Kel TEC only does screw builds. I refuse to run anything held together by screws since repeated recoil after an unknown number of shots, maybe dozens, maybe hundreds, may a few thousand, and screws WILL eventually walk out and fall off and get lost.
Screws are used by companies too cheap to install captive pins.
The Kel-Tec P32 does not use the clamshell-screw build technique. It is highly thought of.
In their clamshell designs, Kel-Tec only uses commonly available industrial machine screws which are easy to replace, at least in the models I have examined.
Really? Ever seen a Kel-Tec P32, P3AT, PF9, P11, or P40?
Screws are used by companies too cheap to install captive pins.
Given that Kel-Tec's target market is at the 'economical' end of the spectrum, that's probably not too surprising. And I can't say that I was ever impressed by the number of disposable connectors (like roll pins or rivets), that are used in some expensive and quite popular firearms.
As my friend Captain Obvious once famously observed, "All gun owners have opinions - so what?"
;>)
....try taking one out...they are held in place by some kind of industrial-strength LockTite or whatever it is...I have every confidence that my P17 will shoot thousands of rounds and not one screw will back out..