Pistol-Ammo "Mating", "Matching", "Compatibility" or "Familiarity"
Good luck to ME on this one - ha...
Some may laugh, some understand/agree, and others just shrug, but playing-off an old belief or theory, that an automobile (mechanically) will "get used to" a regular driver (at least in the old-school, before computer-controlled systems), by way of regular, routine patterns and habits of the driver, occurring, manifesting or and/are resultant in certain "wear patterns" or patterns of wear/tear, i.e. transmission shifts. etc.
WHEW! Now that I've gotten through THAT . . .
Can anyone please tell me, if firearms (a Kel Tec PF-9 in this case - which are well known to be PICKY about ammo) become "used to" regular or routinely used ammunition (weight/grain and/or brand), via wear/tear patterns (and I am thinking of/referring to the feed-ramp first and foremost/primarily), please?
Thanks in advance Friends,
Glenn . . .
Last edited by Ambidextrous; 10-21-2011 at 04:20 AM.
Can anyone please tell me, if firearms (a Kel Tec PF-9 in this case - which are well known to be PICKY about ammo) become "used to" regular or routinely used ammunition (weight/grain and/or brand), via wear/tear patterns (and I am thinking of/referring to the feed-ramp first and foremost/primarily), please?
Thanks in advance Friends,
Glenn . . .
First, I'd try a couple of different brands of ammo to see if the issue is ammo related. Off the top of my head, I'd say that you're not gonna "wear-in" a feed ramp, by working lead/copper bullets against that steel feed ramp. Many feed issues are magazine related. You might try different/new mags.
__________________
NRA Life member
Freedom has a flavor the protected can never taste
USMC RVN '67,- '69
I can't speak about semi-autos, but revolvers have what is called a "sweet spot" where the load and the weapon seem to be made for each other with superior accuracy and velocity combined. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of testing to find it and no two revolvers are the same; although they can be close.
__________________ Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty--- Jefferson
*EDIT* I APOLOGIZE FOR THE LENGTH OF THIS REPLY...I WAS SLOWLY COMPOSING OVER THE COURSE OF THE DAY, WHILE DOING OTHER THINGS, AND SIMPLY DID NOT REALIZE HOW LONG IT HAD GONE.
YOU MAY WISH TO SIMPLY SCROLL DOWN TO THE QUESTIONS BELOW IN BLUE
I'LL CHECK MYSELF FOR "LENGTH" HERE IN THE FUTURE (IF I STILL HAVE A FUTURE WITH G&G???)
Thanks to all, I think Jay was hitting close to where I want go with this . . . this has been, a little more than 200-round "saga" with this 9mm Kel Tec ... I'll try to be brief.
First 100 rounds, all seemed well, fine and good, ate what I fed it, but I only fed it three or four different types and brands of Ammo.
WWBox 115 FMJ
Federal 115 FMJ
Speer GD 124 +P HP
(also an "off-brand" of some sort or other, 115 FMJ didn't work with a dang in this Kel Tec, but this KT is PICKY, so...I won't research the brand for this post for that purpose, but it came in a Bright Orange Box, from Montana).
Anyway, after about 100 good rounds squeezed, I had some finish work (nickel-plate) done to the slide and the (only two) mags I have for it. Done by the Famous Jack Fuselier, but there were some problems with the work the first couple times I sent the parts to him - finally, third time was a charm and I now have one VERY-Nice lookin' PF-9, but there were a LOT of early-on problems, during the finish-work process, and afterward.
Complicating the issue, I had bought some more defense rounds - 147gr Gold Dot HP (standard pressure) and 147 Fed. HST HP (standard). Started having FTF's and FTE's. BUNCHES of `em.
Switched back to the Fed 115 range rounds - still same problems.
Tried the 124 +P Gold Dots again - same problems.
