Test: KEL-TEC PMR-30

KEL-TEC CNC Industries Inc. is a machine shop founded in 1991 in Cocoa, Florida, with special competence in plastics processing. It didn’t become involved in weapons production until the mid-90s, but soon acquired an international reputation with its innovative concepts.

All KEL-TEC weapons are distinguished by their compact lightweight construction that, wherever they can, use plastics and aluminum and come in refreshingly independent designs. They demonstrate originality also in weaponry, as modern long firearms such as the RFB semi-automatic rifle in .308 Winchester or the KSG pump-action shotgun in 12/70 and Bullpup configuration impressively show (www.keltecweapons.com).

Magazine release catch located in the back of the grip as a pressure button on the magazine shaft opening on the KEL-TEC PMR 30

The top view of the slide and the muzzle underline the slender construction of the KEL-TEC polymer pistol PMR 30

The PMR-30 is no exception since, defying custom, it is an extremely easy-to-handle, flat "magnum" pistol in the lighting fast rim-fire .22 WMR caliber. The extended grip, decorated with nine screw heads and coupled with a plastic cover on the rear end of the slide and an extremely slender barrel area, define its unique movie star look.

A cartridge container with a 30-cartridge capacity sits in the magazine shaft of the likewise extremely trim 26 mm plastic frame. The two-sided safety catch lever as well as the magazine catches in the grip plates behind the magazine shaft can be optionally operated right or left-handed. When empty, the 438 gram KEL-TEC PMR-30 functions with a simple and functionally safe single action blowback system with a mechanical buffer and friction lock.

To ensure maximum functional safety there is a double extractor in the receiver which is intended to enhance the extraction of the grooveless rim cartridges in the repeating mechanism.

Surprising for such an inexpensive "plastic pistol" was the sophisticated trigger system, as the trigger fired crisply with a mere 1, 814 grams. Price: € 549.

The question of where this firearm can be used in the strictly regulated German shooting sport landscape remains - and for the PMR-30 the options are limited to non-existent. So it is a good thing that it is possible in other, more liberal countries to buy weapons simply for their fun-factor.

Shooting performance KEL-TEC PMR 30 in .22 Winchester Magnum

Bullet-Weight-Prod-Type-dia	Filling-amount (grs.)-Prod-Type	OAL in mm	v2 in m/s	v2-Diff. in m/s	Energy(Joule)	Precision(mm)	Remarks on fillings
25 Hornady NTX .22"	Hornady NTX	34,0	473,6	9,9	182	36	no function
30 CCI V-Max .22	CCI	34,0	489	6,0	232	110	strongest cartridge in the test
30 CCI JHP .22	CCI	33,8	451	29,0	198	27	large fireball
30 Hornady V-Max .22”	Hornady V-Max	34,0	485,0	41,0	229	32	lowest functional limit
40 CCI GamePoint .22	CCI	34,0	396,8	15,5	204	48	large fireball
40 Speer Gold Dot .22	Speer Gold Dot	33,6	400,8	9,7	208	36	defense cartridge
40 RWS JSP.22”	RWS	34,2	379,7	10,2	187	36	1x feed malfunction
40 RWS FMJ .22	RWS	34,1	407,3	10,2	215	67	Hide-sparing FMJ cartridge
Average of all fillings						49

Abbreviations in caliber: All bullet and power weights in Grains (for gram conversion multiply by 0.0648). v2 = bullet velocity in meters per second, measured 2 meters in front of the muzzle. OAL = Overall Length = total length of the cartridge. FMJ = Full Metal Jacket. Gold Dot = galvanic copper-coated lead hollow-point bullet. JHP = Jacketed Hollow Point. JSP = Soft Point. Spire Point = soft point (pointed) bullet V-Max = Polymer points soft point test configuration: bullet velocity (v2.5 in meters per second) measured with a Mehl BMC 18. The precision test was performed with a 5-shot group respectively from a sand sack support at a distance of 15 meters. The target shot groups refer to the shot hole centers lying the farthest apart. Bracketed values show the precision without an outlier.