I emailed KelTec because I see a slight peening in the area of the recoil spring hole. I had heard about the problem and I was a bit concerned. The pistol only has about 200 rounds through it as I have a bunch of other guns to shoot. My wife used it as a carry piece for a while but is now using something else. So, you folks tell me---below is the response from KELTEC.....is this the kind of reply that makes you want to buy another product from them? "made in November, 2006 if springs hasn't come out the front, you do not have a problem, thanks"
E-mail communication is not a Kel Tec strong suit that is for sure!! I am guessing you gave them your serial number, they traced down the manufacturing date, and based on the historical data unless the spring is shooting out the front your are ok! The peening issue on the front of the slide was a problem in a very limited run of guns. If it is a problem, Kel Tec will fix it. If you want the KTOG DIY prevent it from getting bad fix, stick around long enough to gain access to the trading post, then hunt down princemoore and get you some buffers for the front of the slide.
this slide problem WAS durring the period 4th quarter 2006 to 1st quarter 2007, so It might be effected. some metal being raised around the hole is going to happen with the metal rod. I would measure the clearance to see if the hole's inside diamter is increasing. the paper around the rod is a method. I would get concern if clearance exceeded 1/2 wire diameter of inner spring
Well, I'm less than pleased with that reply. I've been in various businesses over the last 30 years and I own 2 small biz's currently and I am sure glad I do not treat my customers like that..... I'm not sure what I am going to do now.... :-/ for right now--I have put it deep in the safe. :
what were you expecting? If you can not tell if yours is truelly bad or just normal wear, you can still send it back with a note telling them the concern and let them inspect it.
I am SHOCKED by that reply to your email! Not by the content, but by the fact that you received a reply to an email at all. By your own description, it is a "slight" peening, so I can't fault the lack of alarm or urgency in their response. I agree you should give them a call, so you can fully describe your concerns and they can hear the concern in your voice. GL
JFB--asked What was I expecting. Well, honestly, I was expecting a courteous, polite reply from a quality company that cares about customer service and some repeat business. What I got does not fit my description of such. If, as a company, you are aware of a problem that is a manufacturing or design defect---you have an obligation to be be apologetic about it and offer a free fix for it in a timely fashion. I feel when you tell a customer (after the problem is well documented and his serial number falls into the known problem lot) you are fine until your springs are visible (and to me that's like saying till your springs are just about falling out)--that is not what in IMHO is good business or good service policy.
Call them.. Email is really the worst way to reflect concern or desperation, in my not so humble opinion. Kel-Tec is a great company for customer service.......However, they are a small company and email is likely their weak-point... Can you imagine getting hundreds/thousands of emails and trying to answer them all? Let a lone, answering them all to the person's satisfaction? I know it's hard to keep up with my email sometimes and I'm not a nationally known fire-arms manufacturer... Call them and/or send it in... They'll take care of you.
I just spoke to KelTec customer service. This is what I was told. "We do not have a list by seriial number here of the affected pistols. You should just keep an eye on it because some do not get so large that the spring pops out. If the springs do pop out then contact us again to send your slide back for replacement."
He should have said, "Almost none get so large that the spring pops out." During that time frame, IIRC, about 25,000 P3ATs were produced. We saw only a handful, if that, that actually ever failed (springs popped out). My guess is that this was a hardening issue and a few slides were not properly hardened in that area. We have not seen this happen since that time frame so KT obviously has taken steps to prevent this. Still, where a metal guide rod constantly rubs against the hole in the metal slide, some peening may occur. This is one advantage of the polymer rod in the P32, P11 and PF9. Even so, a little peening doesn't mean the gun will ever fail after it is broken in. I'd just keep an eye on it, as you were advised, but of course you can always send it in if you think it is severe enough. I'm sure they'll err on the side of caution and replace it, whether or not it merits doing so. As for the poll JFB added, it appears that the voting was unanimous... except for you. As was already pointed out, Kel-tec is a small company that happens to pull off large production/sales numbers. I know you would have preferred a more lengthy response and yes, they are sometimes quick and to the point, but the information you requested was given in a timely fashion. There are a lot of things they could do better, that would drive up the price of their guns. Meanwhile, as you may have learned, if you want more detailed information, call them. That way you can ask followup questions if you are not happy with the initial response.
phone call is the way to go. They always answer e-mail with one liner replys. But they did answer which is more than you get with many other mfgs.
