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Posted: 8/28/2016 12:59:46 PM EDT
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So, I bought an RDB from a reputable shop last week. I paid about 1300 for it. Got it delivered to my FFL and it seemed OK but Mine wouldn't seat the magazine 100% without slapping on it HARD. Then it would only seat the magpul 20 rd mag that came with it. At first I chalked it up to just being a brand new mag but once I got it home, I realized it would not even seat my aluminum mag no matter how hard I tried slapping them. Then, I took my buddy's RDB (he bought the other one they had and it is the next sequential serial number) and we pulled off his mag release spring which is a big, flat piece of bent metal. We installed that onto my rifle and it worked perfectly. So, my release was bent out of spec from the factory.
I called KelTec customer service and asked them to provide me with a new one because I knew what was wrong. They wanted me to send them the rifle. I lamented, stating that I wanted to fire it and I didn't want to send it away for more than 2 weeks if it wasn't necessary. The guy told me he would just send me out another spring. So I said, cool-beans! I could not believe that they would send out a rifle that would not reliably seat a magazine. I mean, doesn't somebody check this? The guy tells me that there is no way that could happen because they test fire the rifles at the facility before they send them out blah blah. So I think to myself that this rifle must have been disassembled by the dealer or something and gave them the benefit of the doubt as I just refused to believe they would let this thing leave like that. And, it would seat that one magpul mag if you really slapped on it so anyway... *I want to believe* I am still waiting for the new spring to arrive but in the meantime I tweaked the old one just enough to seat mags. It seemed to work just fine. Mags drop free, mags seat without a slap. All is well, right? WRONG. It gets better. *I want to believe* I take it down to the range about a mile from my house with my buddy and his RDB in tow. We start firing both RDBs into some paper. Everything seems just fine and the rifle shoots REALLY nicely. I am thinking this is awesome, I will not even bring this up again and will let it go. Freak occurrence. Probably no big deal, besides all the reviews I have read say the rifle fires flawlessly and that Keltec has really upped their game in the ol' QC department. *I want to believe* Just when I get near the end of my first mag and I have the eotech dialed in, the RDB starts malfunctioning. I manually pull the charging handle, it now will not eject OR feed. I am concerned, so I try to clear the rifle and it has what looks like a stuck case. Great! I go home and disassemble the rifle. I pull the clamshell apart and remove the bolt and op rod group. I am looking at the stuck round now, only it pulls right out. The round wasn't stuck at all. It must be the extractor. I look at the bolt and the extractor is physically there but it moved forward and back. Weird. I look a little closer and (the bolt is very similar to an AR bolt) the pin that holds the extractor in is....MISSING. A critical part. Not even there. In the manual it is called the extractor axis. It is listed as part number 302 on the exploded view. Un-frigging-believable. The crazy thing is, this rifle fired a whole bunch of xm193 before it failed. It properly extracted at least 15 times with no extractor axis pin. Incidentally, the rifle was a joy to shoot when it was functioning for the first few rounds and my buddy's rifle is flawless. I would thoroughly inspect the rifle down to the last pin if I were you. Ridiculous, careless, inexcusable QC for something this expensive. I wonder how KelTec treats us beta testers. Oh, by the way, if you go to the KelTec website and try to order a part for the RDB...like an axis pin...it doesn't exist. All the other products have a parts order page at the bottom. The RDB does not. Wow. Kel Tec Beta Tester, signing out. |
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Missing the extractor pin and a faulty mag release? Wow. That really sucks. My RDB runs perfectly, without a hitch. If I were you, I would send in my entire RDB
to get reinspected by Keltec to insure no other issues. Do you have any pictures we could see of the problem? |
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I guess I'll be staying away from the rdb for now. My RDB has run flawlessly when shooting it for the first time. I havn't put very many rounds through it yet (only 200 rounds of M855 thus far, half of which was rapid fire). I feel like most people who have purchased the RDB have had reliable rifles. I hear lots of reports of people putting several hundred or more rounds through their RDB without a hitch; there are alot of them around now. But these occasions of someone with a flawed rifle can indeed occur. I would expect that if you were to buy an RDB, it is likely that you would have a good one. Granted, Keltec needs to keep up with Quality Control to prevent things like the OP describes from happening. As long as they do so, I still think they have a winner on their hands. |
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Ridiculous, careless, inexcusable QC for something this expensive. I wonder how KelTec treats us beta testers. Keltec will treat you forever as their QC department. The term "fluff and buff" isn't a joke, it's seriously what is expected of you to get your keltec product running. 
