Kalashnikov USA KP-9 - Review

We had a chance to spend some quality time at our range with Kalashnikov USA’s new KP-9 fitted with an SB Tactical side folding brace and a 50 round drum magazine.  

Our Pistol came with an SB TACTICAL folding brace.  We installed the brace provided with the gun which gave us another way to stabilize the gun and still allow for a compact package for travelling and concealment in a backpack sized bag. It is a low-profile, left side-folding, strut design compatible with all platforms utilizing an M1913 interface at the rear of the receiver. The FS1913™ is a complete assembly offering pull-through opening and a solid lock-up when extended.

The KP-9 is a semi-automatic 9mm pistol with a 9.25-inch barrel and takes on the look and feel of an AK. The KP-9 is very similar to the Russian- designed Vityaz-SN submachine gun, which in turn was based on the Kalashnikov-pattern rifles. The Vityaz-SN was developed in the famous Izhmash factory in Russia.  If you’re familiar with the way a typical AK-pattern rifle operates, the KP-9 is an easy transition. The selector lever is located on the right side of the gun, and the paddle-style magazine release is located behind the magazine well. The bolt assembly is accessed in the usual way, though the cover is attached to the receiver by a hinge.

At the range the KP-9 had a great feel of quality and was popular with everyone that got to shoot it, due to it’s low recoil impulse assisted by the three chamber brake. 

The trigger was also surprisingly good for an AK trigger, with little to none of the infamous AK trigger slap.  As they say, we “shot what we brung” to the range and ended up running all kinds of different ammo through the KP-9, from our usual cheap range ammo to steel case, to even flat nose and hollow-points.  We had absolutely no malfunctions in the over 500 rounds we put through, and you can safely assume that it would keep running perfectly well past a few thousand without cleaning (it is an AK pattern afterall).

Most of the rounds were fed by the 50 round drum magazine provided to us by Kalashnikov USA and it was a real pleasure to load the drum.  It has a lever to release the spring inside the drum to allow rounds to be dropped into the drum without any hassle.



For anybody who is looking for a sturdy, well balanced pistol that can sit in the trunk of a car or stay in a backpack behind a truck seat until it is called into duty, this may be what you’re looking for. More importantly, the gun is very reliable. In a vehicle where things can get bumped around, having a dependable operating system is critical. We would have no problem keeping one of these stored and ready in our SUV. For more information, visit Kalashnikov-USA.com.