General Consensus on KEL TEC PF-9

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Had one a couple years ago. 204 failures to extract in 500 rounds fired. Contacted Kel Tec. They sent me a new extractor. I dumped it. That is the only firearm I've had a FTE with.
 
Mine has been completely reliable through approximately 350 rounds or thereabouts.
It's seen American Eagle 124, Federal 9BP 115, Speer Gold Dot 124, S&B 115, and my own Montana Gold 124 FMJ loads.

The rear strap does rough up the web/palm area of my hand and when at the range I don't put much more than a couple or three mags through it.

The trigger is on the rough side. I might get the Northwood trigger at some point.

I have a Rohrbaugh R9 and a Kahr MK9. Between the two of them the PF9 doesn't get carried much but I do carry it on occasion.

Between the three just mentioned I shoot the MK9 quite a bit better than the other two.
 
P-11

I've had a P-11 for 5 years and about 7-800 rounds though it. Never had a FTF or FTE in all the time. i keep it lubed and I polished the ramp and all rubbing parts and I believe that has helped. For $ 300.00, I can polish the burrs and smooth it out a bit. :)
 
There is a current thread on a topic which asks what your worse gun was, "or something like that", read that thread, the gun you are considering is mentioned more than any other, "and it wasn't even about that gun".
 
Been carrying mine for five years now. Nice compact, lightweight pocket piece. As others have said, it's not a range pistol. It's a good inexpensive SD piece. Mine's been flawless.
 
gym said:
There is a current thread on a topic which asks what your worse gun was, "or something like that", read that thread, the gun you are considering is mentioned more than any other, "and it wasn't even about that gun".
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Do you have a link cause I don't see it. My first guess is that people with that opinion have unrealistic expectations for a pistol like the PF-9.
 
gym said:
There is a current thread on a topic which asks what your worse gun was, "or something like that", read that thread, the gun you are considering is mentioned more than any other, "and it wasn't even about that gun".
Click to expand...

Gym,

I did not make a count total of all pistols mentioned. But I did of the PF-9. Eight posters commented negatively in a thread consisting of 116 posts. Two of the posters complained they had accuracy problems (appear to be user problems) with one of those complaining it hurt to shoot (what else would your expect). The other 108 posts are filled with complaints about guns from Ruger, S&W, Glock, H&K, SIG, etc., many of which cost 2 and 3 times as much as a PF-9. Most of the negative posts on the PF-9 I think were made be people who did not make much of an effort to resolve the problem with Kel-Tec. Considering the excellent reputation Kel-Tec has for customer service on their very inexpensive products I have to discount the value of the one customer service complaint made in the thread. Every gun maker makes lemons and some of the most expensive gun makers have far worse customer service than Kel-Tec.

Loose Noose,

The Kel-Tec is a good gamble. Go for it.
 
Nom de Forum writes:

I did not make a count total of all pistols mentioned. But I did of the PF-9. Eight posters commented negatively in a thread consisting of 116 posts. Two of the posters complained they had accuracy problems (appear to be user problems) with one of those complaining it hurt to shoot (what else would your expect).
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Actually, I found only seven (230RN posted twice in that thread because he was answering another poster.)

Also, one of the posters that complained of accuracy issues admitted that the friend to whom he sold it shot it better than he had.

As you mentioned, hardly testament to the PF9 being disfavored more than any other make in the "worst gun" thread.
 
You are correct, that was not a thread directed at the Kel-tec, but if you choose to find more info on this subject, you can do a search here for more specific threads on that subject. I am sure that if you choose to do that, it will give you ample cause to question that weapon, as I said it has been over discussed here on many occasions, and since it isn't anything I am interested in, I can only tell you that it has been run into the ground here many times.
There must be a hundred threads on this gun, http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=667126&highlight=kel+tec+problems, here is one, if you do enough research you will find that for there to be that much controversy about the gun, it can't be a good sign. They also made some that wouldn't fire the 147 grain round, something about sizing of the barrel or some such nonsense. I stay away from guns that have that much negative baggage, also my life is worth having the most reliable gun I can find. That one isn't nearly in that category. Kahr, S&W, Glock, Ruger, there are so many good reliable proven guns without even getting into the sigs H&K's, Kimber, Colt, or other expensive ones, that it just is not worth getting something that isn't s close to 100% as possible.
honestly I would rather carry a 5 shot revolver that I know will work if I have to use it, and did do that in the early 70's -90's. If I were looking for a carry gun now the Shield is a good little gun for under $400.00 that is much more reliable, or a pm or cm9, Glock 26, Sig 290, etc
 
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gym said:
You are correct, that was not a thread directed at the Kel-tec, but if you choose to find more info on this subject, you can do a search here for more specific threads on that subject. I am sure that if you choose to do that, it will give you ample cause to question that weapon, as I said it has been over discussed here on many occasions, and since it isn't anything I am interested in, I can only tell you that it has been run into the ground here many times.
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I agree there have been many threads here, at TFL, and elsewhere making complaints. The thing is the PF-9 is hard to shoot accurately, is unpleasant, and is a not very impressive looking little pistol. Intuitively manly men think they should have no problems shooting it and when they do, ego defense mechanisms go into overdrive. I have seen this happen at the range more than once. I wonder how many of the complainers realize that 40 years ago the PF-9 would be considered a near miracle of reliable power in a small, light, inexpensive package and if you got one with problems you would think nothing of getting fixed. Even today they are incredibly thin, lightweight, and inexpensive. It would be worth it to have to send it back to it back to Kel-Tec twice to get one that performed flawlessly.
 
