Range Report: New guns including Walther PPS, Kimber Solo, and Kel Tec PF9

My son and I took our new guns to the range today for their first action. Beautiful weather. Had lots of fun.



Kimber Solo 9mm:

Remington Golden Saber HPJ 147gr: 25
Remington Ultimate Home Defense 124 gr: 50.

#FTF/FTE's: None, Zero, Nada.
Gun worked perfectly every time. First ten shots pictured above, from distance of 25 feet....
Was very pleased with the trigger. Very smooth shooting. Recoil not bad at all.



Walther PPS 9mm:

Remington Ultimate Home Defense 124gr: 25
Magtech FMC 115gr: 50

#FTF-2 (one with each type ammo), FTE-0
Not concerned about the FTF (yet)....need to shoot another 100 or so to break it in. Trigger was nice though not as good as Kimber.
Felt solid in my hand and really was a pleasure to shoot. Less recoil than Kimber.


Kel Tec PF9 9mm:

Remington Ultimate Home Defense 124 gr: 25
Magtech FMC 115 gr: 50

#FTF/FTE-0

For an inexpensive 9mm, held it's own nicely. No problems. Had to get used to the trigger (long pull, DAO) which resulted in first 10 shots to be all over the map.
After getting used to it, could put all shots within the bullseye or 9 point section from distance 25 feet.

godawgs82 said:

My son and I took our new guns to the range today for their first action. Beautiful weather. Had lots of fun.



Kimber Solo 9mm:

Remington Golden Saber HPJ 147gr: 25
Remington Ultimate Home Defense 124 gr: 50.

#FTF/FTE's: None, Zero, Nada.
Gun worked perfectly every time. First ten shots pictured above, from distance of 25 feet....
Was very pleased with the trigger. Very smooth shooting. Recoil not bad at all.



Walther PPS 9mm:

Remington Ultimate Home Defense 124gr: 25
Magtech FMC 115gr: 50

#FTF-2 (one with each type ammo), FTE-0
Not concerned about the FTF (yet)....need to shoot another 100 or so to break it in. Trigger was nice though not as good as Kimber.
Felt solid in my hand and really was a pleasure to shoot. Less recoil than Kimber.


Kel Tec PF9 9mm:

Remington Ultimate Home Defense 124 gr: 25
Magtech FMC 115 gr: 50

#FTF/FTE-0

For an inexpensive 9mm, held it's own nicely. No problems. Had to get used to the trigger (long pull, DAO) which resulted in first 10 shots to be all over the map.
After getting used to it, could put all shots within the bullseye or 9 point section from distance 25 feet.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the write up! Only thing I will add is my personal experience.

Kel-Tec PF9 is garbage after about 250 rounds IMO.

Bought one as my EDC when off duty. I'm local to Kel Tec, and wanted to support a local company. Good price, seems like a good decent EDC gun.

Started shooting it regularly. About 250 rounds in, started to get FTE's. Thought it was just dirty. Ok, no problem, made sure to clean the gun very well.

Took it the next time to the range. Same issue, but became more frequent. 1/15 would FTE. It got worse as I shot more. At one point, it was 1/5 FTE.

Took it to Kel Tec (again, local to them) GREAT customer service. Walk in, gave them the weapon, and left an hour later with a repair at no cost.

Went to test it. New problem. FTF issue. Again, started off every 1/15-20, then got more frequent. Took it back again, fixed again.

About a week later, took it out again. (At this point, I'm almost tired of shooting this *&^^##& gun, and carry something else I can rely on)

Shot good for about 120 rounds, then failed again to eject.

That was the last time I shot the weapon. Cleaned it really good, then traded it in at the local gun store.

Also, this isn't a new issue. They've known about this issue for quite some time, and for some reason, don't re-engineer the thing to fix whatever the issue is. This tells me they don't care about their product, or it's reliability, only the money.

JMHO of course!!

I have had a PF9 for years and just had my first issue with it during this weekend. Took it out to the range and didn't get through the first magazine before having an issue where the hammer stays back (DAO pistol) and just clicks when you pull the trigger instead of falling.....the hammer moves a tiny bit but never falls onto the firing pin. The hammer is supposed to stay at half cock until the trigger is pulled, wherein it pulls it to full cock then releases to fire the round in the chamber. Breaking it down and using an excessive amount of break-free seemed to alleviate the problem somewhat but after that I was having FTFeed after 3 rounds into a magazine. Have shot probably about 2000 rounds and carried it every day, so for what it is, I'm not too upset, but being my EDC it has put me in a bit of a bind. If Kel Tec can't get it fixed right the first time, out the door it goes. May pick up a Sig to replace it. But up to this point the PF-9 has been reliable and I trusted it to defend myself with....just too bad apparently the round limit on these guns is so low.

Thanks for the input. It's good to see range reports.

I just posted a thread about the Kahr CW9, which I believe will be my next purchase for CC. I strayed away from the kel-tec pf9 for a couple of reasons. First, when I held it, it didn't feel good in my hand. Second, I've shot the P-11 and while it proved accurate and reliable, it was violent. On a budget, I could make it work. I figured for $100 more, I could by a firearm that was higher quality, more comfortable in my hand (just hold it and you'll be sold), and very ergonomic. The Kahr has had a lot of engineering in its shape for the CC holder (rounded edges, comfortable hand grip and no external safety). My step dad just bought a pf9 to replace his S&W revolver (the CC .38). I've shot the revolver a lot with lots of different ammo, before and after the $100 trigger job and although its a quality piece it didn't work for me as a CC weapon. He loves his kel-tec and I hope it works for him in the long run. I won't be purchasing one. I will say this though, I am a huge fan of Kel-Tec. Their ingenuity is fabulous, customer service, great and being all American is always a plus. I look forward to someday owning a sub-2000, pmr 30 and KSG. When it comes to a CC weapon, I'm looking too Kahr to provide me with what I need.