Trouble with the Kel-Tec PF-9

[Callahan]

I should preface this with the comment that this is the third Kel-Tec pistol I have owned. The first two were trouble-free and I still own the 3AT.

When I bought the Kel-Tec's newest pistol, the PF-9, a single-stack 9mm for concealed carry, I put a box of 50 through it with no hiccups.

A few weeks ago, I decided to put it to a more realistic test and bring the count up to 200. Well, that's when the trouble started.

For a starter, I bought a box of 100 Winchester and headed for the range. Halfway through the second magazine the slide locked back. I dropped the mag out, checked that the firing chamber was clear, and proceeded to try to release the slide.

I got it off, but when I put it back on it got stuck solid and would not move forward or slide back off. Took it inside and the owner of the store looked at it, saying he had never seen one do that before.

He sent it to his gunsmith and I got it back in a week. Gunsmith said he just disassembled it and reassembled it. Right. Anyway, I went back to a different range with it. I start shooting and on the first couple of rounds I notice it will not take the fired round out of the barrel. I try a cupla more times and finally see that the extractor had broken off.

Back to the gunsmith. He's kinda amazed, carries a little Kel-Tec P32 himself. Says it's a warranty job and we ship it off to the factory, but the transfer is costing me $35.

That's where it rests for now. When it comes back, you can believe I am going to shoot it until it fails or I get tired of shooting it, but I plan on putting at least another 250 rounds through it.

["DoubleAction"]

Callahan; That don't sound good but I'm sure the factory service will put it right. I can't help but wonder what caused the extractor to break like it did. Such a pistol should be 100 % reliable, even through 500 rds.

I hope you get it back soon; I'm looking forward to an update.

[TMan]

Callahan, that is a real bummer. I'm a bit surprised that you are being charged a transfer fee. I could see you might have to pay for shipping fees, but not a transfer fee.

I paid for shipping my Wilson ADP, but I learned from that. When I had the melt-down on the Henry, they sent me a prepaid mailing label. So I didn't pay anything. When the Heritage fell apart, I took it to a gunsmith who sent it to Heritage. I paid the USPS fee which I think was around 13 dollars.

I have a problem understanding the function of the extractor. Rather than stealing this thread, my normal modus operandi, I'll open another thread.

[Callahan]

That was poor wording on my part. He is charging me for packaging and shipping. I guess I could have done it cheaper, but Kel-Tec has some real stringent guidelines on returning firearms and I thought it would be easier to let him handle it since I was already there. He also claimed there was a place that did their factory warranty work in Texas so it would not have to go back to Florida.

[TMan]

That is still a lot for packaging and shipping. I wonder if he is sending it overnight UPS vs USPS. Being that he has a FFL, he is able to ship USPS, and it is a lot cheaper.

Let's hope they fix the problem, but I'm curious what caused it in the first place.

[Callahan]

Apr 26, 2008 21:37:48 GMT -5 TMan said:

That is still a lot for packaging and shipping. I wonder if he is sending it overnight UPS vs USPS. Being that he has a FFL, he is able to ship USPS, and it is a lot cheaper.

Let's hope they fix the problem, but I'm curious what caused it in the first place.

Yeah, it is too much to pay. I just wanted to get it on its way. I was sick of driving 30-40 mins. each way to his shop. I suspect he may not have wanted to mess with it.

The odd thing is that it broke halfway between the business end and where it is attached to the slide with a small bolt. I would have expected it to break at either end, not in the middle.

I wondered if he had done some prying on it when he worked on it earlier.

I hope they do every bit of work needed for that serial number. I think my serial number had some trigger bar issues that needed to be corrected. I think that was the reason for the original malfunction.

[TMan]

Thanks for the info Callahan, and sorry for your problems.

I guess I need to put some more rounds through mine to see if it holds up. I have carried it a few times, and I need to know if I ever do it in the future that it will work.

The more I hear and experience reliability problems with semi-autos, the more I like carrying a j-frame revolver.

[Callahan]

Apr 27, 2008 6:41:26 GMT -5 TMan said:

Thanks for the info Callahan, and sorry for your problems.

I guess I need to put some more rounds through mine to see if it holds up. I have carried it a few times, and I need to know if I ever do it in the future that it will work.

The more I hear and experience reliability problems with semi-autos, the more I like carrying a j-frame revolver.

This is how I solved the Kel-Tec PF-9 problem. Shoots like a dream. I have the two smaller mags. PF-9 is due to come back by midmonth...

