my review of the KelTec KSG shotgun

Well hot damn. That's pretty thorough. I may have to get myself a sub2k eventually.

I just put my name on a list for one....

I have a number of Kel-Tec guns and all have had the Internet problems...
The problems only seem to be on the internet..
Just not mine... I have had a great time with my guns.

Sorry you had the issues next time do some research and not be a beta tester,,,,
Good Luck
A Happy Kel-Tec customer.

Lateck,

I have a number of Kel-Tec guns and all have had the Internet problems...
The problems only seem to be on the internet.
Just not mine... I have had a great time with my guns.

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My Kel Tec guns are like that as well, the only "problem" is availability, and that's just solved with persistence and a little extra money. (how much extra is up to the buyer, and can be offset with more persistence)

Sub2k (in the desirable Glock 19 and longer mag version - reliable and as accurate as the sights allow)
p32 (runs like a top with any ammo the right length and shoots to POA out to 20 yards, the tiny grip amplified my errors too much past that, I wonder what kind of groups putting it in a Ransom Rest would produce?)
pf9 (reliable and decently accurate ... not particularly fun to shoot as a 9x19 gun, but the T.I. kit makes it a fun plinker)
pmr30 (reliable, accurate, and came with the old-design barrel and a bag of mixed ammo for ~MSRP when I found someone who had become bored with theirs)

I've seen the RFB in the wild twice, I just don't need a .308 for my purposes.
I've yet to see a KSG in the wild, but then I'm not a shotgun guy and I haven't been looking
A su16 variant seems to be in the works (the Mrs wants one, so she gets one) ... just have to choose and start looking

The rat might not be able to give the ksg a positive review but I can. You guys above are correct. One can find whatever answer one wants on the internet. This might not be a starter gun, but it is a serious weapon in the hands of the skilled gunman. My wife plans on shooting my ksg tomorrow but I wouldn't. give it to her for a primary house gun until she had more time with it.

That's pretty nice customer service. I heard from another person whose rifle went back to them a couple of times. On the 3rd time, they destroyed it and stamped his serial number on a brand new second-gen version of the rifle, and shipped it to him. They declared it a lemon and gave him a brand new gun in a newer model for free.

wriggly said:

Kel-Tech comes up with some neat stuff......on paper, but the problems associated with some of them get swept under the proverbial rug for a long time before being addressed.

Case in point. The red locktite being used to secure the barrel to the pivot block on the Sub2000. One rapid fire session with a high cap mag, is all it takes to break the hold of the locktite, and voila, you now have a gun that allows the barrel to rotate.

They did finally address that issue, and since last September or so, the Sub2000 barrels are now pinned in place. Now if we can get them to come up with a decent front sight.

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Is there documentation concerning this (I googled it and can't find anything)? I've had two Sub-2000's for many years now absent any problem with many rounds fired...? Point me to this "known-flaw" if you would be so kind.

-Cheers

Semi/Pump/Recoil

That shoulder bruise pic strikes home with me. As I get older, I find myself shooting my semi-auto shotguns for multiple reasons, chief among them being the reduced recoil (as well as no need to laboriously pump the gun any more). Don't get me wrong, I still love my pumps but life seems to get shorter and shorter as well as more painful as we age and I no longer want my shoulder to look like hamburger or exert more energy via pump-action. When I was younger I saw litlle to no difference between the two different actions.

Back on topic, thanks for the info on the Kel-Tec as we need all we can get considering the scarcity of the model.

-Cheers

Your shoulder is bruised because you're shooting it off your shoulder and not in the pocket of your shoulder. Move it over a couple inches and this should stop the bruising that you're getting.

I believe it was JShirley that was saying the one he handled at last year's Shotshow had a LOP a little long for them. And that they normally use the LOP the gun is listed as having on their other shotguns. (A standard which is already a little long for some people, which is why some youth stocks or other short stocks can be popular, especially on tactical guns where a more straight when aimed profile can be preferred. Even people that typically use a longer LOP on a hunting or clay gun can prefer slightly shorter LOP for ease of use in the type of defensive roles the KSG is geared towards.)



Yet if the LOP is too long on a bullpup with internals within the stock right next to the shoulder one cannot shorten it, which means the person will have to adjust how they hold it and make due instead.
That could put it further out on the shoulder where recoil has more impact.

What's the effective reach to the forend on the KSG? it doesn't seem that long.

A lot of folks who're running a pistol grip shotgun seem to try to use the grip to push the gun away, which winds up just letting the gun get a running start at them apon recoil.

Using the grip to help keep the gun pulled into the shoulder works much better.

Moral of the thread:

Hope you get a broke KSG. Then Kel-Tec will go through it with a fine-tooth comb and you will end up with one of the best ones out. And maybe some unreleased stuff too!

Good customer service should still always be commended, even if you would have rather not needed it to begin with.

It would appear many of KelTec's popular models get better after being released awhile.

They certainly do innovate and bring designs to market that make them a valuable asset to the firearm community.
Many gun manufacturers just stick with what has worked, decade after decade with very slight differences between models, and slight differences from other manufacturer's firearms.

Of course with innovation by a small company trying to market designs that are radical or unique at a reasonable price point it is to be expected the designs have flaws to be ironed out sometimes.
Many companies the size of KelTec just stick with copying some existing design, like AR-15s or 1911s or slight variations on existing 9mms. Perhaps one slightly unique design.
KelTec comes out with one new yet consistently desirable enough to peak the interest of many people on a regular basis. You have to appreciate that, even if the outcome is not always perfect, or initially there is some hiccups.

