Yes, I'm aware that it's a little unusual....
..... and that's just the beginning. Yup, it does indeed fold in half. Opened, it's roughly 30 inches. Folded, it's about 16"!!! Let me go back to the beginning and explain my "philosophy of use" for this thing.
- I wanted a carbine that takes my primary pistol round (9mm Parabellum) and preferably my magazine as well.
- Something that most anyone can get better accuracy than a pistol..... and at a longer range. Around 25 to 75 yards; where a pistol leaves off.
- Something that can go most anywhere without being obtrusive...... oh, say like an AR, or even a case big enough to hold an AR.
- Something small, light and easy to carry as well as get into action.
- Modern, with the ability to adapt modern accessories.
- Relatively inexpensive.
My original intention was to take the "Planet of the Apes" gun, otherwise known as the Hi Point 995 and add the forthcoming Hightower Armory MBS 95 "bullpup" stock making it about 26" overall. I got as far as spending $150 to pick up one on Gunbroker. Unfortunately, after a trip to the range, the reality of the pathetic 10 round magazine got me to thinking about other options. Then it got worse when I realized that in fact, the rumors of the ProMag 15 round magazines not working proved to be all too accurate. There is a fix.... kind of, but if you try, it, and it doesn't work, you're out of luck, since it involves disassembling the mag, and bending the springs! So, I did a little math in my head.I had $150 in the 995. Hightower Armory said the stock conversion would be between $200 and $250; so we'll say $225. That makes the outlay about $375..... and that's with a magazine that wasn't anywhere close to my Walther and still stuck with a 10 round max. I knew the Kel-Tecs run in the upper $300s and lower $400 so the total wasn't too far apart. So, what was the deciding factor?
Yup, mags, but not just any mags...... Beretta 92 mags. As it turns out, a number of gun manufacturers use mags that are very similar. It kind of makes sense right? Similar concept, similar number of rounds, same round. Here's what happened; as always, I was looking around at trying to find inexpensive magazines for my rather expensive Walther P99, the originals of which are $40+ each. Of course, Sig mags, or HK mags aren't any cheaper, but I came across an article talking about using mags from the Beretta 92f/fs. It's also comes in a variant called the M9..... getting the picture now? Yeah, that M9, the former sidearm of the U.S. military that was just replace by the Sig 320. So, there are all sorts of mags available cheap, but there's going to be more coming, as the military begins to dump it's warehouses!
What does this have to do with my Walther P99? Back to my original story. Apparently, after a little modification, Beretta 92 mags can be used in the P99! So, this was the best of all worlds! I'd have a gun capable of using, quality, yet very inexpensive magazines, but have those same mags also fit my primary handgun! Is that cool or what! To test that, I bought a couple of extended 30 round Beretta 92/PX4 mags and tried them in my P99. They worked fine, except that I need to cut another retention slot in each one.
So, back to the Kel-Tec Sub 2000. ......which by the way, is not without it's warts. It has a number of deficiencies which include build quality (sub $500 MSRP in today's world gets you a lot of polymer), and a few other random things. But never fear, if there's a firearm made in decent quantities, today's booming after-market has one or more solutions. And in the case of the Sub 2K, it's M-Carbo of St. Petersburg, Florida. I'm not going to get into an exhaustive list of their products here, but of particular importance are machined aluminum replacement pieces for the trigger parts which solves the common complaint of the trigger pull. Their extensive collection of replacement parts plays an important role in my decision as well. Did I mention that this gun is not only small (when folded), but only weighs 4lbs! So, what's the next step? Finding one for a reasonable price.
Actually, for this gun, finding one has been a bit of an issue, although that has gotten better of late. The problem is that the Sub 2K mostly sells for retail and often for more than that. The full retail figure is $500, but supposedly, you should be able to find them for about $400. Then came the "hunt". I found that if a person was persistent, this carbine could be had for around $400 + or - online. Which means you'll have to tack on another $25 to $35 for shipping. Hard hunting can find a similar price locally, then you end up tacking on about the same amount in taxes. Which is where Gun Broker comes into the picture. I've found that you can find pretty much anything you want there, but you'll mostly pay the "typical" price. However, if a person is diligent and persistent, AND disciplined, he/she can find a "deal". In my case, the "deal" came in the form of a lightly used Gen 2 version, that came with a very reasonable $20 shipping charge, AND extras......
What extras? You may not be able to tell, but they can all be seen in this picture in some way. There's the M-Carbo bolt handle cover, aluminum trigger and trigger guard, a Magpul AFG (Angled ForeGrip), a recoil pad, an extra magazine, and a Kel-Tec soft case sized for the Sub 2000. There may be more, but I won't be able to tell till I take the gun apart. All-in-all, just the pieces I've been able to identify comes to over $150, so when I tell you guys that I got it for $385, plus the $20 shipping making the total $404.95, I'm just about busting at the seams over it! Add to that, the ability to take magazines I already own, I'd say that this is just about the perfect "go everywhere" long-gun for me.
