Kel-Tec SU-16 Broken Frame!

You would think with a lifetime warranty you wouldn't need a receipt.

For lifetime transferable like Leupold..... you don't need a receipt.

When the lifetime warranty only applies to the original owner...... a receipt is your proof of original ownership.

I'm glad to hear things are working out for the OP but in reality Kel Tec needs to step up their support for the Canadian Market.
It shouldn't be a hassle to get warranty service for Canadians.
 
considering they built the FX just for the canadian market, I sure hope they take an interest in customer service north of the border regardless of what kel tec product you own!
 
Purchases through the EE are not covered by the warranty. You are on your own...this was the situation that I was in. Even though I offered to pay up to a few hundred dollars to cover expenses to have Vault send my rifle down to Kel Tec and then back again, I was told that I was on my own. I even tried to enlist the help of another business member to do the same, with the same result.

Kel Tec was happy to replace the upper for me even though I was very candid with them from the beginning that I had bought this from an individual, not from a retailer. They know there are issues with this rifle, and wanted to make it right...they even offered to pay for the shipping back and forth from an FFL...I just needed to get the rifle across the border. I wasn't able to get any help from the Canadian side, even though I was willing to pay. So, in the end, I just gave up on it. It was an expensive lesson to learn, but in the end, it's what led me to finally purchase my Tavor. A lot more money, but heck of a lot better firearm.

The companies that are selling guns into Canada and the companies doing the importing and distribution have jumped though a bunch of hoops to get their paperwork and permits in order on both sides of the border. You'd think they could get one more piece of paper stamped so they can provide warranty repairs and service!
 
The companies that are selling guns into Canada and the companies doing the importing and distribution have jumped though a bunch of hoops to get their paperwork and permits in order on both sides of the border. You'd think they could get one more piece of paper stamped so they can provide warranty repairs and service!

This was what I was kind of hoping for. I know that there is a cost...perhaps in filing paperwork, and of course their time...and I was willing to pay for it. I wasn't looking for a free ride. I figured that I had just dropped something like seven bills on this rifle not very long before it broke, and another couple of hundred bucks for the AR kit...if it was going to take three hundred bucks to fix it so I can actually get some use out of it, I was willing to do it in the end rather than just throw several hundred bucks out the window. In the end, had to do the latter, unfortunately.

I was also hoping that Kel Tec would agree to just send me the replacement upper without requiring me to send the broken one back. I had provided photos of the receiver with the serial number and the damage. Would have been easier for me to make arrangements with an export company to send the replacement up here, than have to deal with sending the broken part back to the US. They didn't go for it, though.
 
Cheers to The Gun Dealer and NS for stepping up resolve this.

Having said that, I will never understand the big following that guns with polymer receivers have.
This design and the AR180-B are fatally flawed. A few dollars and a few ounces of real metal could have avoided all this.

Very true.....I can understand that manufacters want to save weight and money in producing their firearms , but i do not think KelTec will be a firearm that i will be buying anytime soon . A hats off to Ross and the boys at the Gun Dealer for getting things straightened out .......customer service goes a long ways....
 
What I find weird is that you rarely ever hear about this on any US forums, but this type of failure seems to happen with quite a bit more regularity up here.

Is it the weather? Is it that the Canadian guns are being made differently? Is it that Canadians are unfamiliar with the design and forgetting to twist that piston tube thing into the firing position before shooting the gun?

I'm certainly not a failure diagnostician, but I would guess that 99% of these receiver separation issues are caused by that third option.....
 
I'm certainly not a failure diagnostician, but I would guess that 99% of these receiver separation issues are caused by that third option.....

Not with mine...it was taken apart, cleaned, and put back together properly after every trip. From my conversation with Kel Tec, one failure that they have seen was the operating rod working loose. In my case, the rod was tight and secure...but I noticed a huge and SUDDEN difference in the resistance I felt from the main operating spring (not sure what it's called...the big one over the operating rod) right after the failure.

I don't know how to explain it, but right after the failure, it was like the spring lost much of its ability to resist the backwards action of the bolt. I seemed to remember that the spring had a lot more resistance when I operated the bolt before the failure, and after the failure, it was just mushy. There was evidence of the bolt slamming back farther because the charging handle dented the back of the track that it runs on.
 
When I asked years ago, Keltec told me all their guns were chambered in 5.56 but stamped .223 so they could be legally exported from the good ol US of A. Anything 5.56 isn't allowed to leave the US without ridiculous hassles. Ruger Mini is the same, stamped .223 chambered 5.56.
Same with lots of guns, no office statements for legal reasons.
 
Not with mine...it was taken apart, cleaned, and put back together properly after every trip. From my conversation with Kel Tec, one failure that they have seen was the operating rod working loose. In my case, the rod was tight and secure...but I noticed a huge and SUDDEN difference in the resistance I felt from the main operating spring (not sure what it's called...the big one over the operating rod) right after the failure.

I don't know how to explain it, but right after the failure, it was like the spring lost much of its ability to resist the backwards action of the bolt. I seemed to remember that the spring had a lot more resistance when I operated the bolt before the failure, and after the failure, it was just mushy. There was evidence of the bolt slamming back farther because the charging handle dented the back of the track that it runs on.

Maybe that piston tube thing managed to work its way into the disassembly location while you were shooting it?

Do you remember where it was when you took it apart?
 
Maybe that piston tube thing managed to work its way into the disassembly location while you were shooting it?

Do you remember where it was when you took it apart?

Yup...I do remember because I remember taking it apart afterwards and it was a completely normal disassembly, with having to turn that tube to get the tab to pass into the receiver, aside from the broken back end of the receiver, anyway. Had the tab not been in the right position, the piston part would have been loose and noticed right away. Basically, it just appeared that the rifle allowed the bolt to slam back with enough force to break the back of the receiver. Like I said, I swear the spring felt a LOT softer all of a sudden after the failure, and I can't explain why. There was very few rounds through that gun.
 
Just an update to anyone curious to what the outcome of this was...
I recently found out that North Sylva Co. was not involved in the importing of this rifle, after I returned it to The Gun Dealer they returned it to Ellwood Epps who currently has it awaiting repair. The Gun Dealer who agrees this process shouldn't take as long as it has is giving me a full refund for the rifle which I am happy with and will use it to purchase something made of metal and wood.
Check out the EE Optics section for a good deal on a Nikon P-223 scope I no longer need.
 
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