Kel-Tec CMR 30?

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helitack32f1

helitack32f1

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So, anyway, I was browsing the LGS as usual and there was this unique gun. I couldn't stop contemplating it and finally spent some time researching it online and decided to put the thing on layaway. Anybody out there have any experience with one or own one? It will be awhile until I am able to pick it up but I really can't wait to go play with it.

I have never been a fan of KelTec but, maybe I might become one after all.

Here is an article from awhile ago that has some nice pics for those that do not know what a CMR 30 is. It was formerly known as the RMR 30.


http://www.alloutdoor.com/2014/10/20/keltec-cmr30-carbine-nears-public-release/
 
Getting the 22 Mag to work reliably in an autoloader is a neat trick that many have tried to accomplish...and failed. The KelTec's in 22 Mag seem to work sometimes...but not well enough that you can really count on them...at least from what I've seen. I don't own either pistol or carbine but from all reviews they seem a bit spotty in the function dept.

I believe the manual will have ammo recommendation/s and it would be good to follow that if you expect it to run reliably. Sad thing is the ammo they recommend is often not available...so you run what you can find and it might very well choke a lot on it. Time will tell I guess!:)

Don't get me wrong about KelTec...I LOVE their stuff (mostly) and own several pistols but it seems that you have to adopt sort of a 'tinkerers' mentality with them sometimes. If you expect to rip it from the box (any of their guns) and have it work perfectly you might be disappointed. If you're willing to 'tinker' with cleaning, polishing, perhaps altering a spring here and there (or whatever is causing that one to malfunction) then I believe they mostly can be made to run reliably.

My P-32 has custom springs and runs (so far...knock on wood!) 100% with Federal ball ammo, as well as the P-11 which runs Remington Golden Saber 147's (handloaded) but won't run anything lighter well. The PLR-16 is the least fussy and seems to run well with anything I've stuffed in it..but gas operation is quite a bit less dependent on springs and frictions than the other methods. The 22 Mag uses bleed holes to retard the bolt (I think..going from memory here) and depending on the variation of ammo you use it might fail to cycle fully. If I had one of them...I'd get a couple extra recoil springs and gradually trim them down until it cycled with the particular ammo at hand if it was choking by short-stroking which seems to be the most common affliction on them.

AMT tried making 22 Mag 'Automag' pistols a long time ago and they were very inconsistent operating beasts. I sorted one for a fellow and the issue on it was the hammer spring was being pushed into coil-bind when the bolt was being blown back. Simply trimming the coils until it worked did the trick and the gun actually ran well. I don't know why they seem so weird to get right...but prepare yourself to tinker and you'll end up loving the gun.:)
 
RecoilRob said:
Getting the 22 Mag to work reliably in an autoloader is a neat trick that many have tried to accomplish...and failed. The KelTec's in 22 Mag seem to work sometimes...but not well enough that you can really count on them...at least from what I've seen. I don't own either pistol or carbine but from all reviews they seem a bit spotty in the function dept.

I believe the manual will have ammo recommendation/s and it would be good to follow that if you expect it to run reliably. Sad thing is the ammo they recommend is often not available...so you run what you can find and it might very well choke a lot on it. Time will tell I guess!:)

Don't get me wrong about KelTec...I LOVE their stuff (mostly) and own several pistols but it seems that you have to adopt sort of a 'tinkerers' mentality with them sometimes. If you expect to rip it from the box (any of their guns) and have it work perfectly you might be disappointed. If you're willing to 'tinker' with cleaning, polishing, perhaps altering a spring here and there (or whatever is causing that one to malfunction) then I believe they mostly can be made to run reliably.

My P-32 has custom springs and runs (so far...knock on wood!) 100% with Federal ball ammo, as well as the P-11 which runs Remington Golden Saber 147's (handloaded) but won't run anything lighter well. The PLR-16 is the least fussy and seems to run well with anything I've stuffed in it..but gas operation is quite a bit less dependent on springs and frictions than the other methods. The 22 Mag uses bleed holes to retard the bolt (I think..going from memory here) and depending on the variation of ammo you use it might fail to cycle fully. If I had one of them...I'd get a couple extra recoil springs and gradually trim them down until it cycled with the particular ammo at hand if it was choking by short-stroking which seems to be the most common affliction on them.

