We finally got our hands on the Kel-Tec KSG, the bullpup shotgun fed by two, seven-round magazine tubes that took SHOT Show by storm. Here’s a quick video of our armorer shooting this awesome home-defense 12-gauge:
We found the gun quite manageable, and its compact size (owing to the bullpup configuration) makes it very maneuverable. Obviously, with 14 rounds on board, capacity is never going to be an issue. Those factors make it perhaps the best shotgun for home defense we’ve seen in a while. Time will tell regarding reliability, but it ran without any hints of a hiccup in our brief test. Our one complaint is the solid, unforgiving cheekpiece, which made putting a bunch of Hornady TAP buckshot loads through the gun somewhat punishing to the shooters’ faces. Fortunately, those faces didn’t look so great beforehand, so no harm, no foul.
Tags: 12 gauge, buckshot, bullpup, Hornady, Kel-Tec, SHOT Show 2011, shotgun
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I like this shotgun but where can it be found and whats the price tag in stores?
Two comments:
It needs a hand-stop on the front of the slide to keep the support hand from sliding forward or, as almost happens in this in video, a finger getting forward and torched.
Shooting a little more squared up and getting the butt a little higher in the shoulder might help with getting smacked in the cheek.
Fingers aren’t really in danger here – although it’s not too obvious in this video, the barrel sits above the magazine tubes, which are themselves above the slide grip. There’s probably a fair amount more clearance there than you think…
They actually do send them out with a hand stop for that exact reason. Happy shooting!
I to noted the “finger extension”.
Careful.
First thing I thought was *Fingers!!* I like to keep mine…
And how about an automatic switch from one mag tube to the other? As is, it’s less like 14 rounds than 7 rounds and an extra clip.
oops hit the wrong reply link.
Auto switch would run afoul of certain state magazine limits. 2×7 is okay, 1×14 is not.
There would be no reason an automatic switch-when-empty could not be installed by the end-user in compliant states, and I very much expect someone to engineer and start selling refit parts for this purpose very soon after the shotgun’s eventual release.
Did they unscrew that trigger failure, that wouldn’t reset on stroking?
Their comments about it at SHOT demonstrated profound stupidity on the part of their marketing guys.
Great question. Looking forward to a straight answer.
Unless they fix this, it is pure FAIL!
The Win 1897 pump gun can be slamfired. I’ve got a
parts clean-up” model made in the last year of issue-1954. I can slam fire it almost as fast a Benelli, but not quite. Maybe they did intend for it to be slam-fired? Beats heck out of pulling the trigger every time, and I concede recoil control with full house loads would be an issue.
My question precisely. Kel-Tec’s initial response (paraphrasing: “Oh sure, we meant to do that! It’s so you can, ummm… slam fire it! Yeah!”) was not encouraging.
Seriously, no other manufacturer is as good as Kel-Tec at coming up with excellent ideas and then screwing them up in execution.
What do you expect from a sales rep who doesn’t know the guns inside and out and was probably put on the spot?
don’t worry the trigger’s fine now.
They fixed it months ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W638QRLqUyc
I’m impressed by the muzzle flash on the gun. The short overall length puts that muzzle flash fairly close to the face. . .that can’t be good in the dark.
Never hurts to have them, but if you really need 14 rounds for home defense, you’ve probably already lost.
Real world cost on this gun is about $600 right now.
I don’t think that’s unreasonable for what you get, but I think most homeowners could be served just as well with a 5+1 or 7+1 capacity $250 Mossberg or Maverick pump shotgun.
Better to have and not need, hm?
Home invasions with ‘teams’ of up to 4-6 intruders are more the rule than the exception. that’s 2-3 shots per badguy. Not sounding so excessive now.
