I’ll admit it: I sometimes like the unusual, the uncommon, the strange. If my wife and I are at a restaurant and I can try something new, for the most part, I’ll try it. Buffalo? I’ll try it. Elk? I’ll try it. Imported (name your favorite fish only available fresh caught from some hard to reach place)? I’ll try it.
Frankly, I’ll try just about anything but mountain oysters.
Sure, that tendency bleeds over to other areas of my life, too, such as music tastes and… guns that catch my eye.
Apparently, I’m not the only person like that. Some people clearly like the different, the unusual, the “weird,” and one writer put a spotlight on one particular pistol for that very reason. Travis Pike writes,
I like weird guns, and I like cheap guns. When a gun checks both of those boxes, I’m all in!
The KelTec P17 I bought does just that (let’s be honest, most KelTecs do).
Fair enough. At least he’s upfront about why this pistol interests him. Pike’s thoughts on the best uses for this gun? “Plinking and target practice” and useful for helping new shooters to learn on. The perfect use for the P17, though? From Pike:
I see this gun as a kit gun, which isn’t a term we hear often these days.
Kit guns are a weird old niche firearm genre designed to be handy little working guns. Hunters and trappers might carry one. Fishermen might shove one in a tackle box. Hikers would be smart to carry one, and so would loggers and practically anyone who needed a small, light, and, cheap sidearm.
And the final verdict?
If you asked me on the street, “Should I buy a P17?” – it depends. What do you want it for? Fun? The tackle box?
Then I’d say yes.
If you want a gun for serious defense, competition, or similar uses, then it’s a no from me. The reliability issue is my main concern, but the point of aim/point of impact issue is also noteworthy.
If you’re like me and you just like guns, you’ll excuse the P17, but if you want a true performer, then there are better options.
Pike seems to like the P17 overall, but it wouldn’t be his go-to gun.
There are people who absolutely love the P17, though, and you can watch one in the video below.
So, should you get a Kel Tec P17?
Obviously, that depends on you and your needs.
If you’re looking for a gun for plinking, as a kit gun, as a fun gun to shoot for target practice and for people to learn on, though (and at a budget price), then, the P17 may be a pistol to put on your shopping list.
