USAF_Vet
Member
Saturday morning I picked up my Kel-Tec P-11, Desert Tan Cerakote, from the LGS. Sorry, no pics, I'll get some posted later and edit.
Made it to the range Sunday morning for a 100 round trial run. I took the 10 round factory mag, which is a Mec-gar, and a 15 round Pro-mag I use in my S&W 469. Ammo used was TulAmmo Brass Maxx, 115gr FMJ.
First, my initial impressions of the pistol. Aside from a bit of mold flash on the polymer sights, everything looked fine. I was a little concerned about how well the Cerakote would hold up, but out of the box, I could find no flaws.
I didn't lube it, didn't clean it, just hand cycled a couple rounds to function check.
The 10 round Mecgar performed flawlessly. I shot about 60 or 70 rounds using just the factory mag. The Pro-mag, which works just fine in my S&W, wanted to nose dive the first round or so into the feed ramp, which had not been cleaned. It had a black coating, same finish as the rest of the barrel. I'll get back to this later*. Anyway, the pro-mag wasn't reliable, as the first couple rounds failed to feed. I also noticed it sits ever so slightly higher than the factory mag.
Accuracy wise... at 15 yards, I was hitting the target, but I was shooting far left. After adjusting the sights, It's still slightly left, and slightly low, but for off hand shooting at 15 yards, I was happy. Moving in to 7 yards, I was consistently putting rounds where I expected them to go. It's no bullseye target gun, but accurate enough at social distances.
I went through the first sixty rounds using both mags. After that, I had to take a short break as my hand started hurting. Now, I'm 6'3" and 235, I'm not slouch. This gun is pretty small, and I expected recoil, but its 9mm.
The web of my hand was taking most of the recoil, and the trigger beat up my finger pretty good. The trigger guard is small, probably too small. And the trigger reset is rather brutal. More than once I felt my finger getting pinched between the trigger and the guard.
The DAO trigger was pretty consistent around 8 pounds, at it's heaviest. It's at it's heaviest about 3/4 of the way through the full stroke. I think it's due to the shape of the trigger, which has a very pronounced curve. The weight drops off considerably during the last quarter stroke.
Size wise, compared to my current EDC (Taurus 709 slim), the P-11 is fairly comparable. At it's widest point in the grip, the P-11 is a hair over an inch, where the 709 comes in at about .90". Considering the P-11 is a double stack 10 round, and the 709 is a single stack 7 round, I was surprised the P-11 was so slim. The slide width on the p-11 is exactly 1" at the serrations, a hair under at the muzzle. The 709 is slimmer by about 0.07" in the slide.
The P-11 is 6" from the rearmost point of the grip to the muzzle, making it about a quarter inch shorter than the 709.
Height is about equal between the two when equipped with flat mag base plates, or no mag inserted.
The p-11 is a little heavier.
So after my hand rested up, I put the Pro-mag away and fired the remaining rounds through the 10 round factory magazine, without a hiccup or hitch.
I have yet to try the 12 round S&W mags, or the 20 round Pro-mag. I suspect I'll have similar issues with the 20 round Pro-mag as I did with the 15. The follower is not anti-tilt like the S&W and Mecgars, and the springs are not as stiff.
So after I cleaned up at the range and collected brass, I got the pistol back home for a field strip and clean.
Take down is a bit goofy, but similar to the S&W 2nd gen pistol I have. I have to lock back the slide, then using a spent 9mm casing, use the lip to pull the take down pin. With the pin removed, release the slide and slip it off the front of the frame. The slide rails are generous, a solid rail a good three inches in length. The slide strips just like most any other Browning tilt barrel lock up. Remove the guide rod, which is now a steel rod from the factory, rather than the polymer guide rod they apparently used to have. The recoil springs are not captive to the guide rod. Kel Tec still uses the dual spring stacked inside of each other for this pistol. Not something I really care for, but it didn't cause any cycling issues. I did have to clean some crud, looked like plastic flash from the mold, out of the springs. Same Desert tan color as the frame.
*The barrel, as mentioned before, had a black coating over the feed ramp. During the course of shooting, it had come off to reveal the polished feed ramp. I'll still go ahead and polish it myself better, because not all of the coating came off. A little copper fouling in the barrel, but a little Hoppes #9 cleaned that right up. I mopped the rest of the parts with some CLP and finished it off with some Rem oil and put it back in the box.
The Cerakote... It experienced some wear and rubbed off right at the ejection port, rubbed off where it contacts the barrel chamber, and a little at the muzzle. But not all the way down to the bare steel.
Overall, I can definitely see this as a gun carried often and shot little. I plan on putting another hundred rounds down the pipe and test it with some of my other mags after a fluff and buff. I'll probably only do the feed ramp. The trigger, although heavy DAO, was surprisingly smooth. I don't think I'll need to F&B the trigger bar. For the $280 I paid, it's not the pistol of the year, but it'll get carried. It's not as fun to shoot as the Taurus or my S&W, but as a defensive pistol, it'll work.
