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New Product Kel-Tec RFB/Steve-Mike Rifle Love Fest

10K views 46 replies 7 participants last post by  Steve M1911A1 
#1 ·
For those who are interested, FYI, according to FN, all models of the RFB will be out mid December 2008. If that's true, that would be a nice gift from Santa. The pictures and video looks very nice. Would not hold my breath, since I waited a year for their FNP 45 to finally hit the street.
 
#27 · (Edited)
In my experience (that is, in action against nothing more threatening than cardboard and a scorecard) there is never a need for speed, in deploying a bipod. At bipod distance (more than 250 yards), and if you're prone, you have lots of time before the putative BG musters enough skill or luck to come even close to hitting you.
(Is that also true in real life? You know much better than I.)
I tend to agree. I do think, though, that DVC applies to rifles as well as pistols. The less time you spend getting ready to shoot, the more time you have to concentrate on delivering a good shot. I'm not sure I'd limit bipod use to 250+ yards. If you can get steadier, get steadier, no matter the range.

We had some guys who bolted Harris bipods (available through the supply system) to the M4s. SDMs and snipers might have used them, but most engagements are of short duration and close range, negating any call for a bipod.

The reason for the stock-stowable bipod (Clifton, Steyr, Kel-Tec) is only that it's always there when you need it, and it isn't cluttering up your belt (or vest, or harness, or whatever). Speed isn't the issue.
Ideally, I'd like one that offers both. If I can get the bipod out fast, I am more likely to have a steady shot in the field, regardless of distance.

First, you're stuck with Steyr magazines, and you can reload only by switching them out. I like the M14 system best, which gives you the choice of switching mags or reloading from the top with stripper clips. I like the Mauser/Springfield system next-best because its feed lips are just about indestructible. You never can "run out of" usable magazines, and you can use strippers or you can single-load.
Realistically, anyone who can swing the price of a Steyr can keep a few spare mags handy. It's not like we're carrying these things into battle. These guns are primarily hunting rifles and range toys, and are generally treated very well compared to combat rifles.

Second, the Steyr's ejection port is a little too small. It's hard to clear jams, and you can't use stripper clips.
But the detachable box magazines render the stripper clips obsolete. Why load from the top when you can just swap out magazines? Especially since the Steyr carries a spare mag in the buttstock. My Steyr hasn't ever jammed, but I haven't yet put a lot of rounds downrange. Anyway, a jam in a rifle not intended for dangerous game or combat is less important, since you'll have the luxury of time to clear it.

Why have a down-bore scout scope, and leave the port clear, if you can't use strippers? Seems silly to me.
Because the forward mounted scope offers other advantages:

1. It's faster than a conventional scope when used properly, especially in "snap shooting."
2. It allows two-eyes open shooting, so one eye can track the game.
3. It allows carry at the rifle's point of balance, with hand wrapped around the action.

Third, the Steyr uses rear locking lugs. It probably doesn't matter, and it's probably my imagination, but I believe that rear locking lets the bolt body bow and spring, thus letting cartridge brass stretch enough to shorten case life significantly, when you reload.
Never heard of that problem with the SBS action. I don't reload, though, so it matters not to me. :mrgreen:

Fourth, I prefer real iron sights (well, steel actually), to back up my all-too-vulnerable scope. The Steyr's are plastic.
I agree. The Steyr sights would indeed be better made of metal. But they are back-ups that are highly unlikely to ever be used on what is, in reality, a sporting rifle. BUIS do get used on fighting rifles - ever seen what an IED will do to an Aimpoint?

But I would really, really like to use the Steyr's bipod arrangement! If a truck ever runs over your Steyr, would you please, please send me its remaining bipod parts?
Since my Steyr was an anniversary gift from SWMBO, if I let it get run over by a truck, there would be no one left alive to send you any parts. :mrgreen:
 
#29 ·
About bipods and speed...

Hmmm...yes, by all means always get both lower and steadier if you have the time. And also, by all means, learn to go prone very quickly, so you will have the time. So, by extension, learn to deploy the bipod quickly too.

More often than not, SCTC exercises were purposely arranged such that when one made short-range rifle shots (let's say at under 250 yards, arbitrarily speaking) one was forced by the terrain and the target placements to go no lower than kneeling or sitting. Some shots were from forced offhand, as well. Offhand snap-shooting has its uses, especially when hunting, and the skilled rifleman should also know all three "classic" shooting positions, and be able to get into them quickly.

