I’m Drew, welcome to Beyond Seclusion where I only give you my honest opinion. The SUB2000 has been around for a while and has a dedicated and solid following. Kel-Tec’s latest version is extremely reliable and a good shooter. Quick note, just in case you don’t have the attention span to make it to the end, I have fired hundreds of rounds including hundreds of the cheap Russian steel case and I have not had one single jam, light primer strike or failure to feed, that says a lot about the newest version of the SUB2000. Quick look at the specs and tech for the basic factory SUB2000.
Kel-Tec SUB2000 Specs & Tech
| OVERALL LENGTH | 30.5″ |
| COLLAPSED LENGTH | 16.25″ |
| BARREL LENGTH | 16.25″ |
| WEIGHT UNLOADED | 4.25 lbs |
| TWIST RAGE | 1:10 |
| TRIGGER PULL | 9.5 lbs |
Now let’s take a look at it after it has been M-CARBO-ized!
Shooting with the Kel-Tech SUB2000 factory version
This was the very first shot out-of-the-box, so it was pretty far left, a little bit high, then we dialed and we came over here, I had two here, made some more adjustments, I got two groups here, one was kind upper then lower, then I made the final adjustments and five flyers. That’s actually pretty good considering I am using the iron sights on that, I think i’m gonna stop there at least for now, we’re gonna get some more, we’re gonna have some fun with steel, we’ll try out 100/200.
WOLF Military Classic And TULA Ammo
Before we go off on some distance here at 50 I want to see how Wolf Military Classic, I want to see how it cycles, I want to see how it groups, maybe we can use that to play out at some distance.
That really surprised me! That’s the Wolf Military Classic, that’s a pretty thumbs-up group, I thought it was going to be like all over the place, and being at 50 yards with iron sights I couldn’t tell what it was doing, I’m happy with that. Let’s just try 100 yards, and hit some steel.
Board!
Got the last 10 rounds of that box of Wolf Military Classic down here, we’ll just do a little rapid fire and have some fun, haven’t had any jams yet.
Just making sure we’re covering all of our bases, we’re going to use some Tula, not that I expected that’s going to be any different than Wolf Military Classic.
Let’s finish off the box of Tula ammo!
We fired over a hundred rounds, I went through a box of Tula and, a box of Wolf Military Classic, and I’ve used my CCI range.
Switching to MCARBO SUB2000
Like I said, solid shooter. Here’s what came back from M Carbo, check this out!
So, here’s the M Carbo SUB2000 that I got back, your basic SUB2000 that I sent in to have a bunch of stuff done. I’m going to go through and I’ll provide a list of everything that I had done to this, and what I did was I sort of recreated that list in the order that I would recommend them.
Sig Sauer Romeo 5 Optic
The first and foremost is the optics mount. I’ve got a Sig Sauer Romeo 5 here, we’ll just open this up to the side. In the folded position it’s small, but it’s going to change the width of it, and that is going to possibly change the application for some folks, sticking it in a briefcase or a backpack. Outside of that, this is still my number one thing because I like shooting at a distance, and it just simply pushes over, and clicks, it’s spring-loaded.
One might think that we’re gonna have problems with a consistent zero, I can tell you, guys, I have flicked this to the side, seasoning the barrel, cleaning it, and doing a whole bunch of stuff multiple, multiple times, and the zero has not budged at all.
Trigger Job Bundle
Number two is going to be the all-in-one pro performance trigger job bundle, I get an aluminum, metal flat trigger here, I’ve got a great trigger pull. The other thing that it’s going to include is my extended mag release, which I absolutely love, but the trigger itself, and then it’s got a whole bunch of other components, you gotta take a look there and see what all is included in that because it’s more than just the trigger.
Another component that I forgot in the pro performance trigger job bundle is the trigger guard, it changes it from plastic to metal, and I just like having metal, so we get the metal trigger and the metal trigger guard.
Sling Mount, Muzzle Brake, and Recoil Buffer
Number three on my list is the quick detach single-point sling mount, they do offer a dual or ambidextrous one, both sides, and I like this. Just as far as slings, I always use quick detach, and for me and especially with the cost this is an absolute must.
Number four for me is going to be the muzzle brake along with the recoil buffer, and you can’t see that, that’s an internal component, that is really cheap to put in, and then that combined, and to me, this is kind of a no-brainer for getting both of them.
The SUB2000, as far as a 9mm PC goes, does have a bit of recoil, nothing that is going to be a problem, but it is stiff, and this dramatically tames that down to where it’s pretty much going to be comparable with like my AKV or my Ruger PC or other semi-autos.
Magpul AFG-2 grip, rear tactical folding sights
Number five on my list is going to be the Magpul AFG-2 grip, and just the way this rifle is designed, this is a perfect grip, you’ll see when I do some standing shooting at 200 yards, I really like this grip.
Number six on my list would be the rear tactical folding sights, it changed from sort of a flimsy plastic to aluminum, metal, that itself I think is a huge benefit. The other is, we now have this switch on the side and we can fold this down. My optic, I went with a high mount because I wanted a completely unobstructed view and it actually is quite comfortable having it high, so I really, for me, I’m not going to be using the flip part down, but I do like having the metal peep sight here.
