kel-tec

[orionengnr]

So there you have it.
Maybe you get lucky, punk.
Maybe you don't.

Do a search, and you will find a plethora of posts, and the end result will be about the same. A lot of people have good luck with K-Ts, and a lot have had bad luck. I had incredibly bad luck and went 0 for 4.

I know when to pull my cards off the table.

 

[betteryouthanme]

you have to give it to kel-tec, they design thier pistols so if one of them goes 'ka-boom', the pistol falls apart in your hand, and minimal damage is done to the shooter, or so i've read. plus theyre an american company with a lifetime waranty on thier products, all good things. if you buy one and it has problems, just send it back to them and propably end up with a free mag or two.

 

[gb6491]

Anyone know how the p11 compares to the pf9 while we're on the Kel Tec discussions???

I've had a P11 for some time. I like it's size and weight very much. It has been very reliable The only two failures to fire I've had with it were in the same box of Wolf ammo. One fired on a second pull. The other I ejected and inspected; the hit look good and it fired when loaded again. The trigger pull is long and quite heavy, but good results can be had with practice.

I just bought a PF9 today. I've really been itching to see how it's trigger compared to the P11's. I paid for it and two boxes of 9mm (125 & 115 gr. FMJ) and went straight to the store's indoor range. I checked the PF9 for lube and proceeded to shoot up the ammo. The sights needed a little tweak (KT provides a hex wrench in the case) other than that all 100 rounds went down range with nary a hitch. While the trigger is lighter, it is still long and heavy (at least compared to the G27 I carry daily) and I find it shoots similar to the P11 in slow fire (though not as tiring over an extended period). However, it is much easier (IMO) to shoot rapidly than the P11 Size wise, it is noticeably slimmer than the P11 and a little lighter.

I have no problem trusting the P11 for defensive carry and the PF9 is off to a good start as well. That said neither will replace the G27 for daily carry. The Glock , while being larger and heavier, has superior sights and trigger. I prefer the round it is chambered in and shoot it well enough. Where the P11 (and PF9 will) shine for me is when doing heavy chores/activities where the pistol might be subject to abuse/damage. I wouldn't hesitate to carry the Glock in those conditions if circumstance dictated it, but most often (if ever) it does not and it's nice to have a viable alternative for the mundane tasks around the homestead or in the field.

Regards,
Greg

 

[nelson133]

I have had a P11 for 5 years and since I shoot my guns alot, it has had many rounds through it. I wore out a P3-AT by shooting it so much, of course the factory replaced it for free.
As many others have stated, the trigger takes some getting used to. It requires more of a sweep than a press. Mine is a winter back up and a summer glove compartment gun. In 9mm it has always functioned and I can stay in the black at 10 yards so I trust it fully.
Now when I bought a .40 kit for it, things got fun. The recoil was very painful, so much so that I began loading below starting loads to practice with. The ejector and slide stop both broke over time with standard loads. As an aside, the gun still functioned with these part broken. The kit is back on the shelf and the repaired P11 has resumed full duty. The parts were sent sent out free of course.

 

[JShirley]

Yeah, please no-one assume what I said about the P-11 is true of the P-40 or "upper" conversion kit! Even Kel-Tec gave up on trying to make .40 and .357 Sig work reliably in a little P-11-sized platform.

 

[MCgunner]

If I thought the P11 was "painful" to shoot, I wouldn't have put all the rounds through it I have over the years. To me, with or without the finger extension, it is quite fun to shoot. Pain? You want pain? Buy a 12 ounce scandium .357 magnum and load it with 180 Buffalo Bore. The 9x19, even in +P, is fun! I'm quite use to heavy magnum revolvers, so maybe I'm just used to it. I've fired .45-70 in a TC Contender. THAT'S pain!

Yeah, the KT is quite accurate and fast after you get used to it. We have these 6" falling plates, resettable, at the range. I like mowing them down with the KT at 25 yards, quite fun. It's about as accurate as any snub .38 I've owned, puts 'em into 3.5" at 25 yards off a rest. That's service gun accuracy in your pocket with near service gun firepower in a service caliber. Knock it all ya want, I carry mine all the time and feel well armed with it. I know one thing, I'm well PRACTICED with it.

First 6 years I owned it, I practiced once a week and usually put a box or two through it. I was shooting IDPA at the time, using a Ruger P95 and later a P85, and bought a Dillon in 9x19 to keep up with my practice. I'd go practice with the Ruger and finish off with the carry. That danged KT is near as accurate as the full sized Ruger and I actually used it in a couple of IDPA shoots just to see how well I'd do. The short sight radius does slow you down in sight acquisition, but the trigger didn't, really, and accuracy opened a few eyes at the range. I shot slightly slower times, but still in the fast sharpshooter range. I had just made expert level at the time. The gun is no slower than a snub .38 which I've been carrying this week and it has a lot more firepower and fits a pocket better, slightly smaller and lighter than my Ultralite.

I don't shoot the gun as much anymore, make it out to the range once a month usually. When I go, I usually shoot .22 and the KT sometimes gets skipped. But, for a while there, I hardly let the barrel cool off on the thing and never a complaint. The gun has not failed me with 115 grain JHPs or my 105 grain cast SWC handloads. Yeah, it's my favorite carry and I really don't GAF what anyone else thinks. I know it works for me.

 

[shepherddogs]

I've had 3 bad Keltecs and one good one. I think the latest models have most of the bugs worked out.

 

[JShirley]

MC,

I really regret selling mine. My thinking at the time was to sell off the guns I could replace. Didn't really think about how their value would change in the meantime...