The lowly Kel Tec P-11

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Arizonan

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The more I fiddle with this gun. The more I like it and believe it has a viable purpose. Its great to stick in the pocket to go get the fuel I forgot, or run to the store and get that gallon of milk. And at 7-10 yrds it will stay in the black pretty tight.
Or have it setting in my truck as my truck gun. It shoots everything. It has not had a hiccup yet. Sure the trigger is not that great, but no different then a revolver pull. I think I will keep this weapon as a user weapon. :D
 
I had one that I cc'd for a few years. It performed it's intended purpose and I had no issues with it. Was a good gun for the money,...and it worked well for me. My wife however couldn't deal with the trigger on it, so we went in a different direction with two new S&W M&P9 compacts. That P-11 now serves as the "spare" for one of my brothers-in-law that uses his as you use yours,...as a truck gun.
 
I use mine for a truck gun now. I snap cap fired it enough to smooth out the trigger enough to make it use able. It's fine for what it was designed for. Long as folks don't expect it to be better than it is.....it works well enough.
 
I'd like to have one, since it can use S&W 59 series mags.
Great companion to a 5906, 6906, or a Daewoo 9mm.
 
Lowly is right!! Had one that shot so low, that I needed to buy the cheesy sight kit for it, and that didn't take all the error away. Other then needing to file burrs off the slide and breaking an ejector inside of 500 rounds, I didn't have any issues with it.
 
Lousey trigger. Got rid of mine and haven't missed it. Just got a Ruger LC9s and love it.
 
I had one for a while. My first real carry gun. Tough trigger, but not unusable. Mine was accurate enough at 7-12 yards, probably more accurate than I could shoot it. One of the worst kicking guns I've ever fired though. It wasn't bad for 50 rounds, but if I went more than that, my arm would tingle for a week.

I eventually traded it off, not because I didn't like the gun, or there was anything wrong with it, I just saw something else I wanted.
 
I carried a P-11 off on on for a couple of years. I'd shoot it at the range and get pretty good accuracy. I also shot other guns a lot. For me, THAT was the problem.

I used to do a lot of IDPA, and one night I decided to try the P-11 in a match. My first couple of shots were NOT where I expected them to be... (In that particular string, we had ballons filling the center area of the IDPA target -- that's a big circle and a big ballon. I didn't hit it!) My first shots were reacquainting me with the long, heavy trigger. Thereafter, in the match, I did very well and was pleased with how the gun performed. The problem clearly wasn't the gun -- it was ME.

But, my first shots after not having shot it a lot were a problem... and I got to thinking about what if that had been a real world confrontation? When I shot it at the range, I often did poorly the first couple of shots, but never paid much attention to that issue.

I don't have that "trigger" issue with my Kel-Tec PF9. That trigger is more like most of the other guns I shoot. (I've talked with Kel-Tec reps about this,and they say an upgraded P-11 [it may be called something else] using the PF9 trigger and the P11 capacity is in the works ... but it may be years away, given the other new and well-regarded guns coming out. )

I traded my P-11 for a nice .22 rifle. (I've since had other K-T guns, and the newer ones all have an improved trigger, in which the slide partially cocks the action. The triggers are better.)

If the P-11 is the only gun you shoot a lot, it'll probably serve you very well. They can be surprisingly accurate. But if you shoot some others guns, take yours to the range and see how you do with the first couple of shots. If you have no problems, you're good to go. If you do, you may find yourself trading it for a nice .22 rifle.:)
 
I've talked with Kel-Tec reps about this,and they say an upgraded P-11 [it may be called something else] using the PF9 trigger and the P11 capacity is in the works ... but it may be years away

Yeah, this rumor has been floating around KTOG for many years now.

If they do ever bring out a P-11 with a decent trigger, I might buy one to replace the P-11 I sold years ago. If they bring out a P-11 with a good / great trigger, I would get on a waiting list.
 
Not as good as a Ruger - by a stretch - BUT I keep mine and carry it more than occasionally. Why? Because it's not a gun I worry about abusing. It's a knock-around. It's smaller than any other 9mm with it's capacity (I have the 15 round S&W 5900 mags) and the long double AO pull is less likely to be "over-fired" in a sd scenario.

It's greatest failing isn't it's crudeness...it's the lack of durability. Mine had to go back to the factory for refurbishing at 1000 rounds. So I learned it's NOT a range gun. It works great now, though...it just can't handle the high round counts. If you want it to be reliable for protecting your life, don't put a lot of rounds through it. But Bud's had new ones on sale for 220 bucks, so I bought a second one.
 
The Kel-Tec P11 is a good value for what it is.

It is certainly NOT a high volume shooter or range toy, but it has been utterly dependable. Mine is one of the very few handguns I own that has NEVER had a failure of ANY kind, running all sorts of 9x19mm ammo, including hollow points, and aluminum or steel cased cartridges.
 
I had a P11 many years ago, right after they came out. It was one of the few true pocket nines at the time. But as soon as the Kahr PM9 came out I sold it and still have the Kahr. If they could fix that trigger it would be a much better gun.
 
My p11 decided to jump out of my pocket where it was clipped with the handy-dandy springy pocket knife type doodad. It landed somewhere in the woods on a buddy's farm and was never found. Sheriff's office even put bloodhounds on our trail the next day and the gun was not recovered because the dogs couldn't follow our trail well enough. They wrote it off as a training excercise, and I wrote it off as a lesson learned about gimmicky doodads.
 
I don't love mine but it does the job. I am not nearly as fast on target as I am with my XD. I don't think it will be my primary carry gun but will be good for those summer days when I am wearing shorts and a tank top.
 
I had some issues with mine. They seem to be worked out now. I use it as a warm weather carry. It is far from my favorite gun but it works & is easily concealable.
 
I have a stainless P11 bought probably close to 15 years ago when there weren't a lot of choices for a small 9.
Don't recall ever having a problem with it- the PF9 I had I didn't like- too many failures to eject. It is one of the few guns I've ever sold and not regretted it.
Would I buy one now? Probably not. But still I hang onto this one as a cheap JIC gun that is hidden in a spot external to my home, but on my property.:uhoh:

BTW I also have the short lived .40 slide and mags for it, long out of production.
 
I grew up shooting DA revolvers, so that long trigger dosn't bother me. I love the P-11. Great little CC gun if you need to carry that way. I carry open in a holster & it's fine for EDC. Light, reliable & accurate enough. It could use a better trigger, but for now it works better than some I have had! I will keep mine until they come out with one that has the new trigger.
 
Those who know how to shoot heavy DA will generally do well with P11's. I have 3 of 'em. All with lasers. They are great for SD ranges. The double-stacked mag is a huge plus in such a small package.

I have done a good amount of research and the KT P11 is the lightest/thinnest 9mm's out there that has that kind of capacity - 12+1 stock. This is at any price. You can even pop a 20 round Mec Gar S&W 59 Series mag into it.

It's not a high round count gun, btw. That's why I have 3 to keep in practice.
 
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