Why I take things apart- a gun post

My buddy Kenny gives me a bad time, sometimes, because I am prone to taking things apart. Its a natural curiosity, really, considering my DNA and heredity. And today I took apart a pistol before taking it out to a range to shoot it. The pistol is a Kel-Tec PF-9 that belongs to my buddy, Loc. He left it for me while he is out of town, for me to shoot it and decide if I want to buy it.

So I intended to take it out to shoot this morning but before I left the house, I checked out this gun in my shop, just to be certain everything was functioning. Look at this picture and be sure to click on the thumbnail to see it full size.



And so, using the pictures and descriptions on the Kel-Tec Owners Group forum, I took it apart. I had to tap the firing pin out of the channel that it rides in as it would not fall out on its own power as it is supposed to.

Click this picture and see the full size photo of the junk I was able to flush out of that firing pin channel-


If you aren't certain what's so important about that first picture, let me fill you in. That pin sticking out from the flat, vertical surface is the firing pin. It is supposed to be spring loaded so that it does NOT stick out except when the hammer strikes it. The firing pin should NEVER be visible and sticking out of a semi-automatic gun's bolt like this one was!

Why? Because if this gun had been loaded and then the slide released to load the first round into the chamber, this gun would have gone bang immediately! Without touching the trigger, this gun would have emptied 7 rounds in whichever direction it might have been pointed in a full automatic mode with no way to stop it!

This gun was completely unsafe in the way I found it. I might have never noticed this critical condition if I had not been paying close attention this morning. But I was able to remove the firing pin, clean the channel and get the gun reassembled into a functional firearm.

So here's my warning to Kel-Tec PF-9 owners- if you've never removed your firing pin and spring- DO IT NOW! Be very aware of this potentially dangerous circumstance and make sure your gun is clean, inside and out!