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Reviews

KelTec P17 Review – Not Recommended [2022]

A few months back, we published my initial impressions of the KelTec P17. My feelings were lukewarm at best, but they are more concrete now. I do recommend that you read that prior article before finishing this one.

I’ve surpassed my goal of 2000 rounds through the P17, so what are my final opinions?

Ergonomics & Features of the KelTec P17

My opinions on the ergonomics & features of the P17 are largely the same. The magazine release, safety, and slide lock are all positioned well for use. The slide release still fails to actually allow you to chamber the gun, but it is in a good location for locking it open (which I’ve had to do a lot).

The grip texture is still fine, not great but not good. It can be a little slick when shooting with wet hands, but there’s no recoil to really jostle your grip. The blocky-ness of the grip actually works pretty well to make the gun easy to grip. Kind of like shooting a crappier Glock.

The trigger is well, a trigger. Mine has stayed at the same roughly 3lb point, but it has gotten a little less mushy. Still mushy, but not the worst thing I’ve pulled (that was a Nagant Revolver, nothing is worse than that).

The accessory rail on the frame is nearly useless. The only light that would reasonably fit would be a Streamlight TLR-7, which I don’t have. Both my TLR-1 and X300U’s were too big to fit and lock on. I’ve seen reports of the gun’s reliability dropping when mounting a light too, due to the construction of the pistol.

How’d the thing shoot after more testing?

Reliability of the KelTec P17

After my initial review, I put another 900-ish rounds through the P17. The pistol was well lubricated during this testing, mostly with Slip2000 EWL. Below are the ammo counts:

  • 650 Rounds of Federal Automatch (Jacketed)
  • 333 Rounds of Winchester Bulk Pack (Jacketed)
  • 600 Rounds CCI Mini-Mag (Jacketed)
  • 600 Rounds Winchester Super-X (Jacketed)
  • 100 Rounds Remington 40gr (Unjacketed)

So, that brings ammo count up and over 2200 rounds. The additional 900 rounds were fired over 4 range trips, with a cleaning being done to the gun between each one. I did have a ton of malfunctions though.

Malfs on the same day with quality ammo.
Malfs on the same day with quality ammo.
Malfs on the same day with quality ammo.
Malfs on the same day with quality ammo.

Most of the failures were “failures to feed”, which meant that the slide needed assistance to strip the round off the magazine. Those are easily remedied with at tap to the back of the slide, but it is still a failure. Over the continued testing, I did keep having double feeds, stovepipe failures, and stuck casings, regardless of ammo.

During my last two range trips, I fired 200 rounds of Winchester Super X 40 grain, and 200 of CCI Mini Mag 40 grain. Among the 400 rounds fired, I ran into 35 failures to enter battery, 4 stuck casings, 8 stovepipes, and 6 double feeds. That’s 53 failures for 400 rounds fired, making a 74% reliability rate with the gun. That’s unacceptable to me.

Reliability on this gun sucks, even for a .22LR pistol.

Shooting the KelTec P17

When the gun wasn’t bricking itself, it shot alright. The sights still shoot very high, but with a proper low hold, I felt confident in my hits.

I shot quite a few “The Tests” with the P17, all being good scores and times. Generally, when the gun worked, it was a pleasant shooter. It isn’t snappy, it fits most hands well, and is simple to operate. It’s really a shame that the reliability is the way it is.

Does it shoot better than a target .22 pistol? No, it doesn’t. However, it doesn’t weigh 3 pounds, and holds more ammo. The whole “working” part just needs some improvement.

My Final Verdict

Just giving my two cents.

I think that in concept, the P17 is a great idea of a backpacking gun. Lightweight, high capacity, good ergos, and pleasant to shoot. However, the reliability is a massive issue with the P17. If it worked, I think I would love this gun. Alas, it does not. There is not really anything that I dislike more than a gun that doesn’t work.

