PF-9, a word of caution

Status
Not open for further replies.
G

gofastman

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2010
Messages
1,062
Location
MN
PF9 - plus a word of caution

I just picked up a PF-9 for my pocket carry gun, I originally planed on a Taurus TCP but found a killer price on the 9.
Over all a very well designed gun IMO, it appears to be manufactured a bit hastily, a little bit of t.l.c. takes care of that however.
Anyway, I brought it home and striped it down for some cleaning and lubrication.

Unbeknown to me, the firing pin is retained by the screw that holds the ejector spring to the slide, I failed to realign the firing pin when reassembling the pistol.

Fast forward to the next day, I start pumping rounds through the little Kel Tec and am very pleased with how well it works, a few failures to eject, but nothing like the horror stories I have heard about new Kel Tecs.
About 30 rounds in I pull the trigger and the round goes off, I feel something hit my forehead just above my eye. The firing pin had flown out of the gun! :eek:
The fact that the ejector spring screw was not completely tightened down no doubt had something to do with the failures to eject.
The moral of the story is, make sure you know what you are doing before you start pulling things apart, even if they seem simple, and always wear you safety glasses when shooting!
 
Last edited:
No, its a quasi review of the gun as well, If you don't like it you may leave :neener:
 
gofastman said:
No, its a quasi review of the gun as well, If you don't like it you may leave :neener:
Click to expand...
Meh, just don't want this to erupt into a "Kel-Tecs are crap" thread because you failed to properly reassemble a weapon, that's all. Nothing against you but surely you could see my point.

There are better ways to post a review then mention you didn't reassemble it properly and the pin fell out, etc. No harm, no foul, I just forsee someone making an off hand comment on how crappy the guns are... ;)
 
^ I did see that, the straw trick is a life saver!
So far I really like this gun if that was unclear, I'm curious to see how it eats doubletap 147g loads.
 
I didn't realize that screw held the firing pin captive and ended up tightening it down against the firing pin. I drove all the way to the range to test some reloads only to find the pin frozen. I thought for sure it was broken. After re-tracing my steps during cleaning I figured it out. Great gun for the money. Fun at the range with reduced recoil reloads.
 
I've got a P11 and all-in-all I like the very simple and easy to work on design, but using a screw and Loc-Tite to hold the firing-pin in is a half-assed way of doing it.

I mean come on, they could have come up with something better, even a little plate like a 1911 would be way better.
 
I didn't realize that screw held the firing pin captive and ended up tightening it down against the firing pin.
Click to expand...

I did that the first time I took that screw out, too. It taught me to always test fire my pistols with a pencil in the barrel after cleaning them. If the pencil doesn't move when the trigger is pulled, the firing pin probably didn't move, either.

The second time I had a problem with that screw was at the range. After about 140 rounds, I had 1-2 failures to extract per magazine. In those first 140 rounds, the screw had worked loose, and the extractor couldn't grab the case rim properly. Threadlock is a must on that extractor spring screw.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the PF-9. Other than the failures to extract because of the loose screw, mine has been 100% for 500 rounds.
 
I have a very early production PF9 that was problematic from day one even after a fluff and buff. Finally I had a couple of failures involving parts breakage that required sending it back to KT. Apparantly, there were so many design updates that KT elected to reuse the slide and barrel and replace every other part of the gun.
Now the PF9 as rebuilt from the factory is a 100% gun that works flawlessly. I carry it with confidence.
My EDC load is the Speer 147-grain Gold Dot, which is a very nice load for the little PF9.
Early models had feed problems with 147-grain bullets, but after KT worked on mine it was fine.
 
"Unbeknown to me, the firing pin is retained by the screw that holds the ejector spring to the slide,"

the manual that comes with the PF9 specifically says do not take the gun that far apart......
 
the manual that comes with the PF9 specifically says do not take the gun that far apart......
Click to expand...
That may be, I must have missed that.
If you read up on the Kel Tec fluff and buff, they have been know to have a few metal shavings leftover in the firing pin channel that need to come out, plus I wanted to inspect every part of the gun.
 
When reinstalling the extractor screw, use locktite

I'm curious to see how it eats doubletap 147g loads
Click to expand...

The gun can take it, but my experience with +P and +P+ has been that the firing pin, held forward by the hammer intially under recoil, will wipe some brass from the primer. This small piece of debris becomes lodged in the FP hole and causes light strikes. I've duplicated this several times with various hot handloads, so it's not a fluke. I recommend you stick to standard pressure stuff, just to be sure. I carry mine with Remington 115 gr. JHP bought in the 100 round value packs at Wally world. It cycles 100% reliably in my gun, and the bullets perform well, expanding reliably and penetrating 11-12" in clay.
 
