Anyone ever use one? the Kel-Tec su-16a?

I'm thinking about getting one.

I used to sell guns -- The KelTek was always a pretty good cheap auto -- I don't remember this model but it probably works as advertised -- better guns can be had but I feel you will be OK with this one

Hey BF: I have a P-11 & a P3AT, but not any of their rifles. Great guns for the price.
Check out this site, it not run by KT, but has a lot of good info on KTs, and how to tune and modify them.....their forum/bulletin board has a wealth of information from KT users on all the various KT Pistols and rifles (they have a separate section for the SU-16 and SUB-9 & SUB200 rifles).....good bunch of folks. (I post there once in a while myself. My handle is: ddmau).

Kel-Tec Owner's group:
http://www.ktog.org/

Have fun....

I have never owned a Kel-Tec. I have a couple of friends that have had the old .380 model they used as a back-up. I have always preferred a Smith & Wesson "J" Frame revolver as a back-up.

If you are going to buy a weapon for personal protection I would go with a better brand. As far as weapons go in most cases you get what you pay for. Here is what you should consider when buying a weapon for personal protection.

1. Rule #1 the weapon has reliable everytime you pull the trigger and never when you dont. It must feed any hollow point round I choose to use. It does not have to have an external safety like a Glock or a Sig but must have a firing pin block so if you have a round in the chamber and you drop the weapon it does not fire. A weapon that will not go bang when you need it to is worthless for defence no matter what.

2. Second, How the weapon feels when I hold it, shoot it, and carry it. I point shoot and if the weapon does not feel natural in my hand when I draw it I wont carry. If you need to draw it in really low light conditions you may not be able to see the sights so it has to point naturaly. Next is how it feels when you shoot it. A large caliber handgun is not always the best choice. I like the 9mm the best. With modern hollow point bullets you get acceptable stopping power and the recoil is a lot less than some of the larger calibers. I am not intimadated by larger calibers but if I had to engage multiple targets or the same target multiple times I can do this much faster with the 9mm than larger calibers. Last is how it feels when you carry it. You know the situations you need to carry the weapon and how you dress may dictate the size of the weapon you can carry. Remember though the smaller and/or lighter the weapon in the same caliber has more felt recoil. I carry a compact 9mm like my Sig P228 or P225, or my HK USP Compact. But at home in my nightstand I have a full size HK USP in .40 S&W with a surefire flashlight attached to it.

3. Lastly will it hit the target. The first two rules always come before this one in a personal defence weapon but this is still important. Practice will help this rule. I practice with cheep full metal jacket rounds mostly however I carry +p+ hollow points that have more kick so I also practice with the rounds I carry in the weapon.

I am also thinking of getting a handgun. Mostly for home defence. Take it to the range once in a while to let a lil rage out. I currently only have a Browning .22 target pistol. While fun, and cheap, to fire, I don't see this thing delivering the man stopping power to a coked up junkie attacking my wife, in a pinch kinda situation I am debating between a .45 and a 9mm. Raven does make some good points about the 9, but my question is, arn't hollow points illegal for the general public. Or do we get to use them for "hunting"?

IMHO...

Home Defense Gun = 12 Gauge Shotgun w/either Slug or 00 Buck

I have all sorts of hand guns -- from .22 to .45 I can shoot most of them well -- IMHO the clear choice for a civilian is the revolver -- I keep three handguns loaded in the house for defense -- all are .38 Special or .357 Mags loaded with .38+P personal defense loads from Federal -- I keep them secure and do not allow children in my house anyway -- with revolvers there are no jams and no safetys to worry about -- Just point an shoot -- then call 911

Guys...I think you missed the question. Badfish was asking about the Kel-Tec SU-16, which is a 5.56 (.223) RIFLE....not a handgun.

It uses M-16 Type magazines and folds up to an overall length of about 25 inches.
These are the "A" model and the "C" (carbine) model, which has a slightly different stock:

Kel-Tec SU-16 [A]

Kel-Tec SU-16 [C]

OR....if you want to do the paperwork and pay the $200 tax stamp: a specially built "Delta" model, classified as an SBR:
KT Delta SBR

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rbihari,

And most important its CA legal.

quote:

Originally posted by Lok17:
I am also thinking of getting a handgun. Mostly for home defence. Take it to the range once in a while to let a lil rage out. I currently only have a Browning .22 target pistol. While fun, and cheap, to fire, I don't see this thing delivering the man stopping power to a coked up junkie attacking my wife, in a pinch kinda situation I am debating between a .45 and a 9mm. Raven does make some good points about the 9, but my question is, arn't hollow points illegal for the general public. Or do we get to use them for "hunting"?

Hollow points are legal in the unless your city or state has a law against them.

quote:

Originally posted by JeepCop:
IMHO...

Home Defense Gun = 12 Gauge Shotgun w/either Slug or 00 Buck

Yes a 12 Gauge has OUTSTANDING stopping power at short range.. A couple of things to consider though. First is its harder to stash next to me when I am in bed like a handgun would be. I live alone so this would not be a problem for me but for those of you that have wives a 12 Gauge is alot of gun to shoot and they may be intemadated about using it. Also in CQC (close quarter combat) like in a dark house a shotgun is much longer and when turning corners in a house I will take a handgun over a shotgun anyday. The shotgun also holds fewer rounds and much slower to reload. It also has a lot of flame and flash and noise when fired in a dark hallway. A handgun is my chouce in the house. If the thug were standing on the porch or you were a police officer or soldier who is covering the back door as the main force enter the front and begins clearing the dwelling again a shot gun is great.