Adhesive grips, rapid deployment latch
Number seven on my list is going to be the adhesive grips, especially for the price, it is just a whole lot more comfortable and you get better grip than on that plastic, which with sweaty hands or grease or mud or water is going to be kind of slick.
Number eight on my list is going to be the rapid deployment latch, this is going to depend kind of on your intended use. If you really if you want to deploy this as fast as possible, like you’re carrying this for a PDW and a briefcase or something, this is going to be worth it, it gives you more to grab, and it’s going to speed up the deployment.
recoilless charging handle
Number nine on my list is the recoilless charging handle, depending on what you’re wanting to do with your SUB2000 this may be higher up. The recoil, it is a 9mm, so the recoil is not going to be exceptionally stiff, but the SUB2000 really doesn’t have a good system for moderating or compensating for the recoil.
The factory recoil charging handle weighs one ounce. The recoilless charging handle from M Carbo weighs 3.2 ounces, so that’s three times the weight. What they have come up with is that is going to reduce the fell to perceived recoil by 68%. I have no idea if it feels like 68% less, I’ve also got the buffer in here that helps and then we combine that with the muzzle brake, and we actually have a significant noticeable felt recoil with this.
bolt tube cover, buttstock pad
Number ten on my list is going to be the bolt tube cover, this is just rubber, it’s more comfortable, I have noticed that it’s not pulling my whiskers off. Having this on there, and for the cost, I think it’s worth it with the comfort and the feel.
Number eleven on my list is the buttstock pad. It’s rubber. It’s got a better grip. I can’t say that it’s shock-absorbing and that it’s really going to make much of a noticeable difference in the recoil, but I do like it.
laser engraving, Magpul rail cover
Get down on the list here number twelve is the laser engraving. If you’re gonna send it in and have them do the work you might consider having it laser engraved.
And the last one, number thirteen on my list is the Magpul rail covers, they’re really not a big deal, comfort-wise, I like them, they’re nice. You may or may not want it, one may argue that it’s going to decrease the cooling of the barrel, but as far as grip goes, they are comfortable.
Zeroing at 50 with fiocchi ammo
I put my Sig Romeo 5 on here with a high mount. Let’s get it zeroed at 50 yards using some ammo I got from Fiocchi!
I just got done sighting it in 50 yards using that Fiocchi ammo. I was a bit skeptical with that range ammo. I started up here, I did five-shot group, made some adjustments, came down here, that’s just crazy, and I just kept creeping down, and then the last five shots, had one flyer over here, I am really happy with that. Now we’re gonna go over there to a hundred yards and start banging on some steel and see how far we can go.
Before I forget, you just saw those groups, special thanks to Fiocchi for donating the ammo for this review. This is really impressive range ammo, guys, the groups say it all.
Brand:
Fiocchi Munizioni
Caliber:
9mm
Series:
Range Dynamics
Bullet Type:
Full Metal Jacket
Groups at 50 Yards by Standing
Off to a good start! I want to real quick see what we can get for groups standing at 50, doing as rapid fire as I can, while still trying to maintain some decent accuracy.
Let’s just see how we did on that!
I’m pretty happy with that, pulling just a little bit to left there, but considering those almost as fast as I could pull the trigger, you know sort of, I guess, self-defense or tactical, that’s a pretty good group at 50 yards.
We saw the groups, what we could get at 50, got the same target down here at 100, we’re just going to pull the trigger here pretty fast and see what kind of groups we can get.
The Groups at 100 Yards
Alright, let’s go take a look!
Hey, I don’t know about you but I’m happy with that heck, I think I did better with that than I did at 50, I was benching it though. Alright, let’s do some standing and play on some steel.
Standing at 100 Yards – Steel
Alright, let’s just see how fast we can get them on the steel here at 100 yards.
I missed a couple, still not too bad!
I’m going to get my bushido zen on here, see if we can do a little bit better.
Nice!
Let’s reach out here to 200, see what we can do at 200.
Reaching out to 300 Yards
I’m going to try again, a long time ago I read a zen book called ‘The unfettered mind’, I’m going to put my mind nowhere and see if we can do a little bit better here.
Yeah, that zen thing seems to be working for me!
Let’s give the 200 to go here with a little bit more stability off the bench.
I miss that last one!
I always get a lot of people, they’re like “Why are you using a 9mm at 300 yards?” I’m gonna go American sniper here, we’re going to aim small, miss small, and see what we can do at 300 yards.
Got a few rounds left here, let’s go back to 200, weren’t having a whole lot of luck at 300, they’re really stretching it. Let’s go 200.
Rear Iron Sight On
I almost forgot to sight in with a new rear iron sight in all my excitement to stick my Romeo 5 on there. Let’s go back to the 50-yard range, and just get this zeroed, and check it out real quick.
With my eyes I’m just not capable anymore of getting the groups that I can with a red dot. I had some 22, just ignore those, I was doing a review for a laser, so we started up here, and that’s actually a pretty decent group, we moved down and down, and then down, and then this last five-shot group. I did two clicks up and two clicks left, and we should be good to go, I mean no issues hitting steel with that.
For the final test here I’ve got the iron sights, I’ve got the sight flipped off to the side. I’m pretty sure I got about as good as I’m going to get at 50 yards zeroing with the iron sights. Let’s just see if we can hit the steel if we can hit the steel here with five shots in a row at 100 yards standing, then I think we’re good with the iron sights and they’re doing their job.
