So I picked up my new SU-22 today. There were a few small spots of rust around the receiver end of the barrel, which I was prepared for and should be able to handle pretty quickly. What caught me off guard though was the finish on the barrel; it was fairly thin, much more of a matte finish than the pictures I see here (accounting for the flash), and clearly worn where the butt of the stock meets the barrel when you fold the rifle for storage (i.e. pretty much bare metal). Is this the kind of thing that I should call Kel-Tec about or just pay to get it refinished? (I have pics, working on getting them hosted.)
You definitely should not need to refinish a new rifle! It's possible that there is a packing spacer that was missing or misplaced, that should have prevented the butt stock from rubbing the finish off the barrel when it was shipped from Kel-Tec to the distributor and then shipped from the distributor to the dealer. I was very impressed with the thick, almost black bluing on my SU-22. The bluing process is dependent on the chemical concentration. Maybe your SU-22 was blued just before they swapped to a fresh batch of bluing solution? If it was just one spot, I'd probably cold blue it and tell Kel-Tec about it. If you have a problem, they need to hear about it before it can ever be fixed. I've thought about powder coating the barrel on my SU-22, or at least putting on the tough CeramaCoat finish. I see my SU-22 as a rough and tumble survival gun. I wish it was all stainless and polymer, and I'd have paid a lot more for that feature.
I heard back from Kel-Tec customer service, and it was everything that I expected after reading about it. They told me to ship them the barrel and they'd replace it with one with a better finish. Yay! Now I have to ask all of yout KTOG eggheads, how the heck do I get the barrel off of this thing?
You don't remove the barrel. They probably intended for you to ship the entire rifle to them. I'm sorry to hear that you had an out-of-the-box condition that requires the rifle be sent back to Kel-Tec.
I'm kinda glad you said that because I spent a little time trying to figure it out and for the life of me couldn't. Since it's just a finish problem, I'm still tempted to take it out shooting this weekend before sending everything back. At least I kept the box so it should be relatively easy to ship. Thanks for the input.
Since I'm sending my SU-22 into Kel-Tec anyways for a new barrel, I figured I'd at least test it out to make sure that everything was okay with it mechanically. 1 550 box of Federal Bulk pack + 3 25 rounds magazines + 1 blister from loading said rounds into said magazines = 2 ammo related failure-to-fires + 0 mechanical failures + 1 very happy Kel-Tec owner. Of course, I'll be even happier when I get it back. I love my SU-22.
I got my SU-22 back from Kel-Tec one day shy of two weeks after I first mailed it. That kind of turnaround time is insane! The finish on the barrel is perfect, and they even did a really nice polishing job on the feed ramp, free of charge. Kel-Tec, your service department just won you a loyal customer for life. Thanks!
That's a good report on the customer service at Kel Tec as well as how you feel about the SU 22. Everything I've been reading about the SU 22 here in KTOG has convinced me to have my gunshop order one for me, it just look's like a fun gun to own and shoot.