I also keep my AR15 with a red dot scope (not a laser sight) on it for quickly aquireing the target wile both eyes are watching the target and not the scope/sights on the weapon.

For those of you that live in areas where handguns and AR15's are not legal I would consider the Winchester Model 94 trapper leaver action in .357 mag. It holds 9 in the tube is shorter than a full stock shotgun that has an 18in barrel has less recoil and flash in a dark house. If the .357mag is a bit to much recoil for your wife/girlfriend then you can load it with .38 special +p+ hollow points.

I'm not a big Kel-Tec fan in the first place, but I did get to shoot the Kel-Tec carbine a couple of times. I think the more innovative feature is the ability to lock the gun in the folded position, which separates the barrel chamber from the breech. Can't be accidently shot, if that's your worry. Some people like the gun, it's just not for me.

BadFish, it will depend on what you want it for. There are better made 5.56 cliber rifles and or carbines out there. Kel-Tec makes a good hand gun, and they have a nice little 22 rifle. BUt w/ this larger shell , there are better pkgs out there. Looks wise and having a built on bi-pod makes it an interesting rifle to own, and I guess the storage issue by it being colapsible is an interesting advantage.

raven, in defence of the shotgun, it does have a couple of good points.
1) the KA-CHUC of chambering a round would probably send most intruders running w/o you even firing a shot.
2) A pistol you must aim, a shotgun you have to point in the right direction. ( most untrained people will miss w/ a handgun and would thus have a better chance w/ the shotgun under panic mode) This will help the nieghbor who might other wise have to dodge slugs.
just my humble opinion.

How about one of the older street sweepers.
A whole turret of 12 guage rounds.

I dont know, i'm now thinking M14 or M1A

quote:

Originally posted by BadFish:
I dont know, i'm now thinking M14 or M1A

Good choices also......but they will be at least twice the price of any of the KTs, and are different animals altogether than a 5.56 caliber weapon.
M-14/M1A are 7.62 NATO full size battle rifles, and exceptionally accurate and lethal at longer ranges than .223. The 7.62 is a man-stopper, but so is the 5.56 when properly utilised....the performance of 5.56 at under 200 meters is quite impressive.. (unless you are dealing with body armor).....but less so as ranges increase.....that's where the 7.62 comes into it's own.

When I was in the Army, I was issued the M-14 during Basic, but was issued the M-16 from Advanced Infantry Training onward...The M-14 was a great rifle, but much bigger/heavier than the M-16, much heavier recoil (more difficult follow-up shots), and you couldn't carry as much ammo, a disadvantage when humping through the boonies, but in a base-camp where I didn't have to lug it around much, the M-14 was better.

Like most firearms, you have to consider what it's primary use will be, and secondarily, the costs of ownership (don't forget to consider the cost of ammo...in most cases, 7.62 = >2X 5.56). All weapons are a compromise to one degree or another.....there are very few "universal" battle rifles made by anyone....and the better ones are not generally available to the public, or are unreasonably expensive.....but you tend to get what you pay for.

It's too bad you live in the Socialist Republic of Kalifornia....some of the Kalashnikov designs are relatively cheap, and excellent choices also...especially the 7.62X54R Dragunov SVD sniper rifles.

My advice....buy one of each....maybe several
...works for me

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rbihari,

I love my M1A, but it is a full-size package. If you like the .223, and want something shorter and less expensive, but an M1A-style action, then the Ruger Mini-14 is a good solution. Good for reasonable accuracy at short-medium distance, not long-range unless some accurizing is done. Magazines available up to 40 rounds (20's are still most reliable feed).

quote:

Originally posted by BadFish:
I dont know, i'm now thinking M14 or M1A

BadFish,

The M1A is Springfield Armory's semi-automatic version of the M14. I own 2 M1A's I have a standard M1A with the black synthetic stock and a Bush Rifle which is their shorter barrel version. I love them both they are OUTSTANDING rifles. There are certain situations in combat that a .308 win (7.62x51 NATO) caliber rifle is a better choice than a rifle firing the .223 rem (5.56 NATO). And if given a choice of current battle rifles firing this caliber I would still go with the M14. I own an HK 91 which is the semi-auto version of the German G3 and I have owned an FN FAL both are great rifles but as I said above I would choose the M14. If you decide to buy the M1A you wont be dissapointed. Both my M1A's have surplus M14 Parts on them they came from the factory that way. I dont know if springfield still does that but at any rate they are OUTSTANDING rifles.

quote:

Originally posted by sungunner:
I love my M1A, but it is a full-size package. If you like the .223, and want something shorter and less expensive, but an M1A-style action, then the Ruger Mini-14 is a good solution. Good for reasonable accuracy at short-medium distance, not long-range unless some accurizing is done. Magazines available up to 40 rounds (20's are still most reliable feed).

The Ruger Mini-14 is another great rifle. I have owned several over the years and never had any problems with them. It is a great choice for those who want a great semi-auto .223 rem rifle but cant afford an AR15.