Kel-Tec Prototype .308 Bullpup Rifle
Kel-Tec has published on their social media pages images of a prototype rifle. It is a bullpup rifle with an unusual orientation of the magazine and a humongous 32″ long (813mm) barrel.
The magazine well of this rifle is angled up to the right side which results in an ejection port facing down on the left side. This layout is probably designed to have a downward ejection pattern in an attempt of getting rid of one of the main disadvantages of bullpup rifles – ejection near the shooter’ face which presents the blown back gasses from the chamber to the shooter’s face and also makes transitioning from shoulder to shoulder a problem in that the ejected brass may hit the shooter. Kel-Tec has been offering solutions to this bullpup design issue for a while and as you know, the latest KelTec solution is an ingenious downward ejecting mechanism embodied in their RDB rifles.
The lower receiver and the trigger of this prototype rifle look to be 3D printed whereas the upper receiver cover is probably made of some sort of thermoplastic material like Kydex. The charging handle is located above the lower receiver and below the barrel. It is probably an ambidextrous or reversible one. The barrel looks to be fixed in place via a barrel nut. You can see the threaded portion of the barrel and the nut screwed on it right in the front of the lower receiver and Picatinny rail base.
This Kel-Tec prototype rifle also had an adjustable trigger. In the image below, you can see the trigger mechanism stripped from the receiver. The spring above the trigger is most likely the recoil spring wrapped around the piston.
The rifle also had a threadless muzzle device attachment system to comply with the requirements of 1994-2004 assault weapons ban.
What other design elements have you noticed in the images? Let us know in the comments section.
Images by Kel-Tec
Managing Editor Being a lifelong firearms enthusiast, Hrachya always enjoys studying the history and design of guns and ammunition. Should you need to contact him, feel free to shoot him a message at Hrachya@TheFirearmBlog.com
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Wait, but why? How is this better than the RFB? (If anything the magazine angle on this would seem to obstruct ambidextrous use.)
More kel-tec garbage