Gun Review: KelTec SU-16C, the Modern Classic Truck Gun

We hear a lot of talk about things that are labelled as “truck guns,” but what really is a truck gun? After all, the modern pickup truck is an exceedingly popular vehicle, not just for county folks, but for all Americans.

From a practical standpoint, the best defensive weapon is one that is constantly attached to your body via a solid holster design, not stuffed absentmindedly into a cup holder. But what about the long gun, one with a shoulder stock that chambers a more significant and serious cartridge than your handgun? I suppose that before we even consider the hardware that we should consider the software or the thought process behind a truck gun. 

Practical and Realistic

If you live in an urban or suburban area and your pickup truck never leaves the pavement, spending its life either in your driveway, the parking lot at work, or the local shopping center, do you really need to store a long gun in your truck?

Yes, you do. There might be an emergency or crisis situation where having a long gun in your truck is prudent, even if that’s not an everyday occurrence. If you live in a blue city inhabited by urban humans, secure storage in the form of hard lockboxes is in an absolute must. 

While I can’t speak for what’s going on east of the Mississippi River these days, out here in the west, specifically Wyoming, our pickup trucks leave the pavement regularly, if not every day. I suspect the situation is similar in west Texas, as well as places like Montana, the Dakotas, and Utah outside of the Great Salt Lake Valley urban sprawl.

Out here, we have a lot of BLM…not the kind that burns down cities, but millions upon millions of acres of wide open land where we graze cattle. Whether BLM land or private ranch land, predators and varmints abound. I shouldn’t have to tell you that predators and livestock don’t mix well. When spotted, they need to go. 

Naturally, there are many pest species that need to be culled and kept in check by residents, not the government. Such targets of opportunity present themselves on a regular basis.

KelTec SU16C

The KelTec SU16C rifle shown here is one that I’ve had for quite some time. It fills the roll of the easy-to-carry and easy-to-store long gun that chambers a genuine 5.56mm cartridge. Like all KelTec firearms, the SU16C has a unique silhouette, but it’s also built to accept readily available accessories such any AR-15 STANAG magazine and the barrel is threaded with a 1/2×28 TPI to accept myriad muzzle devices made for AR rifles. 

Most notable of the “C” model is the underfolding stock that reduces the overall length down to 25.5 inches for storage. Yes, the gun will fire with the stock folded if that’s something that you want or feel the need to do. The 16-inch barrel has a 1:7 RH twist. When extended, the total length is just shy of 3 feet at 35.9 inches. Utilizing a good deal of polymer, the empty weight is a mere 4.7 pounds.

While the SU16C comes with adjustable front and rear sights, there is an M1913 Picatinny rail on the upper receiver area to allow a variety of optics to be easily mounted. As a semi-automatic, gas-operated rifle, the charging handle is located on the right side of the gun and there’s a cross-bolt safety. From the factory, the gun comes with a polymer 10-round magazine, but, as mentioned, all of the free men out there will add their own AR mags to the mix.

This is a gun that I use sometimes, but not all the time, so I was not going to spend a lot of money on a scope. What I went with was a Holosun HS403GL with a 2 MOA red aiming reticle. As I was not trying to “co-witness” the optic as I would with a normal AR, I went with the low mount. My experience with this rifle has been that targets of opportunity most often present between 25 and 100 yards, a 1:1 optic is plenty and it gets me on target quickly for moving targets. 

One of my old favorite muzzle devices is the Yankee Hill Machine Phantom flash hider with the “aggressive” cut. A 5.56mm rifle with a 16-inch barrel really needs some kind of muzzle device. Of course, out here in free America you can put a can on the end of it if you so choose. 

For this review, I used the Black Hills Ammunition 5.56mm 62 grain DP (dual purpose) load which is clocking about 3000 FPS at the muzzle. Many varmints and predators have moved on to the great beyond thanks to that load. Quality and accuracy are unquestionable. 

During a recent range session, I mixed in a bunch of aluminum GI 20 and 30-round magazines. I experienced a double-feed with one of the 20 round versions which was a bit disconcerting. I removed that mag from the mix and continued with the others and did not have the problem a second time. It is worth noting that double-feeds in AR style rifles are a result of an out-of-spec magazine around 99 times out of 100.

Other Stuff

A friend of mine was once asked about whether he thought a “truck gun” was a good idea. To that he responded, “Do you even have a fire extinguisher in your truck?” The man asking the question responded in the negative, to which my pal replied, “Before you worry about a rifle, you need to make sure you have a fire extinguisher and a trauma kit in your truck.”

Not every emergency situation you encounter will be a ballistic one. Well-appointed trucks need the aforementioned fire extinguisher, trauma kit (more than a generic first aid kit), jumper cables, tie-down straps, a socket set, a shovel, a hatchet that can double as a hammer, and a fixed blade knife is not a bad idea either. When you are well off of the beaten path, rescue or assistance could easily be an hour away. I personally love the Cold Steel SF Shovel and have used it to dig out a stuck ATV (long story). 

To Truck Gun or Not to Truck Gun

At the end of the day, whether or not you decide to keep a long gun in your truck (or other vehicle) is a choice for you to make. That decision should be made based on your thoughtful consideration of practicality and need.    

 

Specifications:	KelTec SU-16C
Caliber	5.56 NATO / .223 Remington
Action	Semi-auto, gas operated
Capacity	10 (all AR style mags)
Barrel Length	16 in. (1:7 twist)
Overall Length	35.9 in.
Weight (empty)	4.7 lbs.
Finish	Parkerized
Stock	Polymer
Sight	Adjustable / Flat-top rail

 

 

Paul G. Markel is a combat decorated United States Marine veteran. He is also the founder of Student the Gun University and has been teaching Small Arms & Tactics to military personnel, police officers, and citizens for over three decades.