Not keltec fan.... but some of their guns are fairly good. Don't think I'd buy one.

If it were me?.....I'd spend about $75 more and buy a Bersa Thunder. Only holds 10 rounds though.
There are some real nice 22's out there...but they are up in the $400-500 range.

 

Thought the same thing, glad I took a chance.

 

It’s worth more than it’s price. They’re surprisingly good. Accurate, good trigger, and reliable.

 

^^^^^ ABSOLUTELY AGREE^^^^

In fact, I have two of them. I did have two S&W .22 compacts, but sold one and bought two Keltec P17's so now I have 3 plinkers for the price of two. (One P17 is very ammo picky, one P17 is not ammo picky at all - so far.)

The only negative thing about the P17's is that they are SO LIGHT that - to quote one of my friends: "It is like shooting a feather!" Once you get used to that, it is total plinking joy.

And, BTW, their customer service is #1 - compared to any other manufacturer - even compared to Ruger, and that is saying A LOT.

 

Owned a couple of them and agree with JohnR. We moved last year and downsized a lot weapons wise; sold one and gifted the other. If I was inclined to buy a economical and fun plinker again P17 would be it.

 

Owned a couple of them and agree with JohnR.

If I was inclined to buy a economical and fun plinker again P17 would be it.

SG- With this P17 talk, ended up buying one, picked it up yesterday. Fun times ahead.

 

thanks for the reply's I have plenty of 22 hand guns but there is always room for 1 more isn't that Larry P's line

 

I got one couple years ago. love it. light, accurate and very reliable. I use it in our steel shoots for 22s. Has about 2,000 trouble free rounds. Definitely recommend it.

 

Wife and I each have a P17 with the red dot slides. She loves hers and the red dot. Actually I bought it for myself and she took it so I had to buy another one. Common occurrence. There is a spot on top of the frame the slide rides over that needs a tiny bit of grease. Ours have been very reliable. I got it to learn how to use the red dot. Takes some getting used to after shooting irons for over 60 years.

 

I would consider one myself based on many good reviews I have seen but I am curious about the polymer mags. Do they hold up well?

 

Considering that the mags cost 1/3 to 1/2 of what all the other manufacturers' mags cost - who really cares if they don't last as long? I don't much like to reload at the range so I bought 8 of them.

They are such fun to shoot that I could use 6 or 7 more mags to really get through one shooting session without reloading - and "we girls" don't stay at the range much more than one hour.

 

I did buy one today we shot around 60 rounds through it we did have to hit the back of the slide with the hell of our hand to or three times with a full mag but once the first couple of shots it ran great ,

 

The mags seem pretty durable, but I don't abuse them (or steel mags) so I'm not really testing them in that way.

 

I bought one based solely off of 22Plinkster’s YouTube review video. I have NOT been disappointed. It’s a great pistol for a great price.

 

I'll be a spoiler here. .......
When I decided to buy a .22 pistol , the P17 was on the list very briefly. The slide design is kinda bizarre. I didn't care for the internal hammer, screwed together frame, 16 round grip, polymer mags and action parts. That's how it weighs 11 ounces and lists for $200.

One plus for can users, threaded barrel. One plus for those that like optics, there's a slide with Crimson Trace red dot mounted for another $200, with a notch that co-exists with the included raised front sight. No re-zeroing if you swap slides.


For me the Ruger SR22 was the winner, so much so that I bought a second one a week later. Almost $500 OTD, but I think I got what I paid for. Only the frame, front sight and rear sight base are polymer. Steel chassis. Exposed hammer for re-strikes, or cock and lock. Loading buttons on mags, both flat or pinky base plates. Two grip sleeves. Ten plus one and 17 ounces is good for me.

Negatives - Magazine safety; manual safety is reversed, Down is Safe. It is a hammer block decocker type.

Options - You can get a threaded barrel model, or buy the barrel separate. Long slide model, extra inch.
It's not designed for optics, which I don't do on handguns anyway. The three dot sights are nice, you can get FO sights.

Kel-Tec review by my favorite guy -

SR22 review by my favorite guy -

 

Another comment about Keltec: I sent an email to Lynne at Keltec saying the tiny screw that should raise and lower the rear sight was missing on my green P 17 and could she send me one? I said I would pay for it if necessary. The next week a padded envelope arrived with a complete rear sight assembly and allen wrench. No problem - glad you received it, she replied!

And, not to bad mouth anyone else's taste in fun plinkers: We each have our own likes and dislikes. I shot a friend's Ruger SR 22 once. Once. I hated it. She loves it.

Ruger has excellent customer service and so does Keltec - So, go ahead and get a couple of each, invite a few friends, and have a grand and glorious fun plinky party! And both guns are so inexpensive that you could even award one as first prize to whoever "wins" a challenging contest.

.....OK ---- I WAS kidding!!!!!! 🥴 👵 🙃

 

Mine is worth the money. At first glance, I thought it was one ugly ass pistol, nothing about it I liked, nothing. But after hearing what people on Youtube had to say about it, I figured I get one, I mean, how bad could it be.
First thing I did with it was giving it a good cleaning. After cleaning, oiling and lubing the underside of the slide, I worked the action bout 25 times. Loaded all my mags (3-10rd).
At the range, I wasn't expecting a 2 1/2 pound trigger and I wasn't expecting the sights to be dead on. I did have 3 duds(federal) and 2 stovepipes (CCI), but after that, everything ran, some stronger, some not so. This was all 20+year old ammo.
I cleaned it when I got home.
I've found out it likes Aquila the best, it'll shoot CCI, Federal and Remington..

 

I love mine. It's never given me any problems and is surprisingly accurate.

 

Do any of you with P17s run them at an indoor range? Is it bad about slinging brass into your face, neck, and inside your shirt?

An SR22 gave me several blisters wearing a t-shirt and hoodie indoor, I'd rather avoid that experience when I start teaching my daughter to shoot.

 

Do any of you with P17s run them at an indoor range? Is it bad about slinging brass into your face, neck, and inside your shirt?

An SR22 gave me several blisters wearing a t-shirt and hoodie indoor, I'd rather avoid that experience when I start teaching my daughter to shoot.

My P 17's are well behaved at the indoor range - except when I stand in a certain spot where the ejected rounds hit the lane divider and bounce off into my face (which is mostly covered) or neck, or sometimes my lower arms. that has not happened for a long time, since I figured where to stand in the booth.

Wear a baseball cap with the brim pulled down almost to touch the top of your wrap around safety glasses. The scariest and most dangerous place for hot brass to land is between your safety glasses and your eyes. Since .22 brass is so narrow, that is all the more reason to not leave open spaces around your glasses and the top and sides of your head.

Wear a turtleneck knit shirt with long sleeves. Those things combined with finding the spot which is "where not to stand" in the booth will give you a pleasant shooting experience.

I would not wear a hoodie to shoot either indoors or outdoors. It leaves way too much open space around the neck area. If you don't have or won't wear turtlenecks, use a bandana size kerchief and wrap it firmly around your neck and pin it in place with a safety pin. I've done that in the summer when shooting outside and it is too hot for a turtleneck and long sleeves.

 

I got one, and was a little skeptical myself...but absolutely buy one with confidence. Works great and is way more gun that what they cost.

 

My wife and I each have one with the red dot slides and the standard slides. They have been very good but I took some fine sandpaper to the under side of the slides. They were really coarse.