keltecs guns should be outlawed i work at a indoor gun range and have for the past couple years and in this time we have only had 4 incidents there all of which envolved a keltec once a p32 twice a p3at and once a p11 all of which ended up being totally destroyed kel tec wouldnt replace any........they said the only way this would happen is if the shooter was using incorrect ammo and was thus the owners fault for not following the owners manual but we have video cameras of the shooters using the proper ammo which was factory ammo and was not reloads in the case of the p32 the shooter actually had to take have a surgery to remove peices of the barrel from the bone in his finger
If I were a manufacturer, I wouldn't replace a range pistol either. Those are the most abused pistols out there, they shoot the cheapest ammo, and you have no idea what other people are bringing with them. If you have manufacturers that do, that is fine, they want the advertisement, and that is argueably the best advertisement a manufacturer can do. But as was mentioned on here already, the Kel-Tec was meant to be carried a lot and shot little, and range pistols are just the opposite --the extreme opposite. I bet those Kel-Tecs you had at that range were shot more than 90% or better of all the Kel-Tecs made.
And if I operated your range, I wouldn't rent Kel-Tecs either. Four? Should have pulled them after the third one, but that fourth in two years with no others failing would have been the last nail in the coffin for me for sure. Coincidence? Maybe, but I doubt it. I bet if you look, those pistols broke from wear and tear. I'd quit renting them, but keep selling them, while making sure to tell folks of the experience you had, but in a way that reinforces the idea that these pistols should be carried a lot and shot a little.
Rorbaugh, who makes what a lot regard as the best tiny 9, even recommend you don't shoot their pistol much. They say something like a few hundred rounds? Just enough to know where it hits, what feeds best, and to give you confidence that it works.
I have a 340PD, a scandium .357. It shows wear from the few hundred rounds it has fired, whereas my wife's (new to us) used 649 has probably fired more than that but looks new, almost brand new. I have no illusion that scandium 340PD was made to be carried a lot and shot little. It has a lot of recoil and isn't fun. I also damaged the first cylinder firing a lot of full power magnum loads out of it. (Smith replaced it, rather quickly too, I had it back by the end of the week.) Now I don't use it as much, fire weaker loads for practice mostly, and just the magnums on ocassion. It is holding up real well and I don't have any problems. If I really wanted to fire it a lot, I'd get the stainless version too --the 640 is identical but weighs more, all stainless.
You can't get around physics. There is no "magic" formula, but there is a lot to be said for good engineering and materials selection. Still, pistols are the physical definition of "compromise". They compromise in every way, you lose a little weight, you gain a little recoil, you lose a little power, you gain a little control or capacity. In the case with ultralights and minis, you compromise even more --life and wear and tear. There is no way that scandium/aluminum alloy and titanium will ever hold up over time, round for round, against an all stainless copy. Likewise, there is no way a Kel-Tec will ever hold up round for round against a heavier pistol.
They do have a following though, and I bet they would make a nice pocket auto. I hear people either love 'em or hate 'em, kind of like Glocks, and that they either work like a clock or are junk out of the box. I don't have a need for one, but based on the price of a Rorbaugh and their admittal that it can't be fired a lot, I'd have to go with the Kel-Tec if I were to get a pocket auto. As it is, I got the 340PD for the pocket if need be.
