[BuccaneersFan]

Ok this is my rant. . . . . .

What is the point of developing new weapons if you can't get them to the market place! It's more then appearent that Kel-tec is grossly under staffed and needs to expand it's facilities to meet market demand........you have to actually SELL a product to make money! I know there's been some issues with the barrels for the SU-22, but it's beyond rediculous to have that halt production! I worked as a production manager for a manufacturing business and I was in charge of making sure we ALWAYS had the parts we needed to keep production from being interrupted, and yes I had problems with getting parts all the time! But you know what I did if we had an issue getting a part from a supplier, I got it from one of the MANY other suppliers waiting in line to take my business! And even if it cost more to purchase from that supplier it didn't matter because the losses incurred by halting production far outweighed the increased cost.

Ok sorry for the rant, I just hate waiting and I really don't want to pay a premium to purchase it on gunbroker or at gunshow! Has anyone heard when Kel-tec is going to start shipping some decent quantities?

 

[gbm5170]

When it comes to firearms, let's give Kel-Tec the benefit of the doubt that their prioritys are quality rather than quantity. I REALLY want a SU-22 as well! You'll probably beat me to it as the next local gun show is 3 months away.

 

[Liberty4Ever]

I worked as a production manager for a manufacturing business and I was in charge of making sure we ALWAYS had the parts we needed to keep production from being interrupted

You're already in Cocoa! You should go over there and apply for the position of production manager! Plenty of Kel-Tecs for everyone!

I think small pistol production is largely Kel-Tec's bread and butter. I'm just glad they mess with the other guns at all, when they could focus exclusively on cranking out more of the small pistols.

It's frustrating, wanting a new weapon so badly and not being able to fulfill that desire.

I know you aren't in the mood to hear this, but... patience. More SU-22s are surely coming. It's not unusual to have a little hickup in production between the initial run or two and larger numbers later, as supply lines stabilize and production methods are refined. Maybe it's something like that?

I know you really aren't in the mood to hear this, but... it's worth the wait because the SU-22 is a sweet little shooter. I know I'm feeding the demand when Kel-Tec isn't taking care of the supply end just now. Sorry.

I wish you could drop by and give them a little pep talk and convince them to make more SU-22s sooner, but given the conflicting demands, I think they're probably doing the best they can. Much as I like Kel-Tecs, I do agree with you in general. Supply should be more stable, but realistically, almost no gun manufacturer is keeping up with demand right now. Basically, if it'll sling lead down range, someone wants to buy it right now and will pay 30% above the street price from two months ago.

Maybe McCain could have gotten out more of the vote if he'd only thought to tell folks that an Obama victory would cause gun and ammo prices to jump 30% and availability to dwindle to almost nothing. :-?

 

[ktwm]

Unfortunatelly NO OTHER suppliers have barrel blanks to sell, so we couldn't just buy the higher priced ones. everyone in the industry is scrambling to make as many of everything they can right now (The Obama effect). We even had other gun companies call us and ask if we can make barrels for them   . This is an Industry wide shortage, not just Kel-Tec.

If any of you want to start a barrel company, now is the time....the demand is certainly there.

Of course Kel-Tec does make barrels from scratch for all the concealed carry pistols and SUB rifle, so thier production has not been affected, and you can be sure we are looking at makeing barrels from scratch for all the other guns in the Kel-Tec lineup. But unfortunatelly the new administration is going to make expansion much slower.


PS
drop off a resume after the SHOT show, not before.

 

[TxCajun]

Darn - I was hoping more had shipped lately, as I head out the door to the gun show.  Guess I won't get my hopes up.  Even if I do see one, I shudder to think what the price might be right now.  And while I really want one now, I will not grossly overpay at this point.  It's not a real emergency, only a perceived one.  

 

[ktwm]

more did ship right before christmas break. nothing since of course. we have gotten barrel blanks, they have just taken about twice as long to get to us.

 

[TxCajun]

Zero Su22s at the gun show today. There was one PLR22 for $299 and a good showing of other Kel-tecs. Next show is in 6 weeks.

 

[buzzsaw]

more did ship right before christmas break. nothing since of course. we have gotten barrel blanks, they have just taken about twice as long to get to us.

Good. So maybe the one I went through the motions of ordering yesterday actually exists, and is recent production. The site didn't give any inventory information and they are closed for the holidays until Tuesday, so I won't know until then. I may have just gotten in line. If I see one at the gun show next weekend, I'll probably buy it unless the price is outrageous.

I've noticed that there are PLR-22's to be had. An LGS had a couple hanging on the wall last week, and they seem to be available online.

buzzsaw

 

[BuccaneersFan]

Unfortunatelly NO OTHER suppliers have barrel blanks to sell, so we couldn't just buy the higher priced ones. everyone in the industry is scrambling to make as many of everything they can right now (The Obama effect). We even had other gun companies call us and ask if we can make barrels for them   . This is an Industry wide shortage, not just Kel-Tec.

If any of you want to start a barrel company, now is the time....the demand is certainly there.

Of course Kel-Tec does make barrels from scratch for all the concealed carry pistols and SUB rifle, so thier production has not been affected, and you can be sure we are looking at makeing barrels from scratch for all the other guns in the Kel-Tec lineup. But unfortunatelly the new administration is going to make expansion much slower.

I'm glad to here something about what's going on! Why not post updates on the Kel-Tec website about this to keep customers informed and calm?

