Reliability of Kel-tec?

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campergeek

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I've been shopping around for something smaller to carry than my 4" GP-100, and at both of the shops I've visited I ended up finding a Kel-tec in my price range (read "relatively cheap"). Are these good pistols, cheaply made and maybe with low demand, or are Kel-tec's often problem guns for their owners?
 
Do a search and you'll find lots of comments, both pro and con. Personally, I've never found a Kel-Tec reliable enough to trust my life to it, but others disagree.
 
No problems at all with my P11. Then again, I don't shoot it much because frankly it's just not fun to shoot. :rolleyes:

But the gun hasn't done one single thing wrong since I bought it.
 
I have had my P32 for about five years. During that time I have run approx. 600rds. through it, as follows: 50-75 to break it in; 300-350 to learn how to point shoot it at contact to 2-3 yds. and the balance at 7yds. aimed fire. There have been no malfunctions. That being said, I use it as a 6 shooter, 5 in the mag + 1 in the pipe and I am very careful to rack the slide, (resetting the trigger) before inserting the magazine loaded with 6 and then racking the slide again to put one in the pipe. The little gun serves a purpose for me, but not as my primary or secondary gun. I think of it as a back-up---not to my .45, etc., but to my knife.
 
The early P3AT's ( the .380) had to undergo a "fluff & buff" on certain parts before the were reliable. Also they had an extractor problem. Beginning around serial HAA##, all those problems were resolved by manufacturing changes. My P3AT was reliable out-of-the box, and continues to be. I alternate carrying it and my S&W 442 for pocket carry. Check the KTOG forum for many many details.
 
I've had 2 P-11's and both were very
reliable,the last one did shoot 5"
to the right at 15 yards.I had a 2nd
gen P3-AT that had FTF with ball ammo.
The more it was shot the better it
got.
 
I purchased one of the early models for my wife. The trigger pull was very heavy, I heard that is is lighter now. It is not fun to shoot a lot. I even tried a Hogue slip on grip to try to tame the recoil. I could shoot the ILETB 25 yard certification coarse mainly by shooting well at the 7 and 15 yard line.

My wife would have to use two fingers on the trigger to shoot it. Since there are some airports in my area I did not let her shoot it much. ;)

As a close up personal protection gun I would trust my life to it. I have been thinking about getting on of the new ones with the lighter trigger.
 
I think so, I have a P-11 and a P-32 that have both been 100%. I don't like the .380 because I tried one and it jammed all the time. And who knows maybe that was because I limp-wristed, its a lot of recoil is such a small and light gun.

I say go give one a try, either can be bought new for $250 or less, and if you try it and don't like it, sell it on KTOG.org or KTrange.com and they will prob buy a "like new" one off you for $175 I'd bet.
 
I had to play with my 32 and 380 (F&B) to get them 100 percent but the trade off of having the lightest gun made to carry was worth it IMO. Just try different ammo they can be picky guns.
 
I had a P-32 for awhile. It was totally reliable for me with never a malfunction of any kind--I used winchester silvertips and various fmj's--mostly seemed to find the umc ones around--all worked fine. Trigger pulls aren't great and it takes some getting used to, but once you did it was surprisingly accurate, and hit right on. They are about as light as you can get, and as far as concealability that and how flat they are makes them about as good as it gets in that department as well--much lighter and flatter than Beretta 21's that I have owned, similar accuracy.

The only issue I had with mine was getting it out one day and cycling the action and discovering a fair amount of rust on the outside of the barrel! Never had that happen with any of my other pistols, not sure what was up with that--it hadn't been abused or anything as far as cleaning. :uhoh: Cleaned off with oiled steel wool, but didn't sit well. I traded it just the other day on a smith 431PD. Can't wait for it to show up.

For the price though it did the job, and very small and light has its place.
 
