Shooting my new KSG - First impressions

A good many KSG owners (and AR-15) really like the MagPul vertical front grip.
This is a quality part and uses a very strong double bolt and nut arrangement to clamp it to the rail.
Unlike other types, the Magpul stays locked in place and even on the first models of the KSG with the weaker lower rail, the Magpul's longer clamping system wouldn't break the rail off the forearm.

To be fair, most of the broken early KSG forearm rails were broken off SIDEWAYS, not from the front or back.
This leads to suspicion that the rail was not broken while operating the gun but by some other abuse.
I've never heard of a broken rail while using a MagPul grip.

http://www.brownells.com/rifle-part...tinny-rvg-railed-vertical-grip-prod72630.aspx

I have one on my KSG and like it.
I did do some experimenting on where on the rail to mount it.
I started out with it all the way forward, but after trying different positions I found that for me, mounting it in the middle of the rail gave me the best control.

 

Absolute #1 priority upgrade: KT factory extended buttpad. I think I got mine under $50 shipped.
If shes not fun to shoot and beats you up, you might not feed her properly!

 

I tend not to over accessorize a gun, especially a defense shotgun. I've seen some shotguns with so much junk hanging off it you wonder how the owner can even lift it.

The reason the shotgun is the most deadly firearm at close range is really that it's so fast to get on target and hit with a massive load of lead.
While a rifle or pistol shooter is getting his sights aligned and on target, the shotgunner has already taken care of business and moved on.
Anything you add to a shotgun will add weight and bulk, and that will slow down how fast you can use it.
In shotguns "Speed kills"...the bad guy.

What's needed is to do a Real World assessment of each accessory to determine what the actual benefit is and is it worth the reduction in speed of use.

You have to wonder about things when you see a large magazine gun like the KSG with extra shell holders bolted all over the sides, and incredibly, things like spikes on the ends of the magazine tubes.
If your gun is a range toy, that's one thing, but if it's intended to be an actual defense gun I'd wonder about the weight and how useful a pair of sharp spikes would really be.

With the idea of being fast rather then impressing the guys at the range, my KSG is plain stock Black, has the MagPul vertical front grip, and the thicker Kel-Tec butt pad.
I added the pad because I have a bad shoulder and need the extra recoil reduction.
That's IT.
I spent my time doing a deep "fluff and buff" to smooth operation instead of adding dubious accessories.

Where I really went different then most people is with the sights.
Most all KSG's are fitted with an electronic optic or pop-up AR-15 iron sights.
For use as a pure home defense gun I couldn't afford a really good optic like an Aimpoint, the pop-up sights are prone to getting broken off, and have to BE popped up before you can use them.

So, I bought an Archangel sight.
This is a plastic version of some other companies aluminum sight and is intended to be an auxiliary backup sight on a rifle side rail at 3:00 or 9:00 o'clock

The Archangel is made of some extremely hard plastic with steel bolts to mount to the rail.
The front sight is an orange plastic elevation adjustable standard AR-15 sight, and the rear is a plastic copy of a Ed Brown pistol sight, adjustable for windage.
I built a Kydex guard for the rear sight to give it the same protective "ears" as the front sight.

For the short ranges this will be used at, this works very well.
It doesn't have a battery or electronics to fail, is always "up" and would be hard to break off.

 

I like this much much better than flip up BUIS.

So im thinking you cut, sanded and drilled the kydex, then bolted it on? What thickness, and wheres a good place to get a little bit for cheap?

The more I look at this setup the more I like it as it would work through my dot site window.

 

Yea ARCHANGEL!

 

Building and installing the Archangel sight "ears" was easy.
I used two thicknesses of Kydex.
You can buy small sheets of Kydex from knife and holster building sites.
I used Kydex because it seems to be a better material and it's available in many colors and in various camouflage patterns:

https://www.knifekits.com/vcom/index.php

https://www.holstersmith.com/vcom/index.php?cPath=546_54_136&osCsid=bvkmmv4pfh06kj5vcqttlappl4

I used a thick .093 piece for the actual ears and a thinner .060 piece for spacers inside the ears.
The thinner spacers inside give the sight room to be adjusted for windage if needed.
These spacers are just small rectangular pieces positioned at the bottom of the ear pieces between the ears and the sight base.
If you don't need to adjust the rear sight you can just use the ear pieces without spacers.