I blush to admit that I was always much better at quickly going prone with the pistol than I was with a rifle.
On the other hand, I can't hit squat with a pistol at 50 yards, even from prone; but I'm pretty competent with a rifle out to at least 500 yards.
The SCTC puts on an annual 1,000-yard practical rifle match, part of which is a two-shooter duel on steel silhouettes set at about 850 yards (seeded by a J-ladder chart). Everything starts from port arms, chamber loaded, safety on, bipod off. I could regularly make better than 50% of my 1,000-yard hits within time, but I never could slow down enough to win the duel. I shot the fastest misses in the entire SCTC roster.
 
#31 ·
The SCTC matches sound fun, though I am not sure how practical some of the shooting is. My general thinking is that rifle combat generally happens at 100 meters and under (with the exception of sniper work), which has been confirmed by many studies going back to at least WWII. I think shots over 400 yards on game are generally irresponsible, and I wouldn't shoot at an animal beyond 300 myself. I'm just not a good enough rifleman.

But hey, as long as the matches are fun, all is good.
 
#32 ·
The SCTC was originally made up of IPSC/SWPL participants who were disgusted by the sport's growing list of impracticalities.
We broke away in mid 1981, and founded our "movement" on the doctrine of the improvement and testing of practical, real-world, single-shooter skills. The emphasis was on learning, not on winning. We originated the "do the right thing" rule, although we didn't call it that.
During my tenure, we incorporated Marine marksmanship instructors, Army personnel of various kinds, instructors and individuals from several different law enforcement agencies (including the FBI), and lots of interested (and interesting) civilians.
We held one pistol exercise and one rifle event every month. (Nobody dared call either one a "match.") Frequently, other disciplines would be mixed-in, for instance a shotgun-and-pistol exercise, or a rifle-and-pistol exercise; and once we were instructed in the practical use of the Sikh Talwar (a saber).
Every exercise presented a practical problem, which you were free to solve with the tools at hand in any way you thought fitting. Often enough, shooting was not the only, or even the best, solution to the given problem, while thinking always was.
Many SCTC exercises might appear impractical in one aspect or another, in the same way that shooting at 1,000 yards is impractical, but the concept of every event has always started from, "What is there to learn here?" The physical-skill emphasis was always on marksmanship and shooting skills, and the mental/psychological emphasis was on how one would use his or her skills to survive alone, with no further means of supply. We have always incorporated team exercises in the program, but they have never been the central issue.
While I would never attempt a hunting shot at greater than 150 yards under any normal circumstance (and have actually never made a kill at greater than 75 yards), I would like to feel confident that I could eliminate a threat to my, or my family's, life at any necessary distance. Thus, I am happy to have made 50% of my hits at 1,000 yards, just so I know I could do it.
And, yes, participation in the SCTC program was a hell of a lot of fun.
 
#33 · (Edited)
Interesting. Back before IDPA was created, I and some IPSC shooters broke off from our club and started up a series of local matches we called "ConTac" (for Concealed Tactical), using realistic street gear.

These we pretty much free-for-alls within the bounds of safety, with the shooter given very wide latitude to solve the problem as they saw fit. No "failures to do right," no mandatory reloads, no penalities for not using cover perfectly, etc. I don't know how much we actually learned, but we sure had fun!

We occasionally threw in a stage with a shotgun or rifle, though it was fairly rare. This was in the days before everyone and his brother Darryl and his other brother Darryl had an AR.

What I'd really like to see is a reintroduction of Dr. Kahn's Keneyathlon, but I doubt that will ever happen. Bill King and I have talked about setting up something similar in the barren Arizona desert and inviting some riflemen to give it a try. It's pretty manpower-intensive, though.
 
#34 ·
It figures...you would be a Newhart fan.
Although his later ("Vermont") show was very, very good, I much preferred watching Suzanne Pleshette to his later "wife" (whose name I can't remember).

Our version of the "failure to do the right thing" rule was a necessity, because IPSC/SWPL gamesmen who practiced on the same range would mosey on over to try their luck with us. After a couple of applications of the "right thing" rule, they either learned not to "game" the exercise, or they just didn't come back.
The SCTC system is just about the same as your ConTac was. On the rifle end, during my tenure, almost everybody used .308 (mostly M14/M1A), and there was only one young guy, Andy Stanford, who used a .223 with any seriousness (it was the only AUG I've ever handled). That's all changed now, as you point out.
Once we hosted the local Army Reserve unit for their once-a-year (!) live-fire training. I think that they were shooting .223s at 1,000 inches (or something like that). After the required course was done with, a couple of us SCTCers started coaching those woeful reservists, and in a little while a few of them were doing useful work at 200 yards.
Last item: One of our rifle exercises was based upon a USMC sniper-member's real experience in 'Nam. You fired a series of rifle shots at a small, distant, metal target and, as soon as you made a hit, you had to draw your pistol and successfully engage a pop-up silhouette that appeared to your direct right side. You were not allowed to lose control of your rifle while doing this, as if your next move were to bug out at high speed with your sensitive equipment intact. (He had been surprised while taking out a high-ranking officer. His spotter didn't make it, but he got away by using his pistol effectively.)
"Labor intensive" problems used to be solved by motivated volunteers. Nowadays? Good luck!
 
