A Tour of Kel-Tec’s Cocoa, Florida Operations

thetruthaboutguns.com ^ | 5/12/2016 | Jeremy S

[rktman]

While on vacation in Florida recently, I was able to sneak away for a day and drive up to Kel-Tec CNC Industries for a tour of their facilities. Seems like a lot of people think Kel-Tec is four guys in a garage assembling a couple dozen guns a month, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Cranking out over 150,000 firearms each year, Kel-Tec is the fifth or sixth largest U.S. firearms manufacturer, and the video above and gazillion photos below show how they do it .

[rktman]

My next door neighbor in FL worked there as a CNC operator. Quite the 'little' manufacturing operation. Some of their stuff is quite good.

[bicyclerepair]

Love my little keltec .380.

Guaranteed for life, best Italian mags and you don’t even know it’s in your pocket. Filled with hollow points it’s a perfect pocket gun.

[rktman]

Early on they didn’t have a stellar reputation but these days they are inexpensive quality pieces.

[George from New England]

Just tell me how to keep it from jamming !!!

[JoeProBono]

World’s Costliest Kel Tec

http://unitedgungroup.com/auction/detail/auction/9/slug/george-zimmerman-s-gun-used-2-26-12#!prettyPhoto[gallery2]/1/

[bicyclerepair]

Mine has never jammed.
Although I read if you don’t hold it properly it may.

[bicyclerepair]

Thank you for your service sir.

[George from New England]

Mine will not eject when target shooting. 90% of the time it hangs. Even after cleaning and oiling. I feel I have to get a Remington 380 to be safe.
Even the two .32 keltic’s I had would jam regularly.

[rktman]

You’re welcome. Good times, bad times. LOL!

[Tupelo]

Polish your feed ramp, most likely. Sometimes there are small, very small burrs left from the machining and polishing them out will allow the cartridge to load and extract smoother. Another problem with some of the sub-compacts is the sheet metal top guide of the magazines are “over protective” of the cartridge and will not allow it to feed proper. I used needle nose pliers to open mine up just a tad.
I don’t know if this will cure your problems, but it has helped others, I know of.

[Monty22002]

Kel-Tec .32’s are a big pain in the ass. They make a little rod that goes up the back to keep it from jamming JHP’s but it didn’t do mine any good.

As far as Zimmerman’s gun goes, I think it’s a freakish nightmare to try and profit off a gun (or any weapon) that rightly or wrongly killed someone.

[ebshumidors]

I did a fluff and buff on my P3AT. It never jammed beforeI did it, though. http://www.ktog.org/tecwerks12a.htm

[Shanghai Dan]

Tiny guns are VERY susceptible to the slightest amount of limp-wristing. You HAVE to hold it very firmly and deliberately. It’s not comfortable to shoot - but it will work.

The reason other “pocket” guns don’t have this issue? They’re nowhere near as small as the Kel-Tec units. My little P32 is smaller than the palm of my hand, and weighs in at 10 ounces, loaded with 11 rounds. It’s a serious handful, but it does the job if you do yours.

[ripnbang]

Try different ammo?

[jonrick46]

The videos of the Kel-Tec PF9 are disaster. They show some reliability issues that give them a bad reputation.

[NonValueAdded]

Brevard County, Florida ping.

Let me know if you want on or off this low volume ping list.
(not associated with the county government)

[Organic Panic]

First gen I had was trash. Sent it back the sent a new one. It is only reliable with Golden Sabres.

[fini]

Concur on limp-wristing. I've owned several pocket pistols and you really have to work at preventing that. My solution seems to work and actually makes it easier to shoot those little guns. Easy solution: when firing a mouse pistol, take your non-trigger finger hand and hold the wrist of your trigger hand (If you shoot right handed, take your left hand and grip your right wrist.). By doing this, it locks your wrist; which prevents limp-wristing, gives your other hand a good solid place to hold onto; and seems to absorb the recoil better. It also seems natural to do it that way. My wife and daughter had a horrible problem limp-wristing mouseguns, until they started using this method.

I always polish the feed-ramp on a new pistol. It is really easy; there are many youtube videos that show you how; and speeds up the break-in period. Another thing you can do with a new pistol is "season" the magazines. To season a magazine all you are doing is breaking in the magazine springs. All you do is fill the magazines to their capacity and let them sit for 24 hours.

I have found that if I do those three things when breaking in a small semi, most common problems never occur. Oh yeah, make sure you properly clean and lubricate a new pistol before you fire it. You would be surprised how many people don't do that.

[Redcitizen]

Do the springs still make a crunchy sound when racking the slide? I was checking out a keltec and that sound stood out to me.

[Shanghai Dan]

Nice! I use point-shooting, where my index finger is along the frame, I pull the trigger with my middle finger, and I am able to get my ring finger and pinky fully around the grip of my P32. I get the best grip that way, and it seems to direct the energy more "back" along my wrist rather than up. Less felt muzzle flip.

Love the little guy, it's actually a touch smaller than my wallet! And for those who pooh pooh the .32 ACP - it was designed John Moses Browning, killed Hitler, and was the choice of Bond, James Bond. So it can get the job done!