By: Friedrich Seiltgen

Gunpowder readers are asking: What’s new for 2021?!

KelTec Firearms answered with their new P50 pistol. The P50 looks like a combination of pistol, Personal Defense Weapon (PDF), and Martian Ray gun!

In December 2020, a KelTec ad gave a preview of what’s coming soon, and the P50 started shipping in March this year. The pistol is a semi-automatic blowback designed around the FN 5.7 X28mm cartridge and the FN P90 PDW 50-round magazine!

This pistol looks straight up cool, but is it functional?

The P50 receiver is a combination of polymer lower receiver, while the upper is steel and aluminum. The gun is fed by a 50-round, double-stack magazine that sits horizontally between the top of the grip and the barrel assembly. To change the magazine, the top half of the pistol hinges open!

Everything on this pistol is unique. The T-shaped bolt rides on two operating rods. The FN magazine uses a strange but reliable feeding system, as the rounds sit in the magazine horizontally and are rotated 90 degrees just before feeding into the chamber. The upper receiver has cooling holes machined into it, and the barrel is affixed to it. With close tolerances machined into the assembly, accuracy is not a problem after opening up the top cover. The ejection port is on top, just behind the rail, and spent casings go out the top and to the right.

The sights are a bare minimum and should only be used as a last resort. This pistol needs a micro red dot, and with an 8.5” long top rail, this won’t be a problem.

SPECIFICATIONS

Action Type: single-action, hammer-fired, semi-automatic, blowback

Caliber: FN 5.7 X 28mm

Velocity: 2,100 FPS

Magazine capacity: FN P90 50 round magazine

Sights: Basic sights with 8.5” Picatinny rail for optics

Barrel Length: 9.6”

Overall Length: 15”

Height: 6.7”

Width: 2”

Weight: 3.2 lbs unloaded

MSRP: $995

The pistol is well balanced for its size, but I still prefer a two-handed operation. The P50 is equipped with QD release points on the rear of the receiver, and the grip for a single point sling carry. I’d like to see a pistol brace option added to the gun. KelTec says they will not be adding a brace; they’ll let the free market do that. The P50 is of high-quality and American made in the free state of Florida. It looks like KelTec has another win on their hands!

That’s all for now folks! Please keep sending in your questions, tips, and article ideas. And as always – “Let’s be careful out there.”

Friedrich Seiltgen is a retired Master Police Officer with 20 years of service with the Orlando Police Department. He conducts training in Lone Wolf Terrorism, Firearms, First Aid, Active Shooter Response, and Law Enforcement Vehicle Operations in Florida. His writing has appeared in The Counter Terrorist Magazine, American Thinker, Homeland Security Today, and The Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International. Contact him at [email protected].

Photo courtesy of https://www.keltecweapons.com/firearms/pistols/p50/