^ how many rounds does it take until the light strikes occur?
I plan on using the lightest stuff I can at the range to preserve my hands, but I want the meanest rounds I can get for self defense, will 8 rounds at a time of the hot stuff lead to problems?
 
I will say it. Kel tecs are crap. Locktite is not to hold critical gun parts toghether I am sorry.
 
^ how many rounds does it take until the light strikes occur?
Click to expand...

One, two, four. Just depends on when that piece gets stuck instead of falling out. Within a magazine, almost definitely. The standard pressure ammo performs just fine and doesn't create this problem.

Locktite is not to hold critical gun parts toghether I am sorry.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what it's for. It's used on everything from sight screws to trigger adjusting screws by top-tier manufacturers. Automobile manufacturers (ALL OF THEM) use it on critical fasteners for brakes, engines, transmissions and other parts. I use it always when installing flywheel or torque converter bolts, ring gear bolts, carrier pin bolts, intake manifold bolts on low yield designs, any set screw or bolt that needs to stay put but cannot be tightened very much, the list goes on. Threaded fasteners can loosen with expansion/contraction from heat, and from vibration. There's no getting around that. Anaerobic thread lock compounds are a preventive measure for this phenomenon when lock washers or pins are impractical or impossible to use.

We know you don't like KT from other threads. Lots of them. Why don't you just stay out of these ones. You contribute nothing, and irritate many.
 
Last edited:
That's exactly what it's for. It's used on everything from sight screws to trigger adjusting screws by top-tier manufacturers. Automobile manufacturers (ALL OF THEM) use it on critical fasteners for brakes, engines, transmissions and other parts. I use it always when installing flywheel or torque converter bolts, ring gear bolts, carrier pin bolts, intake manifold bolts on low yield designs, any set screw or bolt that needs to stay put but cannot be tightened very much, the list goes on. Threaded fasteners can loosen with expansion/contraction from heat, and from vibration. There's no getting around that. Anaerobic thread lock compounds are a preventive measure for this phenomenon when lock washers or pins are impractical or impossible to use.
Click to expand...
I agree, by definition, locktite is for securing critical fasteners in a practical manner, after all, safety wire on a gun would get awfully annoying.
 
No you are 100% right. Silly me.

Kel Tec guns are the pinnacle of gun design and JMB would be proud.

This was a fluke and people who dont like Kel Tecs should just shut up and go away.

The only opinion allowed is a positive opinion of Kel Tec.

New shooters should be encouraged towards this brand by coming on gun forums and hearing nothing but praise.

My Bad.
 
my first rounds out of mine were corbon.


it was a surprise to me on what a hand full this little gun is for a 9mm.

good , light , dependable.
 
I will say it. Kel tecs are crap. Locktite is not to hold critical gun parts toghether I am sorry.
Click to expand...
No you are 100% right. Silly me.

Kel Tec guns are the pinnacle of gun design and JMB would be proud.

This was a fluke and people who dont like Kel Tecs should just shut up and go away.

The only opinion allowed is a positive opinion of Kel Tec.

New shooters should be encouraged towards this brand by coming on gun forums and hearing nothing but praise.
My Bad.
Click to expand...
Your off topic comments and sarcasm are not wanted in this thread, please leave.
 
dom1104 said:
No you are 100% right. Silly me.

Kel Tec guns are the pinnacle of gun design and JMB would be proud.

This was a fluke and people who dont like Kel Tecs should just shut up and go away.

The only opinion allowed is a positive opinion of Kel Tec.

New shooters should be encouraged towards this brand by coming on gun forums and hearing nothing but praise.

My Bad.
Click to expand...
How many have you owned?
 
Hey Dom,

If you're not man enough for that Kel-Tec I would be happy to buy it from you. I have a huge bottle of Lock-Tite on the work bench.
You sound like me talking about my Lee progressive press experiences.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

D
  • Locked
Kel-ted pf-9 for 150
Replies
14
Views
612
JDGray
J
O
  • Locked
PF-9
Replies
1
Views
435
RecoilRob
R
R
  • Locked
Kel Tec PF 9 extraction problems anyone?
Replies
18
Views
3K
351 WINCHESTER
3
R
  • Locked
pf 9 rust
Replies
9
Views
773
Mike J
M
H
  • Locked
kel-tec PF-9 problems
2
Replies
49
Views
3K
joe_security
J
Back
Top