Palmetto State Armory has both, the Ruger is about $150 more. Any advice on one over the other? Pretty much everything I’ve read so far shows respect for both, with maybe a slight edge to the Keltec for compactness.

I do not have any experience with the Ruger. I picked up one of the Keltecs last year to be a dedicated trunk gun. I paid $389, and it was worth every penny. It was way more than I expected. I will agree that it looks pretty cheap, but it function 100% with a ball ammo and with hollow points. Watermelon size targets at 75 yards are easy with iron sites, and silhouette targets at 100 are no problem. It lives in the Jansport backpack in my trunk, with a Glock 17 magazine inserted. I have five of the ETS stick mags in there as well. In my opinion, it is perfect for my intended purpose!

I think I would go with the ruger if you plan to shoot it alot. the keltec is too much plastic.

you can easily mount a read dot on the ruger.

I have owned the Keltec and have shot several. While an interesting little gun I just didn't care for the cheapness and all the plastic. Mine was stock but my buddy spent some dough on extras to help upgrade it. IMO it was just throwing good money after bad. He also eventually sold his as I did.

I know nothing about the Ruger but we both decided to build 9mm AR's and have been pleased with mine. It feels and shoots better and like the commonality with all my other AR's. Yes they are more expensive but IMO upgrades are a better.

I have two of the KelTec rifles. The first one is gen 1 and takes P226 mags, the other one is a 2nd gen and takes Glock 19 magazines. I also have the Ruger PC carbine that takes Glock mags.

The Ruger is a far better gun, in fit and finish. I think its a better gun.

The keltec is a foldable backpack gun, if you need that.

I have had both in 9mm. Started with the Keltec. It went bang every time. OK trigger. very compact. adequate accuracy.... I didn't enjoy shooting it. It always hit my cheek during recoil. Didn't like the sights but if you put on a Red Dot , then you couldn't completely fold it. I traded it in on a Ruger carbine ( take down).

Ruger: I usually don't like most Ruger products ( my bias ). This little gun was fun to shoot ! adequate trigger. Good accuracy. Heavier than the Keltec. Doesn't fold but the gun and barrel takedown was easy and quick. I liked this gun a lot and bought a larger laptop computer case and cut out Styrofoam to hold the gun and barrel. It was a sweet set up.
IMO....the Ruger was a much better gun for me. !

quote:

Originally posted by Mustang-PaPa:
I have owned the Keltec and have shot several. While an interesting little gun I just didn't care for the cheapness and all the plastic. Mine was stock but my buddy spent some dough on extras to help upgrade it. IMO it was just throwing good money after bad. He also eventually sold his as I did.

I know nothing about the Ruger but we both decided to build 9mm AR's and have been pleased with mine. It feels and shoots better and like the commonality with all my other AR's. Yes they are more expensive but IMO upgrades are a better.

Same here.. I got all the upgrades from someone that decided to go with the ruger.

New pin set, New trigger, metal trigger guard. neoprene stock sleeve. And I never shoot it because I like having a red dot and that isnt feasible unless you buy the special mount that folds out so you can close it!!!

Good feedback. They had the fancy version of the Ruger at $800 I believe. The build quality was certainly better. Ruger isn’t my favorite but I recognize their quality.

Looks like I’ll be buying myself one for my birthday lol.

Chongo, what's your intended use? Is compactness and conceal ability a priority, or are you primarily just looking for a good PCC for range use/competition?

I haven't shot the Kel-Tec, but I owned the Ruger for a while, as well as a PSA blowback 9mm AR. My primary goal was a range toy for fun and rifle practice since my club only has one bay where you can shoot centerfire rifle, but they allow PCCs on most bays, so it opens up options.

The blowback 9mm AR was a POS. The Ruger was reliable, but I can't say that I fell in love with it. It is heavy for what it is, and has more recoil impulse than one would expect from a 9mm rifle. I'm not saying that the recoil is harsh by any means, but it's enough to interfere with the sight picture, and it didn't provide the smooth, rapid follow-up shots that I had imagined it would. I also wasn't a big fan of the lock ring for the barrel takedown system. It felt cheap, and would sometimes loosen up under recoil. It never came apart, but it wasn't confidence inspiring. I also didn't care for the way you had to unscrew stuff to take it down for cleaning...I had concerns about the long-term durability of the threads in the bolt for the charging handle (because you REALLY had to torque it down to keep it from loosening under recoil), and it was just a clunky process for a modern rifle design.

If you're primarily looking for a takedown PCC, it'll work, just make sure you're going into it with the right expectations.

I ended up getting rid of both of those guns and building a different 9mm AR using a CMMG RDB barrel and BCG, which I have been very happy with. The recoil is much softer and flatter, and reliability has been excellent.

quote:

Originally posted by Mustang-PaPa:
I have owned the Keltec and have shot several. While an interesting little gun I just didn't care for the cheapness and all the plastic.

It's interesting that when I read your post I flashed back on a ton of people saying the exact same thing when the Glock G17 came out.

I have the Ruger carbine and it has been great out of the box. It even shoots my cast bullet handloads brilliantly. While I would not be opposed to ALSO owning a Keltec, if it is an either or proposition, then buy the Ruger. I am pretty sure build quality and durability will be better with the Ruger. $150 more well spent.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: divil,

My Ruger has been great so far. Reliable and accurate. Heavy and ugly. I tweaked it a bit with some MCARBO stuff. I am looking at the CMMG 9mm just for the ARness of it, but I wont get rid of the Ruger even if I do get the CMMG.

A regrettable shortcoming of the Ruger is that no alternate mag well conversions exist. If it could take Sig, CZ and S&W magazines it would be even more versatile.

I have the Keltec Sub2000 in 9mm that takes Beretta 30 round magazines and I think it’s great for what it is. Getting a good cheek weld on it with iron sights is a little awkward as you have to scrunch your face down on the buffer tube but I put a 1” riser on it with a TRS-25 red dot scope and it was a huge improvement. It’s a fun little thing to shoot!

I bought a Ruger PC a few years ago, and I like it. Others have touched on some of the drawbacks, and I agree with them, but I don't find them worrisome enough to recommend against buying one. I haven't put a ton of rounds through mine, mostly because ammo costs got ridiculous last year, but I shot it enough to enjoy it and find it accurate and reliable enough for my purposes. That said, I also nearly bought a Kel Tec instead, and may yet add one at some point because although they're both 9mm carbines that feed from Glock mags, they are different enough that I wouldn't mind also having the Kel Tec for road trips and other travel. If I could only have one, I bought the one I would pick as Ruger enjoys a better reputation for customer support from what I've seen.

Never owned either but I’ve handled them. Ruger all day long.

Sub2K if you ride motorcycle! :-) Fits in typical motorcycle luggage just fine.

FWIW, I wanted a 2000 a while back. Then a PC9 went to the top of the list.

I ultimately decided on a MechTech carbine upper in 357 Sig. Shop around.

quote:

Originally posted by .38supersig:


I ultimately decided on a MechTech carbine upper in 357 Sig. Shop around.

Does that 357 Sig MechTech function dependably?

Yup.

I've had it for about five years and have had no issues thus far.

It uses a Glock lower, so the custom trigger work (if any) carries over in to the carbine. Mine has a Gen2 G22 on it so I don't have the finger grooves and can use the same magazines also.

I swapped a few parts around and traded off the ones I didn't use. It set me back around $350 before optics.

At one time they made a 10mm version that utilized a 1911 frame, but I wasn't able to find one for sale.