Kel-tec PF9 issue

[maxmayhem]

Just bought a brand new pf9 friday...excited to get to the range...went to Atterbury and took some rws, winchester, and american eagle...after all I have read and seen in videos I expected some failure to extract for the first hundred rounds ...I shot over a hundred and fifty rounds but no failure to extract...I experienced some failures to fire with RWS but this subsided after I cleaned and lubed the firing pin area. This was expected in the break in period as everyone says with these firearms--hey its not a glock


This thing has a lot of recoil and as everyone that has shot a PF 9 describes it as "snappy". My hand is still aching from shooting 150+ rounds of ammunition.

 

[NIFT]

If you bought the gun for defensive purposes, then I think you need to make a decision on one basic question: am I willing to trust my life to its performance?

 

[U.S. Patriot]

I would check out the Kel-Tec forums. I have put just over 200 rounds though mine so far. I had 2 FTF's with cheap Georgia Arms ammo the first time I shot it. Since then, it has been flawless.

 

[cbseniour]

My pF9 has never misfired or failed to fire I've run cheap steel case shell through it and it has been totally reliable, on the other hand I've yet to develop and kind of acceptable accuracy with the little gun, always low left and always wide groups.
Good carry gun because it's very easy to carry but I'll have to be very close and very desperate to ever pull it out.

 

[451_Detonics]

I never had a failure with mine. Personally I would contact Kel-Tec and ask them to send a call tag so the problem can be fixed. I don't believe in the so called "break in rounds", a gun should work from the start. Problems like you are having means there is a problem in the gun that needs to be addressed. Chamber could be slightly too deep, firing pin a tiny bit short...these things will not be fixed by "breaking in". Send it in and get the problem cured.

These are great little guns but occasionally one slips through that needs to be fixed...happens to all companies. Kel-Tec has one of the best customer service departments in the industry, I am sure they will make it right for you.

 

[pute62]

Seems all Kel-Tec pistols are either good or bad. I like the PF-9 but worry when a gun needs 200-300 rounds fired and a list of "mods" done to it to be considered "reliable" Kel-Tec does have great customer service but I would rather carry a gun than have it at the shop all the time.

 

[451_Detonics]

The PF-9 does not have "a list of mods done to it to be considered reliable" most of what folks do is done to make the gun more comfortable to shoot and that one "mod" consists of removing flashing and sharp edges from the molding process. I hardly consider doing one thing a "list". Sadly some folks do way more to the gun than is needed and create an unreliable gun themselves...if they had left it alone it would be fine. The only thing I did to mine was to lightly go over the molded in "checkering" with an emery board to dull it a bit.

I will say like any handgun the trigger does improve with use, I dry fired mine thousands of times (using a snap cap of course) but I do that with every gun I own. I do as much dry fire practice as I do with live ammo with all my guns.

 

[pute62]

The PF-9 does not have "a list of mods done to it to be considered reliable" most of what folks do is done to make the gun more comfortable to shoot and that one "mod" consists of removing flashing and sharp edges from the molding process. I hardly consider doing one thing a "list". Sadly some folks do way more to the gun than is needed and create an unreliable gun themselves...if they had left it alone it would be fine. The only thing I did to mine was to lightly go over the molded in "checkering" with an emery board to dull it a bit.

I will say like any handgun the trigger does improve with use, I dry fired mine thousands of times (using a snap cap of course) but I do that with every gun I own. I do as much dry fire practice as I do with live ammo with all my guns.

My bad,didn't mean to hit a nerve there.So, everyone just recommends a "fluff & buff" to make them "more comfortable" to shoot. I don't think everyone who has shot one would say it's "comfortable" to shoot or they would be the favorite range gun of many. I'm in no way bashing The PF-9, just saying, I see alot of people sending them back for service and sometimes more than once, and they still ain't right. The one I had worked fine and I would have another but, I like to tinker with guns.

 

[a.bentonab]

I never had any failures of any kind with mine. I traded it because I'm too poor to have a range gun AND and a carry gun, and that pf9 is NO range gun. Like the op, my hand hurt every time.

