I hate to complain but......

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todd_g

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Last weekend I went to the gun show and picked up a new Keltec PF9. After a detailed cleaning I went to the club to do some shooting / break in. I seemed like at just about every mag change I would get a FTF in the first round. In each case I was getting light strikes, I ended up with about 12 to 13 FTF's in 250 rounds. I used a box of Federal from wally, a box of winchester white box, a box of american eagle 124gr. and a box and half of my reloads with hornady xtps. I am a bit disapointed to say the least. I guess I will send it in for repair. Ticks me off that I have to pay the shipping for their flaws. :fire:
 
You just gotta love those Smith & Wessons after an experience like that. In my opinion.
mingo
 
That is really strange ... I bought mine used and I had only one light strike ... pulled the slide a bit to re-cock the hammer thingy and went bang.
 
Too right Mingo. I had the same thing happen with a new S&W recently (out of spec pin causing light strikes). ;)
 
Make sure the frankin screw is tight. Be sure to let the trigger reset. Look down in the sear and hammer area to make sure no mold flash is binding things up.
 
I went to the KTOG Forum and read how to remove the firing pin, pulled everything out of the slide gave the firing pin, spring and the hole the pin sits in an extreme cleaning and lube. I also loctited the screw back in. I hope that helps, I will see at the range tomorrow.
 
Sounds like it was firing slightly out of battery to me, try a bit more lube on the rails, I deburred the rails on mine and it made a huge difference.
 
That sucks but i must say I got a KT P3AT for a hundred bucks a little over three years ago from a guy who said it was a piece of junk. I figured I could always keep sending it back KT if needed so why not.


I cleaned and lubed it, three years and about 1000 rounds later without a single issue. Guess what I'm saying is I got a hundred bucks in my pocket :D
 
Have you done the fluff and buff, there are a number of detailed sites that go step by step

In a KT you can help it by polishing the chamber, polishing the feed ramp (and by this, I don't mean change the angle, rather remove perpendicular machining mark)

polish the barrel cam, there is alot of info on Ktog, or Golden Loki. Or you can sell it at a loss to someone like me....
 
I guess I have been very lucky so far. I have several Kel Tec firearms and have had no problems.
P-11
PF9
PMR30
RFB
Todd...hopefully you will not have to send in the PF9, but if you do so, KT has great customer service. A buddy had two of their .380's and one gave him fits. Two trips to KT landed him a new gun and 4 extra mags for his trouble.
 
First round after a mag change? As mentioned... it sounds like it's not going into full battery... how are you chambering that first round... possibly you are 'easing' the round into the chamber instead of letting the slide 'slam' forward?
 
You just gotta love those Smith & Wessons after an experience like that. In my opinion.
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The cheaper the gun, the longer the break in period. Keltec's are at the lower end of the price spectrum.
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This is conventional wisdom at its worst. If you notice, S&W is not to hot on quality control these days too. Cheaper guns are made to looser specs so the so called break in should actually take a shorter time. What is worrisome about cheaper guns in general is their lack of quality components like springs that tend to wear out faster or safety levers that break off or any number of problems with Ring of Fire gun companies.

I can say Kel Tecs are a good value in terms of performance per dollar. They are a small pistol though and those have always had the most problems historically and presently.

Todd, are you using the side stop lever to release the slide after changing mags or are you slingshotting or manually racking it?

I know on Kahrs they dont recommend using the slide stop lever (and it is nearly impossible to move as it is) In general I have found on the smaller pistols that have levers is that their use should be avoided during actual shooting and they should only be used administratively.
 
Todd,

Bought my wife a PF9 for Christmas of '09, and it went BACK to the factory twice before it functioned properly. If you give the customer service rep enough grief, they will give you a UPS call tag so you don't have to pay for shipping. I know it's a pain, but once you get it working, it's a nice small, light carry. I've still always had that question of reliability, though...
 
earlthegoat2,
I think you got your message mixed up, as Kahr states that you should use the slide stop to chamber a round. They warn against using the sling shot method.
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I think I remember hearing that too, but I'd remind everyone that whether you slingshot or use the slide stop, ALL of them tend to work better when it's a fast motion. A ton of different pistols will jam up if you try to ease it forward or ride the slide down.
 
earlthegoat2,
I think you got your message mixed up, as Kahr states that you should use the slide stop to chamber a round. They warn against using the sling shot method.
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Yeah, I mixed. THanks fellas.
 
earlthegoat2 said:
This is conventional wisdom at its worst. If you notice, S&W is not to hot on quality control these days too. Cheaper guns are made to looser specs so the so called break in should actually take a shorter time. What is worrisome about cheaper guns in general is their lack of quality components like springs that tend to wear out faster or safety levers that break off or any number of problems with Ring of Fire gun companies.

I can say Kel Tecs are a good value in terms of performance per dollar. They are a small pistol though and those have always had the most problems historically and presently.

Todd, are you using the side stop lever to release the slide after changing mags or are you slingshotting or manually racking it?

I know on Kahrs they dont recommend using the slide stop lever (and it is nearly impossible to move as it is) In general I have found on the smaller pistols that have levers is that their use should be avoided during actual shooting and they should only be used administratively.
Click to expand...
the cheaper the gun, the longer the break in period. It's not about looseness so much as it is about rough surfaces and burrs. Ive broken in many cheap guns, cheaper than a keltec. btw, quality control issues, generally speaking, are not alleviated with breaking in. They are two different issues.
 
I also had reliability problems with my PF-9. I stripped it and cleaned out the firing pin channel, got no more light strikes (although it still isn't what you'd call "robust"). The reliability issues got worse as I broke it in, so finally had to ship it back to Kel-Tec. They managed to fix it -- after having it more than 90 days.:what::eek::banghead::banghead::banghead:

Apparently their gunsmiths are having a LOT of repair issues. That ain't good. :uhoh::scrutiny:
 
I have been grabbing the back of the slide to send it forward, the slide lock lever is a little hard to use right now. I also thought it was slightly out of battery after the first time it happen so after that when I would send the slide forward I slap the back side of it to ensure it was locked all the way into battery, still did it. I have a P3AT that I bought a year ago that has never missed a beat since day one. I am going to hit the range and see if the firing pin clean up job I did last night helped. I will let ya all know.
 
Ok, just got back from the range, and after firing 100 rounds from 2 different manufactures, all 100 fired without issue. I guess we will call this case closed until next time, thanks to all for your input, except Mingo's :)
 
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