KELTEC P15
Striker-Fired KelTec P15 9mm Pistol
The world of higher capacity micro-compact handguns seems to be growing daily. SIG started it and everyone’s followed in their very big footsteps.
The latest and one of the more unique entrants comes from KelTec. Unique is a word often used to describe KelTec products, and the P15 isn’t any different. The P15 is KelTec’s entry into the micro-compact market and provides a very lightweight, very thin carry option. In fact, the polymer model seems to be the lightest, thinnest micro-compact on the market.
Keltec brought out two new guns at SHOT. What does Travis think of them?
KelTec P15 is an odd company. They make creative, interesting firearms with varying degrees of effectiveness. In terms of handguns, they tend to make ’em small and concealable. They’ve done tons of innovative guns like the P32 and PF9 were early deep carry guns. Recently, KelTec P15 dived into the Micro Compact market with the brand new P15. They premiered the weapon at SHOT and took the world by surprise by premiering two new models of the P15 series.
THE P15 SPECS AND FEATURES
Caliber – 9mm
Weight Unloaded – 14 ounces
Magazine Capacity – 15
Overall Length – 6.6 inches
Barrel Length – 4 inches
Height – 5 inches
Width – .875 inches
I want you to pay attention to two specs, the width, and the weight. It’s the lightest and thinnest micro-compact pistol on the market. It’s absurdly thin and light. It’ll slip right into your waistband and disappear with ease. It’s tall, with a longer barrel than average. It’s more akin to a SIG P365XL than a P365.
Fifteen rounds are enough 9mm to solve most problems. It’s an incredible feat. The KelTec P15 is a striker-fired gun with high visibility sights. The weapon has a reversible magazine release and a grip safety. The grip safety is the only external safety present.
WHICH P15?
If you were to navigate yourself to the KelTec webpage, you’d see the P15 with a polymer frame. However, SHOT 2022 showed an additional metal frame model. This model likely weighs a bit more than the polymer model, but a little weight can help with recoil. The metal-framed KelTec P15 also had an optics-ready option, but the polymer frame models will likely have optic compatibility.
The optics ready at SHOT is an early prototype. KelTec P15 ditched the single slot rail on the metal KelTec P15 frame as well. What I like most about the metal frame are the attractive wooden grip panels. The gun looks vaguely steampunkish and certainly has that weird KelTec P15 flair to it.
Both models proved to have fantastic triggers. KelTec P15 promises a 5-pound trigger, and it’s a very nice 5-pound trigger. The triggers crisp with a little take-up and a nice break. Not to be mean, but KelTec P15 isn’t well known for its nice triggers. The KelTec P15 breaks the mold in more ways than one.
Gun Review: KelTec P15
MEL DIXON, MANAGING EDITOR
I got excited about the KelTec P15 last year when their team teased it on a call. A 15+1-round, highly concealable 9 mm, you say? Oh, and it’s KelTec P15 first striker-fired design? Yep, we’re interested. So, I reached out to them immediately. And then I waited. And waited … the KelTec P15 team’s intentions were one thing, but realization was another (like everything else in the post-pandemic marketplace).
Finally, the finished KelTec P15 was revealed at SHOT Show. The polymer version we were expecting was there, but so was an aluminum walnut-grip version. If you like classic styling, you can’t help but notice that gun.
The biggest selling point of the KelTec P15 for me is its width—a mere 0.875 inches. On the range, my smallish hands like that, but of course where it really matters is in carrying concealed.
Following closely behind width as a selling point is the gun’s 15+1 possible capacity, a fairly impressive cargo hold for such a small gun. Of course, it’s even more concealable with its 12+1 flush-fit magazine.
Both versions of the P15 have a back-strap grip safety. Many people don’t like these—and I certainly don’t love them—but they are preferable to needing to operate a thumb safety in stressful situations, as adrenaline usually strips us of fine motor skills and full brain functioning.
In real-life, defensive-gun-use situations, being able to simply pick up the gun and fire it without fiddling around with anything small is a bonus. And this grip safety is well-designed enough that I didn’t find it to be a distraction while shooting; however, if you really hate the grip safety, and if it’s legal to do this in your area, it’s easy to deactivate it with a simple turn of a screw once the slide is off.
Turning this screw will also deactivate the magazine disconnect if you like (which stops the gun from shooting without the magazine in), or you can have one without the other. That’s a tidy solution.
Both KelTec P15 models are also optics-ready. A removable polymer cutout section on the top of the slide allows you to install a red-dot sight, such as the Shield RMSc or the Holosun 507K.
If you’d like to mount a flashlight or laser, however, you’ll need to stick to the polymer version of the KelTec P15 , which has a single-slot Picatinny rail for such uses.
Out of the box, the polymer model has a unique “gator” texture pattern to make it easier to grip on the sides, plus cutouts in the polymer front and rear (as well as on the front of the trigger guard for the Lena Miculek types). The aluminum-framed version comes with nice walnut grips and subtler stippling on the front- and back-straps, but unlike the polymer version, which only offers an alternate back-strap, these grips are interchangeable.
KelTec P15 placed the triangular mag-release in a common spot—sort of bridging between the grip and into the slightly undercut trigger guard where it meets the grip. This release is reversible for lefties.
The sights on the KelTec P15 are a mix of Tritium and Hi Viz polymer—intuitive to use and easy to see, day or night.
I decided to shoot both versions of this gun and far preferred the aluminum frame to the polymer—unsurprising, given that metal guns soak up some of the recoil effects. Both guns performed well and were easy to operate. The only exception on ease of operation for me was the magazine release: Not only is it far forward, but the angle of depression is diagonally into the grip, so I would need a much longer thumb to achieve that angle with my dominant hand.
KelTec P15
For the two-stage trigger, reset seemed to exist all the way forward, but the trigger pull overall was very light and smooth. For such a small gun, it was remarkably easy to shoot accurately.
KelTec P15
So, was it worth the wait? Yes. I would recommend the KelTec P15 to people seeking a concealed-carry 9 mm, provided they can reach that mag-release button a little better than I can. This gun, especially at this price, is a very respectable choice that is intuitive to use, has a higher-capacity than most pistols close to its size and delivers accurate stopping power. It therefore fits most people’s needs just perfectly.
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