Looks like I get to try out Kel-Tec's Service

Status
Not open for further replies.
G

Geneseo1911

Member
Joined
May 6, 2005
Messages
1,016
Location
South of I-80, PR of IL
Another PF-9 with a problem. Mine is a recent production S20** serial number.

Brought it home, cleaned it up, immediately began to have the common (or so it seems) failure to extract. About 6 in 50 rounds.

Cleaned it up, pulled the extractor & cleaned behind it, added a little more curve to the spring. Polished chamber and breech face.

Shot it today. Had another 3 FTE's in the first 75 rounds, at which point the gun began to cycle slower. Another mag and it was reduced to a single shot, with me having to smack the back of the slide to chamber the next round. I brought it in and cleaned & greased it, but the slide is still binding somehow to the extent that once it is pulled back to the slide stop, you have to whack it with a mallet to get it closed again. So I guess it's going to have to go back to FL.

Something else curious...the primers show signs of overpressure. I'll try to post some pics if I can, but the primers seem to be blowing back into the firing pin channel. This leaves brass shavings in the gun as well, and I suspect has much to do with the FTE problem. Could this thing have an out of spec barrel or something? This happened (as well as the FTE) with several types of ammo: WWB, S&B, Fiocchi, +P Gold Dots, and M882 ball.

It's really too bad. It is a fun little blaster. Shockingly accurate with a surprisingly good trigger. I'll try to update this thread with my experience.
 
My p11 does the same thing, but it's only got 100 rounds through it right now. I'm thinking it's just not broken in yet so I'll hold off on a service call just yet.
Check the forums at KTOG and you'll see this brought up a lot.
 
Approximately how many rounds would you say it had before this issue occurred?
Click to expand...

I have put 3 full boxes through the gun, as well as a couple magazines of hollowpoints, so about 175 rnds. total.

My plan for today was to shoot a full 200 to make sure it was "broken in", but as I mentioned above, it is to tight now to even shoot.

My p11 does the same thing
Click to expand...
I assume you're referring to the FTE, not the locked up slide? I have seen lots of threads on KTOG about the exact FTE I had (casing comes out halfway and the extractor lets go), but never have I seen anyone mention the slide getting tight all the sudden.

I looked it over again closely, nothing looks out of place, and I can't even see any finish rubbed off where it is binding up. I can't tell what's causing it.
 
I must have mis-read. I assumed you meant that it wasn't going all the way back into battery. That's what mine is doing. Fires, then the slide stays a little less than a quarter inch open. A quick smack on the back and it goes back to firing. I didn't realize yours was staying stuck. Mine is very tight and hard to wrack back though. Hoping it gets better. It's a nice little pistol.
 
Here's a couple images showing the primers on the spent casings. These were all factory loads, none were +P. Rounds from the same boxes through my CZ-75 appeared normal. Every round fired through the KelTec looks like this. I think the firing pin hole is oversized, but what do I know. Any thoughts?

You can see where some of the brass was nipped off. There were several of these little brass flecks floating around the gun when I cleaned it.

It's a little hard to tell in the photo, but the dimple is very small; maybe half the size of the CZ. If I put a fired casing in the chamber and drop the hammer on it again, the resulting strike is very normal looking.

pf9firedcasings12-11006.jpg

pf9firedcasings12-11001.jpg

pf9firedcasings12-11007.jpg
 
Well, after sitting at my bench looking over this thing and cleaning it up a little more, I've found why it's binding up. The slide is cracked at the front corners of the ejection port. Both sides. The cracks are very small, and I couldn't get it to show up in a photo. Looking carefully at the gun from the side, or laying the slide on a flat surface, you can see a slight arc to it.

Between this and the way the barrel has been hammering the spot where it locks to the slide (burrs inside you can see & feel) I'm putting my money on a badly heat-treated slide.

I wonder if I should upgrade from blued to chrome when I send it in.
 
Called KT this morning. Very nice lady sounded quite concerned with my plight. She volunteered to send a shipping label, and the call only took 5 minutes, so I guess that's good. We'll see what happens.

Cost to upgrade to chrome slide :$75. bummer.

Kel-Tec closes for two weeks over Christmas, so I have no chance of seeing the gun again before mid-January. Also a bummer. Of course, it's a paperweight now, so it might as well sit around in FL as sit around in IL.
 
Their QC is a little lacking, but their customer service is great. They'll take care of you and you'll have a 100% functioning gun.

How's the recoil on that gun? I hear people whining about it all the time, but haven't had a chance to find out myself.
 
I don't find it all that bad. This is the first micro pistol I have shot, so I don't have a frame of reference, but that second time out I put 100 rounds through it without any real discomfort. It has a little pop, but you get used to it.

That said, I'm a big guy with big hands, so I might be a little less recoil sensitive than many.
 
I'm 5' 7", 190 lbs. and I really was expecting it to be bad after all the stuff I had read. I find it not at all unpleasant too shoot. It has a little snap, but completely manageable.
 
You said your ser # starts S20**

when was that batch made? How do you read the #`s to associate them to others made during that run that might have a similar parts problem?

I have read in the past that, I'm not sure who it was had a problem with some slides or some parts they subcontracted out so they did a recall and they shutdown production until they could setup and start making everything themselves so they had total control over their guns made.
 
Geneseo, I took a beater P3at that I was given to the factory in person two months past. I too opted for the hard chrome slide and I'm glad I did. I elected to not wait for the work to be done and by the time I got home (some sixty miles) I had a phone message telling me my gun was done!

