[darkwriter77]

It was an impulse buy. I swear, I soooooo did not go out this morning looking to buy a PF9. In fact, I was looking more towards getting a little semi-auto .22 LR that I could plink with and maybe pocket-carry as a backup to my .22 WMR NAA Earl for those rare times I couldn't carry my P11 IWB. But lo and behold, there it was, sitting proudly on the top shelf in the display in all its hard-chromed glory, with a neat little price tag next to it that said $298. Soooooo ... yeah. It came home with me.

I've been holding off on buying a PF9 for quite awhile now, not only because it's been nearly IMPOSSIBLE to find one in hard chrome (I've only seen one other HC PF9 locally before, and it had an OD green frame), but because of all the reports I've been reading lately about FTE's and slide cracks and whatnot. But I had a Ruger P89DC that just wasn't getting along with me (just couldn't adapt to the mushy, inconsistent DA/SA trigger) and just a little bit of extra spendin' money, so ... yeah. I gave into temptation and traded the Ruger in towards the HC PF9. I've been bad today. So, sooooo bad.

Obviously, a fluff n' buff is in order tonight, and hopefully I'll get a chance to take it to the range next weekend. Any particularly unusual things I should be watching for, such as where on the slide cracks might develop, slide peening area(s), things like that? And should I mess with pulling the firing pin and running a pipe cleaner through the firing pin channel before taking it to the range, or just wait until afterwards? (I know the Frankenbolt's tension on the extractor spring and/or retaining the firing pin has been an issue for some.)

 

[Joemannnnn]

Congrats! I bought one last week, impulse as well

 

[Toney_D]

Very nice!!!! Congrats!!!!

I'd do the drill bit thing to debur the firing pin channel.
And start deflashing the grip

 

[kosmickopp]

Enjoy that PF9! A friend of the devil is a friend of mine.

 

[PD2]

Congrats!!!!! They seem to be harder to find.

 

[darkwriter77]

Taking the seams off the grip frame was VERY quick n' easy with just a bit of sandpaper, and the feed ramp was actually pretty slick right out of the box, so just a little touching up with super-fine grit sandpaper got it all nice n' pretty.

The frame rails and inside rails of the slide, however, were a different story. There's one small pit/burr on the left side channel towards the rear of the slide that took a lot of work to get pretty well smoothed out. Also, smoothing up the recoil spring guide rod helped a lot, since there was a lot of flashing on there that make it a little sticky to reinstall into the barrel/slide assembly - pops right in there nice n' easy now.

The fluff n' buff didn't make a HUGE difference in how it feels as far as racking the slide manually, but it did make a noticeable improvement in smoothness that I could actually feel. The barrel's chamber is plenty smooth and I dropped a round in there and poked it in/out a few times with the barrel out to make sure it wasn't catching/dragging on anything from any angle. Between that and the now polished-up feed ramp (I didn't take the Dremel to it yet, but I may still do that later tonight just for good measure), I shouldn't have any problems there.

I'm honestly not sure if I want to even bother putting a Hogue Handall Jr. on this one. I LOVE the way that grip feels on my P11, but one of the main draws of the PF9 is how thin it is, and the Hogue grip would just thicken things up and thus nullify one of its advantages. Only gripe I have about the grip is the pinky extension is pretty much worthless for me. The factory Kel-Tec extensions on my P11 are longer where I can fit all four fingers around the grip comfortably, but with the PF9's extension, I still wind up with my pinky either on the edge or completely off the end of the mag extension - getting all 4 fingers on there requires me to bunch all my fingers up together too tightly, and I've only got medium- to somewhat small-sized hands. Being that I kinda got the PF9 with the "go as small as you can go in 9mm" thing in mind, I think I'll just leave the flush-fitting mag base on there and learn to live with my pinky hangin' out in the wind.

I'm sure all will be well as far as carrying comfort goes, so I just really hope this lil' guy works out for me in terms of function and durability. I'm not planning on putting a ton of rounds through it, just enough to make sure it's reliable, but I really don't want to be constantly battling FTE issues and such. I'm kind of putting my faith in Kel-Tec to the test here, based on the pretty good track record I've had with my P11. Here's your chance to shine, Kel-Tec - don't let me down!

 

[Toney_D]

It will work!!! After i got over the mag drop problem mine was so reliable it was boring!!!

 

[darkwriter77]

I certainly hope to share in your good fortune.

