Are Tec 9's as bad as their reputation?

[hometheaterman]

So for some reason I just think the Tec 9's are just one awesome looking gun. However, almost every time I read something someone has said about one it's been negative. From a quality standpoint are they really that bad of guns? Anyone here had any personal experience with them?

 

[12131]

So for some reason I just think the Tec 9's are just one awesome looking gun. However, almost every time I read something someone has said about one it's been negative. From a quality standpoint are they really that bad of guns? Anyone here had any personal experience with them?

"awesome looking" does not translate into awesome functioning. Yeah, it is a POS (at least, I know mine was). I was one of those dumbasses who was hooked by the "awesome look" of the Tec-9.

 

[Onward Allusion]

YES - only worst....

Had one in the late 80's. Had the Tec-22, too. Just started shooting & collecting and thought they were "Miami Vice" cool...

Tec 9 - Stamped metal, rough finish, can't hit anything more than 15 feet away with any accuracy, and jammed on every mag.

Tec 22 - Fun pistol, wished I'd never got rid of it.

hometheaterman

Are Tec 9's as bad as their reputation?

 

[TIMC]

The one I had years ago was junk and no I don't miss it!

 

[Katana8869]

Are Tec 9's as bad as their reputation?

Pretty much lol. I did the tech 9 thing in the 80's too and I don't think mine ever fired a full magazine without a malfuntion. Mine had a parts breakage that caused it to go full auto which was sorta entertaining even though it would only do 1 or 2 burst before jamming

 

[M2 Carbine]

I had the Tec 9 and Tec 22.

The Tec 9 was pretty much junk that was made so the gang bangers of the day could easily make it full auto. The FA bolts, called "paperweights", could be bought at most gun shows at the time. "Slotted" FA UZI "paperweight" bolts could be found also.
My Tec 9 didn't need a FA bolt to go FA. I sent it back twice for going FA when I wasn't expecting it. I still have bullet holes in my barn walls from that thing.
The second time I sent it back I told InterTec that if the gun went FA when I got it back I was going to give it to the BATF and tell them InterTec was selling illegal FA guns.
They sent me a new gun. I took it to the gun show, unfired, and sold it for $100.

The Tec 22 had a bad habit of firing when the shell case was half out of the chamber. The 22 case would burst and blow the magazine out the bottom of the gun.
By luck the gun was in my gun shop when it burned down so I "sold" it to the insurance company.

 

[Don Gwinn]

I haven't seen one in years, but when dad had his shop in the 1990s they were pretty awful.

 

[Quiet]

They are no good and they live up to their reputation as being an unreliable P.O.S.

I've shot and handled the Intractec TEC-9, Interatec AB-10 and Kimmel AP-9.
The Kimmel AP-9 was more reliable (you could shoot 2 mags before experiencing a malfunction) and accurate than the TEC-9 and AB-10, but it was still a P.O.S.


AFAIK...
During the early/mid-1980s, in Sweden, Interdynamic introduced the MP-9. Which was an open-bolt submachinegun intended to be a possible replacement for the Carl Gustav M45s being used by the Swedish military.
After failing to get any government/military/law enforcement contracts, the MP-9 was remade into the KG-9 (open-bolt semi-auto only pistol) for the civilian market.
After BATFE declared open-bolt semi-auto only pistols to be classified as machineguns, the KG-9 was redesigned and made into the KG-99 (closed bolt semi-auto only pistol).
After lack of civilian sales, Interdynamic gave up on the KG-99.
Around the mid/late-1980s, Intratec formed in the USA and started making the KG-99 as the TEC-9.
After the Federal AWB of 1994, some cosmetic changes were made to the TEC-9 and it was relabled as the AB-10.
In 2001, Intratec went out of business.

The Kimmel AP-9 was another copy of the KG-99/TEC-9 system.

 

[armoredman]

I had a kid come up to me in the gunshop/range I was working at asking me me to GLUE his Tec-9 back together, as the frame had broken completely through just behind the magwell. Told him he had an ugly paperweight.
I had a Tec-22, jammatic and a half, only worked semi-decent using the Ruger 10/22 standard 10 round mag.

 

[12131]

hometheaterman, are you beginning to get the picture?

 

[techmike]

I had one in 88' or 89' and it rain O.K. (by O.K. I mean only a FTF every couple mags.) I never could find a real use for it. Useless in a handgun role and no good way to attach a stock and SBR it. It was really only good at wasting 9mm ammo.

 

[forindooruseonly]

If you just have to get one, get a Kimel AP-9. I have two, which actually never gave me any problems. I know, I know, I am the only person in the world to have not just one, but two, that worked as advertised. They are better than the TEC-9 I traded off.

I wasn't interested in accuracy with them, I figured if I could put holes in something at ten yards I was good. They have terrible sights and ergonomics, which is a bigger detriment to their accuracy than their terrible build quality. They don't balance, especially with a 32 round magazine loaded, and the trigger is an absolute joke. It creeps, binds, and does everything in the world except have a clean break.

