Keltec RFB 308 forward ejecting

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Leibermuster

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I have to say I was impressed with this review, is it long? Yes but he hits the nail on the head with this one.

This Bullpop being forward ejecting seems like a game changer to me. I find myself really torn between this rifle and the SSG542 or Swiss SAPR. But price and versatility of this 308 rifle just shines.

Anyone's thought on this rifle ?
 
Owned five in total. Still have one that I will never sell. Excellent rifle that once tuned to your load will offer big smiles every time you shoot it. Low recoil and such a fast swing rate make it a huge winner chambered in .308. I'm not a hunter myself but I have lent my rifles to many friends who do including a few old timers who have never owned anything accept bolt guns. The short overall length makes it easy to maneuver in the bush. It's a heavy feeling rifle to pick up but once shoulder all of that disappears.

Edited to ad,

NR and only 26.1" big win
Mags can be hard to find and expensive
Gas system is finicky but if you have a favourite load and stick with its no prob
Shoots quite well off the bench
 
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I have mine tuned to the 150gr american eagle factory load and was getting easy 3" groupings at 100 yards, with some exceptional groups of under 2" this weekend. This was from a rested position.

I think I could tune the gas system a bit more but the biggest limiting factor is still me. I know this rifle can shoot better, I might start trying different rounds to see if it likes something more.
 
I live mine, will it ever be a 1/2 moa gun? No, but if your getting 3 moa well you did not find the ammo it likes. It likes 147 to 168 gr, I have not done extensive accuracy test but in the shooting I did in the past 2 1/2 years I lear that even if I am not a great shot at all this rifle got really good accuracy. Two load it likes is my .45 $ norinco 147gr surplus and Winchester ballistic silvertip 168g. I suspect it would shoot great with 150gr silvertip. Don't bother with soft point , the feed ramp really beat the lead tip and there all over the place.

168gr Winchester ballistic silvertip
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Norinco 147 (or 145 don't remember) surplus
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I like my RFB but might end up selling it. There is a guy on KTOG who has designed and tested an automatic gas valve. If I can get my hands on one I will keep the gun. There is simply too much adjustment and I switch ammo all the time for hunting and plinking.

Mine was finicky with mags when I first got it, but after 250 rounds and some LAR8 mags it runs great.
 
Throttle_monkey1 said:
I like my RFB but might end up selling it. There is a guy on KTOG who has designed and tested an automatic gas valve. If I can get my hands on one I will keep the gun. There is simply too much adjustment and I switch ammo all the time for hunting and plinking.

Mine was finicky with mags when I first got it, but after 250 rounds and some LAR8 mags it runs great.
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Yes sometimes metal mags are hit and miss, however I have had zero problems with thermold mags.

My gas port in the barrel must be smaller then spec, I run norinco surplus B+3 and my hunting round Winchester silvertip 168gr. B+7. However at B+7 it will run both but will have increases recoil with the norinco's
 
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I love the gun, but I have norc surplus, MFS fmj, and South African surplus all for range fun. Then I run ballistic tips for deer and Barnes TSX for bear and/or moose. That's why I'd love an automatic gas valve. I'm going to head over to KToG to see if that guy is selling it yet.
 
Throttle_monkey1 said:
I love the gun, but I have norc surplus, MFS fmj, and South African surplus all for range fun. Then I run ballistic tips for deer and Barnes TSX for bear and/or moose. That's why I'd love an automatic gas valve. I'm going to head over to KToG to see if that guy is selling it yet.
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I think he has 5 beta tester out.
 
rally guy said:
I think he has 5 beta tester out.
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That would be my one gripe with Keltec is that they have a tendency to do that, but so do 70% of all American manufactures tend to do that, but Keltec seems to be very open minded in developing new guns with a different approach but uses its first line productions to beta test on it's customers without fully working out the kinks in their product line.

I think as better models come out and improvement's are made this gun is definitely a Home-run, I would like to see the barrel being free-floated with a better twist and possible a little more modular for things like swapping out pistol grips and extensions for more for shooters to extend their arms out forward on the gun without anything hanging on the barrel like Nutnfancy mentions..

Overall I'm very impressed with this firearm and for a compact 308 this gun has major potential.

1. Forward ejecting takes one of the gripes about Bullpups out of it so you don't have to eat brass if you are a left handed or doing a full transitions

In Canada this gun makes the most sense for a 308 that can do most if not all, there is also a 24inch barrel version that I think also adds attractiveness of this firearm or for a quick swap out...

I think I'm sold on this gun....

I give it 8/10 for Firearms but for Canadian market 8.8/10 for a version 3, all wait for a few more improvements though that are in my requirements and philosophy of use, and if they don't come all settle for the version 3 then.
 
Version 3???

And as I understood the beta tester is a auto gas plug designe by private hand, or did I miss something?
 
That's what Nutnfancy mentioned, I assumed it was a GEN3 version we are on now????