My objective assessment:

  1. Like the size and weight. Very easy to carry.
  2. Not much fun at the range. Raw skin: ouch. Wear a glove if you want to shot a lot. Not any harder to shoot accurately than most defense-type pistols.
  3. The slide on mine rattles from side to side. Not a big deal, but annoying.
  4. Mine had two warranty issues: badly peened slide that was replaced by Kel-Tec (shipping me a new slide) and a light-strike misfire issue that was resolved by shipping the pistol back to them.
  5. Mine is ammo-sensitive. It doesn't like 115-grain, especially Winchester White Box: constant failures to extract with that ammo.
I'm pretty much on the fence. Mine works now, but is one of the more ammo-picky pistols that I own. I use it as a fanny-pack carry gun when hiking and mountain-biking. I only carry 147-grain ammo in it, because it has never failed with that.
 
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As I said this is not the gun you want to risk your life carrying. 40 years ago most gun people would have seen it as junk, we already had small guns that didn't work , "even back then".
 
The P11 weighs more, is shorter, thicker and carries 3 more rounds. Having shot both I'd rather have a P11. It's almost as concealable and round count may or may not be important to you, but it is to me. Still, for the money one would be hard-pressed to find as good a buy in 9mm. Certainly, if one was to cross my path and the price was right I'd get it for sure. They've been out long enough to have a proven track record.

Btw, both are incorrigable hand beaters. :p Not for the range except for maintaining proficiency.
 
gym said:
As I said this is not the gun you want to risk your life carrying. 40 years ago most gun people would have seen it as junk, we already had small guns that didn't work , "even back then".
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Gym,

If that were true in the 1970's nobody would have been buying Colt 1911s and S&W 59s. They often had the same things said about them that is being said about the PF-9. :D By the way we did not have locked breech 9mmP pistols the size of a Kel-Tec in the 1970s. That is why it would be considered nearly miraculous. We didn't have them in .32ACP or .380ACP in Kel-Tec size either. You should buy a PF-9. Even if it needs fixing (probably will not), once it is fixed, nothing else in 9mmP is going to be so cheap, light, thin, and comfortable in your pocket holster. I have absolute confidence in mine being reliable enough to use to defend my life.
 
I have a Kahr PM9, it has been back for repair once and their customer service stinks. I paid $650 for it. I had a S&W Shield, it had a recall , and cost more than the Keltec pf9. A friend has a Rohrbaugh r9 , paid $1050 for it and it just went back for repair. Just because you pay more today does not mean you will get a gun without some problems. If you want "SIMPLE" without problems get a knife and forget semi-auto pistols. All gun companies produce guns that have problems PERIOD.The Keltec PF9 that I have is as good as any other I have and better than most. It is a CCW NOT a range gun. And the company has an excellent customer service.
 
gym said:
I would rather carry a 5 shot revolver that I know will work if I have to use it, and did do that in the early 70's -90's. If I were looking for a carry gun now the Shield is a good little gun for under $400.00 that is much more reliable, or a pm or cm9, Glock 26, Sig 290, etc
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All of which are much more bulky, heavy, and expensive than a PF-9. Ammo sensitivity? Why care? Find out what works and use it. Out of gun this size, at the near contact ranges it would be used, ammo selection is not going to make that much difference. I've got 125HPs in mine and it works great.
 
Well with all the hype about the PF9, I finally went out and purchased the arm. I had my choice of 3 of them. I chose the blued slide and the tan grips. $257.95 otd.

Next I went home and cleaned it up a bit, ran a patch thru the bore, put a little CLP on the slides, and wiped the innards down some with CLP.

Took it down to my local range, which is less than 3 miles from where I live, and proceeded to test fire that little gun. I took slightly over 300 rounds, however, I fired right around 100 rounds of a variety of ammo. Fioche, Federal, Winchester, Hornady Critical Defense, and some older hand loads I had.

I noted the recoil not to be so severe, however it was knocking the crap out of my trigger finger, no matter how I positioned the pad of my finger. (big fingers) I did find the gun to be very accurate with all of the rounds I fed it, including the Hornady Critical Defense loads that I would end up carrying here shortly. I could keep all the rounds in the thoracic cavity on a NRA TQ15 silhouette target at 10 yards. Which is the maximum distance I would engage an adversary any way as a civilian.

