.40 Heritage Stealth

B

Big Al

New member
I saw one of these in a local gun store for 295$ brand new. It has a polymer frame that seems exceptionally well made, and a stainless slide. The sights are three vertical bars, instead of dots. They seem kind of cheesy, as the white painted bars seem to have been dabbed on. Other than that, it looks pretty darn nice. It seems pretty small for a .40, Mabye even smaller than my Glock 19, that's a plus.

Have any of you had experience with this pistol? If it's a good buy I may pick it up.



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Glock 19
S&W 629 Classic
KelTec P32

"Oh yeah? Well I talk LOOOUDLY! And I carry a BIIIGGER stick! And I'll use it, too." -Yoesemite Sam
 
I had the 9 mm, and I think it was a fine pistol and a great value. You can do a search and see my previous extolling of its virtues.

It's a good buy. The sights (as you noted) aren't great, and the safety can be a pain. The gas-delayed, fixed-bbl action is very accurate and greatly moderates recoil. The magazines are by Mec-Gar, and are excellent. It is smaller and (much) thinner than a Glock, with a full 4" bbl.

The only reason I got rid of my 9 mm Stealth is that I bought a Glock 33, and I just didn't need the 9 mm anymore. I sold it to a friend, who is very happy with it. Feel free to e-mail me if there's anything more specific I might be able to answer.

cheers,
erich
 
I don't understand why Kel-Tecs are all the rage and no one pays any attention to Heritage Stealths. I think they fit similar niches. I shot a Stealth in 9mm a few years ago. I remember an extremely smooth, light trigger. Sights were so-so. It recoiled directly back (hard) into the web of my hand with no upward flip. The major problem with the Stealths is their safety lever. The guy who owned the gun I shot found that, during drills, he would sometimes hit the magazine release when hunting for the safety lever with his thumb. I recently saw a Stealth at a gun show and found the safety lever had no indents at all, at least on that particular gun, nothing to snap it into or out of safe or fire. Most would carry the gun safety off, so they didn't have to mess with the lever, but it could still move around on it's own. Another thing about the safety is that it is ambidextrous. I found when manipulating the lever with my thumb the lever on the other side of the gun hit my hand, which retarded its motion. So maybe that's why Kel-Tec's are popular and you hardly ever hear about the Heritage Stealths. If Heritage would fix that safety lever their gun would be far more practical than it is now.
 
I've got to agree, glockdoc. I looked seriously at the Kel-Tecs before I bought the Stealth, I've shot both, and IMHO the Stealth is a much better gun. And the safety can be a pain.
 
I own both (in 9mm) but prefer, by a slight bit, the Kel-tec P11. The Stealth bites the web of my hand when I shoot while the P11 doesn't. Its not that its painful, its just that I notice it with the Stealth while the P11 seems very comfortable to shoot.

The P11 is also smaller, seems to weight less and less blocky so it's more concealable. I also like that the P11 has no external safety. There is never any question about whether or not it will shoot if its loaded and the trigger is pulled.

Neither pistol has decent sights but neither are intended for anything other than close range point and shoot.
 
I've read positive reviews of the Stealth, but I also seem to recall that they use an unusual lockup method - as I recall, they bleed some gas off through a port in the barrel and this is used for locking the action. I think they said never to use anything but jacketed bullets because if the gas port were fouled with lead, the gun might not lock-up properly. I'm not even sure I'm remembering this correctly (could even have been a different gun), and it wasn't really a concern or complaint, just an FYI.

Doug
 
Yeah, it's the same action type as used in the HK P7 series (not the .380s). I never had a problem avoiding lead bullets in 9 mm, but if that's an issue for you, you probably don't want a Stealth. (Or a P7.)
 
FWIW, my concealed handgun instructor makes Heritage Stealth 9s and .40s available to his students for the practical exam for the carry license in my state. He must think well of these guns, and I take his choice to be a recommendation.

However, I've seen these guns jam repeatedly during the exam, which is a little disconcerting for the students, who lose points that way. According to the instructor, these guns jam when they aren't cleaned after 300-400 rounds. So why didn't he clean them before he lent them out? I don't know. But I personally would prefer a gun that was a little less sensitive to fouling.
 
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