The 14+1 capacity KSG tactical pump repackages the idea of 12-gauge stopping power. Being that this shotgun incorporates a full 18 1/2-inch barrel in its 26.1-inch profile, it has more than enough capability to accurately group premium slugs at close
A Kel-Tec Sub 2000 9mm, with 15rd Beretta magazine. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
rifle distances.
The KSG can hold 7-rounds per tube, and the mag feed switch procedure is made via a manual lever located behind the trigger guard, rather than by an automatic mechanism. Once one tube mag goes empty, you’ve got to manually switch over to the second one.
In the interest of full disclosure, one could argue that Defense Review was predisposed to like the KSG shotgun on sight, since we’ve been longtime fans of the South African Neostead Shotgun, now made by Truvelo Manufacturers (Pty) Ltd. One could argue that the KSG bullpup shotgun is essentially a modified, updated, Americanized, and arguably significantly improved version of the Neostead bullpup shotgun concept. Both shotguns are bullpups, utilize a dual-tube magazine setup (i.e., a double-tube-magazine-fed design), are pump-action operated, and make extensive use of weight-saving polymer (plastic) in the stock/receiver and forend.
Kel-Tec may have solved these issues with its KSG, which is based on a design by South African gun manufacturer Neostead, by knocking more than 10 inches off the standard police shotgun and centering the weight at the pistol grip. This bullpup 12-gauge measures only 26.1 inches long.
The most unusual features on the KSG are its twin magazine tube design and the “Magazine Selector” lever, which allows the shooter to select either magazine tube. This makes the KSG an extremely versatile weapon system, but it can be a bit tricky to use, especially the first few times. If you center the Magazine Selector lever neither tube will feed the firing chamber. You have to be familiar with the Magazine Selector in order to use the KSG under stress.
Shotguns are very versatile firearms, and have many sporting uses for target shooting and game hunting, and are also very useful as fighting weapons. The KSG falls into that later category. While the KSG could be used for clay target shooting or for close-range small game and non-migratory bird hunting, I doubt that many will be seen at the skeet range, nor carried afield by a tweed-clad gent while following pointers in pursuit of bobwhite quail. The KSG is purpose-built for a much more serious role: that of decisively ending a serious social conflict. Up close and personal, there is nothing quite like a shotgun to quickly take the fight out of an assailant.
Thanks to its bullpup design (the action sits behind the trigger group) the KSG is one seriously short shotgun. The Floridian firearm stretches a scant 26.1 inches from stem-to-stern. For comparison, The Remington 887 Nitro Mag Tactical is a 39″ gun. O.F. Mossberg’s shortest tactical scattergun is the 590 Special Purpose (fans of The Jerk need apply). That piece tapes-in at 38 and 3/8″. The least length-challenged Benelli SuperNova measures 45″ tip to tail.
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