Kel Tec P11

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jakeswensonmt

New member
I had been wanting a Kel Tec PF-9 for awhile now, and today located a local shop that carries them. The sales guy had a NIB PF-9 for $300 or a near-mint/LNIB P11 for $250 plus an extra mag. I liked the PF-9, but in my mitts the P11 felt a little better with the thicker grip, plus with the increased capacity, lower price, and the extra mag it seemed like the better purchase. Filled out the paperwork, out the door 10 minutes later with a new auto. Gotta love Montana!

Stopped by the homestead and field-stripped and lubed the little nine (so easy!), picked up ammo, eyes and ears, and my P89, and stopped out at the local range (10 minutes from my door, gotta love Montana!)

Shot 20 WWB FMJ's, 30 WWB JHP's, and 30 CCI Blazer Brass. The P11 ran without a hiccup, 100% so far. Recoil was pretty harsh, my hand was a little tingly about 50 rounds in. Accuracy... well... impossible to say how accurate the P11 is because my trigger work stunk so bad today. The P11's DAO trigger is unlike any other trigger I've used so far. It's not bad, just different, will take some getting used to, then I can speak about it's accuracy.

So far I'm pleased with the Kel Tec, it feels solid and decently built for a gun of this price. There is a bit of a rattle in both mags, but they work perfectly so far, so I'm not too concerned. The slide looks a little rough, some machine tool marks and a rather basic finish. Maybe someday I'll dress it up with some Duracoat, or maybe just polish it.

the P11
keltecp11.jpg

(btw: the bottom of the mag is not orange, just a reflection off the steel)

little nine, big nine
keltecp11-rugerp89.jpg
 
J

jakeswensonmt

New member
Now that I look closer, what I took for imperfections in the steel of the slide are mostly imperfections in the parkerizing. So I guess I'll just be living with the finish as it is.
 
D

Dave R

New member
I predict that, if you bench rest that P-11 to remove the weird trigger from the equation, you will be surprised at how accurate the gun shoots. I was.

Shooting it offhand is definitely a challenge.
 
L

Lt. G

New member
I love mine. It is one of my carry everyday weapons. Got it from a friend, shot the heck out of it and have been happy ever since. Great little 9.
Best,
Lt. G
 
W

Whirlwind06

New member
Good little blasters. www.ktog.org has a lot of info on doing fluff and buffs. Just doing some minor work can smooth out the trigger quite a bit.
Sold mine to a friend. The recoil was hurting my wrist to much.
 
M

MR.G

New member
Mine has been fired and carried quite a bit. 100% reliability with al kinds of ammo. I use 15 round S&W 59 series magazines with Wolf +10% springs in mine.
 
H

Hornett

New member
I called Kel Tec about the rattle in y P-11 and they sent me a 12 round spring and follower FREE! All I had to do was put the new spring and follower in and no more rattle.
If you live in a 10 round max state, KTOG has a lot of info about how to eliminate the rattle. It seems that the 10 round follower turns sideways after you get about 6 or 7 rounds in allowing the bullets to move a bit.
 
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chris in va

New member
Mine has worked great the past 3 years. One thing I did add was the finger hook which helps tremendously, and the belt clip so I don't have to use a holster. I also added a little skateboard grip tape to the front so it wouldn't slide around as much.

There's also a way to reduce trigger pull force on these, do a search.;)

I agree about the PF9, way too skinny. Better trigger though.
imgp0114wr8.jpg
 
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J

jakeswensonmt

New member
There's also a way to reduce trigger pull force on these, do a search.
Click to expand...

I read on ktog.org (great site) that earlier P11's had a 10lb trigger spring, later an 8.5lb spring was used. Fortunately mine is new enough to already have the 8.5lb spring. Rumor has it that Kel Tec will provide or install the 8.5lb spring for free. Reports also say that Kel Tec customer service is excellent.

There are 2 howto's on ktog.org on the "Fluff and Buff", plenty of opportunities to sand and polish this little gun for better performance and wear. This is the first time I've ever done anything more than a little Dremel polishing before, but I don't have newbie-polisher anxiety working on the Kel Tec like I would on the SIG. So far I've sanded (600 then 1500 grit) the slide rails (not the frame rails), and sanded and mirror polished the hammer interface and the feed ramp. So far probably got 2 hours in it, and the slide moves noticeably smoother already, especially the hammer interface, which was real notchy before the sand+polish.

Will be doing the hammer polish next, then all the other items listed in the Fluff and Buff Howto's. The breech face is far from smooth, not looking forwards to that one. I wonder if the extractor can be removed without too much pain?
 
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