KelTec RDB Defender review: 5.56 bullpup reliability, gas and verdict

Key points: KelTec RDB Defender review

• Most of the early shooting, suppressed and unsuppressed, brought double feeds and a case wedged between the bolt and the magazine-well wall, at times needing a flathead screwdriver to clear.
• Opening the adjustable gas system well past its starting setting cut stoppages to one on the final range day, which the host puts down to under-gassing rather than a defect, though recoil got sharper.
• Strengths: a 16-inch, light-profile barrel in a short overall package, low weight, and downward ejection that keeps brass off left-handed shooters while dropping spent cases into a chest rig.
• Weaknesses: a heavy trigger that tires the finger on fast strings, an odd bolt release, an awkward magazine change and a chunky recoil impulse.
• At 100 yards with 55-grain ammunition from an improvised rest, five of 14 shots grouped tightly, better than the host expected.
• Verdict: priced near a good AR-15 with far less aftermarket support, the RDB reads as a fun match and plinking gun rather than a rifle to stake your life on; of three KelTecs on the channel, the PLR-16 stays the favorite.
• The rifle was bought with channel funds; the optic came via sponsor OpticsPlanet and the ammunition from sponsor Badlands Munitions.

About this Gun Review video

KelTec RDB Defender review from Administrative Results: the M-LOK version of KelTec's downward-ejecting 5.56 bullpup, run suppressed and unsuppressed with a SureFire forend light and a Crimson Trace optic. Double feeds and stuck cases dogged most of the shooting until the adjustable gas was opened well past its starting point. The verdict: a fun match and range bullpup with a 16-inch barrel in a short package, held back by a heavy trigger, awkward controls and a price that sits beside a good AR-15.

Transcript: KelTec RDB Defender