We need a KELTEC RFB expert in here...LOL..
 
From what I know its gen 2.

I love nutnfancy but he got that and a couple things wrong. I don't believe there is any difference between gen 1 and 2 triggers. I believe then gen 2 barrel and bolt coating to be superior but the gas system change are supposedly to streamline production. I have a gen 1 and love it, the gen 2 gas system feature more then twice the adjustment then the gen 1.
 
Gen 2 has a different gas system from gen 1. They also beefed up the carrier and redesigned it slightly. The gas plug is a total private enterprise being spearheaded by a member of KTOG. I would love to test the auto gas plug.

Seems he is having issues with over pressure when a suppressor is used on the Gen2 models. That won't be issue up here though so I would gladly beta test.
 
Leibermuster said:
That would be my one gripe with Keltec is that they have a tendency to do that, but so do 70% of all American manufactures tend to do that, but Keltec seems to be very open minded in developing new guns with a different approach but uses its first line productions to beta test on it's customers without fully working out the kinks in their product line.
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Unfortunately that is how the US military procurement systems works, winning a rifle trial competition means you get funding from the Government to refine your design prior to full production. this way even the smallest company gets a chance, however that also means when a smaller company decide to bring their design to the civilian market they can only improve their product as they go.
 
Leibermuster said:
That would be my one gripe with Keltec is that they have a tendency to do that, but so do 70% of all American manufactures tend to do that, but Keltec seems to be very open minded in developing new guns with a different approach but uses its first line productions to beta test on it's customers without fully working out the kinks in their product line.

I think as better models come out and improvement's are made this gun is definitely a Home-run, I would like to see the barrel being free-floated with a better twist and possible a little more modular for things like swapping out pistol grips and extensions for more for shooters to extend their arms out forward on the gun without anything hanging on the barrel like Nutnfancy mentions..

Overall I'm very impressed with this firearm and for a compact 308 this gun has major potential.

1. Forward ejecting takes one of the gripes about Bullpups out of it so you don't have to eat brass if you are a left handed or doing a full transitions

In Canada this gun makes the most sense for a 308 that can do most if not all, there is also a 24inch barrel version that I think also adds attractiveness of this firearm or for a quick swap out...

I think I'm sold on this gun....

I give it 8/10 for Firearms but for Canadian market 8.8/10 for a version 3, all wait for a few more improvements though that are in my requirements and philosophy of use, and if they don't come all settle for the version 3 then.
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I own a gen1. The twist rate is actually good on it. 1:11.25 is a twist rate I like for 308. Same as my 5R milspec, same as my LMT MWS etc. Pretty much every military designed accuracy rifle uses this twist rate. Although the RFB isn't an accuracy rifle.

The gas plug in the Gen1 is better than the Gen2. The Gen2 offers more adjustments which you don't need. I consider the Gen1 to have too many as is. The main reason for the Gen2 was it's cheaper to produce. It's not a better design other than for manufacturing ease.

You can't free float this rifle. The barrel is the spine. Everything goes off the barrel in the RFB. Also it's essentially a repackaged and ergonomically improved SVT40, FN FAL style tilting block short stroke piston design. The heavier barrel helps mitigate vertical stringing which is common with this type of design. But as it's the spine of the rifle there won't be any quick swap outs.

One thing that's been found with these rifles are that the cheaper ammo such as 145 MFS shoots very well. Stormtrooper demonstrated this in a past thread. A few of us have suspected the steel/zinc case offers more support for the bullet into the chamber and when fired which gives it more accuracy. The bolt head on the RFB is flat and doesn't lock up like a rotating AR style bolt. Think Remington 870 tilting block bolt .

Bottom line the ergos are pretty good. The only real flaw is the mag release is at the back instead of the front of the magwell so speed reloads aren't going to be anywhere near as fast as a Tavor or AR. But tactical reloads where you maintain your mag are still decent. The charging handle has a cheesy cheap plastic tab with two rivets and the plastic isn't up to grade with that of a military rifle. That being said, super short about half the length of other semi auto 308 rifles, charging handle on the left side, trigger isn't bad, forward eject and a lot of fun to shoot.

What I would like to see is a 20" SS match barrel version. I'd also like the 24" "Hunter" to be a black coated SS barrel rather than just a longer CL version. Not as a precision rifler per say but to bring it to a solid 1 moa rifle. An auto gas regulator would be nice. I'm not a fan of changing gas settings all the time. A better quality charging handle tab would be nice as well. Otherwise I like this rifle for what it is. If you want a precision semi auto however this isn't the gun for you. Look at the AR308 rifles instead.
 
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So there is no way from an re-engineering standpoint that they can free-float the barrel anytime in the future on this rifle???
 
Most likely no. The barrel is the spine as mentioned by epoxy. Everything attaches to the barrel. I believe it is the serialized receiver as it is serialized near the breech. Check out a video showing a detailed field stripping, it will illustrate it better than I can on my phone
 
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