[TMan]

Callahan!!!! I do have an eye-doctor's appointment on Monday morning. I was thinking of taking one of my guns and having him give me a prescription for the front sight. (He can't be too gun shy - I took my CHL renewal class with his dad).

However, I may instead take my laptop and point to your posted picture and say: give me a prescription so I can see what that gun is.

Is it a Walther PPS?

[Callahan]

Yep. Sorry, I'm photo-challenged. How do I re-size 'em?

[TMan]

Callahan, if you try to make a small bigger bigger, you lose a lot of detail, clarity because they don't have enough resolution. However, there is a cool tool that microsoft has to make pictures smaller. I use it all the time to send out pictures of the grandchildren.

You just right click on the picture and pick the size you want.

download.microsoft.com/download/whistler/Install/2/WXP/EN-US/ImageResizerPowertoySetup.exe

I see that Proboards has fixed the problem with the long URL's so we don't have to use TinyURL anymore.

Modified to add:

The other thing that I do a lot of times is just link to the manufacturer's photo. You can get its URL by right clicking on the picture, selecting "properties" and then highlight and copy the URL to the clipboard. For example: hxxp://www.smith-wesson.com/wcsstore/Walther//upload/images/firearms/WAP10001.jpg, which when displayed as an image will show:



It is a sweet little gun, and I'm glad to see you got it.

Incidentally, in case you missed my previous post: contrary to the instructions, you don't have to remove the backstrap in order to field-strip the gun - just clear it, point it is a safe direction and pull the trigger like you would on a Glock. My manually dexterity not being the greatest, I had a little difficulty putting the backstrap on a couple of times, which convinced me that I should find another way.

I'd say more, but my butt is killing me sitting on the floor. The movers have moved out all the furniture. I can't wait to go out for dinner. Oh, I made a real hit with my wife's best friend here in Bangalore. I brought her a pound of maple walnut fudge from the US. She had never had anything like that before. Her response: "that is just unbelievable". They don't have good sweets here. What the do have: "HOT FOOD".

["DoubleAction"]

Jul 2, 2008 22:55:07 GMT -5 Callahan said:

Yep. Sorry, I'm photo-challenged. How do I re-size 'em?

Callahan; Posting images for me was a big mystery when I first came on the forums. I would really like to see everyone get into it, and will do all I can to help.

I now use Photo Bucket for all my images; their service is better than my previous and costs much less.

We have a thread on the forum that might help you.

handgunforum.proboards3.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=27

[MLB]

Well! I go away for a couple of weeks and Callahan buys a Walther! Good show. Let us know how you like it.

[Callahan]

I love it! I recall you mentioning the PPS back when I was considering a pistol, but I ended up buying the Kel-Tec PF-9 instead.

When the PF-9 gave me problems (to the gunsmith twice) and I finally had it sent to Cocoa, Fla., factory, I got POed and snapped up the Walther. It was much cheaper than the Kahr PM-9

I shoots really well. I have the 6 and 7 round mags. Gonna get the 8 pretty soon.

I still do not have the PF-9 back, but it should be any day now. It's been in Fla. for 6 weeks.

I plan on taking some pics and posting them whenever I get a slow day. May show the two Kel-Tecs and PPS in relation to the Sig P239, which is my big pistol...

Modified to add this: TMAN! Thanks for your advice on posting photos. Thanks to you, too, DOUBLEACTION!!

["DoubleAction"]

Callahan; Don't forget about reducing the size of the image too.

[Callahan]

What are the parameters? Do you prefere a certain size?

["DoubleAction"]

Callahan; TMan's Walther image is 600px × 435px, which is the about the maximum size for a forum. I usually use the center brackets and place the image brackets in those for the image to be centered on the page.

[TMan]

Jul 17, 2008 20:54:45 GMT -5 "DoubleAction" said:

Callahan; TMan's Walther image is 600px × 435px, which is the about the maximum size for a forum. I usually use the center brackets and place the image brackets in those for the image to be centered on the page.

Really, I was thinking 800x600. Not to many people still have 640x480 screens (unless they are getting old and too vain to get bifocals. ;D )

I'm not big on centering. I like things left-justified (except politically of course).

["DoubleAction"]

It's been awhile since I posted an image, so, why not.

I started off my message, inside the center brackets and just go to the next open line to place my image while remaining inside the brackets.

["DoubleAction"]

One more; I like this angle. I should have laid it on something, other than this old bed spread.