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Click the above picture for Official Manufacturer Product Information.
The Kel-Tec KSG is a bullpup pump action 12g shotgun with dual magazine tubes. It looks similar to the old
Truvelo Neostead, but the magazine tubes and action are the same as your standard Remington or Mossberg, unlike the Neostead where the mag tubes are on top of the barrel and the pump action is forward-back instead of the normal back-forward. The two magazine tubes are accessed by a three position toggle switch behind the pistol grip (push left is right tube, push right is left tube, center is mag feed off to clear). As expected, it features polymer construction and is covered with 1913 rails for iron sights, red dots, flashlights and vertical pistol grips. Sling points consist of ambidextrous slots. Overall, this is a novel design that shows promise.
As you can see, the compact bullpup design paired with the high capacity and the ability to quickly switch flavors of ammunition on the fly is pretty unique as far as shotguns go (buckshot to slugs to beanbags to door breaching rounds).
Assuming it actually works. Kel-Tec is famous for shitty quality control and their fit and finish is half-ass lazy at best on their other products (popular concealed carry pistols such as the P11 and PF-9; goofy folding rifles).
Me? I think this thing is butt ugly utilitarian sexy.
Want. Even though I don't use shotguns for home defense anymore (I've been converted to the 5.56mm carbine; it's superior in nearly every facet of home defense from ballistics to handling), I've gotta admit I want one of these things even if it's just another toy in the safe. It's a pretty ballsy design for Americans and the combination of small size and high capacity is really appealing for tactical sport shooting.
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As I see it:
Pros:
- Compact size. 26" overall. SBR without SBR.
- High capacity. 14+1 rounds of 2 3/4" shells.
- Switch between specialty ammo types quickly.
- Manual of arms is similar to the standard 12g.
Cons:
- Bullpup design means the trigger pull will be awful.
- Chance of choosing the wrong ammunition (training issue).
- Potential victim for the assault weapons ban crowd.
- Made by Kel-Tec, a company notorious for cheapness.
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Anybody else want to play with one of these things? Thoughts on the design?
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Additional related items:
World.Guns.Ru article on the KSG's stats, history and design
T.A.G. update on design changes before product release
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Head and footer images shamelessly stolen from the most-excellent Oleg Volk at the World.Guns.Ru firearms site.