Review: Kriss Vector Gen 2; 9mm Rifle
I spend a lot of time shooting on Crown land, so I have a selection of non-restricted firearms. If you normally shoot at established shooting ranges, let me explain what that means: in Canada, federally-owned wilderness is called 'Crown land', and it's often possible to go to your nearby Crown land to hunt or shoot. That said, there is a class of firearms called 'restricted' that can't be fired on Crown land, or even on your privately-owned acreage. Restricted guns include all handguns and most 'black' rifles, which can only be used on certified ranges.
Recently, I've been testing prototype duelling trees and kidnapper/hostage steel targets, and they need to be calibrated for pistol calibres, so I went out and bought a Kriss Vector in 9mm (they also offer them in .45). It's non-restricted, so I can shoot it near my house. I've only taken it out a couple of times, but here are a few initial impressions:
My Vector came in Flat Dark Earth, and was also available in black. The barrel is shrouded in a square-profile casing that sort of looks like a suppressor, and came with a Magpul adjustable stock and Magpul flip-up sights. A standard pic rail allows for the easy installation of an optic. Overall, the gun looks pretty cool, if maybe a little too science-fictionish.
My first instinct was to bolt on a Trijicon RMR or ACOG sight (cuz I LOVE Trijicon), but the rifle came with Magpul plastic flip-up sights and they work just fine. The gun points pretty well, coming up naturally to my shoulder and eye, so even an old-timer like me should be able to make it work with the old-fashioned sights.
One of the reasons I chose the Vector over other pistol-calibre rifles is that it takes Glock magazines, and I'm what you might call a 'hoarder' of Glock mags. On a few occasions, the rifle has failed to feed the tenth round in the mag, but I wasn't paying attention to determine if that's a problem with a single magazine or the rifle. More testing to come...
Kriss makes a big deal about recoil management in the design of their guns, and indeed there is very little. I attribute that more to the fact that it's a long gun firing a small cartridge, so I wouldn't expect any recoil anyway. I put a Magpul angled foregrip (AFG) on the little rail ahead of the magwell, and it grips just about right. I'm a giant, but normal-sized people should find the gun pretty comfortable.
One of the few annoyances with the Vector is that the mag release is flush to the polymer frame and difficult to press in a hurry (and near-impossible with gloves on). The mags seat flush and are clumsy to strip out. More practice will help, of course, but if I can't find an extended mag release I intend to make one myself. A 'tactical' gun like this is fun at the range, especially with an array of targets to run 'n gun, but only if you can execute fast mag changes.
Until I have more experience with the Kriss Vector, I'll say only that it's a lot like other rifles that sell well in Canada- it's only worth buying because it's non-restricted. If I could shoot restricted firearms in my backyard, I wouldn't even consider it (or a Tavor, or an XCR, or an ACR...). Personally, I like Canadian gun laws; I like that a guy can't take an AR into a Walmart, so when I go into the woods to shoot, I take what's permitted.
Stay tuned for the pending release of those new Duelling Trees and Hostage/Kidnapper steel targets, released hopefully before the SHOT Show in January 2017.
See you at the range!
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