By God, THAT is factory service like it oughtta be!..........Not only did they (I believe) replace the slide, the bbl looks new and ALL the internals less the "frame" itself are brand new! They even replaced a trigger shoe for free, apologizing to me for having to break the one I had on the gun.......hellsfire, that thing was EPOXIED on the trigger, and sloppily at that!

That gun has never missed a beat....prior to the factory trip it'd fail to ignite Tula ammo.........it works now! Fact is I used it to take a rattlesnakes head off in the Ocala Ntl. Forest (yeah, I know it's not kosher!) a couple of weeks ago.

Bottom line is after dealing with S&W/Colt/Ruger, et al, I am MORE than impresed with KT.........I WILL own more of their products!
 
Some years ago I had a new p32 and a p11 that had issues. I called k/t to see if I could bring the guns in for repair. I drove to Cocoa and they had both guns running 100% in about 30 minutes. I have not had another problem with them.
 
I have no idea when my gun was made. I should've asked but forgot. From what I read at KTOG, S#### seems to be very recent production, but I can't make heads or tails of KT's system.

I'm glad to hear that others have had success with repaired guns. I do wish that I lived in Florida for many reasons, but frankly being closer to KT was never one of them until now!

I'm just a little bit scared that the PF9 lives on the ragged edge of a viable design and will take more than one trip to get running right. My plan is to invest the $ in ammo to make sure it's reliable in the first 90 days while they will still pick up the shipping. I see some chilly range sessions in my future.
 
Well, I'm just a bit blown away. The Big Brown Truck showed up today with my little pistol. New frame and slide. They only had it 11 days.

I may not have time to shoot it until Christmas, though. Depends if I can get the oil changed in the car tonight...
 
150 rounds through the new barrel/slide.

I've had:
1 FT extract with WWB. This was in the first 50 rounds, so I'm waiting to see if it clears up after break-in.
1 FT eject with Rem. Not sure if this was a bad round or what. It did feel a little light on recoil. The extractor never let go of the case, which I see as a good sign.
4 light strikes with Remington. One was clearly a mangled primer, so not the fault of the gun.
1 light strike with Prvi

All light strikes fired on the second time through.

I'll keep testing with different ammo brands to see if the light strikes continue.

The new slide seems to be hardened properly as the barrel isn't chewing it up.

I'm happy that the main issue seems to be more or less fixed. I'm a bit annoyed that it still isn't 100%. This gun obviously lives right on the ragged edge of the possible.
 
Well, obviously no one cares about my PF9 plight, but I'll keep updating this anyway. I've put another 150 round through it. At this rate I'll have the frame worn out before I get a barrel and slide that works.

It's going back to Florida.

-Winchester FTE about 50% Everything else seems to work, so maybe that says something about Winchester.
-Remington and PPU light strikes about 30%
-Accuracy is terrible. I was breaking clay targets consistently at 15yds with the old barrel, and now it won't stay on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper. Looking into the barrel, there are rings left from machining, like it was drilled too big before being rifled.

I REALLY want to love this gun, but I'm getting discouraged. The only solution I see is to keep sending it back until they get it right or they refuse to take it. Maybe when their service department eats all their profits they will improve either QC or find an extractor design that works better.

At least the ladies answering the phone are friendly and they are still paying for shipping.
 
Good luck on the next one. Sounds like just bad luck of the draw. Mine have been flawless. :/
 
I'd keep sending it back until they send you a new gun. Once they do, sell it and buy a Kahr CM9 or Ruger LC9. They're all in the same size range, but the Ruger and Kahr seem to get better reviews overall. They're a bit more expensive, but I'd gladly pay a little more money for less aggravation.

I've owned a few Keltecs (P32, P11, Sub2000), but when it came time to buy a new pocket-nine, I opted for the CM9 without even handling the PF9. I don't want to have to do a "fluff-and-buff" before I can get it to function properly.
 
Sorry to hear you're having so many problems with this gun. You may even consider asking them to just send you a new gun altogether at this rate. I wouldn't think that's an unreasonable request at this point. Best of luck.
 
My P3AT had an FTE about once every 3 rounds early on. Frustrated the heck out of me and I thought about sending it in to KT but decided to just keep shooting it and see if it would break in and surprisingly it did after about 300-400 rounds just like many said it would. Have had zero problems in last couple hundred rounds and is a pretty nice shooter.
 
They sent me free label for brown truck, P3AT been gone
a week, maybe get it back about 8 days, oh well!
Not gonna get above (PF9)gun, I have G27- gen-4.
G27runs9mm&.40 @100%. Extra barrel.
I love the P3AT,
But I will have a 3AT one day that runs 100%, one way
or another with a T.I. 22 conversion that's coming
in 2 months.
I always wondered how gun (PF9)in above thread would run
with T.I.'s 22 conversion (comes w/ mags,slide,&barrel).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

L
  • Locked
Kahr PM9 Range Report, and Kel-Tec 3AT Now Works
Replies
3
Views
605
Jiml3
J
B
  • Locked
Kel-Tec PF9 finally has a "hiccup"
Replies
10
Views
769
BCCL
B
C
  • Locked
springer feed problem
Replies
3
Views
430
tg_26101
T
R
  • Locked
CZ 75BD Police FTE **UPDATE**
Replies
9
Views
755
rhoggman
R
F
  • Locked
EMP Problems
Replies
23
Views
1K
Full Metal Jacket
F
Back
Top