I purchased a Kel Tec KSG about two years ago, and immediately had issues with sticky or hard extraction, and spent casings getting stuck in the chamber. I was shooting Federal bulk 12ga ammo, with steel heads.

After doing some reading, many people said that only high brass 12ga shells will run reliably in the KSG due to the rough chambers on some of them. The steel heads on the cheaper ammo would expand when the shell was fired just like brass would, except the steel wouldn't contract like brass does.

Because of the rough chamber, the steel head sticks in place. Several people reported damaging parts on their KSG trying to cycle the bolt forcefully to try and extract the stuck casing.

I put my KSG back in the safe and didn't touch it for about a year. I decided to research the issue and see if anything new had been found on the problem. I saw a couple of people stating that they used chamber hones and fixed the issue.

I decided to try that. It seemed logical that cases wouldn't stick to a smooth chamber. I bought a Brush Research Chamber Flex-Hone in 800 grit. Amazon had them for around $20.

I followed the directions and used a drill with the hone. I oiled everything up and ran the hone through the chamber several times, and in the end it was glass smooth.

I finally took the KSG out to the range last weekend, and ran 50 shells of the Federal bulk ammo through it without a hitch. The action cycled smoothly after every shot, and each spent casing extracted just fine. Before polishing the chamber, my KSG wouldn't make it through 3-4 shots without a stuck casing. Seems to have fixed the problem, but I'm going to run more rounds through it before deciding.

I just wanted to pass along the info in case anybody else has experienced this issue with their KSG. Maybe it will help somebody.

Thanks for the heads up!

Very timely - for a completely unrelated firearm though.

Thanks a bunch - off to Amazon

ETA:

I was going to give my s/n range but I can't find it!

Mine is two-three years old and all I've run throught it is Winchester super X with zero problems. I did install the tandemkross SS followers just to be safe.

Cool. I found this thread on google. Thanks for the info.

Glad it's still active so I can bump it!

Thanks for the suggestion!

I just wanted to post a quick update. I don't shoot my KSG as often as I should, so I took my KSG out this weekend while out with some friends. We ran 75 rounds of the cheap Federal steel low base shells through it without any issues at all.

It fed and ejected every shell perfectly. I even picked up some of the spent hulls and checked the bases on them. Some were definitely expanded. Prior to me honing the chamber, these would have locked the action up tightly.

I am extremely happy with my KSG now. The chamber honing was the best $20 and 10 minutes I think I've ever spent on a firearm.

Just to be clear for others that may read this thread, this is the type of ammo I am talking about. I buy it for $25/100 locally. Federal, Remington, Winchester, etc. all make steel low base shells. They all jammed in my Kel Tec after firing because of the rough chamber and steel base.

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