And the lefty version will be out….
ejection is out the bottom so don’t see why lefties would need a special version, and can’t remember where I read it but think the trigger issue has been solved
The average homeowner would be better off with a Remington 870, which he could keep at the ready at home, and hunt birds and game, too. I commend the bullpup design and extra tubular magazine, but I wonder what states that’s legal in. The bullpup design is definitely suited for the military, police and criminal element. I don’t like the idea of a concealable 14 shot shotgun for civilians. They’ll be shipping those suckers south of the border. A drug lord’s dream.
Thank goodness we have you around to tell us what is good for us. On second thought, I don’t like the idea of you owning any guns. What do you need an 870 for? Those things can hold 7 rounds! Drug dealers dream!
Muggin, you can get legally get a short-barreled shotgun if you get an ATF stamp (which includes going through a variety of extra background checks, etc.). 14rds, 7rds, 3rds etc, what’s the difference i don’t want any rds in a drug dealer’s hand. I bet you’re one of those “assault clips” guy.
hey muggins, when does the police need 14rds in their shotgun? I need it for 3gun, or when i want to shoot 7 pairs of clay bird without reloading.
Wow. Great to know you’re the arbiter of our defensive weaponry needs.
Here’s an idea: Maybe us mere ‘civilians’, not the ONLY ONES that you seem to consider yourself, just WANT the stupid bullpup with 14 rounds?
It should be legal in all states – the barrel is over 18″ long.
I hope you are trolling. Only a troll, or a BATF propaganda commissar would equate civilians with criminals.
Muggins, you must be one of those brilliant individuals that dreamed up “The Fast and the Furious” fiasco for the BATFE. Come on, really! Pull the plug out of the good old 870 you talk about and it will hold 5 rounds, with extension tube 7-10 rounds. You might want to take heed of the old saying…”engage brain before opening mouth!”
naw, we dont ship them south of the border now, that operation got busted… maybe in the second term we will restart it in new mexico.
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That is a lawsuit begging to happen. At least put a forward pistol grip on it. If not, include spare fingers with each purchase.
Well Muggins, the real drug lord’s dream is a civilian population that is unarmed by their government. That’s Mexico, and that is the liberal’s dream for America.
I’m a big time Liberal, and that is not my dream. That’s not the dream of anyone I am aware of either. Maybe instead of making up opinions we disagree with and assigning them tompeople we don’t know we should get out more and talk to real people
How he didn’t blow his finger off I don’t know.
Yea a hand stop is needed in that scattergun.
In this video there is a drop-down handle on the slide that the last shooter uses. That would help with the finger problem.
http://bit.ly/eypx8d
Louie is a good guy and one of those I respect bsuecae he’s a true believer; not a ‘seeker of gold’ like you mention. I need to take more of his classes, but I noticed in the video he suffered an empty chamber ‘click’ and then the deputy who followed seemed to have the same problem, or at least experienced difficulty ‘pumping’ the gun.I suspect if this gun is up to the abuse, it’s still going to take a whole new manual of arms before operators become ‘high speed/low drag’ with it.Still, the thing to remember is any shotgun is a short distance, heavy payload weapon. Sometimes that’s what is needed, but not always.Just bsuecae you’ve got a great hammer doesn’t mean every problem is a raised nail…All The Best,Frank W. James
Let me know when they come out with a 20ga. version. Until then I’ll stick with my 20ga. coach gun. 12ga. is too powerful and loud for home defense in my opinion. Notice how Homey isn’t saying much after firing off the second tube? It’s because that 12ga. just kicked his butt. I admire his endurance. I wouldn’t have been able to talk after the first tube.
And someone tell me, where is it written that a semi-automatic shotgun can’t have a rack-able pump-style fore-grip actuator? Other than that I like the bull-pup configuration.
For home defense use the short overall length would be an asset. Try negotiating a narrow hallway with a standard shotgun.
This is why a pistols are still such a popular home defense tool.
Home defense probably means you won’t be wearing ear protection.
What is the decibal level 3 inches from the chamber? Which basically looked like the distance on this bullpup.
