KelTec P17 Failure to Fire

Shooting the dueling tree with my Red Dot equipped P17 competing against my 4 year old grandson with a 10/22, I experienced a failure to fire. Running CCI Mini-Mag this is such a rare occurrence that I had to investigate the cause.

Turns out the firing pin was gummed up a bit. I could press the back of the firing pin and it would occasionally stick or slowly return to ready. Disassembled the bolt head, cleaned out the channel, lubed with Sentry Tuf-Glide, and reassembled. Problem solved. I had to do the same on my very first P17 years ago…and it has run without issues ever since being Tuf-Glided.

I think the manual discourages disassembly of the bolt, but if you run lots of rounds through your P17, I suggest monitoring your firing pin…or maybe preemptively address it. Unless you need an excuse for being on the wrong side of a four year old’s dueling tree.