Sunday, April 3, 2011

WHY NO .380 ACP SNAKESHOT?

I ponder this question now because several months ago I became the owner of a Kel Tec P3AT, a fine little pistol, for what it is. I've enjoyed shooting it, and it's only jammed once. Which I think is not unusual for a pistol of that size or design. It is what it is, and that's a last ditch backup gun or very hot weather concealed weapon. It jammed up on the second magazine about the 3rd round. It cleared quickly and easily and I was able to finish the magazine. I was extremely pleased with the accuracy at ten feet, and frankly the recoil was much lighter than I expected. I did put a finger loop bottom on the magazines, so the the bottom of the ring finger has a perch. Other than that one ejection jam, there have been no other issues with this 11 oz. loaded wonder in about 200 rounds. Which brings to mind, it's the perfect gun for hot weather fishing. A snake gun. I just need some snakeshot. And after googling far and wide, reading forum posts at various gun forums and such, it seems that no one makes snakeshot in .380. Which is surprising to me because I've always thought of .380 by it's more German name as it was known often in the 70's, 9mm Kurtz, meaning I think, 9mm short. So looking at the cartridge and having owned several .380 autos like the Walther PPK and a Beretta double action 13 shot number, there's no mechanical reason I can think of that a .380 wouldn't feed a shell like the CCI shotshells made for 9mm and .45 ACP. The P3AT would be an even better gun to slip into the pocket of the fishing vest than the S&W Bodyguard Airweight Model 38, taking up about half the room and weighing lots less. If only it could hold a few rounds of snakeshot. I'm a good shot, but I'm not the eagle eyed shot that Governor Perry is with his laser sighted Ruger LCP. I prefer to do my snake shooting with some kind of shotshell, but have on many occasions used a bullet when that was what I had handy. Still, I wonder if there is someone out there who could custom load me a box of snakeshot for a reasonable price? I'm no reloader, but it seems feasible to my mind, particularly if designed like the CCI shotshells for smooth feeding. One other note about the Kel Tec. It'd be cool if this pistol, the P32 or the P3AT, was available in .22 LR as a parkerized tackle box gun. With a laser, it'd be a great cheap durable gun. The "Kit Gun of the new generation."

1 comment:

  1. I agree I am going on a hike for two weeks in hells canyon and there lots of snakes. Prefect pack gun light weight does the job.

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