 

[451_Detonics]

Well on the forums, especially when it comes to firearms a huge majority of the folks claiming to own something and having massive problems never actually owned that specific firearm, they are just parroting what they have heard others say.

.So, everyone just recommends a "fluff & buff" to make them "more comfortable" to shoot. I don't think everyone who has shot one would say it's "comfortable" to shoot or they would be the favorite range gun of many.

I have got to say if you actually shot one straight from the factory then removed the sharp edges and ridges left from the molding process you would agree it is more comfortable to shoot, I never said it made it recoiless.

And yes...the vast majority of the "fluff and buff" outside of the aforementioned edge dulling is unneeded and are "cures" for non-existent problems. Most of the problems I have seen with PF-9s and new shooters are shooter induced.

 

[451_Detonics]

Well on the forums, especially when it comes to firearms a large number of the folks claiming to own something and having massive problems never actually owned that specific firearm, they are just parroting what they have heard others say.

.So, everyone just recommends a "fluff & buff" to make them "more comfortable" to shoot. I don't think everyone who has shot one would say it's "comfortable" to shoot or they would be the favorite range gun of many.

I have got to say if you actually shot one straight from the factory then removed the sharp edges and ridges left from the molding process you would agree it is more comfortable to shoot, I never said it made it recoiless.

And yes...the vast majority of the "fluff and buff" outside of the aforementioned edge dulling is unneeded and are "cures" for non-existent problems. Most of the problems I have seen with PF-9s and new shooters are shooter induced.

 

[maxmayhem]

agreed

A gun needs to be 100% in order for it to be trusted-these do need a break in period...everyone that has one agrees

If you bought the gun for defensive purposes, then I think you need to make a decision on one basic question: am I willing to trust my life to its performance?

 

[maxmayhem]

some good advice so far and some not so good

 

[maxmayhem]

fluff and buff aint gonna help--should not stage the trigger as the manual says

 

[maxmayhem]

Pf 9 kick like a mule --definite downside for me and the wife

 

[spencer rifle]

My FTFs were just one specific ammo - Tula. All my handloads (with RN and XTP) fired and ejected properly. Had a bunch of FTF with Tula, and the primers were all dented properly. I ran these through a Kahr CW9 and most of them continued to FTF. It wasn't until I got them through a Ruger P95DC that they all fired. Tula primers appear to be relatively insensitive. That is the only ammo I have ever had that FTF, and the only that ever had a PFO and stuck a round in my barrel.

 

[LockStocksAndBarrel]

No problems with mine. Put all the cheap stuff through it with no issue. Handles the PD ammo so far too.

I skipped the fluff and buff on the grip and went with a Hogue Jr. sleeve instead. Helped the recoil in a big way.

Fun gun to shoot and easy to conceal. i trust it as EDC in the summer months.

 

[451_Detonics]

The grip sleeves work well, I just hate adding the addition thickness to a pocket gun. You might consider using the sleeve at the range but carrying it naked, you'll never notice the recoil in a gunfight.

 

[IndyBeerman]

Well on the forums, especially when it comes to firearms a large number of the folks claiming to own something and having massive problems never actually owned that specific firearm, they are just parroting what they have heard others say.

So true, so true.

 

[hbm]

emailed kel-tec "I just purchase my first Kel-tec product on Friday. I purchased a new PF9 and I took it the range yesterday. I shot 150+ rounds through the weapon. I experienced no fte which I was expecting due to some things I have read. I did experience 2 FTF in the first 2 magazines. I experienced another 2 in the next 50. I fired some of these rounds after the FTF in my glock and they fired fine. The problem did not seem to be the ammo. I was using Winchester and RWS Ammunition. I had about a 4% fail rate with winchester. After switching to RWS I shot about 60 rounds and had 6-7 more failures to fire. I kept all these rounds and observed a very light strike on the primer. It appears that hammer spring is stronger than the spring the firing pin utilizes. I cannot trust this weapon for conceal carry. I deem it unreliable and further use says it will be more unreliable. Is this a common problem and how can it be resolved?

This gun needs the firing pin channel cleaned and the firing pin surfaces burnished(polished). I had the same problem, and the cleaning, burnishing solved the problem. Its a DIY procedure.

hbm