Keep in mind please, I was going-through a LOT of stress during this period (mostly personal CRAP), and then the finish job was being muffed (not done correctly)...TWICE (one was a legit mix-up by an assistant, 2nd-time Mr Jack admitted that his eyes must have taken a turn for the worse), all the shipping back and forth between VA & TX yada-yada-yada.
Well, I got lazy & sloppy as I had become frustrated and short on patience, was not cleaning thoroughly, and, well... I went through another 100 rounds of all the various aforementioned ammo.
With better cleaning, and good smooth finish work finally prevailing, things seem to almost be getting better by the mag fired now...I'm fortunate to be able to shoot at home, and tend to fire-off a mag or three more often, rather than folks who are restricted to actual paid range time where they might fire off anywhere from 100-1000 rounds (200-500 "average" I would guess?) at a sitting.
My question(s) today:
How often should mags have to be taken-apart and thoroughly cleaned? I know the wise thing would be to just go-on ahead and whip-through it each time after I fire...I'm already cleaning the pistol up, might as well knock-out the mags, especially since I'm single, no kids around (usually), hell, don't even have a GIRLFRIEND these days...OR a boyfrieHAHAHA - kiddin' `bout dat last part.
Seriously, how often do you-all strip your mags for cleaning (?), AND (last question), I've got TWO Kel Tec mags now...only got them them about 6-8 months apart (one came new with the weapon, so it may have been a year or more older?), but they have different "parts" with them.
I believe it's called the "follower" (?) - the plastic TOP part that you press the round down onto, to load the mag ... well, they are "notched" differently. Could this (should this) be correct? (do manufacturers change something such as that mid-stream of production?).
Thanks gang . . . PS ~ Now I'm noticing what appears to be damage to one of the corners of the part I'm asking about here...the one with the shorter, or smaller of the notches...
Last edited by Ambidextrous; 10-21-2011 at 03:16 PM.
Sounds like a mag problem, clean them after every few 100 rounds (as you said plenty of time), polish the feed ramp make sure not nicked or scraped! I don't have one these though have had others with the same problem! New mag and cleaned the ramp helped!
Not sure the damage would cause failure, most of the time it is the steel lips being out of shape! Though on the damage one this maybe the case too!
The real problem is for any one of us to help correctly we would have to handle the pistol and watch it feed, function, and feel it work. All of which is not easy to do over CAT-5 cable. Have you noticed one magazine working better than another? Because if so I would Call Keltec.
My thought with the mags is this... You have a 9mm and got the mag with the tall follower, if that one works correctly then I would ALMOST BET MY CHECK that the other follower is for a larger diameter case such as a 40 S&W or a 45 AUTO, that would not need as steep of a purchase in the magazine to feed properly.
If Mr. Keltec is having major FTF with the damaged mag, I would have to say some dunder head put the wrong follower in a 9mm magazine.
Also one more thought, do the rounds look like they sit different between the two mags? Reason I say this is a 40 S&W WILL hold 9mm rounds but good luck getting it to work. You may have a 40 S&W mag and not know it.
Well if the pistol worked before the nickel job and not after, the obvious answer is the nickel plating changed the tolerances and THAT is causing your issues. It's possible that it could be mag related, but I doubt it. You could always buy a new mag and find out. Have you tried calling or emailing kel-tec? They have amazing customer service.
The nice thing if it is the plating is once you fire a few hundred rounds through it it will function better as the plating will start to wear, with two different looking mags I would have to say it is a combo of the plating and a bad/wrong mag.
IMO, the chip on the leading corner of the follower is a minor issue. It is not going to be in contact with the last round in the stack. It MAY make some difference in how the follower tilts as it moves up inside the magazine body, but that would be dependent on how deep the follower is. There are a number of different followers out there for AR mags, mostly because the shorter ones tend to tilt in some situations, causing feeding problems.
I would look for plating screw ups since you had problems getting it done right. There may be an accumulation of nickel or something in some little corner that didn't get properly prepped and that is interfering with proper function.