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It would be a shame if QC was going down, but there might always be a few lemons with any product. It seems like most people are reporting reliable results, with some unlucky ones
having defects. I plan on putting several hundred more rounds through mine the next time I make it to the range, which will be once my BUIS comes in the mail. |
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I am going to wait a while before considering an RDB. I would like to see if the mag catch will be durable over time. A few early videos show issues with the mag catch and dropping of mags. It looks like a very simple design and over time I wonder if the catch will lose spring tension. Also The use of a rivet in the hammer and the external spring design behind the trigger does not inspire a lot of confidence in the design.
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I wonder if their qc suffered as a result of them trying to push as many units into production as possible? The only reason I'm speculating on that is because I got on of the earlier 1 in 9 twist rifles and it has had no problems. No, their QC is the same as it has always been. |
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Sounds like you should have listened to Kel Tec and sent it back. I should have listened to the comments warning me about KelTec Quality Control and carefully inspected the rifle down to the last pin before taking custody at the dealer. I could have sent this right back to them. I wanted to believe. |
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Quoted: I should have listened to the comments warning me about KelTec Quality Control and carefully inspected the rifle down to the last pin before taking custody at the dealer. I could have sent this right back to them. I wanted to believe. Quoted: Quoted: Sounds like you should have listened to Kel Tec and sent it back. I should have listened to the comments warning me about KelTec Quality Control and carefully inspected the rifle down to the last pin before taking custody at the dealer. I could have sent this right back to them. I wanted to believe. |
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I just shot mine for the first time last night. I only got to put about 20 rounds through it, just enough to dial the gas settings and get a crude sight in with my BUIS. But I was really happy with it, shot like a dream and I was really impressed with every aspect of it. The only issue I've had is the capture for the second takedown pin kinda sucks and I can push the pin all the way out too easily if I'm not careful. However I'm definitely going to go home and tear the whole thing down and do a very thorough inspection. If the takedown pin thing is my biggest problem then I will be a pretty darn happy camper. |
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And they would have fixed it for free, you were impatient. Quoted:
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Sounds like you should have listened to Kel Tec and sent it back. I should have listened to the comments warning me about KelTec Quality Control and carefully inspected the rifle down to the last pin before taking custody at the dealer. I could have sent this right back to them. I wanted to believe. They will still fix it for free, it's a defective product. I can't wait to get it back and shoot it again. As was said before, it is a great design. No issues there. That's why I bought it. Hell, it shot great and looked even cooler before it started double feeding. The QC on it is inexcusable though. No question it should have never left the facility missing a critical part. |
| I agree. I hope they get yours squared away as it's an amazing design. Superior to many other's in my opinion. Mine shot flawlessly 200 rounds of XM855 and I believe this platform has incredible potential. Let us know how yours gets fixed and how the rifle handles afterwards. I want to see this rifle in th hands of others as it deserves it. |
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I just shot mine for the first time last night. I only got to put about 20 rounds through it, just enough to dial the gas settings and get a crude sight in with my BUIS. But I was really happy with it, shot like a dream and I was really impressed with every aspect of it. The only issue I've had is the capture for the second takedown pin kinda sucks and I can push the pin all the way out too easily if I'm not careful. However I'm definitely going to go home and tear the whole thing down and do a very thorough inspection. If the takedown pin thing is my biggest problem then I will be a pretty darn happy camper. What kind of buis did you get for it and how well did it work? I just ordered a set of magpul pros for mine a few days ago. |
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What kind of buis did you get for it and how well did it work? I just ordered a set of magpul pros for mine a few days ago. Quoted:
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I just shot mine for the first time last night. I only got to put about 20 rounds through it, just enough to dial the gas settings and get a crude sight in with my BUIS. But I was really happy with it, shot like a dream and I was really impressed with every aspect of it. The only issue I've had is the capture for the second takedown pin kinda sucks and I can push the pin all the way out too easily if I'm not careful. However I'm definitely going to go home and tear the whole thing down and do a very thorough inspection. If the takedown pin thing is my biggest problem then I will be a pretty darn happy camper. What kind of buis did you get for it and how well did it work? I just ordered a set of magpul pros for mine a few days ago. I went with the magpul pros as well. Currently trying to decide on a PA 5x ACSS or 1-6X ACSS scope. I have both, tested one but need another trip to the desert to try the other. |
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