# Kel-Tec

Kel-Tec CNC Industries Inc., commonly referred to as KelTec, is an American developer and manufacturer of firearms. Founded by George Kellgren in 1991 and based in Cocoa, Florida, the company has manufactured firearms since 1995, starting with semi-automatic pistols and expanding to rifles and then shotguns. Kel-Tec is a privately owned Florida corporation. George Kellgren, Kel-Tec owner and chief engineer, 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 semi-automatic handguns, i.e. pistols, to semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.
Kel-Tec has a reputation in the firearms industry for releasing innovative, and often radically disruptive new designs for firearms, such as the KSG shotgun and SUB-2000, as well as inexpensive, reliable and easily concealable firearms such as the pocket pistol Kel-Tec P32.

## History

Some Firearms manufactured by Kel-Tec include the following: P-11 pistol (9 mm); the P-32 pistol, chambered in .32 ACP (7.65mm Browning) and one of the smallest and lightest pocketable pistols still in production weighing only 6.6 ounces (190 g); the P-3AT pistol chambered in .380 ACP (9mm Short) since discontinued; the P-40 chambered in .40 S&W which has also been discontinued; the SUB-9 and the later very popular Kel-Tec SUB-2000, both semi-automatic pistol caliber carbines that readily fold into themselves for easy storage. In addition, the company offers a family of 5.56×45mm rifles known as the SU-16 series.
In November 2005 the PLR-16 was released. The PLR-16 is a long-range pistol design based on key design elements copied from the earlier SU-16 rifle design.
In 2010 Kel-Tec introduced the PMR30, a lightweight, full-size, .22 Magnum 30-shot semiautomatic pistol. In 2016, Kel-Tec introduced the CMR-30 carbine, based on the PMR30.
Additionally, in 2016 Kel-Tec released the Kel-Tec KSG and permanently changed the firearms industry by releasing the highest capacity mass produced shotgun, with a capability of holding 14 rounds of 12-gauge shotgun shells.

### 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 in 2006 touted as the thinnest and lightest 9 mm pistol ever mass-produced. The PF-9 was retired in 2022 and replaced with the P15.

### "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." 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 bullpup rifles, which is that they may not be readily usable by left-handed shooters. 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.

## Products

Kel-Tec breaks down their product line into three main categories: pistols, shotguns and rifles.

### Pistols

* Kel-Tec PF9 9x19mm
* Kel-Tec P11 9x19mm
* Kel-Tec P15 9x19mm
* Kel-Tec P17 22 LR
* Kel-Tec P32 .32 ACP (7.65mm Browning)
* Kel-Tec P3AT .380 ACP
* Kel-Tec P50 FN 5.7 5.7x28mm
* Kel-Tec PLR16 5.56 NATO
* Kel-Tec PLR22 .22 LR
* Kel-Tec PMR30 .22 WMR
* Kel-Tec CP33 .22LR
* Kel-Tec PR57 FN 5.7 5.7x28mm

### Shotguns

* Kel-Tec KSG series
** Kel-Tec KSG-25
** Kel-Tec KSG Tactical
** Kel-Tec KSG Compact
** Kel-Tec KS7
** Kel-Tec KSG410

### Rifles

* Kel-Tec R50 FN 5.7x28 (P50 in rifle form)
* Kel-Tec SUB-2000 9mm/.40S&W/5.7x28mm
* Kel-Tec SUB-2000 CQB (integrally suppressed SUB-2000)
* Kel-Tec SU-16 5.56 NATO
* Kel-Tec SU-22 .22 LR
* Kel-Tec RFB 7.62 NATO bullpup
* Kel-Tec CMR-30 .22 WMR
* Kel-Tec RDB 5.56 NATO bullpup

## 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