They were really, really fun to shoot when I bought them twelve years ago. I haven't bothered to even look at them for the past eleven years, if that gives you an idea of what your ownership experience will be like. In fact, I redid all of my inventory the other day and failed to include them. That's how forgettable they are.

I guess I keep them just in case. I probably should have done what everyone else did, which was sell them off or trade 'em.

 

[hometheaterman]

Well, I wasn't really interested in one or even considering buying one. I just thought they were a neat looking gun and had heard one or two people say they were junk. So I just kind of wondered what the scoop on them was.

 

[Myles]

I've still got mine, one of the first runs. The earlier models (many years before the Tec-9M, Tec-22, and later DC-9 series) were well made, based on a closed bolt version of the KG-9.

Sights are awful. Weld marks were not buffed out around the sling channel. Better fit and finish than a Sten, but that's not saying much.

It IS very sensitve to limp-wristing, and just like the manual says, it will FTF if you hold the magazine with your off-hand.

The firing pin WILL go -zing-ting- if you dry fire it. About $35 to replace.

However, mine is surprisingly accurate, even more so when I mounted a red dot on the rear sight rail.

It is a lot of fun to shoot.

All of the later models that I've handled and shot were lacking the positives I've had with this one.

 

[coosbaycreep]

I have one, and yes, they really are absolute crap.

I've been obsessed with them since I was a kid, bought one a few years ago, have put it up for sale several times because it's junk, and have pretty much come to the conclusion that even though it's inaccurate, unreliable, and as well made as a chinese kid's toy, it still looks cool enough that I'll keep it if for no reason other than it makes a wicked looking paper weight.

I've posted several times on THR about my experiences with it. They're not flattering.

 

[Airburst]

I bought one back in the mid-nineties and had trouble with fired cases bulging. I sent it back once and they didn't fix it properly, so I sent it back again and this time they replaced whatever it was that was causing the problem. Its been so long, I can't remember what it was. I think they replaced the barrel. Anyhoo, the last time I took it shooting, it double-tapped a few times, then it slam-fired when I released the bolt. At that point, I put "danger gun" back into its case and it has spent the time since, in my safe. You can shake the gun and here the broken part rattling inside. Haven't taken it apart yet to see if it is worth repairing.

 

[zhyla]

Shot a friend's when I was a teenager... even in my hormone-addled youth I could tell it was a waste of money. Prone to jamming and kind of a pain to shoot. Not balanced very well.

Now the TEC-22 I like. Maybe not the best $200 I ever spent, but it's a fun little gun once you get the jamming kinks ironed out.

One thing I really like about the TEC-22 is how simple and cheaply it's made. Almost everything is either stamped metal or plastic. Really a genius design from a manufacturing perspective. The 10/22 magazine isn't really intended for loose-tolerance guns though, which is the root of most of the FTE problems.

 

[AKluvinpolak]

Hometheaterman, no they are not even close to what the general public thinks about them. They are actually great little guns for what they are. No offense to anyone on here, but most people don't know jack about tec's and go out and buy some 9mm, shoot it, it jams, they say "what a p.o.s" and sell it or just bitch about it. The thing with these guns is, you actually need to READ THE MANUAL before shooting them as it says on the side of the gun. This is quite critical actually.

The KG-9/99 and Tec-9/DC9/AB-10 series of firearms that is blowback operated and when a round is fired, the case bagins to move rearward as the expanding gasses are at the highest point of pressure. When this is going on, a small portion of the case wall is not supported by the wall of the chamber which makes the rear wallthickness a very important factor. Intratec lists the specific ammo that they recommend, an example being 115 gr Federal fmj. An example of a thin-walled casing would be PMC, Blazer, and some others. A chart is provided. Intratec even states that if you do not strictly follow the recommended ammo chart, your gun WILL JAM.

Last but definetly not least, the magazines are very critical. This is actually the most important in my opinion. You should never use a non-factory Intratec magazine as stated in the manual, and has become general knowledge of people into these guns. There are a huge amount of aftermarket tec mags out there and they are all crap. It is hard because the factory mags do not have markings, just like the aftermarket mags. I have learned to tell by the finish if factory or not.

Today I shot 300 round through my Tec without a hiccup, runs badass and I love it. They are fun as hell to shoot and are one of the easiest guns to bumpfire. There is a guy by the name of "Repairman" on uzi-talk that has everything from the original MP9 subguns that go for over $15,000 now (Identical to tec-9 but select-fire and collapsible stock) to full-auto converted tec's and many others. Check link; http://www.ak47talk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16413&page=2

Anyways, do like I did and buy one or three. I am saving for a registered bolt FA converted Tec, these go anywhere from $4500 to $6500 nowadays. Hope that helped you out a bit.

 

[Mr. Bojangles]

But, they are still junk.

 

[M2 Carbine]

DP.......

 

[Katana8869]

a registered bolt FA converted Tec, these go anywhere from $4500 to $6500 nowadays.

 

[MICHAEL T]

Glad that guy in Times Square didn't read manual before shooting it out with Police . Was reported he was using a Tec 9 I join with others save you money.