Kel-Tec PMR-30

[Zarvan]

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Although it’s been on the market for a couple of years now, I’ve gotten quite a few “do a PMR-30 review” requests recently. So…a PMR-30 review it is. Despite a low MSRP, Kel-Tec’s PMR-30 remains both elusive and expensive due to production volume that has never come close to keeping up with demand. And who wouldn’t want an extremely lightweight, fun-to-shoot pistol with a 30-round capacity? Especially one that shoots an entertaining round like .22 Magnum and spits fire like a dyspeptic dragon?
The PMR-30 makes for an amazing bug-out-bag pistol, and I think this is what first attracted me to it. B.O.B., kit bag, woods/survival gun, truck gun, whatever. Admittedly I don’t even have a B.O.B. put together, but I still like the idea of it and the PMR-30 would definitely live in there if I did have one.

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There probably isn’t a lighter full-size pistol on the market, with the PMR tipping the scales at only 13.6 ounces empty, .22 WMR (Winchester Magnum Rimfire, AKA .22 Magnum, AKA .22 Win Mag) is light ammo that takes up very little space. And the empty PMR-30 magazines weigh only 1.6 ounces. In fact, a loaded PMR-30 with a loaded spare magazine (that’s 60 rounds) tip the scales at what most full-size polymer pistols weigh totally empty:

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Weight and capacity are obvious draws, then. Then there’s the chambering. A lot of people call the .22 Mag the poor man’s 5.7×28, which is approximately true out of a rifle or carbine, with velocities for given bullet weights being extremely similar. However, the .22 WMR was originally designed for a 16+” barrel, and it loses a lot of velocity coming out of a pistol thanks to slow burning propellant. Sure, it’s much more powerful than a .22 LR – from a rifle it has more energy at 100 yards than .22 LR does at the muzzle – but from a pistol it’s down about 300 fps vs. 5.7.
This is changing a bit, though, thanks to the growing popularity of self-defense revolvers chambered for .22 WMR and of the PMR-30 itself. For instance, Winchester now makes a PDX1 load in the caliber and Speer makes its Gold Dot, both of which are optimized for a short barrel. Up to 1,400 fps from a 40 grain bullet is nothing to sneeze at.
On the plus side, .22 WMR is readily available, stayed fairly available even during the Great Ammo Panic of 2013 and costs about $0.20 per round (historically similar in price to 9mm). On the downside, rimfire ignition isn’t as reliable as centerfire. If I had money to burn, my B.O.B. might have a Five-seveN and PS90 in it. But a PMR-30 and a carbine or bolt action rifle chambered in .22 WMR are affordable alternatives and the ammo is certainly much easier to find. Besides, I have four loaded mags which means 120 rounds ready to go, and they can all fit in one pocket without weighing me down.

Conclusion
If PMR-30s were available for under $400, as they should be (MSRP is up to $415 these days), I’d say you definitely want one. But right now the going rate — if you can find one at all — is still in the ~$650 range, and I don’t really think it’s a $650 gun. Not from a fit, finish and feel perspective. Maybe from a utility perspective, though. I think the gun can fill a lot of roles, from hunting and survival to really fun plinking to great zombie apocalypse and bug-out-bag pistol – especially combined with a rifle of some sort. Sub-MOA .22 WMR rifle, PMR-30 on the hip, and a couple thousand rounds of ammo (2,000 rnds of 40 grain .22 WMR = 18.3 lbs) in a pack? Sign me up!

Specifications:

Caliber: .22 WMR
Capacity: 30+1
Barrel Length: 4.3”
Overall Length: 7.9”
Height: 5.8”
Weight: Unloaded: 13.625 oz. Gun + 2 loaded magazines: 25.75 oz
Frame: Zytel (glass reinforced nylon)
Slide: 4140 steel
Action: Hybrid blowback/locked-breech system
Sights: Fiber optic. Orange rear, green front.
Trigger Pull: 3 lbs (as measured)
NEWS: Kel-Tec PMR-30
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