One of the biggest keys to a firearm’s success is often its inherent modularity. Modularity is the key to an adaptable weapon system. Adaptability is often the key to success. Look at the American SOPMOD systems for the M4 platform. There is a reason the gun has served so long with the United States. The M4 platform is chosen over more modern weapons like the SCAR L for a reason. One of the few guns that’s adaptable as the M4 is going to be the Glock series of handguns. One example of Glock adaptability is the fact Glock pistol to carbine conversion kits exist. There is more than one way to turn a Glock into a rifle, but today we are getting a little help from our friends at ZFI Inc. They’ve provided us with a KPOS G2 carbine conversion kit and an IGB barrel.
The Legalities
Normally if I just slammed my Glock into a KPOS G2 kit I would need a tax stamp and have to follow the applicable NFA laws. This would become a short barreled rifle, and without a stamp, you are looking at a $250,000 dollar fine and potentially a 10-year prison sentence. Avoiding the hassle of the NFA is easy, all you need is a 16-inch barrel. For this KPOS Gen 2 review, I’m simply going to install the IGB 16 inch barrel. This barrel is pretty handy and if you’re a reader you’ve seen it before. For new readers, this is my second Glock carbine and you can check out the first here.
Installation
Installing the 16-inch barrel is easy enough. If you can disassemble your Glock you can install this barrel. Installing the Glock into the KPOS G2 kit is quite simple. Instead of just explaining it, watch our short video below to get a better idea of how the system works. Shooting this video was harder than making a Glock carbine.
KPOS G2 Overview
One of the things that impressed me the most during my KPOS Gen 2 review was how well designed the kit is. It’s so simple to use and made so well. It’s made almost entirely of metal and covered with picatinny rails. It has a full-length top rail that’s perfect for optics of all sizes. I went with a simple Meopta MeoSight lll. The KPOS is equipped with a set of nice folding iron sights that are sturdy and well made as well.
The folding stock is unwavering. It’s a bit stiff but needs to be when locked into place. I’ve never had to fold a stock in a hurry. Unfolding the stock is easy and requires only a single hand. The gun can be fired with the stock folded if that floats your boat.
The Controls
The KPOS G2 comes equipped with a standard AR 15 charging handle for racking the weapon. This makes things nice for those of us who are accustomed to the platform. That’s really the only modification to the Glock’s controls. You’ll still use the same magazine release and slide lock to manipulate the weapon.
The KPOS G2 also comes with an interesting vertical foregrip. It folds and extends. The purpose of this grip is to also act as a device to cover the trigger. The foregrip extends outwards and almost doubles in length. This extension is what covers the trigger. The grip features a button on each side that when pressed retracts the foregrip extension.
Essentially this acts as a manual safety. Glock fans will be sitting there saying, “I don’t need no stinking safety on muh Glock!”
I agree, when its a handgun. Carrying a handgun will likely mean a holster, which covers the trigger already. As a rifle, you don’t have a holster to protect the trigger, so this grip acts the same way a trigger acts.
On the Range
The system itself is extremely easy to use. The stock is a metal skeletonized stock. Be aware it doesn’t offer a lot of cheek rest. Also, it’s metal, and its the winter. It’s flippin cold to the touch and gives you a bit of a shock on those early morning range days.
Recoil is something you barely notice when shooting a round as light as the 9mm. The same goes for muzzle rise. The 16-inch barrel also helps in this regard. The muzzle rise is basically nil. You can squeeze that trigger as fast as you desire and the gun is hardly going to move off target.
Backing off to roughly 75 yards I have no issues ringing my steel target over and over. I could probably keep it to the beat of a song if I really wanted to. Long range shooting is great, but what does it do for close range shooting? It makes it easier to maneuver and transition between targets with speed and accuracy. Of course, as a rifle you have three points of contact with your weapon, so your control over the weapon is improved greatly.
Drilling with the Kpos G2
I ran through a few of my favorite drills with just the Glock and then the KPOS Gen 2 carbine kit. The drills included the Mozambique drill, failure to stop on 2 targets, and even a modified El Presidente drill. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the Glock carbine was faster, was more accurate, and easier to manipulate than the pistol.
The barrel has no issues interacting with the KPOS G2 Glock carbine conversion kit. The Glock itself has no issues mating with the barrel or KPOS kit. The KPOS features a wide ejection port that makes sure no cases are caught between the KPOS and the gun. I never had an issue with failure to ejects.
With pleasant recoil and minimal muzzle rise this is great for taking a new shooter to the range and teaching them the basics. It’s also quite lightweight and the stock offers a short length of pull for smaller shooters. A short length of pull would typically be an issue with larger shooters like me. With this Glock carbines little recoil and little muzzle rise I don’t find it hard to handle.
Reloads, Malfunctions, and More
Reloads are simple since you are using a Glock 17s controls. The button is easy to reach due to how the KPOS G2 attaches to the Glock. The addition of a third point of contact makes things easier than a normal Glock reload. It’s faster, more intuitive, and easier to keep the gun on target while reloading.
I was unlucky enough to run some terrible ammunition through this thing my first time out. It was Freedom Munitions American steel and the rounds kept failing to extract or eject. I got some genuine malfunction training with this ammunition. The AR 15 charging handle is nice to rack and using the Glock’s stock controls to eject the magazine and lock the slide to the rear is inherently intuitive. This makes fixing malfunctions simple and quick. The massive ejection ports allows me to sweep my sausage fingers inside the gun and clear the chamber.
I want to mention this was the only ammunition I had issues with, and with later testing had issues in a CZ Scorpion, a Kel Tec Sub 2000 and my Glock 17 in its standard configuration. The ammo is junk, and Fiocchi, Tula, and Winchester White Box gave me zero issues.
One Compact Carbine
Lastly, with the folding stock the gun is quite small and easy to carry. It can be tucked away in a compact case and its perfect as a trunk gun. In fact, if you conceal carry a Glock (Or several other weapons) you can pack a KPOS Gen 2 kit with a 16-inch barrel in the vehicle for an emergency rifle option. Installation isn’t instantaneous, but in less than a minute a practiced person could install the barrel and kit.
The biggest fault I could find was the charging handle. It doesn’t offer a lot of leverage over the slide. It takes some real force to rack the gun. You really have to grip and rip the charging handle to get it to move. It would really benefit from a larger and wider charging handle. There is a small issue with the right side picatinny rail. There is a necessary lever that allows you to put the Glock in and out of the kit. It’s easy to block this lever with an accessory. If the lever is blocked you can’t install or remove the gun from the KPOS. It will accommodate smaller accessories fine, but just be sure you don’t block that lever.
This is quite the intuitive kit. It provides a stable and simple means to turn a Glock into a pistol caliber carbine. While I used a Glock for this kit, the KPOS is available for a wide variety of firearms. This includes guns from IWI, CZ, and Rock Island Armory. The KPOS G2 kit is a simple way to make your own Glock Carbine.