At 15 yards I was able to hit the silhouette in the 4 ring 4/8 rounds with the other 4 hitting in the thoracic cavity, after taking careful aim and slowly squeezing the trigger after each shot.

I only shot 16 rounds of the Critical Defense ammo due to the cost, and 16 rounds of the WW Silver tip ammo. I also shot 24 rounds of the Fioche, 24 rounds of the Federal, and 16 rounds of my hand loads, using 147 grain copper jacketed round nose. Those were the only 147 grn bullets I used.

Needless to say I didn't have any fte, ftf, or any hang ups at all. I do believe this little weapon will become my faithful companion this summer. Now if only I could find an additional magazine for it at a reasonable price I should be good to go.
 
Like the price, but the way it fits my hand, its my second least fun pistol to fire (first is my S&W SC 360 Scandium .357 with 158gr loads). Mine has been reliable, but its not seen a lot of use.

I'd agree the Kahr CW9 or CM9 would be well worth the extra $75-100.
 
Nom I had one, and I am pretty handy with guns for 65 years, I could not get that thing to shoot 2 days in a row. That's when I started doing research, "as a trader, I know how to search". I found more problems with that gun, to the point that I just gave up on it ever working right. The KTOG forum has hundreds of workarounds for problems with these guns, any gun that has that many things that need to be done to get it to be reliable is not something I would carry to protect my life with.
There were one run that were actually sized wrong and would only fire the 115 grain rounds. I went through all this debating about this gun years ago, I don't want to waste another minute on that POS gun. If you want to trust your life to a gun that has had more negative things said and written about it than any other I can remember, go ahead. But please don't assume that what I said I just dreamed up.
Your life is worth more than that. And I never said you have to spend a lot of money to get a good gun, but if you really spend a few days pulling up articles about the Keltek fiasco you would think differently. Everyone had one, at one time, now it's rare. I have carried a gun with a license for 44 years, and that is the biggest POS I ever found.
 
gym said:
Nom I had one, and I am pretty handy with guns for 65 years, I could not get that thing to shoot 2 days in a row. That's when I started doing research, "as a trader, I know how to search". I found more problems with that gun, to the point that I just gave up on it ever working right. The KTOG forum has hundreds of workarounds for problems with these guns, any gun that has that many things that need to be done to get it to be reliable is not something I would carry to protect my life with.
There were one run that were actually sized wrong and would only fire the 115 grain rounds. I went through all this debating about this gun years ago, I don't want to waste another minute on that POS gun. If you want to trust your life to a gun that has had more negative things said and written about it than any other I can remember, go ahead. But please don't assume that what I said I just dreamed up.
Your life is worth more than that. And I never said you have to spend a lot of money to get a good gun, but if you really spend a few days pulling up articles about the Keltek fiasco you would think differently. Everyone had one, at one time, now it's rare. I have carried a gun with a license for 44 years, and that is the biggest POS I ever found.
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I started buying Kel-Tecs about 10 years go and am aware of the running debates on several forums. Most of us (thousands of people) have not had a bad experience so that must be what keeps Kel-Tec cranking them out.

I have no doubt you know what you are doing in regard to your own needs and preferences for meeting those needs. Sorry you had such a bad experience. I would never argue with you that having confidence in what you carry trumps what other people think you should carry.
 
wally said:
Like the price, but the way it fits my hand, its my second least fun pistol to fire (first is my S&W SC 360 Scandium .357 with 158gr loads). Mine has been reliable, but its not seen a lot of use.

I'd agree the Kahr CW9 or CM9 would be well worth the extra $75-100.
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Between the pain, the cylinder face erosion, and the "Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me" look, I quickly decided the PF-9 was a better choice for me than my S&W SC 340.
 
Loose Noose, enjoy your PF9. I also use Hornady Critical defense in mine for carry too. Keep using good American ammo and it will be fine. You are tougher than me, as I rarely shoot that much at one time. It is the best carry nine for the money, and the trigger slap is the only negative I see, but it does not bother me as I only shoot about 30-35 shots in a session. Good shooting, Snoop
 
Snoop, it wasn't the recoil, it was what it was doing to my trigger finger. I think if Kel Tec did something in regards to making the trigger guard a little bigger, I do believe that would alleviate the problem.

I plan on taking it out again real soon, I do like that little gun and contrary to what a few here have said negatively I believe it is a keeper. I have a lot of more expensive guns I can carry CCW, but I feel confident with carrying this one 4 months (hot summer) out of the year, due to it's conceal ability, and the power of a 9mm over a .380.

Most shootings occur within 21', with 2 or less rounds being fired, I'm certain I can depend on that piece for that.

I also noted how easy it is to load the magazine with 7 rounds + 1 in the chamber. Sure do wish I knew where I could purchase an additional magazine.
 
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