And about the website, maybe you can pass this along to whoever is in charge of it.....it looks like crap! Sorry there's no other way to put it, it's terrible and I know it was changed recently, but it just looks so unprofessional. Kel-tec is a big time firearm manufacturer now, but their website makes them look like some kind of backyard tool shed operation! I mean if you go to any of the big companies ie Ruger, Springfield, Smith and Wesson etc, etc, etc their websites pretty much all use Flash and look so much better! And when you get down to it, a website is an advertisement for your products and your company and right now that advertisement is lacking BIG TIME! I'm sure others would agree! I know two really good freelance web designers that are young and know how to design cutting edge sites and do it for much less then a big company, so if Kel-Tec wants to upgrade to a professional looking site, let me know!

 

[Liberty4Ever]

And about the website, maybe you can pass this along to whoever is in charge of it.....it looks like crap!

...any of the big companies ie Ruger, Springfield, Smith and Wesson etc, etc, etc their websites pretty much all use Flash and look so much better!

...I'm sure others would agree!

I totally disagree. I think the Kel-Tec website looks good, and it keeps getting better.

I hate all that high bandwidth no-content Flash crap and the stupid time wasting Flash intro pages. I want a website that makes it easy to find what I want, and usually I want specific info such as specifications and pricing. All too often, the marketing driven sites are all fluff and no substance. By the time they've spun me around and wasted my time trying to make me feel good about their products, I realize I still don't know anything about their products. I guess I should buy them anyway, because the "user experience" was so rich and, like, you know... multimedia. :

No elaborate Flash popups that stay on top and hide the information underneath, no microscopic fonts that only a 20 ear old can read, no annoying background images that make the text almost impossible to read, and no clever formatting that pushes information off the edge of my reasonable sized display (that I'm sure looks just super on the 22" high res monitor used by the uber geek who designed the page that's specific to his computer).

I'm glad Kel-Tec spends most of its time designing new weapons and doesn't waste the consumers' money on useless expensive web pages.

I'm glad you mentioned Ruger. Great example! They apparently can't even copy a P-3AT without frakking it up so badly that there's a recall, but gee, their website looks great! Here's the prettiest product recall web page I've ever seen:

http://www.ruger-firearms.com/LCPRecall/index.html

Any gun may fire if dropped or struck

got glock?

when carrying any pistol with a loaded magazine in place, the chamber should be empty

Carry a tiny pocket pistol with no round in the chamber? I've done that with a full size handgun that I know feeds well when I wanted to Mexican carry, but I think that's bad advice in a twitchy feeding pocket pistol. Are these guys gun manufacturers, or web site designers?

/rant

 

[manonfire1007]

Kel-tec: simple yet effective, with more than a dash of ingenuity. The Website seems to follow the pattern. I like it. Glad the time is spent on production (getting that su-22C out would be nice) and keeping prices low. I love this company.
;D

 

[TxCajun]

 And when you get down to it, a website is an advertisement for your products and your company and right now that advertisement is lacking BIG TIME!

Perhaps if they were having trouble selling their guns this would be more important.  However, they could shut down the website and stop answering the phone and STILL they could not keep up with the demand.

I'm glad Kel-Tec spends most of its time designing new weapons and doesn't waste the consumers' money on useless expensive web pages.

Me too.  Now if they would just expand production and make more guns - specifically long guns.  The pistols seem to be in decent supply most of the time. I want my SU22!

 

[buzzsaw]

Me too.  Now if they would just expand production and make more guns - specifically long guns.  The pistols seem to be in decent supply most of the time.  I want my SU22!  

Me too! The dealer I mentioned in an earlier post, Sporting Arms, emailed me today telling me the SU-22 was backordered. They let me know before they were open, kudos. I instructed them to keep the order open. I plan on going to gun shows each of the next two weekends, and on the second of those two weekends, I will also be in another city on a job, but will have time to peruse two or three gun shops there that usually have a good selection of Kel-Tecs. If I see one for a reasonable price, I will probably pick it up. Of course, then my order will ship and I'll end up with two. Well, worse things can happen.

buzzsaw

 

[shep854]

NeenerneenerNEENER!! ;D

This afternoon I walked into a local shop, and what did my eyes fall upon? What is waiting to be fondled, cuddled and shot a lot? What leapt into my truck for right at $400? Three guesses, and the first two don't count!

Oboyoboyoboy!!!! Afterward, I remembered that my birthday is Saturday! YIPPEE!!

 

[Liberty4Ever]

 

[shep854]

Sorry; I don't have a digital camera, but Su Too is certainly a petite beauty.

 

[Liberty4Ever]

I guess a good description will have to do, and a range report ASAP.

This is important stuff. Gotta make TxCajun jealous. He's already wanting one in the worst way. I guess they aren't making it as far west as San Antonio.

 

[shep854]

Description? Well, she is an SU22 (I am not about to call a lady "plain, vanilla or such: They do have their vanity, after all ) but she does have the ejection port cut.

I'm hoping to take her to a range Friday. Thankfully, she likes inexpensive munchies, 'cause I have a feeling she has a voracious appetite! Of course, she likely hates the cheap stuff, so I'll have to spring for quality .22LR. Thunderbolt is OUT!

 

[Liberty4Ever]

I've had good luck with cheap Federal 550 round bulk packs and other people have reported good luck with them too. I found a couple of boxes at a rural Mal*Wart for under $14 a box recently. It's a couple of bucks higher here in town. They shot fairly accurately at 25 yards too - about half inch 5-shot groups when I did my part. The only real problem is 1-2% don't have any primer at all!

The Remington Golden Bullet bulk packs didn't feed in mine at all before the break-in. I've heard they feed better after break-in, but still have some problems.

 

[shep854]

I'm thinking of a post where ktwm I believe mentioned that the T-bolts DID NOT seem to work well in the -22 guns. IIRC, he indicated that the guns like tightly crimped ammo.