Its light weight and flat profile make it suitable for all-day carry. And with 16 rounds in the gun and 12 in the spare, I felt more than adequately armed. The KelTec P15 is an excellent defensive pistol. An MSRP of $450 makes it affordable for most consumers.

It is into this economic reality that KelTec introduces the P15, a serious concealed-carry and self-defense double-stack 9 mm Luger handgun with enhanced features and a suggested retail price of just $450.

Compact and maximum firepower generally don't go hand in hand, however the KelTec P15 offers both in a uniquely small package. This pistol stands at just 5 inches tall, 6.6 inches long and 7/8th inches wide while still housing a 4 inch barrel.

At 25.2 ozs. fully loaded, the metal P15 is still nipping at the heels of the loaded weight of most 15-shot polymer-frame 9 mms. As demonstrated by other metal-frame versions of polymer handguns, such as Smith & Wesson's M&P, an alloy-frame pistol need only be slightly heavier than its polymer twin.

Cocoa, Florida Founded by George Kellgren in 1991 and based in Cocoa, Florida, the company has manufactured firearms since 1995, starting with semi-automatic pistols and expanding to rifles and then shotguns. Kel-Tec is a privately owned Florida corporation.

Kel-Tec's PMR-30 was the most popular semi-automatic pistol in the United States, beating out Smith & Wesson's M&P9 Shield and Sig Sauer's P938.

The Kel-Tec P15 9mm semi-automatic pistol , freshly introduced at SHOT Show 2022, is Kel-Tec's first full-size 9mm pistol for concealed carry and personal, home and property defense, featuring a striker-fired, 2,2 kg / 5 lbs. trigger with a long reset for safe and reliable operation.

Slide but most importantly Kel-Tec. Added a serviceable trigger. I mean not even serviceable. I would say it's actually quite good within this class of compact carry pistols.

Key point: These guns are still widely used and are certainly affordable. But they are not known for being high quality. Kel-Tec is one of the most polarizing companies in the American gun industry, known for making exotic designs at cheap prices, but also with quality control issues.

30-round Kel-Tec PMR-30

Kel-Tec is known for making interesting firearms, but their reputation for reliability isn't exactly stellar. I have shot some and they work well enough, but even fans of Kel-Tec firearms find you have to do some “tuning” to get them to be reliable.

Cocoa, Florida Founded by George Kellgren in 1991 and based in Cocoa, Florida, the company has manufactured firearms since 1995, starting with semi-automatic pistols and expanding to rifles and then shotguns. Kel-Tec is a privately owned Florida corporation.