Opinions on Kel-tec

[Guest adurbin]

Hello all. I recently purchased a P11 for my wife. After just two hundred rounds, the slide catch broke, and it will no longer load the first round from the mag. I have sent it back to Kel-Tec, and I am waiting to get it back. Everyone I speak to has very strong opinions either for, or against Keltec guns. I am contemplating selling it and getting her something else once I have it back. Post your opinions below, I would appreciate your thoughts, and they will help me with my decision. Thanks!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[peejman]

They're not perfect, but neither is anyone else. Plenty of Glocks and Kimbers break too. Keltec's don't have the fit and finish of other guns, but they don't have the price tag either. I've no personal experience, but seems their customer service is very good. If you want to fix it yourself, piece parts are available cheap online direct from Keltec. My P3AT wasn't perfect when I got it, but after a little work it has been flawless. Given that I paid about half as much for it as an LCP, I'm happy.

[daddyo]

My personal experience with Keltec was so bad that I won't ever buy another one. My P3AT completely failed at the range one day, and it occurred to me that, had I needed it when it counted, I might have been dead. I returned it to the factory, and when I got it back, I promptly sold it.

You get what you pay for.

[sigrug17]

Got a brand new PF-9 with a extraction problem (FTE more than half of the now 290 break-in brass ammo), 2 emails and 3 phone calls still no response. This doesn't look good for their customer service. I thought I could use it as a back up summer carry, now I'm hoping to get it sent into Kel-Tec & get it back before summer ends.

[walton6467]

I had a PF-9 that I carried for a year, until it developed a problem with the mag release. Everytime I fired it, the magazine fell out. I traded it. Given the price, I was happy with it while I had it. It was a cheap gun with a sorry finish (I ruined several shirts because of rust stains where they touched the gun while carrying it IWB). It will be something to get you by until you can save your nickels.

[Jonnin]

The company, I admire. They have done several innovative things in their R&D department, such as the shotgun, and I think they were one of the first, if not the first, to build the DAO style automatics (?).

They also have outstanding service.

Their line of inexpensive handguns, well that one is open to debate. The guns have enough issues out of the box that the owner's group site has many pages dedicated to fixing the minor issues that a new kel tec has right out of the box, most of which are just the polishing of various parts so the guns work better.

While these guns are prone to limp wrist jams due to their light weight and often are a bit unpolished out of the box, they do tend to work and breakage right away is not common. It is much more common to have a sandpaper rough feed ramp that will not feed, or similar small problems.

The bottom line, then? If you cannot afford better, let them repair it and work with the gun until it is reliable and trusted. Many people manage to get their kel tec trustworthy and functional. If you can afford better, let them repair it and sell it, move on to a higher quality pistol if you want a higher quality pistol. If you are a tinker at heart, keep it and mess with it anyway is an option. They are not the best guns, but they fill a niche; they are an affordable DIY option for people who want a self defense weapon but cannot afford 2-3 times the price.

Disclosure:

I have a plr 16 223 pistol that is 100% flawless. I had a p-40 that was busted when I bought it thanks to a shady gun show dealer, and they rebuilt it for free from the frame up. It was returned to me as a 100% working pistol, however I cannot fire DAO guns easily with my worn out hands so I sold it after a while. After the work it ate about 3 boxes of ammo before I sold it, with zero issues apart from one very, very sore trigger finger after each range session.

[Guest bkelm18]

I had a P3AT that was apparently part of a batch that had a poorly machined slide as the recoil spring shot out the front of the slide after only about the first 20 rounds. I sent it back to KT and had a brand new slide in about 2 weeks. Worked flawlessly after that.

[Guest Xring04]

Keltecs have always worked for me.

[TNcitizen22]

My P32 has some micro finish issues, but other than that is an excellent weapon. It has never and any kind of failure or jam. Regardless of whatever else I carry, it's always in my pocket.

[Guest steve24]

My P3AT had a terrible FTE and stovepipe problem right after I bought it. I finally sent it back and they replaced the slide and the barrel...it's been flawless ever since.

[gjohnsoniv]

I like the Kel-Tecs, but their smaller ones don't fit my hand, and especially P-3AT which slams against my trigger finger when I shoot it. Other than that no problems.

[seez52]

I like them. I've two p32s a p11 and a 9mm rifle. I've shot the crap out of them and they have run flawlessly. I did discover that soft lead bullets loaded pretty hot will strip right through the rifling of a short barrle 9mm and you can't hit crap with it. Figured it out when I found profile shaped holes in the target! I was trying to get as heavy a slug as possible so I had cast some nearly pure lead slugs just to see what would happen. Otherwise they have all be good guns and pretty accurate.

[TNWNGR]

More than anythin else it depend's on what your wife think's about the P-11 because Kel Tech will get it repaired and return it fairly quickly.

[SonnyCrockett]

U have to ask yourself.........would you trust it to save your life

[Guest Baron]

I have 2 PF-9s. My wife replaced hers with a LCR and Is much happier.

I still carry mine but I am thinking about changing to th M&P shield.

My opinion is they are fine if that is what you can afford. However, a bill

more can get you better.

[VERO1]

I must be lucky, I have had two P-9's and two P3AT's, all have worked fine!

[Fourtyfive]

A friend of mine has one and had problems , he called them and they told him to sell it , if he shipped it back to them they would charge him to fix it. It was new and they told him to sell it , go figure.

[AMSting]

One PF-9 I have has been flawless. The other I bought used and had many FTE issues. A call to Keltec and I had an extractor on the way. Put it in myself, and it has been flawless since. I use mine as backups.

[Proscene]

I had a couple of PF-9's:

Good prices

Excellent Customer Service

Good starter or personal protection weapon

Hand hurting after 50 rounds at range

Trigger action, so-so

Not very accurate because of fit

[Guest samiam73]

i bought the ..32 pocket pistol (forget the model). Took it in the back yard and squeezed off the first shot and FTF. Hand cycled the round out, no strike on the primer. Tried again, same thing. Back to gun shop. Gunsmith told me that i had to force the first few rounds into battery to break it in. That worked for the first round.

The second round the mag release malfunctioned and would not lock the mag in place anymore. To KELTEC for repair. Once it was back, traded it in to same guy. Felt pity for me gave me full refund.

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND KELTEC.

[Steelharp]

I had a couple of PF-9's:

Good starter or personal protection weapon...

Trigger action, so-so

Not very accurate because of fit

This is, like... rife with oxymorons... to me...

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

Had one as daily carry gun...never had any problems..i liked it..some people said it had a lot of kick to it...not any worse than others I shot..imho....

Only reason I sold it was because I found one I liked better..

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

[Sean]

Im not enjoying our P3AT. The first round of each mag seams like it wants to jam as you rack it. Ive changed up ammo between fmj and hp and all the same. We only have just over 100 rds through it and Im gonna give it a couple more boxes before I decide what Im going to do.

[Guest bkelm18]

i bought the ..32 pocket pistol (forget the model). Took it in the back yard and squeezed off the first shot and FTF. Hand cycled the round out, no strike on the primer. Tried again, same thing. Back to gun shop. Gunsmith told me that i had to force the first few rounds into battery to break it in. That worked for the first round.

The second round the mag release malfunctioned and would not lock the mag in place anymore. To KELTEC for repair. Once it was back, traded it in to same guy. Felt pity for me gave me full refund.

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND KELTEC.

Well did the gun function when it came back from KT?

[R_Bert]

Well did the gun function when it came back from KT?

+1.

I have six different models of KT, and yes, a few have had to go back. Ultimately, I am happy & satisfied by KT support and performance.