Kel Tec Pistols
So I have been seeing gun prices go crazy. Several years ago I bought a Colt Mustang in "stainless" for concealed carry. I mainly carry this gun in my front pocket, mostly during the summer. The going price for these things have more then doubled what I paid for mine. My gun is still in great shape and I have no plans of getting rid of it but thinking it might be time to stop keeping it in my pocket [:D]
This brings me to new pocket carry guns. I have recently looked at the Kel Tec .380 (not sure model) and wondered what you thoughts are on them. They are very light and the price is very fair. This is not a gun that would get a lot of range time after initial break in period. Obviously I want a gun that is to be TOTALY reliable (as much as a gun can be).
So how about the good the bad and the ugly.
This brings me to new pocket carry guns. I have recently looked at the Kel Tec .380 (not sure model) and wondered what you thoughts are on them. They are very light and the price is very fair. This is not a gun that would get a lot of range time after initial break in period. Obviously I want a gun that is to be TOTALY reliable (as much as a gun can be).
So how about the good the bad and the ugly.
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I carry a Kel-Tec in .32 for a pocket back-up. Not much good past 10 yards, but a really nice "get-off-me" gun. Dependable and will digest any ammo I fire. 0 -
Picked up a nib kel-tec PF 9 on 2/01/08 went to range next day put a total of 18 flawless, rounds thru it...........after that, the 4th, 5th,6th, and 7th mag all had problems. All had at least 2 out of 6 rounds not pop off. Give up on it. Called kel-tec on 2/04/08....described problem...... Kel-tec pulled a call order on it to have UPS pick it up at my house. UPS arrived 2/5/08 picked up gun to have it sent overnite to Kel-tec. No cost to me. Problem..very, very light firing pin strike. When the gun did fire....at 21ft standing, I was able to get a 6 inch group with the first 18, had two fliers probably operator error. the pf 9 is a 9mm and it is alittle "hot" to shoot. I'll update when I get the gun back. My dealer has sold 31 of these guns and this is the first problem gun he has encountered. I paid $259.00 for mine.....Black on black.. I'm ready for the flamers.[;)] According to a Kel-tec blog my gun was produced on 1-12-08.according to the serial #... As far as rating..Good when the gun fired........Bad due to mis-fire problem,...Ugly if my life had hinged on the gun operating correctly on the 4th mag 0 -
I have a kel tec pf9 for a few months now no problems. Eats fact and my reloads.may have 300 rounds through it now.[^] 0 -
I'd keep carrying the Colt, there is a reason why the value continues to climb. Same reason the M-36 is my real carry piece, even though I have newer-cheaper plastic back-ups or replacements...
Cold reliable steel.0 -
Have a Keltec P3AT (380) and like it. Only about 65 rds through it but it is very concealable in a Desantis Superfly pocket holster. 0 -
I have and sometime carry two Kel-tec 9mm P11. Because of the small size, light weight and low price (they are a major, major bargain) it is just about as easy for me to carry two guns instead of one gun and one extra magazine. Also, if it turns out that Kel-tecs can't be relied on, when I find out I have one bad one, I will have hopefully a good one on me.
Before I recently purchased these two Kel-tecs I rersearched the gun extensively. You can always find people who will criticize any gun. And that was true with my Kel-tec search. But there are many, many times more people that will give Kel-tec rave reviews. There is even at least one on Kel-tec owners association where you can spend many hours reading about other Kel-tec owners and their thoughts and experiences with their Kel-tecs.
In regards to any problems with a new Kel-tec, my observation from reading posts by owners of problem new Kel-tecs goes something like this. Occassionally someone will buy a new Kel-tec and take it to the range for testing (we should all take a new carry gun to the range for testing before carrying and putting our lives at risk with a new gun) and they will experience a problem (s). They will ship it back to Kel-tec (apparently sometimes at Kel-tec's expense as one poster mentioned) and the Kel-tec factory will repair or replace the gun and then the owner goes on to have no futher problems.
My personal feeling is that the Kel-tec factory experiences so few problems with their guns that they, to save time and money, don't do a very extensive testing on their new firearms before they leave the factory. Instead, as I described above, when the rare problem Kel-tec pops up, the factory makes it right.
