The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - KelTec KSG observations and brief initial range report

Screwball · March 11, 2025, 08:56 AM

I picked a KSG up when Trump was elected the first time… kept it for about a year and sold it.

It is a nice design. I’m very partial to the Ithaca design, which actually is sitting next to my bed right now. Don’t think I had a failure related to function.

My issue is that the design is too different than traditional shotguns, and at that point, we still had shotguns at work that made it a familiarity issue. I could get around the bullpup design. But the tube selector was the biggest issue. I originally tried it as one round type in one side, another in the second. Too confusing, and easy to flip the wrong tube and send buckshot when I wanted a slug (would never do less lethal in one and lethal in the other; separate guns for that).

Once I got over that (same round in both the tubes), I had the tubes loaded with the chamber empty. Pulled the gun out of the case, cycled the action, aim… click. Did it again… click. The case bumped the tube selector into the middle, which disabled both tubes. While it was something I could easily fix, that was the moment I decided to drop it. Don’t want a gun holding 10+ rounds, cycle it and cannot get a round in the chamber. Nor do I want to find that out the moment I need the gun to shoot.

Now, the KS7 fixes that… but doesn’t really give me something greater than the 14” 870 that I currently have a decade behind the platform (goes in my truck to some of the outports I work at). The KSG, do I really need 14 rounds of shotgun ammo in a self defense gun? I’m usually the “more is better” type of guy, but with size/weight, I just don’t see it as a step in the right direction. Bottom eject shotguns… I don’t put in the fast ammo swap group. Feel a traditional pump (870, 500/590) works better in that regard. My Ithaca just has 00 loaded and in the carrier. My 870 has a slug option in each card. Switching the KSG to center prior to ejection would make it easier, just like pushing the shell into the magazine tube past the detent would keep it from being ejected onto the lifter in my Ithaca… but still has all that extra headache. For me, self defense guns should be instinctive… whether by design or by training.

That being said, good luck with it. If I were to only have one shotgun, with no chance of ever using a different design… it would be a good option. Unfortunately, that doesn’t fit my situation. I like KelTec’s take on a lot of different designs. Still have a SUB-2000 as a bag gun (takes my duty gun’s magazines)… just rarely use it after getting a 10.5” AR9 with the Vanquish suppressor.

If they make a Gen 2 that it automatically switches from one tube to the other upon running empty, I’d probably buy one to try out again. If it made it a little harder to shut off both tubes… even more likely.

March 11, 2025, 08:56 AM	#5
Screwball Senior Member Join Date: May 16, 2012 Location: ME Posts: 824	I picked a KSG up when Trump was elected the first time… kept it for about a year and sold it. It is a nice design. I’m very partial to the Ithaca design, which actually is sitting next to my bed right now. Don’t think I had a failure related to function. My issue is that the design is too different than traditional shotguns, and at that point, we still had shotguns at work that made it a familiarity issue. I could get around the bullpup design. But the tube selector was the biggest issue. I originally tried it as one round type in one side, another in the second. Too confusing, and easy to flip the wrong tube and send buckshot when I wanted a slug (would never do less lethal in one and lethal in the other; separate guns for that). Once I got over that (same round in both the tubes), I had the tubes loaded with the chamber empty. Pulled the gun out of the case, cycled the action, aim… click. Did it again… click. The case bumped the tube selector into the middle, which disabled both tubes. While it was something I could easily fix, that was the moment I decided to drop it. Don’t want a gun holding 10+ rounds, cycle it and cannot get a round in the chamber. Nor do I want to find that out the moment I need the gun to shoot. Now, the KS7 fixes that… but doesn’t really give me something greater than the 14” 870 that I currently have a decade behind the platform (goes in my truck to some of the outports I work at). The KSG, do I really need 14 rounds of shotgun ammo in a self defense gun? I’m usually the “more is better” type of guy, but with size/weight, I just don’t see it as a step in the right direction. Bottom eject shotguns… I don’t put in the fast ammo swap group. Feel a traditional pump (870, 500/590) works better in that regard. My Ithaca just has 00 loaded and in the carrier. My 870 has a slug option in each card. Switching the KSG to center prior to ejection would make it easier, just like pushing the shell into the magazine tube past the detent would keep it from being ejected onto the lifter in my Ithaca… but still has all that extra headache. For me, self defense guns should be instinctive… whether by design or by training. That being said, good luck with it. If I were to only have one shotgun, with no chance of ever using a different design… it would be a good option. Unfortunately, that doesn’t fit my situation. I like KelTec’s take on a lot of different designs. Still have a SUB-2000 as a bag gun (takes my duty gun’s magazines)… just rarely use it after getting a 10.5” AR9 with the Vanquish suppressor. If they make a Gen 2 that it automatically switches from one tube to the other upon running empty, I’d probably buy one to try out again. If it made it a little harder to shut off both tubes… even more likely.