Kel Tec shoots firing pin

[HotGuns]

I busted my KelTec, this one a PF-9.

It all started when I dry fired it. The only other gun I've ever had break a firing pin was a Feg PA 62 in .380, and that happened sometime after I shot the gun,cleaned it and put it up in a safe. But anyhow...

I carried the KelTec quite a bit. I considered it to be my "light duty" gun, something that I could conceal easily when wearing shorts, T shirts or whatever. It was also my backup gun and I carried it as a backup to my Sig 220 when I was called upon to fight crime as a Deputy.

So...Its sitting on my dresser and I pick it up. As is the custom, whenever I take it off I unload it. The mag and extra bullet usually sitting with it on my dresser. I rack the slide back to give it a visual check and squeeze the trigger to let the tension off of the striker.

Luckily I just pointed it at the wall by my dresser. What I got was a pretty loud SNAP instead of a click. I heard a whack and noticed a small piece of firing pin stuck in the sheet rock. Its a dang good thing that I wasn't pointing at my very big mirror behind the dresser because I think it would have hit it hard enough to break it...and I was thankful that I hadn't pointed it at one of my wifes 3 beloved cats...or she might have been minus one when she got home...and that would be hard to explain... the fact that I killed her cat with an empty gun.

I've heard that the Kel Tec company had a lifetime warranty and I figured Id put it to the test. I went to their home site and emailed them with the problem. They responded pretty quick and told me to send the gun to them and they would fix it. Instead, I had them send me a new firing pin, I figured it'd be alot less hassle in the long run.

I was right about that and then I was wrong. I got the firing pin,a new 6x32 allen head bolt,a leaf spring, extractor and a new firing pin spring in 3 days. Not too bad, I thought.

So I got ambitious and went out into my shop to fix it. The first thing I did was strip out the screw that holds the leaf spring for the extractor. It took me all of about 5 seconds. So I have a stripped out allen head screw in my gun with no way to get it out. To say that I was upset was an understatement. Nothing like stripping a screw.

Fortunately, I have the right tools to fix it. I took the slide off and put it in a sine vise,which I placed in the vise on my milling machine, eyeballed the angle and the location and drilled through the head and the screw with a tap drill. Then I re-tapped the hole with a 6x32 tap to clean out the threads. Everything worked well.

I inserted the new firing pin with the new spring, and placed the extractor where it needed to be, and screwed the new bolt into the leaf spring which puts tension on the extractor and holds the firing pin in place.

When I opened the small zip lock bag which contained the parts and dumped them out, I wondered why they included a new allen head bolt. Now I know why.

Apparently they used some sort of locktite on the bolt, and it was nice and tite. Tight enough to strip out the small allen head bolt.

The moral of the story here...
Never,ever point a gun at anything that you don't want a hole in...even if its empty and you verified it as such. I would have never thought that a broken firing pin would exit with enough force to stick in a wall...but it did. It could have easily went through an eyeball or broken something you didnt want broke...like a cat or something.

Thank God for small things...like a Milling machine and the right tools to do the job.Sine vise, the right sized drills and taps, and all of the stuff that it takes to fix a gun.

I'm putting this one down as a lesson learned.

And one thing I did learn, is that Kel Tec dosent reccomend dry firing their guns.

I wish I would have known that earlier...

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[FN1910]

I am not an expert by any means but I have read many threads about NOT dry firing Kel-Tec's. I don't know all the reasons but do know that the factory says no and everything I have read says no and that doesn't mean it is OK occasionally. Damage can result from dry firing only a very few times. Either use a snap cap or a real bullet and don't point it at anyone.

[buckeye .45]

...and I was thankful that I hadn't pointed it at one of my wifes 3 beloved cats...or she might have been minus one when she got home...and that would be hard to explain... the fact that I killed her cat with an empty gun.

Visions of Boondock Saints rolling in my head. At least you got it all fixed and had the tools to get it all done despite the setbacks.

[HotGuns]

I am not an expert by any means but I have read many threads about NOT dry firing Kel-Tec's

Since then I have read up on it. Its seems like everyone knew that but me.The Kel Tec Owner group (KTOG)has some good infor about various issues.

You can bet it wont happen again.

[nikdfish]

If memory serves, the extractor screw also serves as the travel limit/retention mechanism for the firing pin via a recessed "slot" on the firing pin. The impact of the edge of that slot on the screw end when dry firing can chip off the end of the screw (probably a contributing factor to them including a new screw) - during normal firing, limited travel of the firing pin prevents that collision.
Nick

[Cupcake]

Myth confirmed. How much did you dry fire it? I tend to do so at the range when the mag runs empty, but I don't do it at home for practice.

[mr surveyor]

the simple solution to the dry fire issue is to put a snap cap in the gun when you get ready to put it away for the night, or for a more extended period. For me, even ending a range session, the snap cap goes into the tube for dropping the hammer.

As for the Kel Tec, I would never worry about spring tension being an issue in the cocking mechanism, and of the three I still have, all three stay loaded and ready anyway.

[wht06rado]

Myth confirmed.

Deffinately!

Wht

[HotGuns]

Myth confirmed. How much did you dry fire it?

Not a whole lot...but apparently it was one too many times.

[njeske]

Visions of Boondock Saints rolling in my head.

that's exactly the vision that popped into my head... :)

[Vaquero 45]

Visions of Boondock Saints rolling in my head. At least you got it all fixed and had the tools to get it all done despite the setbacks.

Is it dead!!!????

Ha ha! Love that movie!

[QKShooter]

It's in the P3AT Manual not to dry fire the gun.
Seems like a slight redesign is needed since nearly every other modern firearm is safe to dry fire even without snap caps.

[Bline]

Visions of Boondock Saints rolling in my head.

Love that scene.. "Is it dead?"(Blood is splattered all over the wall)

[crzy4guns]

I agree with QKShooter, Kel Tec needs to redesign it so you can dry fire. I got rid of my P3AT as that was one of the reasons. I don't like to leave a gun cocked and ready to fire sitting in storage.

[mr surveyor]

if your going to unload them and "put them in storage", then why not invest a couple of bucks for a snap cap for each weapon to drop the hammer on. The KT's don't mind the quarter inch slide racking to reset the hammer for a good bit of dry firing for that matter. Even Kimber recommends that you not thumb the hammer down, and I do not like to dry fire any weapon without a snap cap, so the Kimbers are stored with snap cap, as is my Sig 239/40. A "few" others are stored cocked and locked with the real thing.

Hey, I just promoting safe dry firing