I might choose a gun that doesn’t give me permanent hearing loss in its intended use-
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Anyone that advocates using a shotgun indoors has never been in an indoor range when the large caliber guns are fired. Was in one when a guy had a Desert Eagle .50. When he fired, it sounded as though a wrecking ball was hitting the building. Hell, a .45 is loud indoors! Settin off a 12 guage? No thanks,
i use ear plugs. my 12g don’t seem extra louder then my 223 or my 7.62×39.
Right, because my hearing is what I’ll be worrying about if I need to kill a human being inside my house.
I don’t know about everyone else, but the first thing I do when someone is breaking into my home is grab some ear plugs and safety glasses. I mean, I don’t want to hurt my ears while defending my family from an intruder, now do I? Idiot.
It seems like an answer for a question never asked.
While I appreciate the thought of bullpupping a 12ga shotgun, the noise and the flash are going to be right in your face; unless you plan on donning eyes and ears and turning on the lights as the intruder pops in the front door, you’re effed after the first round.
Military maybe, civilian, meh I’m sticking with the High Standard pump.
“It seems like an answer for a question never asked.”
I’m not sure about that. The main drawback of a proper tactical shotgun indoors is its unwieldy length, and the handy shorties come with a tax stamp and pitifully small capacity.
The KSG fills a niche, the popularity and buzz it’s causing is plenty of evidence of that.
If the proper ammunition is used, it would be legal for hunting in Tennessee, with the one exception of migratory waterfowl (federal restriction on magazine capacity when hunting migratory waterfowl).
For shooting indoors with no hearing protection, any firearm presents a danger of hearing damage, even a .22 pistol. But try explaining to the DA why you shot a burglar with a suppressor on the firearm and using subsonic ammo.
It’s my understanding that using a manual switch to select the magazine tubes, along with the capacity of each tube and not making it semi-auto, was chosen to limit the odds of it’s sale being restricted by ‘assault weapon’ laws in some states.
, the performance of a slinge specimen of a rifle-caliber auto pistol has only a little bearing on that entire model (too small of a sample), and virtually zero bearing on the company’s bulpup shotgun.All together, friends: Anecdotes Do Not Equal Data. OK, fair enough, an anecdote is just some random guy ranting. Go straight to Kel-Tec and ask them how their cool new designs actually work. The reaction from Kel-Tec when I called about my PLR-16 was, “Yeah, we have a lot of problems with those, just send it in.” A month later, when I call to ask when I can expect the pistol back, “We have a backlog of PLR-16s, wait time is about a month, we should be getting to yours, shortly.” Not saying that Kel-Tec can’t come up with really great ideas and then design then design something awesome that other manufacturers wouldn’t even try. Just that the cutting edge products they send you may work, or they may not, and Kel-Tec’s business plan is to have the customer stand in for an actual Q&A department. As cool as the KSG looks, I’m not planning on dropping $700 for the opportunity to serve as Kel-Tec’s product tester.
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When does the 20 gauge semi auto version come out….not that would be an HD weapon. easy recoil, no muscle training required, just blast the bad guy away.
not=now
would be nice to know how it patterns
I don’t see where this changes yitahnng. Looks as though he hasn’t fired it and has just been handed the KSG, what’s not to like about it at that point? It’s short, carries a butt-load o’ammo and is a 12ga pump.I have yet to see someone operating one of these that doesn’t look like a monkey luvin’ a football. Perhaps that’s just because nobody has had one for a length of time to get decent with one, but from all the “action” videos, I’ll stick with the tried and true Mossberg/Remington for now.Now if this thing turns out to be a robust, reliable 12ga pump, then I might think about it, but it’ll have to be stellar to overcome the bad taste that Kel-Tec customer service left in my mouth.
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Mr. “Muggins” : Apparently not only can you not count your cards correctly and use a nom-de-plume for identiying yourself as that mathmatical failure ( how hard is it to count cards? 5 year olds can play hearts) which implies you are not as smart as you think you are. Furthermore, we kicked out the trash who wanted to store all firearms and powder in government controlled bunkers. That struggle began in 1776 and ended with the defeat of a “British Officer and Gentleman” in 1781.
