The KelTec SUB 2000 might be KelTec’s most successful weapon and a prolific PCC. It is certainly a popular weapon, having been in production since 2001, and is in its third generation. The weapon came from George Kellgren’s mind. Kellgren isn’t a name that rings a bell like John Browning, but the man is one of the more prolific modern firearms designers. He’s often ahead of his time. 

Kellgren was the mind behind the famed TEC-9. However, he left Intratec and wasn’t deeply involved beyond designing the platform, first as a military and police submachine gun and later as a rather large and goofy semi-automatic pistol. Kellgren later founded a company known as Grendel. Grendel can be seen as a proto-KelTec. He designed a couple of subcompact .380s, a .22 Mangum pistol with a 30-something-round magazine, and even prototyped a bullpup, dual-tube shotgun. 

After Grendel shut down, he founded KelTec. KelTec doesn’t get the credit it deserves for often producing new pistol genres. The P-11 is a very early 9mm subcompact pistol that paved the way for a ton of handguns. The P-3AT and P32 ushered in the modern pocket pistol genre with pocket-sized polymer-frame guns, not to mention the very creative pistol, rifle, and shotgun designs that flow out of KelTec. 

One of those is the SUB 2000. These days, pistol-caliber carbines are everywhere and extremely popular. That wasn’t the case in 2001 when the KelTec SUB 2000 premiered. PCCs were a niche platform, but the SUB 2000 persevered and remains a popular option among various shooters. 

What’s the SUB 2000 

I’m a SUB 2000 fan. I have arguably better guns, but the SUB 2000 remains a favorite. Maybe it’s a bit of nostalgia. For my 16th birthday, I got a Gen 1 SUB 2000 that takes S&W 59 magazines, and it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen! It was a black rifle, and I came from a family of shooters that preferred Winchesters and Remingtons. The little SUB 2000 gave me my first taste of a modern platform. 

The SUB 2000 is a straightforward weapon. The gun’s origin can be traced back to the earliest submachine guns. In fact, it owes a bit of its influence to the Sten gun of World War 2—mainly the design of a receiver that’s just a tube. Tube guns are about as simple as SMGs, and let’s be honest, SMGs are just PCCs with a fun switch. 

Of course, the KelTec SUB 2000 benefits from about six decades of weapon design and advancement, and it shows. Yet, it still uses the simple classic straight blowback operation design. This system might be as simple as a semi-auto platform can be, but it is also a reliable operation that isn’t ammo-picky or expensive to produce or design. 

The blowback operation was the standard for submachine guns until the engineers of Teutonic origins designed this fancy roller-delayed blowback design. 

The Draw Of the SUB 2000 

The KelTec SUB 2000 has a couple of draws that keep people coming back. The main draw comes from the fact the gun folds in half. That’s right. You can take the barrel, fold it rearward, and lock it to the stock. This reduces the overall length to 16.15 inches, which makes the rifle super small and easily packed. 

That’s a trick, but it’s not the only trick. KelTec produces the gun in both 9mm and 40 S&W. More than that, KelTec produces the gun for use in the world’s most popular handgun magazines. 

Cowboys often matched their handgun calibers to their lever action rifle calibers, or so legends say. Shooters can pair the KelTec Sub 2000 with their favorite handgun and caliber to make logistics easier. Logistics do win wars. 

All right, so the KelTec has at least two tricks. What else do we have? The rifle weighs less than five pounds and measures a mere 29.5 inches when deployed. It’s short, light, and easy to shoot. 

Oh, it’s also cheap. It costs anywhere from 350 to 450 dollars, depending on whether it’s election season. This combination of features results in a desirable platform that’s been a massive success for KelTec. 

We know because KelTec doesn’t take on debt. If you ever wonder why it’s hard to find some KelTec guns, it is because KelTec doesn’t spend a ton of money to expand their operations, and debt is a swear at KelTec. However, the SUB 2000 is seemingly always in production. It’s available whenever at a reasonably low price point. 

The Varied SUB 2000 Rifles 

The SUB 2000 has three distinct generations and two offshoots, making up the entire family of this fun folding carbine. Review the rifle’s varied generations and discuss what makes them different. 

The SUB 9 

The SUB 9 series is not technically a SUB 2000. The SUB 9 was the proto SYB 2000. It came first, and KelTec produced this series fairly quickly. KelTec launched production in 1995. KelTec produced only the SUB 9 and the ancient P-11 during this period. 

The SUB 9 is still a blowback-operated, folding carbine that uses popular pistol magazines. It is compatible with Glock, Beretta, and S&W magazines, but this particular model was only produced in 9mm. 

The big difference between the 2000 and the nine models is the materials. KelTec machined the SUB 9 rifles. They’re all metal and lack KelTec’s famed polymer material. This is interesting because George Kellgren loved polymer materials. As we know, there were some other slight differences between the SUB 9 and the SUB 2000. 

There was no bolt-hold open slot. The handguard could also store batteries and similar small goodies. There is also a price difference. In 1998, the gun cost 700 dollars. For reference, my Gen 2 SUB 2000 cost me that much money in 2016. If we adjust for inflation, the gun costs 1,400 dollars. 

The SUB 9 dropped off the face of the earth once the SUB 2000 hit the streets. It cut the cost to 383 dollars. 

The SUB 2000 Gen 1 

The Gen 1 SUB 2000 hit the market in 2001 and wholeheartedly embraced the new world of polymer material. The heavy use of polymer cut the price significantly, and the weapon became affordable. Affordable, fun, and neat weapons are bound to be popular. 

