Regular readers have probably already figured this out by now, but, yes, I want one of these:
Civilian legal (18.5″ barrel, 26″ overall length), 12 gage 2.75″ shells… and 14+1 of them at that, manual switching between two separate magazine tubes (allowing for separate loadouts), bottom ejecting and loading, pump-action, bullpup… yeah, it meets damn near most of my “strange firearm” quirk requirements.
On the plus side, it is a bullpup design, with just over half of its length forward of its pistol grip, which makes it pretty perfectly suited for home-defense (and other tight-space) applications – before, you had to fork over the $200 privilege tax to get an SBS, but this gives you a full shotgun barrel length in a smaller package, and without all of the federally-mandated idiocy. Likewise, 14 rounds out of a shotgun without reloading is pretty damned near awesome, and trumps every other pump-action shotty out there (Saigas can still beat it with their 20-round drums, but those are a kettle of different fish) – I can totally see this being an interesting firearm in three-gun competitions and the like. And, finally, it appears to be fully ambidexterous, which is something that, as far as I am aware, cannot be said for any other semi-automatic or pump-action shotgun.
However, I do have some qualms. First, the ergonomics are going to be an issue – its length-of-pull is fixed, which is fine for single-user firearms, but my wife and I definitely have different preferences when it comes to shotguns (and I want her to be as able to use it as I am), and having the slide so close to the pistol grip is going to be wierd. Second, there appears to be no way to dampen recoil – my Remington 870 is rocking the Blackhawk Specops Recoil Reducing Stock, which, between it and the reduced-recoil loads I use, make the shotty controllable by, and comfortable for, both my wife and I. So far as I can tell or have read, the KSG has no way to mount such a thing, and no recoil reduction systems built into it (other than its rubber buttpads). And, finally, let us face it: this is a Kel-Tec, and while I understand that, by and large, their products generally work, that name comes with a host of problems – deficient QA, intended release dates that were not worth the paper they were written on (*cough*RFB*cough*), and a general “feel” to their firearms that would probably make me cringe every time I pulled the trigger.
Still, assuming this thing ever gets produced (they are saying it will be on the shelves this year, but given the history of the RFB and PMR, I would bet on “by 2015″), and assuming some folks I trust test it, and assuming it does not blow up in their faces, I could probably be talked into expanding my home defense family to include a KSG. At any rate, I would sincerely appreciate a hands-on and some pictures from anyone headed to the impending SHOT Show (aside from the usual haters who are going to hate), since it appears as though this made-for-movies shotgun will be making its first physical appearance there.
And, hell, when you get right down to it, this quasi-announcement/mostly-leak beats the pants off Ruger’s “ZOMG, you WANT this gun” press release today wherein they announced that they were going to start producing a handgun that Walther has been producing for years already (much less Kel-Tec or Kahr), only now with a Bonus Superfluous Safety and an Unnecessary-Complexity-Adding Magazine Disconnect. Welcome to the party, Ruger. I think it is well past time to stop resting on the laurels of your polymer revolver, and maybe work on something original again… or at least dial down the, “Holy CRAP, we are AWESOME!” tone of your publicity department.
It’s not that I’m a hater. It’s that I like guns that work. All jokes aside, the money spent on this should have been spent pushing the PMR-30 and the RFB in to production. Make jokes about Ruger being late to the party, but in two months you’ll be able to walk in to a gunshop and actually buy an LC9.
This one is on my list to check out down the line, the normal several-years-after-they-come-out deal. Besides the issues you mentioned, I’m concerned about reloading. Of course it’s the same problem every bullpup has: reloading back in your armpit is awkward as hell. The initial 14+1 capacity is great (I wonder how heavy it is loaded?), but I think in any engagement over about 20 rounds I could keep my 870 better fed. I don’t think my normal palming 4 rounds at a time technique would work with the Kel Tec, I’d drop half my rounds or put them in the wrong tube or something.
Recoil wouldn’t be an issue but LOP, now… I like LOP in the 11-12″ range, armor or no. I’m not a small guy, but I like to really tuck the gun in, and a normal length of pull of 13.5-14 inches feels awful. Add in a rubber recoil pad that’s even slightly sticky and I’ll snag the thing in my clothes constantly.
And about that Ruger… that was incredibly underwhelming. I’m not going to be trading in my Kahr P9 any time soon.
@ Caleb: It is absolutely true – as one of the people who was interested in the RFB way back when it was announced… what… four years ago or so?… I definitely believe KelTec should be focusing on finishing up what projects they have on the table first, before they go delving into something completely unrelated. That said, it is somewhat innovative, it is like nothing that is currently being offered, and if it works, it could be something rather interesting.
As for the LC9, if I wanted one, I would have gone to my local gunslinger’s hangout, and purchased a PPS two years ago.
Oh. Wait. I did.
I will give Ruger their LCR platform, but, of late, their “HOLYCRAPwearetheBOMB!!111!!!” offerings have been weaksauce, at best. Sure, announce new guns, but “gun you MUST have”? Uhm, those who want them probably already have them.
@ weambulance: Oleg indicated the KSG is 6 pounds dry, with an additional pound if fully loaded. Not sure how accurate that is, but it should give you a ballpark. Never having done any serious, under-pressure reloading for shotguns, I have to wonder if leaning the rig one way or the other would facilitate getting the rounds in the right tubes. Dunno, though.
And, no, recoil is not a problem for larger guys, and even I probably would not care for recreational use, but I do want my wife to be confident in whatever it is she is having to use to protect house and home… and even recoil-reduced loads out of a fixed stock have a bit of a kick to them. Guess we will have to wait and see once the specsheets come out, whenever the hell that is.
Cool idea, and believe it or not, 100% Mass legal as-is. I could buy the prototype tomorrow if somebody would ship it to my FFL.
That being said that magazine sistem scares me. Need that you can disconnect the mag for clearing the chamber, but I see that as a massive failure point where you may chamber and drop the hammer on nothing but pure American air.
I’ll stick with my 590, what I can’t get with 8 rounds (not counting reloads) I can skewer with the bayonet!
I guess that could be solved by making the system require a tube to be selected before you can move the slide forward, but that would get annoying after a while… That said, I have no idea where the switch is, or how easy it would be to bump, so I guess we will have to wait and see
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[...] Linoge on the Kel-Tec ShotGun (KSG), and Caleb’s questioning if we’ll really see it [...]
[...] We have already discussed how “haters are going to hate”, but it would appear as though Kel-Tec actually listened to constructive criticism: As was said before. one of the reasons that we announce and show a model many months before it will be shipped is so that we can incorporate suggestions from potential users into the production models. We had a good number of suggestions that will help make the KSG a great product. [...]