Description
The Kel-Tec KP50 5.7x28mm is a fifty round 5.7x28mm pistol with the magazine lying flat over the top of the barrel. Kel-Tec part number KP50BLK. A 9.6 inch threaded barrel, a matte black aluminum receiver with a Picatinny rail along the top, a second rail at the rear, a B5 grip and an ambidextrous safety.
Kel-Tec has spent four decades building things nobody else would attempt and this is one of the odder ones. A 50 round 5.7x28mm pistol carries a genuinely large amount of ammunition to have in a gun that fits in a case, and the Kel-Tec KP50 5.7x28mm gets there by laying the magazine down rather than making it longer.
What the Kel-Tec KP50 5.7x28mm gives you
- 5.7x28mm, 50+1, one magazine supplied
- 9.6 inch threaded barrel
- Matte black aluminum receiver
- Picatinny rail along the top of the receiver
- Second Picatinny rail at the rear
- Ambidextrous safety
- B5 grip
- Drilled and tapped receiver
- Fully machined lower and trigger group, SU-16 based trigger system
- Quick disconnect field stripping
Why a top mounted magazine pistol in 5.7x28mm
- Very light recoil for a centerfire cartridge, so fifty rounds is a pleasant range session
- Flat trajectory and high velocity from a 9.6 inch threaded 5.7 barrel
- The top-mounted magazine keeps the gun narrow where your hands are
- Rail space front and rear for whatever you want to hang on it
- A fully machined lower rather than a polymer one
Kel-Tec KP50BLK specifications
- Manufacturer part number: KP50BLK
- Caliber: 5.7x28mm
- Capacity: 50+1, one magazine supplied
- Barrel length: 9.6 inches, threaded
- Receiver: matte black aluminum, drilled and tapped
- Rails: Picatinny on top of the receiver and at the rear
- Grip: B5
- Safety: ambidextrous
- Sights: none fitted
A 50 round 5.7x28mm pistol, and where the rounds sit
A top mounted magazine pistol lays the magazine flat along the top of the receiver rather than hanging below it, which is how a fifty round capacity fits into a gun this size without a drum. One magazine ships with the Kel-Tec KP50 5.7x28mm. The layout is the whole design and it is the reason the Kel-Tec KP50 5.7x28mm looks like nothing else in the case.
No sights on the Kel-Tec KP50BLK. Budget for glass.
Zanders records the Kel-Tec KP50BLK sights as none and the receiver as drilled and tapped, and Sports South records Picatinny rail on the receiver plus a second rail at the rear. So the gun arrives with nowhere to look and everywhere to mount. A Holosun HS510C sits on the top rail directly. Budget for an optic at the same time as the pistol, because without one this is not a usable firearm.
Ammunition, and an honest supply warning
Fiocchi 40 grain FMJ is the only 5.7x28mm load we currently hold, and we hold over a thousand boxes of it. We will be straight with you: 5.7x28mm supply is narrow everywhere and there is no defensive load on our shelf at the moment. If you buy a 5.7 firearm, buy ammunition for it at the same time, and expect to shop around for anything other than ball.
The rear rail and the brace question
Zanders describes the rear accessory mount as supporting side folding brace configurations. This gun is sold as a pistol with nothing fitted at the rear. Brace regulation has shifted more than once in recent years, and fitting an actual shoulder stock creates a short barreled rifle under federal law requiring ATF approval before the parts go together. Ask us and ask counsel before you buy anything that attaches back there.
How it compares to the rest of the Kel-Tec 5.7 line
The P50 with a brace fitted is the same gun as the Kel-Tec KP50 5.7x28mm sold ready to shoulder. The PR57 and the PR-57 in tan are conventional 20+1 handguns in the same cartridge, which is the sensible choice if you want to carry one rather than shoot one from a bench.
Worth knowing before you buy the Kel-Tec KP50 5.7x28mm
- 5.7x28mm is a SAAMI standardized cartridge, so factory ammunition is consistent across brands. See the SAAMI published standards.
- No sights are fitted. This pistol needs an optic before it is usable.
- We are not quoting a weight or a barrel length from Zanders on this model. Its record says 4.3 inches and 13.6 ounces, both of which are wrong for this gun. Sports South says 9.6 inches and we are going with that.
- This model cannot be sold under the Illinois PICA and cannot be direct shipped to Rhode Island or Washington.
If the top mounted magazine layout is not what you want, Kel-Tec chambers the same cartridge in a conventional pistol: the PR-57 in Tungsten and in Burnt Bronze. Of the three, only the Kel-Tec KP50 5.7x28mm holds fifty rounds without a reload.
Buy the Kel-Tec KP50 5.7x28mm because you want fifty rounds of a very flat shooting cartridge in a package that will fit in a case, and because you are the sort of person who enjoys owning something that looks like nothing else. It is a range gun and a conversation piece before it is anything else, and it is honest about that.
MAG5 Firearms is a licensed dealer in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Every firearm ships to your FFL. Ask us about optics, ammunition or the brace question on the Kel-Tec KP50 5.7x28mm before you order. On this gun all three are worth asking about.
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