MagSafe ammo in the P-3ATBack to Kel-Tec stuffFirst I will start off by saying that about the only reason I would use magsafe (or any shotgun type loading in a hand gun) would be for snakes. With them a few inches of penetration is ok, and they are skinny!! :) I will take a smaller hole, and more penetration in smaller calibers any day, they don't have the penetration to give up. Something larger might be a different story but in something like a .45, the HPs open up so nicely and are really effective, I don't tend to look for something else. Also I would add to this, that you should test fire your carry ammo through your carry pistol, always. Different ammo acts differently in the same gun. This is an extreme case, but you don't know if the cases are different, and you may get jams with a particular type/brand, that you don't see in another. Lastly I would like to point out that in this story, the small KT (pushing the envelope in size and weight) directed the energy away from the shooters hand, and the shooter was not injured. This story was found here http://www.ar15.com/lite/topic.html?b=5&f=38&t=27717 I have no first hand knowledge of this, nor any connection to the poster, so take this for what it is worth, this is merely a reprint to pull some KT info together. Quote: 0 wolfgang12 :: 3/12/2006 7:15:49 PM During last summer I bought a Kel-Tec P3AT and some personal defense "defender" ammo produced by MagSafe. I often practiced with my Kel-Tec at the range using standard Federal American Eagle, but due to the extreme cost, never fired the MagSafe ammo. I carried concealed with MagSafe in the magazine and chamber for 9 months due to their claims for stopping power and safety. Three weeks ago I was at the range and decided to try the MagSafe. On the first shot, the back of the cartridge peeled apart like a grape. The magazine blew out the bottom of the pistol, the slide bent and blew off the top, the frame split on the left side and every rivet blew out. My hand was blackened like in a bad Roadrunner/Wiley Coyote movie, but not injured. The gun collapsed into a pile of debris. My gunsmith called MagSafe and was told OH YEAH. WE'VE BLOWN UP TWO OF THOSE PISTOLS WITH OUR AMMO. WE NOW HAVE A STICKER ON THE PACKAGE THAT SAYS DO NOT USE WITH KEL-TEC P3AT. They said their ammo is extremely hot and exceeds SAMI specs (though it's not marked +P or +P+). Then they seemed to get personal about my level of intelligence and ability to read. Note, there was no warning sticker about the P3AT on the package I bought last year. Kel-Tec was concerned immediately, and indicated that the gun is designed to break down under a KB such as this to protect the shooter by dissipating the force of the explosion. They wanted to examine the parts to learn from this accident. They offered complete replacement of the gun, even though it was clearly the over-juiced ammo at fault. Thursday the brand new replacement arrived with the same serial number as the destroyed gun, so I don't have a lot of registraion gymnastics to do here in the Peoples' Republik of New York. Thank you Kel-Tec, for your concern and for the outstanding positive customer relations you demonstrated. MagSafe will never ride in my guns again, as my opinion is that it is unsafe. Pics taken from that post:
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