Kel-Tec P-11: First Handgun For Personal Self Defense

“A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” - The Second Amendment

I've grown up around guns my entire life. My father was in the military from the time I was born, until I was 10. Once retired he started collecting guns and I grew up learning about gun safety. We moved to Michigan in the summer of '95, a big hunting state. My father and older brother started hunting and I too started hunting once I was of legal age. My father became a concealed weapons holder a year ago, and I've seen fit to follow suit. Having never owned a handgun or even shot one I started shooting a lot of his. Revolvers, semi-auto, .45's, .22LR, 9mm, etcetera. I was hooked. I decided I wanted a pistol for personal self defense. Thus my online research on the subject started.

Lots of people suggested a first handgun should be for the .22LR caliber, such as the Ruger MKII or MKIII, as it'd be inexpensive to shoot and would give me lots of target practice. Based on my philosophy of use however, I chose to go a different route with my first handgun purchase. I want a light gun, that felt good in my hand, and would be easily concealable. Thus my search started leaning towards smaller guns than a .45, .40, etcetera. That's when I ran across the Kel-Tec P-11. Everything I read about it was fairly positive. When I found out my local gun store had one, I checked it out and the fit and feeling of it in my hand was great. Felt really natural.

So I decided to purchase it. I also picked up a box of 50 round 115 grain ammunition and took it out to my parents pond for some target practice. I fired off all 50 rounds that day and had no problems whatsoever with the ammo. I managed to be fairly precise with my shots, and had nice groupings from about 10 yards away. I wouldn't want to put more than 50 rounds through this gun at any one time, as after about 30 or so your hand gets a little sore.

I went back to the gun store and picked up a cleaning kit for 9mm and decided to take my gun apart. It came apart really easy and smooth, the cleaning went well and I was soon putting the gun back together. This is where I hit my first, and so far, only snag with the gun. I place the barrel back into the slide and the springs on, then I slid it onto the base of the gun, when I locked it place and tried to line up the pin to hold it still, the barrel seemed to not be going fully in. My father and I spent about an hour trying to get it in and we could not. I had to go to work so my dad said he'd take it up to the gun store and see what they could figure out. Apparently the guy at the gun store was able to get it back on within a few moments, and had to wiggle the barrel a certain way for it to lock in place.

Today I went and picked up a second magazine (10 round capacity) and another 50 rounds FMJ's (different brand from the first time). My dad is even letting me use an extra holster he has that clips onto my belt and rests on my right hip. The P-11 fits it nicely. A buddy of mine came over and we headed out to fire the gun. All 50 rounds went off with no problems whatsoever. The aim seemed to be a little off, shooting high left, and so we started aiming a little lower and to the right and were a lot closer to center target.

Took it back up to the house and I decided to take it apart again and clean it. Disassembly was no problem. Cleaning was fairly fast and simple. However, I ran across the same problem when going to put it back together. Neither my dad, buddy, nor I could seem to get it to fit back in place. So I put all the pieces in a little zip-lock baggie, and will take it back to the gun store tomorrow. Where I'll have the clerk show me exactly how he got it to go back in there.

My overall impressions on this gun are very favorable. I just with I could get that blasted reassembly down! Seriously though, I think this was a fantastic buy for $307 after tax. Once I get my C.C.W. Permit, I'll be carrying this pistol 24/7 365.

So far I've put 121 rounds of 115 grain FMJ through the P-11. No missfires, fail to feed, fail to eject, etc. I'm really quite pleased.

The brands of ammo I've used so far are American Eagle, Remington, and Brown Bear. No problems with any of them. My next pay check I'm hoping to pick up a box of HP so I can test out which HP rounds work best in the P-11.

I'll post pictures of my targets soon. The P-11 seems to want to shoot high left, so I gotta counter act that by aiming low right. Anyone know if there's a way to adjust the sights on the P-11? The owners manual didn't say anything about it, and I think it did mention they were fixed sights. Can't remember.

Nice! I have a Beretta PX4 .40 that I bought a little over a month ago. I'm addicted and want to CC. I'm trying to decide what gun to get for CC. I shot my brother-in-laws P-11 and man after 60-70 rounds of that it left it hard to do my Job at work due to my hand hurting so bad LOL.

But then again how often will you be firing 70 rounds through your CC Weapon? Other than at the range for practice. Other than the hand hurting I liked the firearm, but I know 9mm is hard to come across down here in FL... So not sure what I want to do yet.

OH and BTW. When cleaning the P-11 for my bro-in-law i had the same issue with getting that little metal pin that holds the barrel back into place as well. I kept pulling it out and pushing it back in.....and it wouldn't line up. so I took it apart again and put it all back together and it worked and went right back in with no issues....

I had a P11 for about 1 year. No real problems with the gun. It functioned just fine, and was fine to shoot also. Only reason I sold it was I also had a Taurus PT111 during the same time period, and considerring they are about the same exact size, and both fit my hand and functioned almost identically, it didn't make sense to keep both. Mainly picked the Taurus to keep because it had a stainless slide which I prefer.

Well all I can say is the P-11 has been a dream of a weapon. Mine shoots low left. I am told there is a way to adjust the rear sight. I just haven't been that concerned about it.

I bought a PF-9 a couple of weeks ago, and I have had the same problem with reassembly. I posted a question to see if anyone had any secrets, but there has been no response. This is the best way I have figured out how to reassemble, and it works pretty good. I figure it will be the same with the P11.

The barrel has to be pushed down when you push the slide back (exact moment when you start the slide back). To do this I found out you need 3 hands. So, I put the slide up against my desk where the barre would clear. I used the desk to push the slide back allowing my left had to push down on the barrel and keeping it from moving back with the slide. The end of the barrel has to be the same length of the guide rod for the pin to line up. Doing it this way made reassembly a breeze. However, i did send the slide under my desk and across the room when I moved my right hand to activate the slide catch.

hopefully, someone will reply with a better way to do this, if not then this is the way I will do it every time. I love my PF9, thinner and lighter then the 11 due to single stack, but both are great for the money and purpose!

a few minute google search and I found a few forums discussing this problem and several diferent people all suggested the same thing for reassembly.....

this one

In reassembly, you will need to push down on the barrel at the chamber end, in order to move the slide back far enough to lock it back and re insert the assembly pin..

and this one...

Use a free finger and push down through the ejection port onto the barrel, so the barrel doesn't get caught by the slide and pushed back.


hope this helps....apparently its like the P-11.....and I cleaned my bro-in-laws for the first time on my own and it was fairly easy......good luck!

i am not sure if you have worked your reassembly out yet, but i got a short wood dowel, hold the slide slightly back with slide and frame in one hand, and push forward and down with dowel on feed ramp. pops right in. I also found that doing a good fluff&buff eliminated the need for this tool.

I just ordered a KelTec P-11 without ever having held one in my hands. I just did a specification comparison with my P-3AT and decided to give it a try. I hope it is as good as most people say it is.