And IMO, Kel-Tec's QC issues are more with them taking chances on bleeding edge designs, rather than "cheapness".
P32 - Is the lightest slimmest locked-breech auto pistol on the market.
P3AT - Ditto but for .380ACP.
PF9 - Ditto but for 9mm.
P11- Haven't heard of any issues/complaints in a long time...
PMR30 - 30 shot .22mag plinker/pack gun.
And keep in mind, NONE of the super-tiny single-stack polymer framed autos has gotten out unscathed. Kahr PM9's have had issues. Rorbaugh had to go back to a metal frame and gave up on the carbon fiber/polymer (plus costs like $900 or whatever). When the went and blatantly copied Kel-Tec, Ruger's LCP had that infamous recall on their LCP .380. The Walther PPS "cheats" by giving it that tall fivehead slide to add extra mass to ensure feed/cycling reliability, and aside from it's thin profile, has weight/size figures more like a compact auto, than a true sub-compact auto.
Glock hasn't even taken a stab at a sub-compact yet, partly due to import issues, but that's gone away now that Smyrna GA has full production capability for slides etc. If they don't come out with a single stack micro-9 at SHOT going on this week... They're not making one because they're afraid to.
Then there's the other Kel-Tec innovations. Like SUB9/SUB2000, whole rifle folds in half. The RFB .308 bullpup, where apparently they've gotten the very first production bullpup with a good trigger ever to market.
So I think Kel-Tec's reliability reputation, whatever that may be when you take the "common knowledge" out of it, (kind of like the Glock KB-thing/rumors) and look at the real failure return numbers, if you could, it's because they're taking chances on the actual nature of the product.
