Kel-Tec pistols - yes or no?

That's the big kicker. Guy toys have very real aesthetic value to them like knives.

I love CZs myself. I currently don't have a bedside weapon as I don't deem my neighborhood dangerous and there's a higher chance of a person accidentally shooting them self.

I also like oddball things to, my next two purchases are going to be a Taurus wheel gun chambered in 9mm and moon clips and a Beretta storm carbine for my wife in 9mm. She didn't like the back pressure that the AR 15 produced indoors but she loved my brothers carbine. It was her first time out shooting and I joke that she was taking out knees for the first hour at the range. In the case that this isn't a range toy or curiosity for cheap guns like the canik that is out there I would go with tried and proven and most common. People do crazy stuff to glocks to test them like put 5000 rounds of old wolf ammo with that lubricant that residues through it to get it to misfire and they pass with flying colors.
 
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I've had a pair of P-32's for years and never had an issue but then again they are carried much more than they are shot.
 
cchu518 said:
That's the big kicker. Guy toys have very real anesthetic value to them like knives.

I love CZs myself. I currently don't have a bedside weapon as I don't deem my neighborhood dangerous and there's a higher chance of a person accidentally shooting them self.

I also like oddball things to, my next two purchases are going to be a Taurus wheel gun chambered in 9mm and moon clips and a Beretta storm carbine for my wife in 9mm. She didn't like the back pressure that the AR 15 produced indoors but she loved my brothers carbine. It was her first time out shooting and I joke that she was taking out knees for the first hour at the range. In the case that this isn't a range toy or curiosity for cheap guns like the canik that is out there I would go with tried and proven and most common. People do crazy stuff to flocks to test them like put 5000 rounds of old wolf ammo with that lubricant that residues through it to get it to misfire and they pass with flying colors.
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I got to get my CZ 75 sp01 out. Fine piece of quality. Makes me want to get another.
 
Send it in to Cajun gun works for their trigger job. They can do a non 3lb trigger pull if you are worried about legal problems. They're the best.
 
plumberroy said:
My old Keltec p-32 (first or early second year of production ) has been nothing but reliable I don't remember it ever failing to fire or feed
Roy
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Me too, and mine fits in easily in the front pocket of my slacks and is so light I forget I am carrying it.
 
Okay I don't know what happened to the message, but I remember reading something in here about Kel-Tec extractors being held on with a phillips head screw. I know that wasn't right since it's a hex head.

Minor quibble aside, isn't every outing with a gun basically a test to see if it's going to function that time? Your gun of choice being able to cycle a hundred rounds without a hiccup the first time out doesn't tell you much besides that. How long and how hard can you actually run it before it does jam, or have some sort of FTE/FTF?
 
I had a catastrophic failure at the range one day with my P3AT. Pulled the trigger and nothing happened. And yes, there was a round in the chamber. I could tell that something just BROKE, as there was no resistance when I pulled the trigger. I sent it back to the factory and had it repaired, then after taking it to the range again to make sure it would fire, I sold it.

I've never owned another KT and I never will. You truly get what you pay for.
 
Daddyo16 said:
I had a catastrophic failure at the range one day with my P3AT. Pulled the trigger and nothing happened. And yes, there was a round in the chamber. I could tell that something just BROKE, as there was no resistance when I pulled the trigger. I sent it back to the factory and had it repaired, then after taking it to the range again to make sure it would fire, I sold it.

I've never owned another KT and I never will. You truly get what you pay for.
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I've seen 2k scopes that were bad out of the box and some $1700 rifles out of the box that didn't work, and marlin 1894s where you had to beat the actions open with a mallet

Sometimes sh*t happens.
 
If you want a .32 I think they are a good option. If you want something larger than a .32 I think there are better options out there now. I don't think they are bad but have been surpassed by others in that market.
 
M67 said:
I've seen 2k scopes that were bad out of the box and some $1700 rifles out of the box that didn't work, and marlin 1894s where you had to beat the actions open with a mallet

Sometimes sh*t happens.
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One thing's certain - I'll never have to trust my life to a POS Kel-Tec.
 
I've broken 3/Three Glocks myself, actually had an action block break. Not sure when it broke, could have been the last shot I fired at the range or the the first. Took it apart before a class, found out it was broke.

I've seen several fail, I've seen S&W revolvers lock up, and have never seen a Taurus revolver or auto made in the last twenty years make it through 200 rounds without a malfunction. Older models aren't bad, I own a few.

All guns fail, that's the way it is, eventually they all will fail. May be simple may be catastrophic.

