Kel-Tec RFB

[Kosh75287]

Has anyone who DOES NOT work for Kel-Tec seen one of these rifles? They look very appealing to me, and I'd LOVE to own one, unless someone knows something about them that might turn me off from it.

Has anyone shot one?


http://www.keltecweapons.com/our-guns/rfb/rifle/

 

[FSJeeper]

I own one and love it. I bought an early 5xx serial number one and have had zero issues with it with about 500 rounds through it. This rifle is a game changer. Full power and short and handy.

I have a Socom and National Match M1A for reliability and am testing this for curiosity sakes. So far, I love it.

Have not handloaded for it yet but it does consistent 1.5" groups with Federal premiums in 165 grain bullets.

There is a lot of bad press on them, but I have zero FTF's or any other issues with it. Just like my M1A's.

The big thing about them is that they handle like a fine over and under shotgun, shoot a high power round, and are accurate.

I take clients out shooting a lot and this is the most wanted one to shoot out of all of them.

Fun, fun, fun.

 

[JustinJ]

There are lots of people who have reported pretty bad experiences with multiple trips to keltek for repairs. It seems a bit of a gamble unless they've got the kinks worked out. Keltek seems great at innovation but lousy at execution.

FSJeeper, what do you define as consistent 1.5" groups? Do you mean five shot groups in which all the sets together average to 1.5" or something else?

 

[mastiffhound]

Check out military arms channel on youtube, he has had nothing but bad keltec products cross his path. I would stay away for a few more years, The RFB really looked great out of the gate and I wanted one bad. I decided to wait and see if the prices would come down to at least msrp and I'm glad I did. Lot's of problems and very little coming from the factory doomed them for me for the time being.

 

[Ian]

I had a chance to shoot a very early one (two digit SN), and it had a lot of problems. It sounds like those issues have been fixed, but I haven't gotten to try a newer one.

 

[mac66]

I have a friend who has one which I have shot. It is basically an FN/FAL based bullpup. It had a surprisingly mild recoil and was a lot of fun to shoot.

One of the times I shot it was at an Appleseed shoot. About a dozen people shot it without any issues. You know there is always 'that guy' that can't make a pencil work let alone anything mechanical. I was impressed.

 

[Collector0311]

Had a guy shooting one next to me on the range.
Heard expletives from his bay about every tenth shot.
He cased it after about 15min and pulled out an AR. The cursing stopped.

 

[TIMC]

I have one of the 1st Generation rifles, very early S/N. I did have a gas block failure on the second round out of the gun but they promptly fixed it and have had no problems in the several years since. I find the rifle to be a nice shooter, very easy to handle in tight areas, Decent accuracy with my groups running about 1.25 MOA using 168 grain bullets. They gun also performs great with a suppressor. I have taken several pigs and deer with mine so it also makes a cool hunting rifle.

With all that said I will add I do like my AR-10 better but have no plans to get rid of the RFB.

 

[W L Johnson]

Have had one since they came out. Once I figured out the right gas settings for certain ammo I've had zero issues. Not getting the gas settings right I think is the source of 90% of the problems people have had with this rifle. Most common mistake is over gassing which will usually cause empties to jam on the eject chute ramp.

 

[jrkotz]

I'm currently selling one, NIB, if you guys are interested.

http://www.armslist.com/posts/22863...es-for-sale--keltec-rfb-hunter-target-24--nib

Thanks!

 

[JustinJ]

If the idea of a .308 bullpup is what the OP finds appealing, as I understand it there are conversions available for the Saiga .308 and the M1A. There is also a bullpup bolt action .308 I believe.

 

[W L Johnson]

If the idea of a .308 bullpup is what the OP finds appealing, as I understand it there are conversions available for the Saiga .308 and the M1A. There is also a bullpup bolt action .308 I believe.

I have the Saiga Kushnapup conversion kit (on a 12ga but it's the same kit), the RFB is far superior to the kit. The M1A conversion is far more expensive when you factor in the fact the base M1A is going to cost you what the RFB does (1500-1600) plus you still have to buy the kit which isn't cheap either.

 

[Caliper_Mi]

I have seen precisely one RFB. It's now in my collection. Mac66 has shot it.

It's a blast to shoot. I have yet to have a malfunction with the rifle, but I also adjusted the gas system with one brand of ammo and have stuck with that so far. The 2nd gen gas system has something over 40 clicks so that it can be adjusted to about any load, with a suppressor or not.

It is incredibly compact being just a hair over 26". Definitely gotta be careful with muzzle control because it's very easy to muzzle sweep yourself with this rifle. It is no lightweight (what .308 semi is), but the compactness makes it feel much lighter than it is. It's not the usual all-polymer Kel Tec setup. Lots of steel in this rifle.

I definitely recommend buying one if you see one. It you buy it and don't like it, it shouldn't be hard to sell at all. I don't think you'll be selling it though!