Kel-Tec
Private | |
Industry | Firearms |
Founded | 1991 |
Founder | George Kellgren |
Headquarters | Cocoa, Florida, United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | George Kellgren (President) |
Products | Pistols, Rifles, Shotguns |
Website | www.keltecweapons.com |
Kel-Tec CNC Industries Inc. is an American developer and manufacturer of firearms. Founded in 1991 and based in Cocoa, Florida, the company has manufactured firearms since 1995, starting with semi-automatic pistols[1] and expanding to rifles and then shotguns. Kel-Tec is a privately owned Florida corporation. George Kellgren is the owner and Chief Engineer. He is a Swedish designer who also designed many earlier Husqvarna, Swedish Interdynamics AB (in Sweden), Intratec and Grendel brand firearms. The company has been developing and manufacturing a wide variety of firearms, ranging from automatic handguns i.e. pistols to automatic rifles and shotguns.
History
Weapons manufactured by Kel-Tec include the P-11 pistol (caliber 9 mm); the P-32 pistol (Caliber 32 ACP); the P-3AT pistol (Caliber .380 ACP); the P-40 (Caliber .40 S&W)(discontinued); the SUB-9 and the later SUB-2000, both semi-automatic pistol caliber carbines that fold for storage. In addition, the company offers a family of 5.56×45mm rifles known as the SU-16 series.
November 2005 saw the introduction of the PLR-16, a long-range pistol design based on key design elements copied from the earlier SU-16 rifle design.
A new pistol design from Kel Tec in 2010, is a light weight, full-size, .22 Magnum 30 shot semiautomatic pistol, the PMR30.[2] In 2016, Kel-Tec introduced the CMR-30 carbine, based on the PMR30.[3]
Lightest, thinnest semi-automatic 9 mm pistol
The PF-9, a flat 9×19mm single-column magazine semi-automatic pistol based on the earlier P-11 and P-3AT designs, was upon its release touted as the thinnest and lightest 9 mm pistol ever mass-produced.[4] It was launched in 2006.
"High-Efficiency Rifles"
At the 2007 SHOT Show held in Orlando, Florida, Kel-Tec introduced a series of new "High-Efficiency Rifles" called the RFB, standing for "Rifle, Forward-ejection, Bull-pup."[5] The RFB is a gas-operated semi-automatic rifle with tilting breech block locking mechanism, loads the 7.62×51 NATO cartridge and uses metric FAL magazines; the RFB "family" consists in a series of Bullpup rifles with three barrel lengths (18" barrel carbine, 24" sporter and 32" target versions), and a patented forward-ejection system via a tube placed over the barrel that ejects the spent case forwards, over the handguard of the rifle. This eliminates a major drawback of Bull-pup rifles, which is that they may not be readily usable by left-handed shooters.[6] Distribution of the RFB rifles in the USA was scheduled for February 2009; as of 2013, it has been publicly released for sale. As a further Revolution of the Bullpup, the RDB (Rifle Downward-ejecting Bullpup) was released in late 2015.[7]
Products
Kel-Tec breaks down their product line into three main categories: pistols, shotguns and rifles.[8]
Pistols
- Kel-Tec PF-9
- Kel-Tec P-11
- Kel-Tec P-32
- Kel-Tec P-3AT
- Kel-Tec PLR-16
- Kel-Tec PLR-22
- Kel-Tec PMR-30
Shotguns
Rifles
- Kel-Tec SUB-2000
- Kel-Tec SU-16
- Kel-Tec SU-22
- Kel-Tec RFB
- Kel-Tec CMR-30
- Kel-Tec RDB[9]
Gallery
- P-11 9 mm with loaded magazine
- P-32 .32 ACP
- P-3AT .380 ACP
- PF-9 9mm blued finish with gray grip
- SUB-2000 9 mm with 15-round Beretta magazine
- SUB-2000 9 mm, folded
- PLR-16 5.56×45mm with compact forend and Levang linear recoil compensator
- SU-16A 5.56×45mm
- SU-16C 5.56×45mm, with stock in fixed position
- SU-16C 5.56×45mm, with stock in folded position
- SU-16C 5.56×45mm, with after-market collapsible stock, pistol grip, and telescopic sight
- RFB 7.62×51mm, with holographic weapon sight and sling
- KSG 12 Gauge
References
- ↑ Johnston, Phil W. "Little Kel-Tec P-11 Pistol Features New, Practical Design." GunWeek. 2001.
- ↑ "Products." Kel-Tec. Kel-Tec-CNC.com
- ↑ Horman, B. Gil (January 11, 2016). "Tested: Kel-Tec CMR-30 .22 Magnum Rifle". American Rifleman. Retrieved April 9, 2016 – via NRA.
- ↑ "PF-9." Kel-Tec. Kel-Tec-CNC.com
- ↑ "News." Kel-Tec. Kel-Tec-CNC.com
- ↑ "Brochure: Kel-Tec RFB High-Efficiency Rifle." Kel-Tec. SHOT Show 2007
- ↑ http://www.keltecweapons.com/our-guns/rifle/rdb
- ↑ "Our Guns". Kel-Tec. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ↑ http://www.keltecweapons.com/our-guns/rifle/rdb
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kel-Tec CNC Industries. |
- Official Kel-Tec firearms site
- Hi-res photos of Keltec firearms
- Kel-Tec RFB forward-ejection bull-pup rifles flyer as seen at the 2007 SHOT Show
- Kel-Tec Owner's Group on Yahoo! Groups
- KTOG – The Kel-Tec Owners Group and forum
- PF-9 Review and Photos
- Urban Survival Range – A Kel-Tec discussion and general discussion forum