Preview – KRISS 9mm CRB – Victor Vector

Photos by Weapon Outfitters and Steven Kuo

The Reports of the Death of Pistol-Caliber Carbines Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

There’s been a bit of a renaissance of sorts lately for pistol-caliber carbines, with a number of really interesting new options in 9mm on the market. We’ve reported on them in previous issues, and now we’re bringing you the latest just hitting stores as we speak.

If you’re a luddite who doesn’t play video games or watch TV or movies, or if you’ve been hiding in a cavern, you might not have heard of the KRISS Vector submachine gun. Featuring space-age looks and a unique operating system designed to mitigate felt recoil, the Vector was launched in .45 ACP. Ever since then, folks have clamored for a 9mm version — and KRISS has finally delivered.

Re-vector Revolution

The heart of the Vector is the KRISS Super V System (KSVS), designed to manage muzzle climb and reduce felt recoil. The delayed blowback Vector fires from a closed bolt. When a shot is fired, the bolt begins to travel to the rear. The Vector’s bolt has rear lugs that ride in sloped channels in a slider. They initially offer increased resistance, providing the delay in the delayed blowback action. But rather than traveling straight back, the slider moves diagonally downward, against an action spring behind the magazine, with the bolt also tilting downward off-axis from the bore.

This downward motion (“re-vectoring” according to KRISS, hence the gun’s moniker) is intended to keep the gun shooting flat and to mitigate recoil. However, the laws of physics still apply, so there’s a secondary recoil impulse when the slider springs back up and the bolt goes back into battery. Many shooters boast how controllable the Vector is, while some complain about it being jumpy, no doubt from the re-vectored operating components.

But the unique bolt and slider are just one part of the overall system. The barrel, pressed in a trunion, is positioned low in the chassis, directly in front of the trigger, the web of your hand, and your shoulder. This contributes greatly to the gun’s controllability as well.

By simply removing four pins, the upper separates from the lower and releases the bolt group. The upper contains the trigger and hammer mechanism, safety selector, and (if you’re fortunate) the firing mode selector. The lower is serialized, and houses the barrel, charging handle, bolt group, magwell, and bolt release. The upper is common across calibers, so you could use the same upper on multiple lowers if you so desired.

As part of the Gen II changes available on both calibers, the new ambidextrous short throw safety selector now boasts just 45 degrees of travel between positions, rather than 120 degrees, and the trigger has been revised to a pivoting design. The original folding stock has been replaced with an M4 stock adapter with a collapsible Defiance buttstock, but the old one is still available as an accessory. The guns come with a full-length top Picatinny rail, a lower rail, sling point attachments, and Magpul MBUS front and rear sights. For those working out their noise-reduction plans, the barrel is threaded ½x28 RH.

We got the opportunity to shake out the new KRISS Vector at Replay XD’s Day at the Range event, hosted by 295 Tactical in Eugene, Oregon. Replay XD brought together a number of companies and individuals to check out new products and go hot with them. We coordinated with KRISS for them to bring out prototypes of their new 9mm Vector to the event for us to review and for other shooters to try out. Replay XD makes the Prime X, a point-of-view action video camera system. Check out exclusive videos of the KRISS Vector and the Replay XD event at www.recoilweb.com/video.

For the rest of this article, subscribe here: RECOIL Issue 22

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