Review: Kriss Super V .45 ACP Carbine

General Firearms Other Semi-Automatic Rifles
1

I recently posted a video review of the Kriss Super V .45 ACP Carbine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElrPPcnp2tU

Questions and comments are welcome.

2

Glad to see that the gun was upgraded and got more reliable. How many rounds were shot?

3

I have about 500 rounds through it after the updates with zero failures.

4

Glad to see theyve made some needed changes…a buddy of mine had one of these and it was a PIECE of shit.

If they have it working reliably now, great news, though I still think its sort of an answer to a question nobody asked. Theres not a ton of sense in pouring lots and lots of R&D into pistol caliber long guns anymore…

5

This has more of a law enforcement application than anything else. I highly doubt that Kriss expects any Spec Ops guys to trade in their weapons for these.

I have heard that after they release their .40 and 9mm versions later this year or early next, they will start working on 5.56 and 7.62 rifles with their operating mechanism. THAT will be interesting to see a few years from now. It may turn out to be a dog, but it would be cool to see what they come up with.

6

Put that concept in to a fully automatic 7.62 ‘Battle Rifle’ and that should be darn interesting.

7

It doesnt really matter if its geared for citizen Dante, Officer Randall, Sgt Jay its still a pistol caliber carbine. I cant think of a acwnario in which a pistol caliber carbine does anything better than an rifle chambered carbine, shotgun.

8

Well, not travel as far if fired in a populated area for starters. This is why police have traditionally been restricted to shotguns and pistol caliber weapons.

And while not nearly as important as it once was, there is commonality of ammo with your handgun.

Additionally, pistol caliber carbines suppress much better than any rifle carbine.

9

I’ve always thought these were neat little guns. Reliability reports have been so spotty, but I still think these are interesting, especially if you want mag and ammo uniformity.

10

Joey from Cornershot USA brought his full auto suppressed verion out for us to play with during the Trace Armory Carbine Class I took a couple weeks ago and it was a blast. We put hundreds of rounds of Wolf 45 through it with no problem. He said the cyclic rate is adjustable and having it at some settings doesn’t work for some ammo. It ran like a sewing machine at 1100rd/min setting with the Wolf ammo.

While I can see and understand the merits of a 5.56 for entry and CQB, I can also see where having a suppressed F/A subgun in .45acp would come in handy! Only problem I saw was that the 30rd mags weren’t big enough and could be emptied in a hurry! The 2 shot burst function was cool, though I would have preferred 3 or 5 shot burst being that it was so controllable.

11

Thanks for the review. Bit too expensive to be viable for me, but I could see use for a pistol caliber carbine.

Not only that, but in states like mine who won’t let their citizens have suppressors, a pistol caliber carbine is quieter than a rifle caliber one for indoor shooting such as a home defense situation. Maybe I don’t know anything, because I’ve only been around one indoor shooting incident (range training with hearing protection doesn’t count), but that strikes me as possibly desirable as long as you’re not seriously compromising your effectiveness.

12

It’s an interesting and fairly cool gun, but I’d be more interested if it was lower in price and available in 9mm. I’m glad they fixed yours.

13

I live in Dallas, TX. I cant find many areas within this city that make the travel from a miss more or less with regards to say .223Rem vs .45acp. In the entire D/FW area, which has over 100 LEAs, only one doesnt issue or allow the .223Rem/5.56x45 or 7.62x39, and thats Addison PD that issues PS90s and P90s for the sole reason that they arent ARs(I have more info regarding their use of the 5.7x28, but lovers of that round will absolutely hate it).

If you are speaking to overpenetration, well thats been proven bunk. In fact its the opposite. Handgun rounds will penetrate more. The reason for many years depts were restricted to PCCs and shotguns was out of shear ignorance.

I dont think ammo commonality between a carbine and a pistol has ever been important. So you use your pistol ammo up in your carbine, you’re out of ammo for both.

Granted pistol caliber rounds suppress better, but thats a niche role at best that current PCCs can do now.

14

That really depends on ammo. If we are talking about things like TAP you would be correct. But 30 something years of shooting through car doors and things like that, I have personally seen that 5.56 will always keep going even when 9mm has run out of gas. Keep in mind this was usually .55 gr. ball vs. 9mm ball.

That aside, what I was actually talking about is sending an errant round down the street or over a roof. At 500m which would you prefer to accidentally get hit by? Now I agree in a typical urban setting that round is going to find something or somebody probably within 20m and it really won’t matter which round it was.

15

Nice to see the reliability improvements. Definately a cool little carbine and appears to be of good quality. I might try to pick one up eventually if the bugs are truly worked out.

From a training aspect, it’s cheaper to shoot .45acp over 5.56, and you don’t have any range restrictions on pistol ammo. I’m not sure that I’d want one chambered in anything smaller than .45acp though. Since this carbine is meant to fill the shoes of a rifle, and handgun calibers have enough trouble keeping up with the terminal effects of 5.56, might as well stick with the larger end of the handgun caliber spectrum.

16

TAP OTMs probably will have hell with a car door, with JSPs its another story. In sheetrock, I have witnessed many a pistol JHP clog up and chug right on through many walls, while rifle rounds like .223Rem/5.56x45 simply come apart. Thats a major reason why PDs now use .223Rem/5.56x45.

I wouldnt want to get hit accidently by either round. The fact of the matter, as you have agreed, is the distance traveled by a miss will probably be negated by any number of objects that are in the way.

17

For me, as a civilian shooter, having a rifle in .45 ACP appeals to me for the following reasons:

  1. Reloading is much easier and cheaper for .45 ACP. I can load 50 rounds for about $3.80. I get my brass for free as I can take as much as I want from my local indoor range free of charge. This significantly reduces my loading costs. Unfortunately they can’t handle rifles in there or I would be hoarding 5.56mm brass too.

  2. Since I can load it for less, I’ll shoot it more.

  3. I can use it indoors at my local range whereas I cant use any center fire rifles in the range.

  4. I like having the same ammo/magazine for running around my property. It’s handy and for the range I can realistically shoot to on my land, .45 ACP out of a rifle is plenty.

  5. It can be easily suppressed and I don’t have to worry about sonic booms with standard ammo - that’s nice.

But in a fight, I’ll probably reach for a rifle vs. a pistol calibered carbine. Why? Because I’m comfortable with it mostly. I tend to fall back to what I have the most experience with.