Kel-Tec SU-16 field test
I bought one on the internet and took it to the range with six differant kinds of ammo. First look the rifle seems cheap as it is mostly plastic, but after extensive handling and firing I believe it will endure. The mags are plastic and they store in the butt stock. The mechanisms for holding them in place aren't real positive and I believe a loaded magazine would fall free too easily in the woods. For storing in home or vehicle this feature is very handy.
The action is strong and the operating handle is beefy and very handy to use. There is no outside button to lock the bolt open, although it locks open after the last round in a magazine is fired. It is simple to reach up in the magazine well and push the lock in place to hold the bolt open. The cross bolt safety is positive and should be fine for right handers. Its a little out of place for a left hander, like me. The overall ergonomics of the rifle are good. The fold down bipod is kind of shaky when out, but makes a solid forearm when closed. The peep sights work fine, although I needed to put the rear sight all the way forward on the pictinny rail as in the rear position the shroud around the front site was too distracting.
As to accuracy, I fired 40, 52, 55 and 62 grain ammo. The magazines have barely enough room for the 62 grain Black Hills ammo due to overall length of the rounds. The others fit ok. With a scope, I was able to shoot 1.5 inch groups at 50 yards with the 55 grain ammo. The 40 and 62 were 2 to 3 inches at 50 yards. The manual stresses the need to tap the back of the mags after loading. This may have something to do with the jams I experienced. I tapped them but didn't check them afterwards at first. When I did, I noticed that you have to tap them just right to seat all the rounds to the rear of the magazine. Magazines are plastic, by the way.
The jams I experienced were all the same. It appears the round doesn't hit the chamber hole and the bolt shoves it forward leaving it standing vertically in the receiver. It jammed this way seven times out of 130 rounds. I will be contacting the company about this. I suspect the use of M-16 magazines might cure this and I will be getting one this weekend.
With the iron (plastic) sights I was able to consistantly (7 or 8 out of ten) hit a ten inch clanger target at 100 yards off hand.
If I cure the jamming problem I think this will be a very fine rifle for the truck or home defense or just knocking around. I fired 40 rounds through it as quickly as aimed fire and casual reloading would allow. The gas cylinder that is on top of the barrel didn't heat up hardly at all. The barrel was extremely hot, but it still shot the same and the gun is adequately covered to prevent burns unless you get stupid.
If anyone is interested I will keep you posted as I continue to play....
The action is strong and the operating handle is beefy and very handy to use. There is no outside button to lock the bolt open, although it locks open after the last round in a magazine is fired. It is simple to reach up in the magazine well and push the lock in place to hold the bolt open. The cross bolt safety is positive and should be fine for right handers. Its a little out of place for a left hander, like me. The overall ergonomics of the rifle are good. The fold down bipod is kind of shaky when out, but makes a solid forearm when closed. The peep sights work fine, although I needed to put the rear sight all the way forward on the pictinny rail as in the rear position the shroud around the front site was too distracting.
As to accuracy, I fired 40, 52, 55 and 62 grain ammo. The magazines have barely enough room for the 62 grain Black Hills ammo due to overall length of the rounds. The others fit ok. With a scope, I was able to shoot 1.5 inch groups at 50 yards with the 55 grain ammo. The 40 and 62 were 2 to 3 inches at 50 yards. The manual stresses the need to tap the back of the mags after loading. This may have something to do with the jams I experienced. I tapped them but didn't check them afterwards at first. When I did, I noticed that you have to tap them just right to seat all the rounds to the rear of the magazine. Magazines are plastic, by the way.
The jams I experienced were all the same. It appears the round doesn't hit the chamber hole and the bolt shoves it forward leaving it standing vertically in the receiver. It jammed this way seven times out of 130 rounds. I will be contacting the company about this. I suspect the use of M-16 magazines might cure this and I will be getting one this weekend.
With the iron (plastic) sights I was able to consistantly (7 or 8 out of ten) hit a ten inch clanger target at 100 yards off hand.
If I cure the jamming problem I think this will be a very fine rifle for the truck or home defense or just knocking around. I fired 40 rounds through it as quickly as aimed fire and casual reloading would allow. The gas cylinder that is on top of the barrel didn't heat up hardly at all. The barrel was extremely hot, but it still shot the same and the gun is adequately covered to prevent burns unless you get stupid.
If anyone is interested I will keep you posted as I continue to play....
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The Keltec guns are interesting and innovative. Please keep us updated on how it performs and the pluses and minuses. 0 -
Thanks for the DETAILED report.
"meet me in Margaritaville"0 -
Great report! Would really like to see how it functions with AR mags.
A couple of questions for ya, were you using primarily full metal jacket ammo or a variety? The couple jams you had what brand of ammo did you find this happening the most with?
I've been drooling over one in our shop. The action to me looks like a combination of an AR & an AK. If I ever got one I think those mags would left behind in the safe when I went to the range.
Regards,
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I picked one up a couple of weeks ago and have put several hundred rounds through mine. I used both Winchester and Federal 55 gr FMJ and had no jams using the factory mags. I had some failures to feed with a GI 30 round mag with the first few rounds. It appears that a full 30 round mag may be just a might heavy for the latching mechanism. I would usually get about 2 FTF's in the first 5 or 6 rounds. Once the mag was down to 20 or 22 rounds, I didn't have any more feed problems. I didn't have any 20 round mags, but I don't think they will be any problem. By the way, an Orlite mag I had would not fit properly in the magazine well and would not latch in place. 0 -
Good report dannej, keep us informed as testing continues. Will be interesting to see how it holds up in the long run.
SEMPER FI MAC, SEMPER FI0 -
The ammo I used was FMJ and hollow point. An armorer friend of mine says that the magazines were the problem due to the way the jams occurred. All of the jams were the same in which the bolt went over the top of the round and not to the rear of it. This indicates a weak spring especially since all jams were toward the bottom of the magazine.
I also discovered in the manual that I can reverse the safety to work for left handers. Also of note is there are no sling swivels or a place for them.
I will be picking up some factory PMC, etc. this weekend to try in GI mags....0 -
I purchase a Kel Tec SU 16 last week. I am very pleased with this gun. Accuracy, even with these sights, is great. No problems with cycling the rounds either. I can't wait to shoot it with a scope. I used American Eagle (Federal) 62 grain ammo. This is a great rifle. 0
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