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No joy with P40

2K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  mrchuck 
#1 ·
I purchased a P40 years ago. It's lived in the safe since several abortive trips to the range. My daily carry pistol is a P11 and (with known good ammo) it has never let me down. The only time the P11 has failed is with too light of a firing pin strike on known hard primer ammunition. The P40 is a different animal. After several attempts with several different types of ammo it has failed to ever fire a complete magazine without a jam. The typical jam is where the round nosedives into the gap between the bottom of the barrel and the frame. This results in a jam and a smiley face cut into the nose of the bullet. BTW, I am NOT limp wristing the pistol.
So what's the fix????
Curious,
Distinguished Rifleman 1352
 
#2 ·
We used to have one. Actually, it was a P-40 upper for our P-11. Good quality, brass cased ammo with lighter bullets was easiest to shoot without issues (135 grain was best). I believe that the slightly shorter OAL helps. The lighter recoil may also be a factor.

We had several magazines, so we were free to experiment. Polishing the magazine lips and adjusting the spread of the lips in the front to ensure a nose-up attitude of the top round sticks in my mind as being the most useful thing we did back in the day. But, it's been a while, so don't expect me to remember any details other than sanding/filing the front area to increase the spread about 10 - 20 thousandths compared to the original and using really fine crocus cloth for the final polishing of the surfaces that contact the round.

Oh, and most of us get a chuckle from hearing people who are absolutely certain they couldn't be "limp wristing". Find some other people to shoot it and ask them to hang on really tight. They don't have to be super strong, just willing to hang on like death.

Despite our best efforts, everyone "limp wrists" at least some of the time. I remember a session where I couldn't get an acquaintance's Bersa to feed reliably even though it was flawless for him. That pistol is a large and heavy, .380 ACP semi-auto with a nice grip and very little perceived recoil. Go figure. :???:

P-40 feeding issues have always been common. You might want to review these old threads for insight.

http://www.keltecforum.com/forum/p-40/9201-any1-kno-why-p40-out-production.html

http://www.keltecforum.com/forum/p-40/2924-p-40-jamming.html

http://www.keltecforum.com/forum/p-40/4107-p-40-hollowpoints.html

http://www.keltecforum.com/forum/p-40/4949-p40-357sig-nosediving-into-ramp.html

http://www.keltecforum.com/forum/p-40/6605-p-40-out-hibernation-still-grumpy.html
 
#3 ·
i got a true p40 and it has never given me any problems. now i shoot a lots, it is a job thing. big bore pistol is no problem for me. the p40 will jam and/or stove pipe if you limp wrist it. limp wrist was the reason kel tec stopped making the p40. to many people sending good guns back to the factory when nothing was wrong except the owner was limp wristing the gun. the p40 likes to be clean and greased. the mags like to be clean insides, so break the open and clean them. get some 165 gr fmj brass ammo, clean/grease gun, clean mags, and don't limp wrist the gun. if this does not work then do a f&b on the gun. all of this does not work then it is time to put it back into the safe.
 
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