#36 ·
We didn't have much problem with the IPSC shooters. Sometimes they'd swing by and watch us for a bit, with our concealed pistols and short courses of fire and targets wearing t-shirts, but I don't recall any of the serious IPSC guys trying their hands. The skeet and trap guys thought we were off our rockers, though! :mrgreen:

Good on you guys for helping out the reservists. Most National Guard and Army Reserve units only shoot once a year, unless they are infantry (which only applies to the Guard), when they shoot twice a year. Most shoot relatively poorly, but this is somewhat compensated by the fact that you get a lot of trigger time in pre-mobilization training. An interesting little program is the CMP one that has civilian rifle instructors coaching Army SDMs: http://www.odcmp.org/0106/default.asp?page=SDM.

If we did a sniper scenario from recent conflicts, it would probably go more like this:

- Shooter drags rifle 500 meters uphill over sharp rocks and thick dust.
- Shooter sets up rifle in hide site.
- Shooter waits ten hours for suspected insurgent leader to appear.
- Shooter finally sees and identifies suspected insurgent, who is outside mud hut using cell phone.
- Shooter radios battalion headquarters, fills in command element on situation, and requests permission to engage.
- Command element denies shooter's request.
- Incredulous shooter explains situation again.
- Command element denies shooter's request again.
- Suspected insurgent leader goes back into mud hut to supervise IED production.
- Shooter drags unfired rifle 500 meters downhill over sharp rocks and thick dust and returns to the FOB.

Agreed on the hard time finding motivated volunteers. Then again, asking someone to stand in the Arizona sun for eight hours waiting for shooters to wander by is asking quite a lot.
 
#37 ·
...If we did a sniper scenario from recent conflicts, it would probably go more like this:

- Shooter drags rifle 500 meters uphill over sharp rocks and thick dust.
- Shooter sets up rifle in hide site.
- Shooter waits ten hours for suspected insurgent leader to appear.
- Shooter finally sees and identifies suspected insurgent, who is outside mud hut using cell phone.
- Shooter radios battalion headquarters, fills in command element on situation, and requests permission to engage.
- Command element denies shooter's request.
- Incredulous shooter explains situation again.
- Command element denies shooter's request again.
- Suspected insurgent leader goes back into mud hut to supervise IED production.
- Shooter drags unfired rifle 500 meters downhill over sharp rocks and thick dust and returns to the FOB.
Now, that's realism! I'll tell the guys back at SCTC Central-they're crazy enough to give it a try. :mrgreen:

Agreed on the hard time finding motivated volunteers. Then again, asking someone to stand in the Arizona sun for eight hours waiting for shooters to wander by is asking quite a lot.
Aha, I see the problem: Arizona isn't air-conditioned like California is. :anim_lol:

You might correspond with Michael Horne, at mkhorne@sbcglobal.net
Tell him I sent you.
Michael put on a few of the SOF invitational matches in the Las Vegas area, so he might be able to offer pointers on using, and comforting, volunteer workers in hot, hot, hot climates.
One of our retired SCTCers lives in Mesa, and is in hospital awaiting triple bypass. I spoke to him today, and he said that when the thermometer registers 100 degrees in AZ, people put on their winter coats.
This particular guy, a Sikh (but US-born), has lots of SCTC experience and has put on events and exercises for the group. If Mesa isn't too far away, you might want to contact him for help, or at least advice. He'll be out of the hospital and on his feet in a couple of weeks.
Let me know if you're interested.

BTW, I just love the new thread title.
 
#39 ·
I guess that Mike and I will have to leave when Kel-Tec finally puts some RFBs into the hands of forum members.
When that happens, please let us know.
:smt083

I just love your smiley! But...:smt068 :smt179:smt165:smt179
 
#40 ·
I guess that Mike and I will have to leave when Kel-Tec finally puts some RFBs into the hands of forum members.
When that happens, please let us know.
:smt083

I just love your smiley! But...:smt068 :smt179:smt165:smt179
yeah, how does that song go again steve? "that'll be the day. lol:anim_lol:
and again, i like the new direction.
 