AMT tried making 22 Mag 'Automag' pistols a long time ago and they were very inconsistent operating beasts. I sorted one for a fellow and the issue on it was the hammer spring was being pushed into coil-bind when the bolt was being blown back. Simply trimming the coils until it worked did the trick and the gun actually ran well. I don't know why they seem so weird to get right...but prepare yourself to tinker and you'll end up loving the gun.:)
Click to expand...
I have had to do some mental preparation before deciding to purchase this thing. Especially when it comes to the mag loading process, that actually angers me a bit. I was an early adopter of the Walther P22 and hated it with a passion due to lack of reliability and with that I was told "Well, if you just load the magazine perfectly it works great". IMO, you should just be able to shove the rounds in there and shoot! Yet, here I am buying a gun that demands a very specific mag loading technique. But, at least I know that going in. So far, reports seem to indicate that the carbine is a lot more reliable than the pistol.

I think it will be a fun gun and have watched quite a few more vids on the thing and can't wait to give it a go! I have to admit I was sucked in by the fact that the thing is darn near impossible to find and when you do, people are overcharging for them. I love and appreciate my LGS for not being on the overcharging bandwagon. They never overcharge for .22LR or .22 WMR either.
 
I have two CMR 30's and two PMR 30's.
All of mine have run fine out of the box, no tinkering needed.
The pistols have both been back to kel-tech.

The first a very early production model had no issues, but had a "droop" in the frame where it meets the end of the slide. I called Kel-tech and told them the pistol worked fine, and asked if the droop could be a concern in the future. They told me to send it in and in two weeks it was back with a new frame.

The second again worked flawlessly out of the box. I bought the extended barrel/flash hider. With it installed it shot 18 times and the gun locked up, while looking for the brass I found it 30 feet away. Again I sent it in and in two weeks it was back in my possession. Has worked great ever since!

Kel-Tech has great customer service!

The carbines have been trouble free, and with a Leupold VX1 2X7 I can shoot 5 shot groups you can cover with a nickle.

I am well pleased, and am confident you will be too.


As for ammo, I have bought 8000 in the past 2 months (recommended flavors) for near pre-panic prices. There is a trick to doing this which I will not share here, but I will say it is due to networking with others who seek the same thing.
STW
 
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Thanks for the info! I'm getting very excited about this thing. Glad to hear reliability has been good too.

I have not really looked into ammo yet, will start getting into that after awhile, as the pick-up date nears. Or, as I acquire money over the summer. Bummer is, I will be gone for around 4 months throughout the summer so may not even see the gun until mid to late September! Gives me lots of time to search out ammo, accessories etc. and stock up on good supplies before I pick it up. Is there a particular ammo that works better for you in the CMR 30s?
 
All ammo I've tried has worked equally well, it has all been CCI, Hornady, and even the win super-x worked with it's cases that split. the winchester was not accurate when a case split, but still cycled.
STW
 
I considered both the CMR30 and PMR30 but shied away because of the difficulty of finding ammo. They both look like really neat guns, especially the PMR30! Instead I am looking for one of the gen 2 sub 2000's. I can reload 9mm for about the same price I would pay for .22wmr.
 
Ammo is not hard to get, just sign up for notification with the usual suspects, and be prepared to buy when the chance arises. Just scored another CMR for less than msrp........... same thing with the guns.
STW
 
I was really excited about this rifle back when they first debuted it in '10 or '11 as the RMR-30. Over the next few years I would have thrown money at Keltec to get one, but they were always a couple quarters from production. To be honest, I had kind of lost interest, especially with the rising cost of .22mag, but this thread is sort of making me think again...

