Kel-Tec PMR-30

I've been wanting to get my hands on a Kel-Tec PMR-30 for a long time.  This gun has been out on the market since 2010 but they can be hard to find and when you do find one they are priced over the MSRP.  Well even though I didn't hit the big 1.5 Billion Power Ball jackpot this past week, I did have some luck as I was able to locate an unfired PMR-30 through a private sale.  The price was right and though the timing wasn't perfect I had to jump at the chance of owning one of these guns.  I had read and watched a lot of reviews on this handgun and most of them gave a raving reviews.  Most folks had very few if any issues with the firearm right out of the box, but as with all weapons you have to expect a little break in time before they operate as fully expected.  The reason for this break-in period is that the parts need to become accustom to each other, or in other words they need time to break in so that they work together properly.  However this was not the case when I took this little jewel to the range on Friday.  Now I didn't burn up the range and fire a lot of rounds.  The PMR-30 is a .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire (WMR) and for the pass few years most Rimfire ammo has been tough to come by.  You have to hit a bunch of different stores and if you are lucky you can find a few boxes.  Most if not all stores are even limiting how much you can buy it has gotten that bad.  However my luck continued and I was able to find a few hundred rounds but I didn't want to shoot up all the ammo I was able to find.  So I only fired 100 rounds on this first, but not last, trip to the range.

Finding .22 WMR ammo can be tough, but what makes it even harder is that Kel-Tec includes this card in with the PMR-30.  As you can see they recommend only shooting ammo with 40 grain or bigger bullets for proper function.   Well this old man couldn't find any ammo locally that had 40 grain bullets.  All I was able to find was some Hornady ammo loaded with 30 grain A-Max bullets.  I really wanted to test my new gun so I bought 300 rounds of this ammo.  I knew as I headed to the range if I had any functioning issues with this weapon it might be caused by light bullets in this load.  Why does it make a difference, you might ask.  Well the PMR-30 is a blow back operated semi-auto loading handgun.  This means that each time you pull the trigger on the loaded weapon a round is fired, the blow back from the fired round causes the slide to move to the rear and eject the spent round.  As the slide spring pushes the slide back forward a new round is picked up from the magazine and chambered.  OK you might say,

I know all that but why is a bigger bullet required to make the PMR-30 function correctly.  Well now we have to get into Laws of Physics to explain what actually happens. Basically the law that applies here is "For every actions there is an Equal and Opposite Reaction".  Because it takes more force to move a bigger bullet down the barrel of the gun, then there is more force applied to the slide as it is moved back.  With the lighter bullets less force is needed to move the bullet down the barrel so there is less force available to move the slide back.  If there isn't enough force moving the slide back then you can have ejection and feeding issues in a semi-auto loader.  In the case of the Hornady 30 grain V-Max ammo I had no issues.  The PMR-30 functioned without any problems through the first 100 rounds.  Does this mean all PMR-30s will function properly on this ammo?  I can't say that because each weapon is unique and each will have their own characteristics, but I'm happy mine does.

I know you are wanting to know how well the PMR-30 shot from an accuracy standpoint.  Well it shot pretty dang good even if it was the first time I've ever shot it.  No I don't have a picture of the target as I just plain forgot to take a picture.  Did I cut one big hole in the center of the target, no I didn't as there were some fliers not in the main group.  A lot of these fliers are because I'm just not use to the feel and hold of this weapon.  I'm a 1911 man and I do my best shooting when I have a 1911 in my hands.  Though the PMR-30 is somewhat similar to a 1911 it does have a different feel.  If I took my time there were no issues hitting what I wanted, but I had to concentrate on my hold and squeezing the trigger.  Being able to relax and just shoot like I can with my 1911s
will come with more practice.  I'm hoping to build up my .22 WMR ammo supplies some then I'll get very serious in learning to shoot this little jewel without having to think so much.  The other thing that  I need to get use to from a shooting standpoint are the PMR-30 sights.  I know there are a lot of folks that just love a 3-Dot sight system, but I've never really enjoyed them.  I think trying to line up the 3 dots distracts me some from my target which should be my main focus point. The fiber optic dots do stand out very well on these sights with the green front and red back dots.  I can understand why folks love these, but for me it is going to take some time getting use to them.  They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks and I sort of fall into that category, meaning I'm an old dog, but I've been known to learn some new tricks if I practice enough.  That is the real key to shooting well, lots and lots of practice.  I really think if  I learn to ignore the dots and stop trying to align them I'll start to shoot it much better.  Time will tell once I'm able to get more ammo for her to eat.  The one thing that I won't have to practice to get use to is the PMR-30's trigger.  This has to be the finest feeling trigger I've ever shot on a handgun right out of the box.  Sure I've had tuned and polished triggers on my 1911s that might be a little better but they aren't better by much.  The pull of this trigger will come in about 4 pounds and it is super crisp on the break.  Those factors will help me get much better accuracy as my practice progresses.

The PMR-30 comes with nice Ambidextrous Safeties (safety on both sides of the weapon) that are positioned in a very similar place as the 1911s I'm accustomed to shooting.  They are easily reached by the thumb of the shooting hand, left or right.  The Slide Release on the PMR-30 is a little further back than the release on a 1911 and only found on the left side of the weapon.  I did find the Slide Release somewhat difficult to operate with just my shooting hand.  In other words it is a pretty stiff release.  In fact I just started to pull the slide slightly to the rear and releasing it instead of using the release.  The Magazine Release on the PMR-30 is also in a very different place than those found on most handguns. Again this is not a big issue, just something to get use to and heck with the PMR-30 having 30 round magazines it is not like you would be changing mags a lot.  That is right, the PMR-30 has 30 round mags and they fit flush in the grip.  I can't think of any other handgun that gives you that many rounds without having some type of extended mag that comes well out of the grip.  Not only does the PMR-30 give you 30 rounds but it gives it to you in an ultra-lite package. When fully loaded

this handgun comes in at just over a pound which is super light for a full sized handgun of any kind.  This will make the PMR-30 an awesome choice for hikers that want to carry along some protection.  No the .22 WMR is not what you would call the best round for personal protection, but it is a whole lot better than a sharp stick or a knife for that matter.  Hornady even provides ammo for this in their Critical Defense line which means it isn't a slouch from a protection standpoint either.  Think about it, your standard round for the military's 5.56 in the M-16 only fires a 55 grain bullet.  So if you get some of the Critical Defense 45 grain offering or even the Federal Game-Shok 50 grain offering you aren't too far under the bullet size of your military. I've found that an old Uncle Mike 1911 holster with spare mag pouch fits the PMR-30 nicely.  You can carry the fully loaded weapon with a fully loaded spare mag and still be under 2 pounds.  For those of us that spend a lot of time in the woods but don't like to carry a lot of weight this is perfect, specially if those woods happen to have coyotes, hogs or other varmints that you might run across while you are out and about.  I know for a fact there have been lots of coyotes and hogs dispatched with .22 WMR rounds, you just have to put the little bullet where it counts.  After shooting this handgun I know with a little more practice it will be easy to put those shots where they count!

In closing, the PMR-30 is Bounty Hunter approved and I will be doing a lot of shooting with this awesome handgun in the future.  I only hope that finding the .22 WMR ammo starts to get better soon so I can get more and more range time in with her.  I also see this jewel strapped on my side a lot when I'm up at my property hiking, filling feeders or just relaxing.

Until next time Tight Lines and Take a Kid Fishing!!!

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