My P32 was a favorite until I found that BOTH mags I was carrying had rim lock!!! :what: :what: Never a problem until that but that was enough to trade it in on a new P3AT. The P3AT has been 100% straight out of the box and, mine anyway, is VERY accurate for a pocket pistol. Coke Cans FEAR ME! :p :p :D

I will say that if the one you purchase isn't 100%, Kel-Tec WILL make it right. Lifetime warranty actually means something to these people! They've even been known to rebuild a weapon if your springs wear out. Best customer service I've seen irregardless of price.

HTH,
Mike
 
I own a P32. It currently has about 500+ round through it. It has never jammed yet.

My wife shoots it most of the time. She is not gentle with handguns and loves to rapid fire. It says a lot for handgun if it can keep running in her hands.

My Grandfather owned a P11 years ago. He never had any problems with it but he hated the trigger pull on it. It was the only reason he got rid of it.

That's all I can offer. I would not have any problem buying another Kel-tec product (and I may have to as I think my wife has claimed the P32 as her's).
 
I've had my P-32 for about a year now, and have experenced no malfs. Powerful?...No! Handy 100% of the time?...You bet.

 
"or are Kel-tec's often problem guns for their owners?"

I think that is closer to the truth for most people. Kel-Tec and reliabilty should not be mentioned in the same sentence unless it is to say how NOT reliable they are. :D From my own experience, I can't see how or why anyone would choose to trust their life to such a cheaply made and problem prone gun. I think it is because they are inexpensive and light and easy to carry. I think they are the modern day Jennings, lorcin or Bryco but at three times the price. There are people that had reliable Brycos but that doesn't mean they are worth trusting your life to.

My P-32 went back to Kel-Tec two times and had parts sent to me once and then the trigger axis broke. I had Kel-Tec send me the parts to fix the trigger and then I got rid of that lemon. So I had to send it back two times and have two shipments of parts sent out and in the end, it was still not working right so I took it to a gunshop and traded it even for a Beretta 21-A in .22lr. The Beretta has had a few jams but I have shot it more than the KT. I think the Beretta is as reliable as any .22lr can be. I have never had a .22lr be 100% reliable. It seems the best .22lr pistols will jam 1-2 every couple of thousand rds. That is about the reliablity rate of my Beretta so I consider it as reliable as it can be considering the ammo it is shooting. Most of the malfunctions were ammo related if not all. My P-32 jammed about 200 times out of the 800 times I shot it. :banghead:
 
My p-11 has never failed me, through alot of rounds and alot of carry. I did send it back to kel tec but looking back it was all in my head. It is my only plastic gun and shooting it in between very solid steel guns makes it fell real cheap. The trigger sucks, and it takes alot of practice to get good with, but it holds twice as many rounds as a j-frame and is actually lighter than my little .357.
 
Have "Keltec Reliability" threads officially replaced "45 v. 9mm" as the most over-talked about subject on THR?
Click to expand...

So, I take it you won't be participating in next week's discussion on the same topic? :)
 
hmm, I dunno, albanian--I had 2 beretta model 21's in 22, and neither one ever jammed the entire time I had them. There might be some sort of problem with yours. Was it with the same kind of ammo?
 
"hmm, I dunno, albanian--I had 2 beretta model 21's in 22, and neither one ever jammed the entire time I had them. There might be some sort of problem with yours. Was it with the same kind of ammo?"

I mostly shoot really cheap bulk pack Rem Golden Bullets. They function fine but every few thousand rds there is a dud. That is mostly what I am talking about. With any type of decent ammo like the CCI Stingers or something like that, it is 100%. If you shoot you .22lrs enough you will have a jam or a dud. It is just the nature of the rimfire I guess. The Beretta is as reliable as any .22lr pistol I have ever shot and that is a surprise because it is tiny and has not extractor. It works fine, I was meaning to say it really jammed, it would mostly just find a dud once in a while. I don't think there is any problem with it and it is far more reliable than the P-32 I had. I just don't think any .22lr is going to 100% reliable given the long term. By contrast, my Beretta 92fs has still never jammed or had a single problem of any kind and I have shot many thousand rds of various ammo through it. It feeds every make, type, shape, weight and style of 9mm I can put in it. I have shot everything from CCI Blazers and Wolf to Corbon 115gr and it won't jam.
 
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