedure for loading the mags so that would be the only learning curve on this gun. [2]
- The biggest negative is with Kel-Tec itself, and not the gun. They are always behind on production. Since the gun came out , I have only been able to get my hands on two PMR-30s and one KSG to sell in the store. [3]
- At this moment I see no changes I would make make to the PMR-30. The gun is light, accurate, nice trigger and sights. If I were to make any changes they would have to do with the magazine, but the .22 WMR is a rimfire gun so I don't know how they would get around it.
- I would recommend this gun to everyone and every shooter. Working at gun store I find that a lot of female customers have a hard time with pulling the slide on a semi-automatic, but I think pulling the slide on the PMR is something the majority of female consumers can do. I think it's a little too big for a conceal carry piece, but I do know people who conceal carry full-size 1911s. It's a great gun for the range and for home defense!
Editor's Notes:[1] I keep hearing "It's like the FN 5.7, only cheaper and with more ammo." It's almost a mantra among people with more experience than I have with pistols. I'm not sure if this is praise for the PMR or an indictment of the 5.7 -- take that as you will.
[2] We had a magazine that would consistently jam at the 21 round mark during loading. Rounds 1-20 were fine, and the magazine fed properly. We just couldn't load it to full capacity. What's interesting is that when I got home and fed it with 40gr CCI hollowpoints, it loaded without difficulty. I don't know if this was an oddball batch of FMJ ammo, or if the slight differences between HP and FMJ were what caused the jam, or if the magazine is just defective.
[3] Again, a common complaint. Kel-Tec needs a larger production pipeline.
Two other guys shot the PMR as well: GSG's father-in-law and the guy who did my trigger job. Again, their responses were typical: very accurate, no recoil to speak of, fun to shoot. There was also lots of oohing and ahhing about the fireball the magnum rounds made. Watching it from the side, I was reminded of the flare from Robocop's hand cannon.
Trigger guy gave me this interesting tidbit:
- "Great trigger -- it's smooth all the way back and has a consistent pull."
PDF
