Kel Tec .308 Rifle

Kel Tec CNC (of Cocoa, Florida) recently announced its introduction into the .308 section of the "evil black rifle" market. The gun itself looks good, until you get a glimpse of the price tag. The gun is amazingly expensive, placing itself in the price bracket of the DPMS 308 rifle. its no FN Scar rifle, but its still quite expensive costing about fifteen hundred dollars.

Who is going to buy this rifle? the late 20s, maybe early 30's meat head male who wears Tapout or Ed Hardy shirts. The kind of guy who makes decent money but drives a cheap car and goes to the gym a little too much.

I certainly won't be buying one. Even if i were in the market for a $1,500+ rifle, it wouldn't be anything offered by Kel Tec. Its not that they have a horrible reputation, but think about it like this: they're known for making inexpensive, decent quality handguns. They've never made high quality (or high dollar) guns, certainly not top-shelf black rifles. If i'm going to spend my money on a high-dollar rifle, it'll have an established name brand.

When i think of this new rifle, i can't help but compare it to cars. a $1,500 Kel Tec rifle would be about the same as spending $60,000 on a Hyundai. Sure, Hyundai may make a decent car, one step up from a Kia, but its still not great. No one in their right mind would pay $60k for anything made by Hyundai. While approaching the guy at the valet line (at your favorite country club or nice restaurant), he's going toask you what kind of car you've come to pick up. Well, do you want to tell him you have a Mercedes.... or a Hyundai? my point exactly. There is something to be said for buying a Mercedes: they've made luxury cars for decades. That's what they do, they do it well, and that's what they're known for.

Sure, a $60,000 Hyundai may be a tremendous value, it could be like a Maybach on the inside, but as they say in the south "It is what it is": still a Hyundai.

Some may ask: Well what does Kel Tec have going for itself in this situation? well, they might have a pray in getting a government contract for special ops or SWAT teams on a local governmental level, but that's only giving them a leg up on others because the Kel Tec is made in America. That will win brownie points with a lot of government workers.

Kel Tec has gone out of their comfort zone with this one. This is not a $400 Sub2k rifle, its not a small handgun either; its a high dollar luxury tactical rifle. Will it sell? I'd like to see them do well, but i honestly don't see this product taking off with a shocking MSRP of $1,880. Best of luck to them, but if I were them, I'd go back to doing what I know, and what people know me for: inexpensive pocket guns priced right.