A while back, I bought a Kel-Tec PMC-30. It’s a sweet little .22 Mag semi-auto pistol. I got it so I could have something I could carry with me in the woods to shoot grouse or just take plinking. I was interested in it because it’s a .22 Magnum, rather than just a .22 Long Rifle. I figured that would make it a little more versatile.
And I was also interested because it is a semi-auto with a large magazine capacity. It would be great for plinking, because it holds 30 rounds in each mag. But the first time I shot it, it failed to load the next round after just about every shot. It got really frustrating very quickly. I thought about selling it, but instead, I just stuck it in the back of the gun safe and forgot about it for a while.
But a few weeks ago, I talked to a gunsmith about it. He noted that I probably hadn’t even fully broken the gun in yet, so it should get smoother after I put a couple hundred more rounds through it. He also recommended using the speed loader to make sure each round is properly seated in the mag, and to make sure I use the types of loads the manufacturer recommends – at least until it gets broken in.
So I pulled that PMC-30 back out. I actually finally read the user’s manual, which recommended three specific types of ammo. I had been using Winchester Varmint loads, which are 25 grains, and the manual recommended CCI MaxiMags, which are 30 grains. I picked up a few boxes of MaxiMags, and I loaded them with the speed loader. That did the trick. It’s even more fun to shoot than I thought it would be when I bought it.
So if you have guns that are not performing the way you think they should, talk to a gunsmith before you sell them. And maybe even read the owner’s manual.