The SUB 2000 GEN 1 series of PCCs lacked rails and had polymer rectangle-shaped handguards held together by bolts and screws. The front sight was glued on and made from the softest plastic they could find. I nearly marred my Gen 1 trying to adjust the sights when I received it. 

The Gen 1 guns came in either 9mm or .40 S&W, and your magazine options included the Glock 17/19, 22/23, S&W 59, Beretta 92/96, and SIG P226 magazines. 

The SUB 2000 Gen 2 

Gen 2 swung in in 2015 and addressed many of the complaints for Gen 1. In 2015, it was all about rails, baby! KelTec somehow saw the writing on the wall and didn’t just slack Picatinny rails everywhere but used a hybrid Picatinny/M-LOK handguard.  The stock also has three positions to adjust the length of the pull slightly. 

The sights were threaded in place instead of glued, and the front sight was metal rather than plastic. The barrel was threaded, and the gun was a great suppressor host. KelTec added a few extra sling slots to the stock system. It’s still a blowback-operated weapon and still uses popular pistol magazines. 

The Gen 2 fired either 9mm or .40 S&W and fed from Glock and M&P magazines initially. KelTec introduced a muli-mag system that allowed you to swap mag catches to accommodate magazines from SIG, CZ, and more. The catch was that the multi-mag system didn’t work on the Glock magazine variants of the rifle.  

The CQB 

KelTec introduced the coolest model by far in 2020. They called it the CQB. The CQB is an integrally suppressed SUB 2000. The CQB lacks sights but does use an innovative rotating handguard. This allows the user to mount an optic to the rail on the handguard and fold the gun in half. 

The gun keeps most of the Gen 2 improvements, especially south of the receiver. They radically changed the handguard. The CQB only came in 9mm, and fed from Glock, M&P magazines, and the multi-mag option was available. 

The SUB 2000 Gen 3 

The latest from KelTec is the Gen 3. It uses a handguard similar to CQB. The handguard rotates 90 degrees, so you can mount an optic, rotate the handguard, and fold the gun. To make this work, KelTec ditched the iron sights entirely. You have to bring your own dot to the party. 

The Gen 3 feels the most refined. The Gen 2 series features the same Gen receiver and stock design. It can utilize the same magazine patterns as the Gen 2 guns. The most significant addition to the Gen 3 world is introducing a 5.7x28mm model of the SUB 2000. 

The KelTec SUB 2000 Gen 3 guns are brand new and slowly slipping onto the market, but they are a natural extension of the series, making me want a new SUB 2000. 

KelTec SUB 2000 for Sale

Where to Find Your KelTec SUB 2000

• Gun.Deals [$ Compare]
• Primary Arms
• Palmetto State Armory

What’s The SUB 2000 For? 

Isn’t that the question we must answer when justifying a new firearm purchase? The SUB 2000’s folding ability does give it some interesting niche use cases. It’s a capable little gun that’s hampered only by the fact it fires a pistol round. 

Home Defense 

A semi-auto PCC might not be the best home defense weapon, but it’s still quite capable. The platform’s benefits include being lightweight and very short. It has relatively low recoil and can be easily equipped with a light for positive identification. I like the Glock variant with a 33-round magazine for home defense. It’s also affordable, which is a big consideration for some shooters. 

Optics can be tricky outside of the Gen 3 and the CQB model. Accessories like the MCARBO red dot mount fix this problem.  The MCARBO scope mount flips upward and out of the way so you can fold the gun. 

The gun’s folding nature makes it easy to store and disables it for use. When folded, the gun can’t be operated until it’s unfolded and charged. This makes it easy to store safely, but it’s quick to get ready.

Bugging Out

It’s obvious the folding nature of this rifle makes it an easy bug-out option. It folds in half and easily squeezes into your choice of bug-out bag. The Lightweight, small size, and ability to use pistol bags are very beneficial. It’s a more capable defensive weapon than a handgun and very easy to bug out with. 

Camp Rifle 

The camp rifle genre has always been PCCs. Marlin started it with the Camp 9 and Camp 45 series of rifles. Marlin killed those guns decades ago. Much like the Marlin 9, the KelTec SUB 2000 is an affordable, lightweight, 9mm carbine that uses popular pistol magazines. The camp rifle is for camp defense and plinking and serves as a working weapon when needed. 

The Duty SUB 2000 

The SUB 2000 PCC doesn’t seem to be a duty weapon. In an era where the AR-15 rules police and military circles, the gun seems out of place. However, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. At least two police departments have adopted the SUB 2000 for school resource officers. The gun is small when folded and easy to secure inside a school or even be carried in a light bag. The gun’s ability to share mags with their duty pistol might also be appealing. 

I will mention that the KelTec SUB 2000 popped up in the hands of Ukrainian fighters. KelTec donated 400 of the rifles to the cause, and they’ve found their way into the hands of some folks over there. It’s unlikely they are front-line weapons, but they could be well-suited for rear-echelon troops. 

A SUB 2000 For You 

The KelTec SUB 2000 is a bit of everything. It’s a rifle, a folding gun, and a bit of a meme, but it’s also massively successful. Its utility, neat design, and low price point ensured it had plenty of buyers. It’s certainly an interesting weapon and, until only very recently, stood alone in its design. I’m betting the SUB 2000 will stick around for a very long time. 

For more information on the KelTec SUB 2000 and its accessories see:

Keltec Sub 2000 Gen 2 Bail Out Bag Rapid Deployment Kit (breachbangclear.com)

Kel Tec Sub 2000 Accessories (breachbangclear.com)

For another take on the KelTec SUB 2000, see the review at The Truth About Guns.

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