As a defensive carry, gun I give the Kel Tec P-11 4 out of 5 stars. It definitely met my expectations.
Made it to the range Sunday morning for a 100 round trial run. I took the 10 round factory mag, which is a Mec-gar, and a 15 round Pro-mag I use in my S&W 469. Ammo used was TulAmmo Brass Maxx, 115gr FMJ.
First, my initial impressions of the pistol. Aside from a bit of mold flash on the polymer sights, everything looked fine. I was a little concerned about how well the Cerakote would hold up, but out of the box, I could find no flaws.
I didn't lube it, didn't clean it, just hand cycled a couple rounds to function check.
The 10 round Mecgar performed flawlessly. I shot about 60 or 70 rounds using just the factory mag. The Pro-mag, which works just fine in my S&W, wanted to nose dive the first round or so into the feed ramp, which had not been cleaned. It had a black coating, same finish as the rest of the barrel. I'll get back to this later*. Anyway, the pro-mag wasn't reliable, as the first couple rounds failed to feed. I also noticed it sits ever so slightly higher than the factory mag.
Accuracy wise... at 15 yards, I was hitting the target, but I was shooting far left. After adjusting the sights, It's still slightly left, and slightly low, but for off hand shooting at 15 yards, I was happy. Moving in to 7 yards, I was consistently putting rounds where I expected them to go. It's no bullseye target gun, but accurate enough at social distances.
I went through the first sixty rounds using both mags. After that, I had to take a short break as my hand started hurting. Now, I'm 6'3" and 235, I'm not slouch. This gun is pretty small, and I expected recoil, but its 9mm.
The web of my hand was taking most of the recoil, and the trigger beat up my finger pretty good. The trigger guard is small, probably too small. And the trigger reset is rather brutal. More than once I felt my finger getting pinched between the trigger and the guard.
The DAO trigger was pretty consistent around 8 pounds, at it's heaviest. It's at it's heaviest about 3/4 of the way through the full stroke. I think it's due to the shape of the trigger, which has a very pronounced curve. The weight drops off considerably during the last quarter stroke.
Size wise, compared to my current EDC (Taurus 709 slim), the P-11 is fairly comparable. At it's widest point in the grip, the P-11 is a hair over an inch, where the 709 comes in at about .90". Considering the P-11 is a double stack 10 round, and the 709 is a single stack 7 round, I was surprised the P-11 was so slim. The slide width on the p-11 is exactly 1" at the serrations, a hair under at the muzzle. The 709 is slimmer by about 0.07" in the slide.
The P-11 is 6" from the rearmost point of the grip to the muzzle, making it about a quarter inch shorter than the 709.
Height is about equal between the two when equipped with flat mag base plates, or no mag inserted.
The p-11 is a little heavier.
So after my hand rested up, I put the Pro-mag away and fired the remaining rounds through the 10 round factory magazine, without a hiccup or hitch.
I have yet to try the 12 round S&W mags, or the 20 round Pro-mag. I suspect I'll have similar issues with the 20 round Pro-mag as I did with the 15. The follower is not anti-tilt like the S&W and Mecgars, and the springs are not as stiff.
So after I cleaned up at the range and collected brass, I got the pistol back home for a field strip and clean.
Take down is a bit goofy, but similar to the S&W 2nd gen pistol I have. I have to lock back the slide, then using a spent 9mm casing, use the lip to pull the take down pin. With the pin removed, release the slide and slip it off the front of the frame. The slide rails are generous, a solid rail a good three inches in length. The slide strips just like most any other Browning tilt barrel lock up. Remove the guide rod, which is now a steel rod from the factory, rather than the polymer guide rod they apparently used to have. The recoil springs are not captive to the guide rod. Kel Tec still uses the dual spring stacked inside of each other for this pistol. Not something I really care for, but it didn't cause any cycling issues. I did have to clean some crud, looked like plastic flash from the mold, out of the springs. Same Desert tan color as the frame.
*The barrel, as mentioned before, had a black coating over the feed ramp. During the course of shooting, it had come off to reveal the polished feed ramp. I'll still go ahead and polish it myself better, because not all of the coating came off. A little copper fouling in the barrel, but a little Hoppes #9 cleaned that right up. I mopped the rest of the parts with some CLP and finished it off with some Rem oil and put it back in the box.
The Cerakote... It experienced some wear and rubbed off right at the ejection port, rubbed off where it contacts the barrel chamber, and a little at the muzzle. But not all the way down to the bare steel.
Overall, I can definitely see this as a gun carried often and shot little. I plan on putting another hundred rounds down the pipe and test it with some of my other mags after a fluff and buff. I'll probably only do the feed ramp. The trigger, although heavy DAO, was surprisingly smooth. I don't think I'll need to F&B the trigger bar. For the $280 I paid, it's not the pistol of the year, but it'll get carried. It's not as fun to shoot as the Taurus or my S&W, but as a defensive pistol, it'll work.
As a defensive carry, gun I give the Kel Tec P-11 4 out of 5 stars. It definitely met my expectations.