We-each and every citizen of this nation- do not need you or anybody else to tell us what kinds of firearms we should have. What we do need to do is to ensure that unlawfull (common sense, please, no esoteric and baseless “reasoning) use of a firearm is punished by 10 years for the 1st offense.20 years for the 2nd, and life for the 3rd. Chain gangs10 hours a day 6 days a week in camp conditions at all times, regardless of climae or weather.
What this guns needs is to be made semi-automatic in firing and automatic or manual in switching tubes with a very thick Sorbothane shoulder pad and a cheek rest of “softly firm” material. A pistol grip on the slide in pump or semi-auto vrsion would be very helpful in recoil control. With a 400 series Surefire you would own the night.
When your home is being invaded, the last thing you’ll be worrrying about is your hearing. Better to lose some hearing than to see your wife and daughters gang-raped in front of you and your little boy sodomized.
I lved in Chicaago for 7 years, so please, everyone, and especially you Mr. “Muggins”, don’t tell me those things don’t happen or that they can’t happen here, wherever you are.
Respectfully
Donald H. Conner
connerdsmia@earthlink.net
The South African Neostead shotgun was a similar design back in the 1980′s. However, the nice thing about that particular shotgun was the ability for the magazine tubes to alternate feeding (left, right, left, right, until empty). Also, the operator could select a specific magazine tube to fire from so as to have one tube of one type of ammo, the other with another type (ie, slug and buck), and fire only that mag tube until the other ammo type was needed. I would hope that an aftermarket fix, or factory 2nd Generation would make this happen.
The trigger issue has been reconciled, there is a small lip on the slide as well as the option of a picatinny pistol grip for the slide -both will address the problem of sliding your hand in front of the barrel. It is a shot-gun, it is loud – deal with it. As a P/O, I like the twin mag design with the option of variety ammo. Don’t need semi-auto (or full auto) The pistol grip and forward vertical grip will do me very well thank you. I can not wait to add this to my collection. : )
I personally feel that the high capacity and the ability to select either of the two mag tubes (potentially different loads in either of the two)makes it a great asset not only for home defense but for police and military. As far as the lack of a hand stop is a potential concern, but not one that can’t be fixed with an AR type front grip.
Mr. “Muggins” to associate and even compare criminals to civilians or visa versa is an extremely uneducated and ignorant statement. In the future educate yourself on the material on Which you are commenting
Don’t worry about specific guns getting “south of the border”, when you supply (or at least try to) the extremly high demand of drugs “north of the border” and pocket 1-2 million a week, there is NO limits to the kind of weaponry you can get!
I got several planes with 100% night/thermal vision and radar “stealth” technology. Got a few with 20mm miniguns them too (just cuz’ we can), but lighter and unseen is better than blasting anything in the way out of the sky. Getting the job done is the real goal here right.
The KSG is pretty neat though and Hollywood if no one else will love it.
I have fired this shotgun repeatedly since March ’11. It ate 300+ rounds as fast as I could load/shoot them in the first sitting, with no malfunctions that weren’t ammo related. I shoot left handed, and this weapon worked flawlessly for me. I shot it in a 3-gun match in April ’11, and the only hiccup was a short-stroke pump which was my fault. If you train with a weapon, you will be proficient with that weapon…but even without a great deal of practice I could work this weapon accurately and competitively the first time I touched it. If my law enforcement agency has been given one for T&E, and if the boss would allow me to carry one on the clock I’d buy it in a New York minute. GREAT tactical possibilities for it, and I hope to make it into a house gun my small-statured wife can operate easily.
The lower rail of the forend where a foregrip is recommended is PLASTIC unlike the upper rail which is metal. Within the first 10 shots using a sig sauer stoplight foregrip, the lower rail shattered, fragmented, and broke off. Very very disappointed. Otherwise, the gun shoots great.
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