I've fired at least a dozen Keltecs, mostly 9MM, never the tiny .32 or .380s. the 9MM and .40s I shot and saw go through classes worked just fine.

I was in a tactical pistol class back in 2004 and a keltec 9 was abused, between 800-900 rounds in a day, started at 8AM and finished at 10PM, only problem was the slide was sticky and a shot of rem oil fixed it. It didn't have any more malfunctions then the rest of the guns on line.

The only issue I had with it was whether or not he was going to make it through the class before his hand and fingers gave out on him.

The trigger pull is horrendous, it will beet the hell out of your hand, but its been my experience that they work, and if you need it, the trigger pull isn't anything you'll remember after you use it.

I always try to point people toward more moderately priced handguns for concealed carry, S&W 642s mostly. The reason is, you carry a gun around enough it will get beat to shit, you'll eventually drop it, bang it on things, slide it under a car seat, sweat all over it, just generally abuse it from being carried around all the time.

Pick a gun the works for you that's not going to break your hart when it falls to the concrete.

As far as Walther PPKs, not a fan, tolerances are to tight for a carry gun. I've seen more than 1/one get out a few rounds and the slide lock out of battery, because of the grit and grime from carrying around and not shooting or cleaning.

as much as some people want to act like they are constantly cleaning and practicing with their carry gun, the truth is known by the people that actually carry one everyday, and have for the last twenty plus years.

I've noticed a lot of the advice in this thread has come from people that have carried for five years or so, that's fine, but info taken from what I would call part time carriers and reviews isn't what I would call good. JMO, no wish to offend.

what ever you get, shoot it, carry it, its better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

good luck
 
Daddyo16 said:
I had a catastrophic failure at the range one day with my P3AT. Pulled the trigger and nothing happened. And yes, there was a round in the chamber. I could tell that something just BROKE, as there was no resistance when I pulled the trigger. I sent it back to the factory and had it repaired, then after taking it to the range again to make sure it would fire, I sold it.

I've never owned another KT and I never will. You truly get what you pay for.
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pulling the trigger and nothing happening isn't what I would call a catastrophic failure, and if that's all you got you've been lucky.
 
heresthedeal said:
pulling the trigger and nothing happening isn't what I would call a catastrophic failure, and if that's all you got you've been lucky.
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Wouldn't have been so lucky if it had happened in a SD situation, would I? Besides that, why would I be stupid enough to carry something I have no confidence in?

Catastrophic failure is a very appropriate term for it.
 
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If its your first gun than I would get somthing like a Glock sine they are the most reliable. Kel Tec KSG is a great choice for a Kel Tec gun.
 
Daddyo16 said:
Wouldn't have been so lucky if it had happened in a SD situation, would I? Besides that, why would I be stupid enough to carry something I have no confidence in?

Catastrophic failure is a very appropriate term for it.
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Least you would have got off 1 shot first.

But you're missing the point, ANY gun can fail at ANY time.

I've seen a brand new Ruger 357 LCR lock up after 10 rounds so bad it had to be shipped to Ruger because something broke inside.

The Sig models P290 when they first came out were known to light strike and the P250s were hit or miss on reliability before they redesigned the frame.

Colt......haha....if it's been made in the mast 30 years and has Colt on it I wouldn't trust the thing as far as I could throw it because of very hit or miss quality control and fit and finish.

The S&W Sigmas were hit or miss on reliability for failure to feed and failure to extract and I've had to work on more Bodyguard 380s than I care to remember. It got so bad after a while one of the people I know at Smith would just send me a ton of spare parts for them cause it was a weekly basis on issues, actually took one in yesterday cause of failure to fire issues.

Couple years ago Ruger had to recall a ton of LC9s because the firing pins got too hard during heat treat and they were worried about them breaking, luckily they were caught when they were still at distributors so very few actually got out.

And you remember the Springfield XDS recall from a few years ago?

The permanent recall on the Caracal model C or the permanent recall on Remington 597s in 17HMR?

Or how about the 5 or so recalls Thompson Center has had on the Venture rifle?

Hell I got a letter in the mail yesterday about Winchester having a recall on the 3 1/2" SXPs for some various reason, didn't get the chance to read it.


All this, is just if your gun actually works. What about your ammo? You ever see a self defense load not work, like a brand new Hornady Critical Defense 9mm? I've seen one just go blip cause there was no powder in the damn case.