To make it, I used a hobby knife and sand paper to cut out, bevel and smooth the edges, then used fine sand paper to dull the shiny inner surfaces to eliminate light reflection.
I drilled matching holes in all four pieces and mounted them on the Archangel sight with small socket head bolts and nuts.
I might replace the socket head bolts with button head bolts to give a more streamlined look.

I used a Flex shaft and rubber abrasive tips to remove the plated finish from the Nyloc nuts and applied Brownell's Dicropan T4 cold blue to blacken the nuts.
Dicropan T4 gives a true Black color, not blue, and seems to be more durable then most cold blues.

Do an online search for nuts and bolts and you can find Nyloc nuts with a black finish like those used on the KSG, and eliminate having to go through the blackening step.
OR, you can use ordinary hardware store black jam nuts and keep them tight with Loctite.
Jam nuts also are thinner and would reduce the width of the sight ears portion.

The bolts simply pass through existing holes on the Archangel sight, so all I had to do was select bolts that would pass through the holes.
Since the bolts and nuts on the KSG are metric, I bought metric bolts and nuts at a hardware store.

 

If you use the KSG at longer then normal home defense ranges the optical sights are the best.
However at very short ranges the KSG can be used in the instinctive "pointing" method that the shotgun is usually used with.
In that method, the gun is simply "pointed" with the bead the front sight and your eye the rear sight.

The Archangel sight gives the KSG the needed flat plain surface needed, similar to the rib and bead sight on sporting guns.
The Archangel also allows using the sights as a "flash" sight picture reference at close range.

At close range the Archangel front and rear sights are simply looked over with your eyes on the target.
This insures the KSG is aligned with the target.
If you have time you can get a flash sight picture through the sights.

Contrary to popular Hollywood entertainment you DO have to aim/point the shotgun to get hits at home defense ranges.
Inside the typical home the shot pattern will be in about a 6 inch circle.
Put up a 6 inch paper disk inside the home and you can see just how easy it really is to just flat miss.

So, going for total reliability and not having to turn a sight On or pop up two sights, I went with the Archangel. It's always ON and UP.
You could easily do the same thing with a long top rail and a simple bead front sight to duplicate a rib and bead shotgun sight.

 

Before you necessarily give up on this handstop, may I suggest moving/reversing it so the nub is on the very front end of the pump. Then, hold the pump without contacting the nub.
When I first shot mine, the KT factory handstop in the forward position caused me a little blister thing on my finger just like you. So I learned to grip it without touching the nub.
If you go verticle grip thats fine, but me, I like the way it handles with a horizontal grip better.

 

I bought the KT hand stop and reall liked it. Also bought the Magpul forward grip but never installed it because I liked the hand stop so much (personal preference). The KT extended butt pad is also a quality product and makes recoil very manageable. Lastly I bought the KT klydex cheek pad. My rationale was jaw on metal is usually not a good thing on a shotgun. Makes it very comfortable to shoot plus it was only $30. I'm happy with all those accessories. Saving for a Vortex sparc II for the red dot.

 

I would love to have a KSG! also a CMR -30! OK Santa, i binna gud boy!

 

I wish the Kel Tec boys would do the KSG in semi auto. I'd buy at least two!

 

I've tried various "end of forend" hand stops and none of them were satisfactory. I now run a simple ladder rail cover. That's it.

 

I think they tried and the ATF shot it down.

 

What's the legal reason "just Too dang scary"?

 

I don't think the BATF shot down any proposed Kel-Tec semi-auto KSG.
Remember the High Standard 10-A and 10-B semi-auto bullpup shotguns that were sold years ago.

 

Not to mention the SRM 1216