Photo Editor's Note:  The photo of the weapon is real, only the hand  was provided by a professional stunt hand model.  No hands were injured in the filming of this particular shot, couple eardrums left the building.

This pistol on the left gets more abusive treatment  in a week than most people’s pistols get in a year.  Dust from bead blasters, grit from polishing wheels and chemicals from plating processing tanks have been all over this handgun.  I test fire the pistol several rounds every week on my indoor range before whipping down and blowing the goop out of it with the high pressure air nozzle. It has never failed to work. 

The KEL-TEC .32 is virtually print-less as a concealed carry.  Recently, I added a Kel-Tec 32 caliber to my carry guns.  The 9mm rides on my hip and the .32 is pocketed.  Fully loaded, these two pistols weigh only 22 ounces together. Sometimes I have to check to make sure their still there.  If you look at the carry section I’m not going to try and tell you that my Kel Tec’s are the finest firearms I own but the most convenient one's I own and carry daily. That says it....
 
Also they are the least expensive firearms I own. Why do I carry Kel-Tecs?  There are several good reasons.  First, they work.  That’s real damn important if you have to use it to save your butt.  Second, they’re extremely comfortable to carry.  This is especially true in hot weather conditions like when it's 95 degrees and 95 percent here in Florida when you can’t wear a jacket, or a vest and you don’t like wearing your shirt outside your pants or no shirt at all.  

The 32 auto’s fully loaded with 8 rounds weigh only 8 ounces.  Unless you wear skin tight pants, or consider ballet part of your fitness program, it doesn’t print at all in your front pocket.  32 ACP Mag-Safes make this a formidable defensive weapon.

These pistols cost under $305-370.00 retail.  If you have to use a firearm to save your life, or someone else’s, you can be guaranteed the firearm will be taken as evidence by the Police.  They can’t help it, that’s their job.  By the time the details are sorted out you could be without that firearm for six months.  No one in the Property Room is taking care of your gun. Would you rather have a $350.00 stock gun confiscated, or a $500.00 to $1,000.00 stock gun confiscated?  I don’t think a C.P.A. is necessary to handle this question.  

By the way, these pistols have a lifetime warranty.  Not a bad deal for you the consumer. Prior to the Kel-Tec's the only small weapons were totally uncontrollable derringers,  super expensive custom cut downs and exotic specialty guns.  Oh there was another category of small weapons known as the pot metal or zinc "pieces of junk"  which were so bad, they most likely saved more lives by mal-functioning than had they functioned. Thank goodness they were built that bad.

The Newest Kel-Tec is the .380 2nd edition slide shown here.   This is our photographers new backup, a Kel-Tec in .380 with porting, plating, trigger and extractor enhanced by Bob Cogan. 

AL'S WORDS; "What a delight to shoot" says Al who usually pulls the trigger on the cameras.  "It's small but still effective with nice ergonomics and the porting kept the group tight and even with break-in ammo and a few double taps.

I used  "BLAZER" and it performed flawless. It was very comfortable to shoot. I have had several of the small backups but none equaled the ease at which I was comfortable with this weapon. The trigger staged beautifully.

It operates similar to my ported Glock 23, a little hard for concealed wear without a jacket in the 95 degree Florida heat.  And it's really hard to hide a STI double magazine anything with a comp in shorts and shirt riding a bike. 

Important Read this:  There are larger models available in 9mm, with some 40mm and 357 SIG's floating around. These pistols will accept high cap S&W magazines.  Sometime minor fitting is needed in the magazine catch slot in the magazine to lock them up.  So in 9mm you can carry a 15 rd backup magazine with 11 rounds ready to go in your 14 oz. pistol.  

Kel-Tec offered a 9mm upgrade to 40Cal., and 357 SIG at one time.  They are not offered from the factory any more. So if you come across one at a gun show bear in mind they require a little technique.
Like with any other semi-auto, if the weapon is held correctly everything is fine and the weapon cycles properly. If your wrists are weak and the weapon rides back with the discharge, you might have a stovepipe, or failure to eject the shell.
The more powerful the cartridge, the more the chance of a malfunction.  Just clear the weapon and use a double hand grip like with a modified weaver stance and have some Wheaties for breakfast instead of those pancakes. Squeezing a rubber ball is good for this too. Good for any shooter.

In other words, the 9mm, .40 cal and the .357 were not for the limp wristed shooter. 
The full size calibers recoil severely. That’s not Kel Tec’s fault, it’s those who ask for it. They build what you, the consumer wants and got it.  A reasonably priced super lightweight carry gun in a full blown man stopping caliber.  Recoil and muzzle rise is the price you pay for this. 

Don’t go away yet.  AP & W has a cure for this problem.  We can port your slide and barrel for $108.00 and reduce recoil and muzzle flip by 50% on these kits if you come across one.  I consider this the most important modification on these pistols, I shoot a lot because of what I do for a living.  I’m 6’2” and have a 48” chest, 38” waist, grip like steel and I have a difficult time controlling these pistols rapid fire.  Read the section on porting in the Web Site and pay close attention to the stray bullet part.  If you can hire an Attorney for $108.00, I don’t think I’d want him to represent me. Stray bullets do that.

Last thought and this is important. These are defensive pistols.  Do not evaluate them as target pistols.  Fifteen yards and under is optimum shooting distance.