The whole mentality of well it's a Smith, Ruger, Glock, whatever so it must be reliable, my daddy always said they were thing is something I get ear raped with every day and 1) it's wrong and 2) it got old a long time ago. Guns are made by people. The machines that make parts are....made by people. People make errors, they can assemble something wrong, or they can program a machine wrong so the hardness on a particular part is either too hard or too soft.

To have the mentality that the gun you carry will never fail, ever. You're screwed.
 
M67 said:
Least you would have got off 1 shot first.

But you're missing the point, ANY gun can fail at ANY time.

I've seen a brand new Ruger 357 LCR lock up after 10 rounds so bad it had to be shipped to Ruger because something broke inside.

The Sig models P290 when they first came out were known to light strike and the P250s were hit or miss on reliability before they redesigned the frame.

Colt......haha....if it's been made in the mast 30 years and has Colt on it I wouldn't trust the thing as far as I could throw it because of very hit or miss quality control and fit and finish.

The S&W Sigmas were hit or miss on reliability for failure to feed and failure to extract and I've had to work on more Bodyguard 380s than I care to remember. It got so bad after a while one of the people I know at Smith would just send me a ton of spare parts for them cause it was a weekly basis on issues, actually took one in yesterday cause of failure to fire issues.

Couple years ago Ruger had to recall a ton of LC9s because the firing pins got too hard during heat treat and they were worried about them breaking, luckily they were caught when they were still at distributors so very few actually got out.

And you remember the Springfield XDS recall from a few years ago?

The permanent recall on the Caracal model C or the permanent recall on Remington 597s in 17HMR?

Or how about the 5 or so recalls Thompson Center has had on the Venture rifle?

Hell I got a letter in the mail yesterday about Winchester having a recall on the 3 1/2" SXPs for some various reason, didn't get the chance to read it.


All this, is just if your gun actually works. What about your ammo? You ever see a self defense load not work, like a brand new Hornady Critical Defense 9mm? I've seen one just go blip cause there was no powder in the damn case.


The whole mentality of well it's a Smith, Ruger, Glock, whatever so it must be reliable, my daddy always said they were thing is something I get ear raped with every day and 1) it's wrong and 2) it got old a long time ago. Guns are made by people. The machines that make parts are....made by people. People make errors, they can assemble something wrong, or they can program a machine wrong so the hardness on a particular part is either too hard or too soft.

To have the mentality that the gun you carry will never fail, ever. You're screwed.
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Who's saying that your firearm of choice will never ever fail? Anything mechanical has the potential for failure. But do Glocks and M&Ps have the same failure rate as Kel-Tec? I highly doubt it. That's why you take a new firearm to the range and put several hundred rounds through so you can have a reasonable amount of confidence that you can trust your life to it. If you can't do that, why bother? My KT failed. I got rid of it. What point am I missing?

"Forget those Glocks, M&Ps, and Springers - Kel Tecs are da bomb!" said no firearms instructor ever.
 
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I had a Taurus 44c that had very heavy 44mag rounds thru and many more than 200.

I sold it to my dad actually, awesome 44mag snubby
 
Nothing wrong with buying a keltec. Just make sure it's not a carry gun. I would like a pmr 30 just for fun. I owned 2 keltec pistols. P11 and then a pf9. Unreliable.

Obviously if you ONLY had enough money for a keltec and needed a firearm today because you felt like you were in danger somehow then of course having one is better then having nothing! But I would suggest you spend an extra $100-$150 and get something legitimately better.

Nothing wrong with getting a keltec to shoot at the range or throw in a pack or buy 10 and save them for a rainy day and hide them somewhere. Just don't trust your life to it when you have other choices. I have a LCP that's been 100% reliable, but guns that size aren't meant to be shot much anyways. Few mags through every so often to make sure it's feeding and ejecting well and that's it. It's been great.

My next pistol is going to be some type of single stack 9mm. The 380 is nice and easy to throw in the pocket but I'd feel more comfortable with 9mm. Paired with a good holster a slim single stack 9 mm is very comfortable and extremely concealable. My Glock 19 isn't even uncomfortable to carry either, but I still want something thinner for the times I can't carry that. Right now it's the Ruger LCP as I said.
 
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We looked at Kel Tec when my wife was looking for a pistol. I talked to a few folks who owned some and they suggested something else. Almost everyone mentioned some type of problem with Kel tec and although they aren't bad for a range gun, no one recommended one for concealed carry. She ended up getting a S&W Shield. We also looked at some Kahrs in the $300-325 range too. The reviews and reputation on Kahrs were excellent. YMMV
 
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