While the quality control of the KSG and Kel-Tec may leave something to be desired, the OP probably should have waited for his issues to either be rectified or not before slamming Kel-Tec all over the place. He disparaged Kel-Tec customer support pretty quickly, and then two weeks later he is complimenting them. I hope he now goes back and updates all 10 forums to tell 'the rest of the story'.

I think we need to go back to something never really discussed, at least initially; namely what is the intended use? Was this supposed to be a patrol car gun? I doubt it as i assume most PDs have approved lists. So is it for home defense or as a SHTF weapon? I doubt most would pick a revolutionary design in its first production run from a company that has never made a shotgun before for either use. Sounds like it was a new gun with an uber 'cool factor' which is now, after some initial issues, is now running like a scalded dog.

In the end i think Keltec and the OP both got exactly what they intended. Sure there were some initial issues, but Keltec produced a revolutionary gun that is drawing a lot of attention. And the OP got a cool gun at a decent price, that they now appear happy with, with some extra doodads thrown in by Keltec for playing beta tester.

Sure, the gun was a broken POS initially. You paid a grand for beta junk, but really, what did you expect? It's flipping Keltec here, not Larue.

So in the end, what is the right use for this gun (or the RFB for that matter)? Sounds like it is a cool range toy until you put thousand rounds through it w/o incident. And even then i would probably take a close look at the internals to see how the gun is wearing. I saw someone on a another forum rave at the reliability of their RFB after a thousand rounds, and then he had a catastrophic failure (broken bolt or bolt-carrier linkage). He still raved about the reliability despite the gun going down hard after 1000 trouble free rounds. Sorry, in my book it's a toy until i can get about five times as many rounds through it before failure. Sure, cool gun,draws comments at the range,fun to shoot, yada, yada, yada. But it is not the gun that is going to stay loaded in the bedroom.

Posted today, Guns America KSG range report;

http://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/kel-tec-ksg-15-round-shotgun-range-report/

glad i read this. i was bidding on one on gunbrokers. they are going for over $1500. sorry you had a bad experience. i watched jeff quinn's review of it and he seemed pleased and said it ran flawlessly. his review got me interested in getting one. now i have doubts and probably will pass on it for now.

I must have gotten lucky. i have a Sub 2000 .40 cal that runs without a tick. I also just recently purchased a KSG directly from Kel Tec and it runs with no problems at all. It is very accurate and holds a surprisingly tight pattern with buck. With slugs it is also above average accurate (out to 100 yards so far).

The only problems i had with this Shotgun were:

1. Initially I was jamming up the ejection port with my wrist as I am accustomed to "tucking in" when I shoot long arms. As soon as I adjusted to the ergonomics of the KSG failure to feed/extract/jams were gone.

2. I was short stroking the gun due to the nature of the KSG pump action needing a complete and firm stroke in order to complete the cycle.

As you can see ..the KSG itself was not the problem.. it was a training problem. As soon as I adjusted to the KSG it ran like a champ.

As far as i am concerned this shotgun is a tactical marvel.. it is light even with 15 rounds, it is versatile with its multi-round capability, It has a less perceived recoil than my 870 ( with a small limb-saver its actually quite easy on the shoulder).

Those that say that the KSG offers no real advantages over a conventional shotgun are spitting in the wind. This thing is an awesome weapon that can fit in a backpack.. an awesome "truck-gun".... an outstanding HD shotgun... and with its 18inch barrel you can still reach out and touch someone with slugs. All the tactical advantage of an SBR shotgun and none of the disadvantages.

I have multiple Kel-Tec products and cannot complain. Good quality hardware for a reasonable price to be sure.

For civilian use I see the pump action much like I do the revolver in that it will forever be useful in both defensive and sporting capacities. However I don't see even the Kel-Tec KSG stopping the migration of both LE and Military over to the semi-auto shotgun.

--Happy Holidays

I agree about the semi-auto migration. But i really cant compare any other semi-auto with the KSG atm. I am sure some enterprising company will make an awesome bullpup semi-auto shotgun in the future but I dont see one with 15 round capability showing anytime soon ( I wish it would/could).

I have a souped up/converted Saiga 12 from Lonestar Arms, its dependable as they come with an 18 inch barrel and a 12 round drum, it is pretty amazing... but in an HD setting or "truck Gun" setting I would rather have the KSG.

I really dont see why anybody would have trouble reloading it, let alone cutting their finger. I reload mine from the bottom with very little effort now.. all it takes is a bit of practice. Switching the tube selector is no problem either.

However I don't see even the Kel-Tec KSG stopping the migration of both LE and Military over to the semi-auto carbine.

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Fixed that for you. I know many PDs that went from the pump shotgun to the semiauto rifle. One PD went to automatic shotguns and then to AR15s. Carbines are becoming king in the LE world of long guns.

FIVETWOSEVEN said:

Fixed that for you. I know many PDs that went from the pump shotgun to the semiauto rifle. One PD went to automatic shotguns and then to AR15s. Carbines are becoming king in the LE world of long guns.

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That's too funny as I was thinking the very same thing while posting...The SG (be it semi or pump) is definitely becoming more of a "relic" in terms of its once feared tactical prowess. However and truth be told, they never had much of a presence in the military outside of a few particularly defined roles (door breaching etc.). Conversely and as we all know they always played a prominent role in LE.

Not easy for me to accept its declinig influence to say the least as I am a life-long shotgun afficianado to be sure--but it's still too early to write their official "tactical obitiatiary" quite yet .

Fads are everywhere. They come and go.