Tag Archives: Federal

SUB2000s in Ukraine?

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Florida-based firearms maker KelTec made the most of a sudden surplus of 9mm carbines and donated them to Ukraine. 

Adrian Kellgren, director of industrial production at KelTec– and son of the company’s legendary founder, George Kellgren– told local media the company was recently left with a $200,000 order for SUB2000 carbines. The original order, to a longtime vendor in the Black Sea Ukrainian port city of Odesa, was unpaid for, and the vendor was unable to be contacted.

The 400 9mm carbines had been ordered last year, but by the time the red tape cleared the client was unable to accept them and Ukraine is now fighting off a Russian invasion– with enemy troops closing in on Odesa. The solution hit on by Kellgren was to donate the guns to the Ukrainian government to aid in the resistance to the invasion. 

Introduced in 2001, the KelTec SUB2000 9mm pistol-caliber carbine is now in its second generation. Lightweight at just 4-pounds while still retaining a 16.1-inch barrel, it folds in half for easy storage and transport, able to be carried in a pack.

The SUB2000, while not a frontline weapon by any means, can for example fill a role with static defense/home guard-style units posted at local infrastructure to keep an eye out for sabotage, or in guarding POWs, of which there seems to be an increasing amount.

Meet .30 Federal Super Carry

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There have been a few .30-caliber rimless handgun rounds over the years that met with mixed success, for instance, the .30 Mauser– the round that most C96 Broomhandles and a fair amount of early Lugers were chambered in– as well as the .30 French Long (7.65x20mm Longue) of MAS 38/Mle. 35 and Pedersen Device fame. However, their days have come and gone.

With that being said, meet a new take on an old idea: Federal on Wednesday announced a new caliber that is more compact than 9mm NATO and more effective than .380 ACP– the .30 Super Carry. 

Calling it, “the most revolutionary advancement in self-defense history,” the Federal Premium .30 Super Carry at introduction runs a 100-grain .312 caliber bullet. When loaded in Federal’s HST profile self-defense line– with the 100-grain JHP reaching a velocity of 1,250 fps to pull down an energy load of 347 ft./lbs.– the company says it has a .530-inch expansion and 15.5-inches of penetration in ballistics gel. 

Federal 30 Super Carry sandwiched by 9mm and .380 HST loads (Photo: Federal)

The key takeaway from the specs is that the .30SC is slimmer overall than the 9mm, allowing more cartridges to be loaded per magazine, typically two more in the same length stick. For instance, in a Smith & Wesson Shield EZ that would normally have a 9mm capacity of 8+1, when available in .30SC that capacity would grow to 10+1 rounds.

Federal’s parent company, Vista Outdoors, is set to deliver loads from its Remington and Speer subsidiaries, while both Smith & Wesson and Nighthawk Customs reportedly have pistols inbound.

More in my column at Guns.com.

The Kids are Alright…

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One of the stops I did while on the road filming last month was to drop in on America’s fastest-growing school sport at the Minnesota Trap Shooting Championship in Alexandria – which for the record is the world’s largest shooting sport event – with over 6,500 student-athletes in 300 high school teams taking the field over the course of nine full days of competition.

It was pretty impressive.