My buddy Charles over at TacticalGunReview.com was telling me he’s supposed to get a Kel-Tec PMR-30 for testing. Hasn’t arrived yet, but since then I’ve read two articles on the gun. One at GunBlast, and the other just came through from The Box O’Truth (Ed Zone #123).
That prompted me to write.
It sounds like this gun is actually pretty positive. That it’s light but workable, good factory trigger. It uses .22 Magnum rounds (30 of them!), and TBOT did some penetration testing.
It got me wondering.
Could this be an effective pistol for self-defense?
I don’t think it would be as optimal as more traditional pistols, like those chambered in 9mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, or .45 ACP. But when some gun is better than no gun, could this gun be good for people that are recoil sensitive? The hard factor there, that I can’t judge until I can hold one in my hands, is that often if someone is going to be recoil sensitive they may also not be able to handle a long and/or heavy trigger or a large grip. It sounds like the trigger here isn’t heavy, but is it long? And just how big is that grip to be able to hold 30 rounds of .22 Magnum?
I’m not saying I’m advocating anything… at least at this point. But there’s enough about this gun that make me wonder if it could fill a niche beyond plinking and small varmint control.
Kel-Tec…. if you’re reading this, I can give you my FFL’s address. 🙂
Stuff From Hsoi 
I would be interested to see a reviewer put it in the hands of a small woman and see her reaction thats for sure. Course, being otherwise full size it might be larger than a small woman wants to carry regularly, though if the rest of it works well for her then I would imagine arrangements could be made. Both reviewers you pointed to appeared to have “standard sized men’s hands” which means close to twice the size of mine!
I know I like the idea of low recoil, I’ve never fired a handgun, but I DO have arthritis in both hands, specifically in the joint of thumb to hand and wrist, and other actions that push on that joint can be very painfull. But, if I have trouble wrapping my short fingers around grip and trigger well enough then that wouldn’t work very well.
That’s exactly the sort of thing that I want to look into and consider.
When I read the GunBlast article I thought “OK, sounds good but… what about ballistics? could it be viable for self-defense?” Then I read the BOT article and while water jugs aren’t ideal, they do give some idea and sure enough it seems well…. marginal, but something. They may not have expanded but they at least penetrated and penetration matters more. Certainly seems like they have potential to make someone reconsider their career choice.
But then, who would want to carry it, because if the rule is to carry the biggest gun you can shoot well well… if this is the biggest gun someone could shoot well, why would that be? and probably someone in your situation: can’t handle recoil, can’t handle bigger guns. I certainly have encountered people that just can’t handle big guns.
So could this be viable? I wonder… but can only wonder until I can get my hands upon one to see. If the one for Charles ever shows up, I’ll certainly see about putting some women with small hands on it.
Its a mild peeve of mine since I started wandering the gun world. So many reviews are aimed at the average male. Though I’ll admit that if said average male is talking about the stiff & long trigger then that does tell me something….
So what you’re saying is you need to start a review site of your own, eh? 🙂
not sure I have that kinda funds to play around that way….but its an idea to keep in mind!
Sir,
I troll the gun blogs almost daily. I like yours because of the occasional heavy metal memory that you cause me to write down till I can get home and download. I have been waiting on the PMR 30 since SHOT SHOW last year. My local gun store won’t even let me pre-order one because they don’t yet know what they’re going to charge for it. The MSRP is supposed to be 419.00, they move so fast dealers can’t keep them on the shelf. There was some engineering changes that caused the delay. I can send you the email that I received from KELTEC? I can’t wait to get my hands on one! We had the Great Southern Gun and Knife show in the Pontchatrain Center last week in Kenner, La. A small suburb of New Orleans. One guy had only one on the table and he wanted 449.00. I almost bought it on the spot but, decided to check out all of the tables for a better deal. Much to my dismay, I did find one, 600.00! By the time I made it back to the table with the 449.00 PMR30, it was GONE! I guess it serves me right, study long, study wrong! I told the guy with the 600.00 PMR30 that I was going to give him well over 200.00 worth of bad publicity for the price gouging! I understand that everyone has to make a buck but, come on, really?
Just wanted to throw in my .02.
Kindest regards,
Bobby
weaponoffishdestruction@gmail.com
I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of changes… especially given all the hooplah that just happened with their shotgun. Plus, it’s Kel-Tec. Takes a bit to get working right, but when it does it’s fine. Maybe they’re working to improve it all out of the factory, which is great. I mean, I see this PMR-30, I see the new shotgun, and really… the RFB (their .308 bullpup) is what I would love to have. It is good to see a company working to innovate and not just rehash the same old designs (do we really need yet another 1911?).
Sorry to hear about your bad luck at the show. Hopefully Kel-Tec will be able to ramp up production. They’ve got a lot of stuff in high demand, hopefully they can work to meet it.
I got it last week and fired 200 rounds through it..
it’s a little flame thrower!
It’s fun!
The trigger was SURPRISINGLY good
It truly has no recoil whatsoever, hardly ANY muzzle flip (at least to me)
Will let my wife shoot it and compare against her M&P 9 compact..
She is a total newbie to shooting
the thing is very thin and light
I’d be curious how the wife’s hands fit on it. Can she get a good grip? How much does she have to reach to the trigger, and so on.
I have been on the prowl for one too, but I will wait till I can get it for a reasonable price.