Can you give more details about how it acts when it is not working properly?
Hey thanks to all...I'm not sure if I posted pictures/photos/pics/PIX (??) of this thing or not, but I will again, and will do so gladly, in that I have GOT TO get some resolution with this, in this, of this situation...it has lingered on and is now dragging on, and i swear I think someone has played a very cruel trick, and changed my world to one in which there are just as many (or MORE??) things to do in a day, and/or changed the days from 24, to 16 (ok, or maybe 18-20 hour ) "days".
I can't keep up with it all anymore, but will get some "snapshots" up here very soon.... . . . .
Thanks again and as always in advance,
glenn . . .
Kel-Tec says to stay away from 3 types of ammo...
Steel cased (like Wolf, etc.)
Aluminum cased ( Like Blazer)
Polymer cased (like Plastic)
Mags can function with different followers if they are right for that gun...
Yes...thank you Moose, er, man, er, "MOOSEMAN". I have...do...and will ('stayed away from...').
I've only fired a few (very few) different makes and types of 9mm ammo (Speer, Federal, and maybe about 30-rds of WWB that I had left hanging-around...remaining from my S&W Sigma "Experiment", I mean, "experience").
All have been either brass or nickel cased - with the "possible" exception of one (50-rd box).
In fact, I've only tried one box (of 50) of any "off" brand, and don't seem to be able to recall the name of the product to save my life (though I "DO" recall it came in a *BLAZE-ORANGE* box, and was from "MT." (Montana)...
I'm sure (99.987654321% !~!) that it was "labeled' "LE", and perhaps a slightly owner % (99.123456789%~) sure that it also was ll brass (except for ONE nickel case that had made it's way into that batch).
Last edited by Ambidextrous; 11-17-2011 at 01:20 AM.
Yes sir - that certainly does appear to be what I had, and the first batch of anything that I really had any trouble with (it's possible it was an old box, sitting in "storage" (the "back room") of my local farm-store (co-op, which is the only place I'm familiar with, within 50 miles that sells ammo...but come to think of it, there MUST be someone closer...geez, I live in a very rural place, in the slightly isolated mountains - LOTS of hunters - so there must be some others who provide ammo around here.
"HSM" (The "Hunting Shack"?) certainly seems" like a fine company to me - but then I don't know much about it, so . . . ?
Hell I'd do it if I could afford to set-up shop (which I very well may HAVE TO do anyway...I have the space, and some buildings, out of which I could work (and store) product[s]).
Thanks Josh . . . you may have just given me a GREAT idea! Don't worry, I'll compensate you if it pans-out . . . that'd be a'ight with you now - wouldn't it sir? ha
Last edited by Ambidextrous; 11-17-2011 at 03:34 AM.
^There's nickel plating on the inside of the slide where it rides on the rails. That WILL change tolerance. The good thing about that it that your frame is aluminum and it won't take too long(relatively speaking) to wear in the new tolerances. Basically all you can do is shoot it, and work the slide manually a LOT and hopefully it'll start working for you. Also, did you have your barrel nickeled and if you did, was the feed ramp messed with? You could try polishing that with a polishing disc on a dremal tool. That can't hurt anything at the very least.
Ambi, I hope you get this issue worked out. Nothing is more frustrating than a pistol that doesn't function properly!
As for Mags, I clean my mags very infrequently. And then all I have done was to blow it out with brake cleaner.
I did start having problems with my Kel Tec after I ran a box of Wolf ammo through it. Coincidence or not I wound up having to send the pistol (Kel Tec P3AT) back to the factory for a rebuild! Not sure if it fixed the problem or not yet because I have not fired it yet. But, if it doesn't shoot reliably it will go on sale. Never had much patience for pistols that jam.
__________________
Dedicated to the memory of Ronald "Dad" Knutson Sr. 1936-2013
8Likes
Pistol-Ammo "Mating", "Matching", "Compatibility" or "Familiarity" 
Teach
