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View Full Version : Kel-tec RFB Bullpup, thoughts?



Cesiumsponge
03-01-07, 23:33
...so thoughts on this rifle?

I'd love a .308 bullpup. No one else is offering one. No one has even seemed to entertain the idea of offering one. The market seems to be wide open for competition but its possible no one will offer one in the future either. In fact, no one is really making any original bullpups at all since the Bushmaster M17S thing, and that didn't sell too well due to what some people consider poor ergonomics. Ace Ltd is prototyping this (http://www.aceltdusa.com/images06/ARBP/ARBP-ss.jpg) thing, but its not very pretty.

Barrel lengths from carbine to loooong are supposed to be offered. FAL mags are dirt cheap. Rails being integrated make it flexible.

The forward ejection looks interesting. I like the idea but the brass seems to be just "pushed out" by brass behind it rather than ejected with much force. This is evident in the video link below.

I heard some people bring up concerns about the ejection tube loading up and jamming but I think it would be difficult if the ID of the ejector tube is sized such that it is larger than the OD of the casing rim, but small enough there is no possibility of the rim of one fired case wedging between the ejector tube wall and the rim of another spent case. Otherwise...its hard to imagine single-filed brass getting stuck unless someone jammed a pebble or stick in there.

I also heard some concerns about exploding receivers too but Kel-tec is a large company that should have plenty of R&D resources to work it out. It's closer to the face, but I believe one of the engineers stated there will be 1/16" steel between the receiver and your face. Steel tends to deform and elongage much more than aluminum before it cracks up. It would buy additional time and have hot gases find an easier way out than through steel plating.

If they can keep the pricing at a Kel-tec-usual street price of ~70% of MSRP, I would be on it! I don't really care about brand name stereotypes if someone offers something like this.

In case anyone missed the media:

pdf here (www.kel-tec.com/images/downloads/RFB_Flyer_SHOT_2007_web.pdf)

video here (http://www.kel-tec.com/videos/rfbteaser.wmv)