laststandonzombieisland

Before George Kelgren founded Kel Tec CNC in Cocoa, Florida in 1995, he ran a similar company Grendel Firearms, which had a short but interesting seven year run in nearby Rockledge. The Swedish wunderkind produced a number of designs that we see today in their more mature Kel Tec variants but one that (so far) has not been recast in a new image is the SRT, the only George Kelgren bolt-action rifle to make it into production.

First, you have to remember that Kelgren cut his teeth designing submachine guns for the Swedish Army. That military force long used Mauser rifles for sniper weapons while one of the most popular precision long arms in the region were made by the Sako company in neighboring Finland, patterned off the Mauser design. While Sako sold complete rifles, they also made deals for stripped actions and receivers to a number of larger firearms manufacturers as a foundation to build their own super accurate rifles on.

With that being said, you shouldn’t be surprised that GK, with his brand new company, chose to use off-the-shelf Sako L579 A-II (A2) actions, a refined design that was introduced in 1985, to build his new rifles from. After all, why reinvent the wheel when you know a great wheel maker.

Read the rest in my column at the KTOG.org