"just keep an eye on it because some do not get so large that the spring pops out. If the springs do pop out then contact us again to send your slide back for replacement" i voted no. not sure just how bad this peening is. keltec warranty doesnt cover cosmetic issues, but if there is a real risk of it resulting in a functional failure it should not be used for carry until it has been addressed. a life time warranty isn't much good when you've been shot dead is it?
You obviously caught one employee having a poor day. Probably swamped with emails and just trying to clear out the backlog. On the other hand, you did say it was "minor peening" which would imply that nothing really serious was going on and that may well have contributed to the quick, off hand response which that employee obviously viewed as just another unnecessary question clogging his day. I strongly suspect that if your question had indicated a possible serious problem, or significant damage going on, the response would have been far different. That does not really excuse the somewhat "flippant" response, but such things happen with most companies from time to time. If I thought I had a real problem, I would have followed up with a courteous phone call to fully explain my concerns, and I think,then would have gotten a far different response, based on my experiences in talking with Kel Tec from time to time. Jim R
No! If it is as you say then IMHO it is not an appropriate response. What if the spring were to pop through after the first of what was to be a double tap needed to save your life? Thankfully earlier this year the peened slide of my J2Rxx was replaced without incident or issue. Good luck...
I voted that they responded appropriately, it was a short answer but still a good answer. You even stated yourself that the peening was slight which to me would be normal break in wear. If it still bothers you you could send it in and have them look at it or maybe take a few good pictures and e-mail them, but make sure you let them know that it is bothering you. CJ
Do you have a method of measuring the diameters of the rod, slide and spring wire? If I were concerned about a similar problem I would measure to see how close the spring wire was to the rod/slide gap and re-measure after a few hundred more rounds. Then if the problem seemed to be getting worse, send the gun and data to Kel-Tek. I have conversed with them via email with follow up questions and have received prompt responses.
I had the exact same problem as you have. I'd put about 200 rounds through my pistol when I noticed the slide beginning to protrude around the recoil spring hole. My recoil spring was warped too. I called Kel-Tec and told them the issues. They had me send the slide & barrel. I received a new slide, barrel & recoil spring a couple of weeks later.
Kel-Tec Customer Support Problem... I have to agree with CCW, Kel-Tec has a LOT to learn about customer service. :-/ I e-mailed them asking if it was possible for either Kel-Tec or a competent gunsmith to modify the gun for a shorter trigger pull. Answer: "Sorry, there are no adjustments on the trigger system, any changes to the trigger system will void your warranty and jeopardize the safety of the weapon. thanks" I e-mailed again to say that I understand the trigger pull is not adjustable, but asked again if the modification was something Kel-Tec or a gunsmith could do. Answer: Sorry, there are no adjustments on the trigger system, any changes to the trigger system will void your warranty and jeopardize the safety of the weapon. thanks OK...I know the trigger is not adjustable and there are warranty/safety issues involved, but they're not really answering the question. So, I called their customer service line in Florida. As soon as I started explaining the situation the guy was clearly irritated as he read back the exact same response (evidently the same guy who answered the e-mails). Do you have a custom shop that can do the work? "No, we don't have a custom shop." Clearly, almost any gun can be modified for a shorter trigger pull; safety and warranty issues aside. I just wanted to know if it could be done and/or if they could do the work. Many gun manufactures do custom work on their weapons. A friendly, complete answer would have done the trick. Instead, a surly and uncooperative guy keeps repeating information that is obvious (trigger not adjustable, warranty issues) and doesn't answer the question. I've dealt with a few gun manufacturers over the years, but none as unfriendly as Kel-Tec. I don't think I'll buy a Kel-Tec product again.