The biggest bummer is that no other .22 pistol comes close to the footprint of the P17. I’m very much interested in the Taurus TX22, but that is full size, not compact like the P17. Maybe the new SIG P322 will be a P17, but working. KelTec seems to have pulled a KelTec, and sabotaged another great idea with mediocre build quality. I cannot recommend the P17 until it is fixed, but I doubt that KelTec will ever do it. I’m just happy to be finished with this absolute failure of a gun.

Paul Whaley

Paul Whaley is a guy with an interest in practical and defensive pistol shooting techniques with an eye for quality gear. He has received training from Holistic Solutions Group, John Johnston of Citizens Defense Research, Darryl Bolke, Cecil Birch, and Chuck Haggard. When not trying to become a better shooter, he can be found enjoying a Resident Evil game or listening to Warren Zevon.

View Comments

  • My P17 runs better than the 2 of my buddy's G44s lol.
    I picked up a 2023 manufactured sample since it was a screaming deal I couldn't resist. My sample runs everything except federal automatch. Rem and Winchester bulk runs no problem even if I shoot a brick without cleaning it. Definitely looks like they beta tested on the market itself with their tolerance stackups since seems a lot of early negative reviews. It is keltec so a lot of batch to batch variation in most of their lineup anyway. I think they fixed some reliability from early production but I am still hesitant to recommend it to someone with its track record.

  • This is the 5th .22LR pistol I've owned and I am very impressed with it. A bit concerned about the reliability of the plastic parts (and magazines!) over time. Will it crack?

    I do take umbrage with this observation in the review: "The slide release still fails to actually allow you to chamber the gun..." You are NOT supposed to use the slide release to chamber a round.

    You need to grasp the slide (even just two fingers will do!) and snap it back with a good tug. Like snapping the head off of mouse.

    For $199 you get quite the value. RHREE magazines! High rez front sight. Hard case. I believe the angle of the hript mimicks a Browning 1911. It will take a suppressor, so budget for that.

    I did not find the trigger spongy. It did feel a little light (2 lbs. or so?) almost like a hair trigger. Reset is quick, meaning I can empty 16+1 rounds in less than 15 seconds. More rounds downrange equals a better chance of hitting the target. I think the trigger guard will accommodate winter gloves.

    Re-acquisition of the target after firing a round is so easy! Hardly any kickback or rise of the barrel. The high rez front sight works very well in lower light situations.

    Try his is an excellent training pistol as a first gun for anyone. Practice shooting it one handed and with your less dominant hand. I think I would prefer this as my Every Day Carry because it is lightweight, easy and FUN to shoot. It should prove reliable enough until you want to graduate to a 9mm, .40 or a .45 ACP.

    Any recommended accessories? G
    Sticky tape for the grip? A hybrid holster? All METAL magazines that are easier to load with a spring that slides down to the bottom with two fingers. Red dot sight?

    • Michael,

      Firstly, thanks for commenting! To address a few points:

      The gun I tested was made some time in 2021, and I tested it through the end of that year, and finished my testing in Spring 2022. KelTec may have made the guns more reliable over that period, but from what I've seen, it's still a mixed bag.

      On the topic of the slide release, according to KelTec in the manual for the gun, it is a slide release.

      "Pull the magazine out. If you wish to continue firing, insert a loaded magazine, and slap the butt of the magazine to ensure it is fully seated. Then push down the slide release or pull back and release the slide to chamber another round."

      https://f.hubspotusercontent40.net/hubfs/5159794/Firearm_Manuals/P17_MANUAL.pdf

      It is a slide release, that generally did not work as a slide release.

      On the trigger, the weight and feel from individual P17 to P17 is wildly different. I've shot some that were too light, and some that were more reasonable. Some were spongier than others, while others were a little more crisp.

      The recoil impulse is certainly low, cannot fault that. However, I don't think it's great as a trainer gun, as the QC is wildly all over the place, and you cannot assure a functioning gun out of box. The Taurus TX22 Compact has been my recommendation for a .22LR trainer.