I'm not sure exactly what I'd use one for, other than to put my sparrow on it and have some blasting fun. Might make a good short range Coyote rig in free states, or even a pig rifle in the states that require you to use rimfire or shotguns part of the year.

Where are folks getting them at MSRP or less?
 
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My CMR-30 has run well. I have only put a few mags worth of ammo down range so far. I wouldn't say it was Glock reliable, but I didn't have any issues with the gun. I have only been close to 2" groups at 100 yards, but I have a Vortex 2-7X32 coming which I will try it with.

I have some Speer Gold Dot 22 mag ammo meant for shorter barrels (pistols). It hasn't worked to well. It doesn't want to feed reliably. I believe it worked okay, but in my PMR-30, but I need to work on that some more.

My 22 mag ammo came either from Palmetto State Armory or gun shows. There always seem to be a few sellers at Houston gun shows even if it isn't cheap.
 
Never heard of this before, looks like a really cool gun.

I could see this as a fun plinker to take camping. Just throw the gun and a few boxes of 22 mags in a backpack and you'll forget you even had them.
 
One of the big problems with large capacity 22 Mag magazines is how they handle the rims. Remember the original 22 Mag pistol the Grendel P-30? Another George Kellgren design and IIRC they were fussy about how you loaded their mags being as the rims MUST be kept in order so they don't rimlock...and I'd imagine the new PMR is going to be a similar deal.

The Walther P-22 was mentioned earlier about their magazine problems and I ran into/through that too. They eventually figured that the rims needed more room laterally and cut slots in either side of the mag for them so they didn't nose down when feeding and this worked well. My first P-22 suffered from misfeeding until I cut the mags for clearance and now I'm wondering how the KelTec accomodates their rims in the 30 round mags? Likely isn't enough room to let them splay out sideways very far so it might be up to the loader to get them right for it to run smoothly. If I ever come upon a large cache of 22 Mag ammo those little guns sure are interesting!:)
 
The Grendel p-30 was and still is not, fussy about how you load it's mags, the pmr's, CMR's, however are fussy. I have found a solution to the problem of loading Kel-Tech .22 wmr (and Grendel p-30) magazines. Will elaborate later.
STW

P.S. The Kel-Tech and Grendel 30 round magazines have a divider in the rear middle of the magazine which make them a double/single stack, magazine. very innovative, no one else has even tried to copy.......Yet, but one hell of an engineering feat!
 
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I've never had to perform any voodoo before loading my PMR mags, I don't see what all the fuss is about. How do you load them improperly?
 
ttarp said:
I've never had to perform any voodoo before loading my PMR mags, I don't see what all the fuss is about. How do you load them improperly?
Click to expand...
They claim you MUST rap the back of the mag on a solid surface after loading every 5 rounds for the first 20 or so rounds and then whack it after every round for the last 10. Something like that anyway. Seems silly.
 
So, I didn't realize finding the .22WMR was going to be so difficult. Just for the heck of it, I hit a gun shop, Wal-Mart, Big5, and a pawn shop and no one had 22 mag. The Big5 even had plenty of .22LR for the first time I have seen it since .22 disappeared in the first place. Guess I will hit up my LGS tomorrow, since I know they had some when I put the CMR on layaway.
 
helitack32f1 said:
So, I didn't realize finding the .22WMR was going to be so difficult. Just for the heck of it, I hit a gun shop, Wal-Mart, Big5, and a pawn shop and no one had 22 mag. The Big5 even had plenty of .22LR for the first time I have seen it since .22 disappeared in the first place. Guess I will hit up my LGS tomorrow, since I know they had some when I put the CMR on layaway.
Click to expand...
Yeah, we are shooting it all up.

Your best bet is to either look for online sellers (gunbot.net) or try a local gun show ammo seller.
 
My LGS has Hornady V-Max for $15 a box, has anyone given that stuff a try in the CMR? I will have to spend some more time online. I will be traveling a bit this summer so I will make it a point to look wherever I can for it. The places online I keep finding show good prices combined with "temporarily out of stock" of every kind.
 
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