Kel-Tec: We Will Sell No PMR-30 Before It’s Time. Oh Wait. We Will.

cheaperthandirt.com received this email from Kel-Tec re: the shortage of PMR-30 handguns.

We are not at full production on PMR-30s. It has nothing to do with the product but more with the time line we set to release the PMR-30.

Back in January we announced that Q2 was the release date. It was based on estimated time to move from prototype to full production. What we had in January was a working model, but was not made on production CNC machines.

Our estimation proved to be quite off in terms of development. We noticed it before release but felt if we really pushed ourselves we could meet the Q2 release. The first batch of 80 or so, were done by that deadline, but had not been tested extensively (as we do with any first production run). After testing we found some inconsistencies in the CNC work and did some re-tweaking to fix it.

Since that first batch we’ve sent several other batches out, each with it’s own new little fix. All of the fire arms that have been sent out work, but in the course of production we’ve found little adjustments here and there that are improvements.

In all honesty this is stuff that should have been going on before release.

What should have happened (because hindsight is 20/20) was that we push back that official release date until October at the earliest.

Basically we underestimated the time it would take us to get these badboys into full production.

So we had a choice: either stop production completely and just wait until a later date (angering those that were told July as a release date) or release smaller batches so the guns can at least see the light of day as production catches up (also angering customers as they see guns coming out but can’t seem to get one). Obviously we chose the latter (the right choice? this remains to be seen). The PMR-30s going out now are in working condition, but we’ve made that they may want to upgrade to, depending on serial number.

These parts will of course be free.

One thing we’ve discovered since shipping is that the PMR-30 does NOT like ammunition made in the Philippines (Armscor/Fiocci). The brass is weak and blows out.

So in conclusion: We are still making and shipping PMR-30s while production can get on track. They are still in small batches (30-70) and we are waiting on various redesigned parts to come back from heat treatment so we can start producing them in larger quantities.

Simply put we jumped the gun a bit on release (no pun intended), we acknowledge it, accept it, and are doing everything in our power to get things moving. In the meantime we are still sending out PMR-30s in small batches as we make them.

I hope this clarifies some things. My suggestion is to just pretend as if we set a release date for sometime in October and if you happen to come across a PMR-30 then it will be a pleasant surprise.