Kel-tecs are priced in the "cheap gun" range and often times that will make a prospective buyer fear buying and depending on them. And they even look and are in a few ways built and look like a "cheap" gun. But that is also true with most AK-47's the world over and most owners of AK's are quite happy with them. So I just consider my Kel-tecs to be the handgun equivelant of the AK.0 -
Ruger has a new compact .380 coming out soon--the LCP380 and its under $400 weighs 9.4oz 7 round capacity-looks pretty slick-you can see it on their website. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by ruger41
Ruger has a new compact .380 coming out soon--the LCP380 and its under $400 weighs 9.4oz 7 round capacity-looks pretty slick-you can see it on their website.
I was able to check one out and I like the way it feels better than the Kel tech
I will probably get one when they hit the market so I can try it out at the range.0 -
Thats my main concern is reliability--I do own a Ruger 9mm and have never had a prob--but these little .380's always seem to have jam probs and thats not what ya need at a vital moment-hopefully the Ruger will have any bugs worked out long before it hits the market. 0 -
Yep. I know about the keltechs and jamming.
I had the 380 and the 9mm and both were not reliable.0 -
Well I just looked at the Ruger and call me dumb if you want but isn't that a Kel Tec that says Ruger on the side [?]
I am sure something has been changed, but that is the gun I am looking at now. Local dealer has the Kel Tec for $250 and I think I can talk him down a little as he has 2 green ones he has been sitting on for a long time. I don't care what color it is, but apparently some people do.0 -
ya that little LCP380 does have KelTec lines to it-also Seecamp. 0 -
I got a new custom "fluffed and buffed" Kel Tec here off GB, oh about
a year ago. Have only put a couple clips through it thus far, but it
has worked flawlessly, and is fairly accurate. It can consistently
hit a man sized target at about 125ft...and that's all this one has
been shot.0 -
I believe Kel-tec, at least in the 9MM, can have some problems if you are using a brand of ammo it doesn't like. From my own experiences I found that my Kel-tec simply would not cycle the Sellier & Belliot brand. The FMJ. It just plain would not work. I tried several other brands (CCI Blazer, Federal Hydra-shok) and I have never had a problem with them.
It appears to me that Kel-tec hates mild loads and likes somewhat hot loads.
I belileve that as a semi-auto handgun is made smaller and smaller, they become much more particular about what kind of ammo they will reliabily function with. I know that when they first started making pocket sized .45 1911's, they had to start from scratch and do a lot of trial and error and research to get everything (slide weight, spring tension, etc) just right inorder for the .45 round to make the gun function like the full size 1911 in regards to not having cycling problems.0 -
I have a Kel-Tec PF-9 and after a couple boxes of ammo it has worked fine. This was a new model about ayear ago so there were a few growing pains that Kel-Tec has now worked out. Given the price point, I am very satisfied with the Kel-Tec 0 -
I have a P11. It does the job it was intended for at a very reasonable price. I hate the trigger and trigger pull however. Other than that it is reliable and concealable. 0 -
Well I think I will have to keep my eye out at the gun show this weekend.
I have been saving my cash for a M1A Scout for my MK 14 project.0 -
If you are driving over the Pass I have NIB Green KelTec 380s@230.00[:D] 0 -
quote:Originally posted by MVP
If you are driving over the Pass I have NIB Green KelTec 380s@230.00[:D]
It has been a while since I have been that way. Closest I usually get is Yakima. Maybe we will have a trip this weekend while I am at work and have to take a PT over that way. [:D]0 -
For what its worth.
Bought a new KelTec and test fired it, it wouldn't always go bang, light strikes, back to the factory. When I got it back, same thing. Didn't expect it to fire some of the military tracers I have but golly, regular commercial wouldn't always fire.
I expect a carry gun to always fire. This one didn't, its gone now. Replaced it with a Ruger SP101. It has never failed to fire.
Worst thing that can happen when you expect a bang and you get a click when you really need it. Not good!
Be sure to fire it enough to be able to trust it when yo get it back.0 -
I tried one could not get along with the trigger pull went back to colt mustang or when wearing jeans bersa thunder 380 0 -
The .380 Kel Tec, is appropriately enough, called the "3-AT" [get it?]
Have one. . .
Its not what I might call 100% "reliable", though I understand Kel-Tec is very good about customer service and fixing bad ones.
Also, in fairness, I also haven't put through the requisite 500 break in rounds yet.
Still the 3AT is nice for pocket carry, and since the alternative is usually "no gun", I'm willing to endure the low reliability.0 -
I agree.[:)]quote:Originally posted by wartiger
I carry a Kel-Tec in .32 for a pocket back-up. Not much good past 10 yards, but a really nice "get-off-me" gun. Dependable and will digest any ammo I fire.0
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