safety features of P-11
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The technical explanation is "no." It's double action only with a long trigger pull. Have you fired one yet? I can't imagine accidentally pulling the trigger enough to cause it to fire with a stock P-11. The hammer itself has almost no weight at all. Drop fires have been known to happen.
Regards, Keys 8)
Regards, Keys 8)
The KT pistol firing mechanism is unique...
The hammer rotates around it's axis in perfect balance, unlike most pistol hammers, which have the heavy spur and therefore will move forwards if dropped... if you drop a P-11 or any KT pistol, the hammer won't do anything.
The safety lies in the weight of the firing pin, and the spring tension in must overcome to ignite the primer. It's driven at pretty much warp speed by the hammer to do this...
And yep, there HAVE been drop fires.
I'm still trying to figure out how. Doesn't make a bit of sense!
I should note, however, that these have usually been in extreme or unusual circumstances, and extremly unlikely to ever occur if dropped from a normal height. I don't believe there's any more chance of an accidental drop fire with the P-11 than any other good pistol.
Flyer
The hammer rotates around it's axis in perfect balance, unlike most pistol hammers, which have the heavy spur and therefore will move forwards if dropped... if you drop a P-11 or any KT pistol, the hammer won't do anything.
The safety lies in the weight of the firing pin, and the spring tension in must overcome to ignite the primer. It's driven at pretty much warp speed by the hammer to do this...
And yep, there HAVE been drop fires.
I'm still trying to figure out how. Doesn't make a bit of sense!
I should note, however, that these have usually been in extreme or unusual circumstances, and extremly unlikely to ever occur if dropped from a normal height. I don't believe there's any more chance of an accidental drop fire with the P-11 than any other good pistol.
Flyer
the weight of the hammer resting on the FP and the fact that the hammer spring is also applying pressure to the FP add to it's tendancy to be able to drop fire. If you remove the hammer and hammer spring, it will not drop fire from 8 feet (highest I tested it for).
http://www.1bad69.com/keltec/droptestresults.htm
The fact that the P-32 and P-3AT have a hammer block keeping the hammer off the FP is the reason they do not suffer from this (but at the cost of not being a true DAO pistol).
But there are 2 things you can do to help reduce the chance of a drop fire. The V pin mod:
http://www.1bad69.com/keltec/triggerpull.htm
this lessens the preload the hammer puts on the FP when at rest.
and putting in the Wolff 5% extra power FP spring that comes with the extra power recoil springs. This is just a stronger spring that makes it harder for the FP to overcome it. (if you polish the FP, FP spring, and FP set screw as well as lightly lube all and the FP channel, there is still pleantly of force to not get light strikes)
http://www.1bad69.com/keltec/droptestresults.htm
The fact that the P-32 and P-3AT have a hammer block keeping the hammer off the FP is the reason they do not suffer from this (but at the cost of not being a true DAO pistol).
But there are 2 things you can do to help reduce the chance of a drop fire. The V pin mod:
http://www.1bad69.com/keltec/triggerpull.htm
this lessens the preload the hammer puts on the FP when at rest.
and putting in the Wolff 5% extra power FP spring that comes with the extra power recoil springs. This is just a stronger spring that makes it harder for the FP to overcome it. (if you polish the FP, FP spring, and FP set screw as well as lightly lube all and the FP channel, there is still pleantly of force to not get light strikes)
I think a lot of folks get very concerned about a manual safety on automatics, yet never give a moment's concern for the same situation in a revolver. The KelTec P11 has the precise same external safety as most revolvers do - NONE. It does however have the same internal safety as the revolvers - a heavy double-action trigger pull. Works in revolvers, works in automatics. You will not accidently discharge a P11 unless you are under such scary conditions that when if it does go off, you will be happy it did. It's NOT going off by accident, trust me. Several years ago I had the same concern in a Glock 26 I bought. The only difference was the Glock had a much "lighter" double-action trigger pull, and I was not comfortable with it. Before all you Glock fans nail me I will say that I feel in the hands of a professional law enforcement person the Glock is a fine pistol. But even then there have been accidental discharges. For regular folks who don't have the opportunity to become very competent with the Glocks I don't recommend them. I sold mine. To be honest, I like the P11 MUCH better than I ever did the Glock. The P11 fits my hand better, so far has been 100% reliable (after 400 rounds), is more accurate than my eyes are from 5-7 yards. I also have a Walther P1, S/W 3914 and a Sig P239. I'm not saying the P11 is of the same "quality as the other 3" but then I didn't pay for that quality. I paid a very reasonable price for a pistol that I am very happy with, and if it "left" for any reason, I'd buy another. That's about as good a recommendation as you can ask for. JMO 
Ahem.
Not gonna pick this up and run with it, as much as I'd like too... but my experiences indicate that your average shooter who goes to the range just for the fun of it can and will outshoot about 75% of the Police Officers he may come up against.
Training. Keep your finger OFF THE TRIGGER.
The Glock is a far SUPERIOR weapon than almost anything, and NO more prone to accidental discharge, IF your finger is where it belongs.
The only pistol that comes to mind I'd choose over the Glock for a full-duty piece is a 1911 - and you're talking cocked'n'locked carry, there. Again... finger off the trigger.
Flyer
An interesting site, and germain to the discussion here:
http://www.nlectc.org/pdffiles/pistolsbulletin2000.pdf
http://www.nlectc.org/pdffiles/pistolsbulletin2000.pdf
Jim,
I'm not impressed with their version of a drop test....
from page 2 #6:
"The pistol is dropped from a height of 4 feet onto a 1-inch-thick rubber mat, backed by concrete."
That is why I did my own:
http://www.1bad69.com/keltec/droptest.htm
I'm not impressed with their version of a drop test....
from page 2 #6:
"The pistol is dropped from a height of 4 feet onto a 1-inch-thick rubber mat, backed by concrete."
That is why I did my own:
http://www.1bad69.com/keltec/droptest.htm
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