Some eye candy with the new PF9, the Sweat Shield Remora that I also use for my P11 (incredibly slim and comfy IWB), and a side-by-side as it compares in width to my other 3 carry options:

 

[texaspaul]

Congrats! When I bought mine a few weeks ago I had a hard time deciding between HC and parkerized. My FFL had a parkerized one in stock so went for it. The Hougue JR grip is a must IMHO, doesn't add much thickness, but makes it actually somewhat comfortable to shoot.

 

[darkwriter77]

I think if I do add a grip to it, I might go with one of those Pachmayr slip-on grips that has the extra bit of cushioning that rides up along the backstrap of the grip to help with recoil. I can't remember if they have finger grooves like the Hogue grips, but I do recall that they don't have the palm swells like the Hogue so that should minimize the added thickness. I've already got a bit of a bad thumb joint as it it from an injury way back in high school, and even with the Hogue grip my P11 beats that joint up pretty bad after just a couple of magazines; if the PF9 is AT LEAST as sharp in recoil as the P11 (or worse), then I'm gonna want all the squishy rubber I can reasonably get back there.

 

[johnfreeman]

Welcome to the club! P-)

 

[dracer]

congats on the new gun , go out and have a good shoot

 

[RobzKT]

Congrats on adopting a new pistol!
<---The grip sleeve in my Avatar pic is the Pachmayr that's simply stretched upward along the back-strap.

I think if I do add a grip to it, I might go with one of those Pachmayr slip-on grips that has the extra bit of cushioning that rides up along the backstrap of the grip to help with recoil.

That's the Limbsaver... (12013 for the G-26) .
No finger bumps, but has the back-strap cushion.

The Pachmayer (Size4... For the G-26?) grip sleeve does have an off-cenetered finger bump and if it doesn't feel good right-side up, flip it upside-down.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/31...ock-26-27-33-beretta-mini-cougar-rubber-black

 

[darkwriter77]

Aha! That's the one! Thanks for the size info, that was going to be one of my next questions. Think I might order me one of those on payday next week. I like the finger grooves of the Hogue, but they're not a must-have, really - mainly just don't want to tear up my hand while I'm shooting it, and I can totally imagine those serrations on the backstrap of the OEM grip acting like a cheese grater on my skin.

Saw some pretty nifty new slip-on grips at the LGS today while I was there. Not sure if or how well they'd fit the PF9, but at least they looked neat. Had some patterns molded into them like skulls and diamond-plate and whatnot, several different colors, and they were about $15 each. They're pretty stretchy, too, so less worry of tearing it in putting it on or maybe taking it off; guy behind the counter showed me it would even stretch out enough to slip onto a Hi-Point JHP, and that thing's got a HUGE grip. I'll have to see if there's a website or something I can find for 'em and see if they have any specifically for smaller pistols - I'll post it up here if I find it.

 

[SeaTrane]

The Talon rubberized grips and the +1 mag made a world of difference in the grip. The Nortwood trigger made it a new gun.

 

[darkwriter77]

Well, so far I don't have any issues with the trigger, as I can already tell it's significantly better than the P11 ... but that's just with snap caps, of course. If it starts pinching or smacking my finger around when I actually put some live rounds through it, though, I might have to start looking into some other trigger options - heat-shrink tubing, modified Kel-Tec trigger shoe, Northwood trigger, etc.

Had to call the LGS to get the brand name of that slip-on grip, but I found the website. They're kind of a one-size-fits-all deal, but at least you could conceivably trim it in such a way that it would have the same cushioning going up the backside of the grip as the Limbsaver kind. I'm kinda torn between the snake skin and diamond-plate patterns - both look like they'd be pretty functional, grip-wise, just so long as they fit tight enough to stay in place - but there's some other nifty designs on there, too...

http://www.tuff1.com/default.aspx

 

[underdog]

The pf9. An unbelievable package. Congrats. Enjoy.

 

[SeaTrane]

Those Tuff 1's are ok for the cool factor but the Talon grips don't look like somebody slipped a Trojan on my gun.

 

[darkwriter77]

The only reason I'd really want a slip-on grip is to help cushion the recoil, so looks are kinda irrelevant to me, really. Just thought I'd toss those Tuff 1 grips out there in case they appealed to anyone else. Going to shoot it as-is in stock form first and see how it goes before I go ordering any grips, though. Again, I'd like to keep it as slim as possible, and just about ANY grip is going to add at least SOME measure of thickness to the overall package. Most likely, I'll probably go with the Limbsaver grip, if anything.

 

[Ag]

I also have one in HC and love it. +1 on the Hogue Handall Jr., it's a must. I put a couple hundred rounds through mine first before deciding on a fluff and buff. All mine really needed was a feed ramp polish to make JHP's more reliable. I also polished the barrel hood just because it looked nice.