      Again, thanks for commenting!

      Paul

  • Jam-o-matic if it can even chamber a round. Mine was absolute trash I had to push the slide forward on every round, (lubed and brand new). Sent it back to Keltec which was a nightmare, took them 3 months to "fix it" instead they just sent me a new gun. The new gun was actually chambering rounds but had at least 4 failures to fire with very light primer strikes (primer didn't look like it was touched), tested the unfired rounds in other guns they functioned fine, then I had an out of battery detonation. Got sprayed with After that I tested the gun with the chamber flag in the breach and it actually engages the firing pin with the breach open. If you out run this gun the firing pin will cause the round to explode out of battery. I sent it back in September, now Mid November and I have no idea when I will get it back really poor communication from Keltec worst customer service ever with a gun. High-point few days it came back. Citidel (Rock Island) about a week or two. I sent them the gun in July it is now November and they are still working on it. I think they beta test these guns with customers the quality control is really garbage, I'm really upset because the magazine capacity is great, inexpensive, and seem to function well, it is a shame the rest of the gun is so trash.

    • *got sprayed by powder and gas coming out of the open chamber. *magazines seem to function well (best engineered part of the gun). Wish other guns used the same magazine

      • Gill,

        Thanks for your comment! It really seems like the P17 is quite the mixed bag. You and I have had bad experiences with the gun, but then I've heard positives from other folks. Needless to say, KelTec needs to work on their QC and CS, to make the process better for the market.

  • I've had mine for about 5mths 2200 rounds ran through it so far with high velocity CCI rounds not one single problem yet but I followed the directions to use high velocity ammo not super or just a 22lr but it's been working fine for me I guess I got lucky from what I'm reading

    • Picking mine up on Monday, I looked at/read over 30 different sources before purchase..All but a few of the reviews that used high velocity CCI had no issues and the ones that did were in the first 25 or so shots..that was the determining factor for me...Just some added info....

    • I own two of the P17s and have never experienced a single problem. Maybe as you say, you and I have been lucky....but I tend to think that maybe it might be even more so...rather that a small hand full of shooters have been, unlucky....in getting hold of a P17 that somehow missed out on something in Quality Control at the factory. I ran across a video by the very well known "22Plinkster" entitled "How Good Is a $175 Dollar 22LR Pistol--P17". Man...for that guy to give the P17 the try out...and review scores he did...was pretty amazing. What is funny is that he said the first one he started to try out would not work at all...and he figured out what it was (in the slide mechanism) and called the Kel Tec factory and asked them if they would like him to fix it himself or send it back. They said send it back...He got another from them (he bought two actually) and the rest is history, so-to-speak.

  • Well Sir, mine performed well the first 150 rounds or so, except for the annoying sloooow chambering using the slide release. The ammo was Federal bulk 325 count plain lead 1200fps. At the first failure, I cleaned and lubed and got another 150 or so rounds through before a stove pipe. The ammo is pretty dirty, so my routine is clean and lube liberally every 150 rounds.
    Then at about 1500 rounds I experienced the same problems you had. On tear down of the slide/bolt assembly, I found the culprit to be a bent extractor spring. It's a coil compression spring of ridiculous small size. Instead of locating in a hole it just rides in a slot whose floor is a radius of the cutter that machined it, forcing the spring to gradually get bent. By trial and error I found a position that allowed the extractor to function properly, and the gun functioned perfectly for another 600 rounds.
    Rinse and repeat for a total of 9000 rounds. This is a major annoyance for I have grown to really like this gun. So I have decided to redesign the extractor and spring fitment to permanently solve the problem. I wish Keltec hadn't cheaped out to save drilling one little hole.

    • Dragonhealer,

      Thanks for the comment! I agree, the design would be better if KelTec put a teeny bit more money into it.

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Paul Whaley
Tags: KelTec

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