#42 · (Edited)
Well Gentlemen; Anyone of you guys buy one yet? The RFB is out, and if a Canadian like me has his hands on one, I'm damn sure your forum members must already have them...

For what it's worth, from a Canuck, here are my experiences with jams are the RFB:

- The RFB is the Ferarri of rifles. Fun, complex, sexy and difficult. It needs to be babied at all times, or jams. (ADDED FOR CLARITY: Jams become more common with cheap ammo or a dirty rifle. The rifle is not reliable enough to be a battle rifle, but is not a jam machine either)
- Jams occur in several ways: (Discussed in terms of how common a *type* of jam is, when you get a jam).
1) Failure to feed (very rare, and related to magazine seating or maintenance).
2) Feed two rounds (somewhat rare, and related to magazine tolerances)
3) Failure of spent casing to enter ejection ramp (rounds jam on their side to the ramp lip; rare)
4) Failure of spent casing to clear ejection ramp lip (rounds stab into the folded cold rolled steel chute; common)
5) Solid jam of the casing mouth onto the ejection ramp lip (common).

In the case of five, the casing is cold formed onto the solid steel ramp starter. It is exactly the shape of the ramp, square where it should be round.

All jams clear themselves, with the exception of number 4 and 5. It is sad that they are reasonably common, though they are still easy to clear if you have the right knowledge.

Clearing the rifle does require removing the magazine (as with most rifles), and also accessing the magazine well. From there, it simply means having a tool appropriate for dislodging the spent casing from the feed ramp; I have a custom tool made specifically for the RFB which I fashioned from a steel plate, and fits into the pistol grip along with a Visine bottle full of CLP.

Love the rifle, happy to work with all its warts.... AWESOME rifle.
 
#43 ·
Well Gentlemen; Where are the posts? The RFB is out, and if a Canadian like me has his hands on one, I'm damn sure your forum members must already have them...
You've resurrected a three-year-old thread.
I don't have one, and I wouldn't because of the points you make, below.

For what it's worth, from a Canuck, here are my experiences with jams are the RFB:
- The RFB is the Ferarri of rifles. Fun, complex, sexy and difficult. It needs to be babied at all times, or jams...
So what you're telling us is that the RFB is not a reliable, practical rifle.
I thought so.
Well, that's it for me!

Jams occur in several ways:
1) Failure to feed (very rare, and related to magazine seating or maintenance).
2) Feed two rounds (somewhat rare, and related to magazine tolerances)
3) Failure of spent casing to enter ejection ramp (rounds jam on their side to the ramp lip; rare)
4) Failure of spent casing to clear ejection ramp lip (rounds stab into the folded cold rolled steel chute; common)
5) Solid jam of the casing mouth onto the ejection ramp lip (common).

In the case of five, the casing is cold formed onto the solid steel ramp starter. It is exactly the shape of the ramp, square where it should be round.

All jams clear themselves, with the exception of number 4 and 5. It is sad that they are reasonably common, though they are still easy to clear if you have the right knowledge.

Clearing the rifle does require removing the magazine (as with most rifles), and also accessing the magazine well. From there, it simply means having a tool appropriate for dislodging the spent casing from the feed ramp; I have a custom tool made specifically for the RFB which I fashioned from a steel plate, and fits into the pistol grip along with a Visine bottle full of CLP.

Love the rifle, happy to work with all its warts.... AWESOME rifle.
Have fun with your new toy.
Any rifle I would even think of using would have to have the very minimum number of "warts." Obviously, that's not a description of the RFB.
Please don't expect me to buy one.
 
#44 ·
You're completely right Steve; it is both an old thread and a rifle that requires more than a little love and care.

I should have been more clear, however. It was late, and I was not as clear as I could have been. Jams overall are rare, I was discussing how common each type of jam is in terms of total number of jams.

If you keep the rifle clean, and avoid using cheap ammo, jams are about as common as with an Armalite platform.

HOWEVER, if you do not keep the gun clean (not a problem for me) or use cheap ammo (this is definitely a problem for my cheap a$$), you do experience jams.

For a Canadian the RFB is a dream come true. Your AWB has nothing on our draconian gun laws. I am not allowed to hunt with an AR, but I can with an RFB. I'm not even allowed to own an AK-47 (whether or not I would want to!).

It is *not* a battle rifle, but it is not as unreliable as my first post would indicate. My fault for being four shots into a bottle of Talisker when I joined the forum. :mrgreen:
 
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