Intratec KG-9
Intratec · Submachine Gun · Discontinued · 1980
Also known as: KG-99, Interdynamic KG-9
Overview
The Intratec KG-9 (also marketed as the Interdynamic KG-9) is a blowback-operated, open-bolt, semi-automatic firearm chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum and the direct precursor to the infamous TEC-9. Designed by Swedish engineer George Kellgren - the "KG" in the name - it was produced from roughly 1980 to 1982 by Interdynamic USA in Miami, Florida, the American operation behind what later became Intratec. Although styled like a compact submachine gun with a stamped sheet-metal receiver and a ventilated barrel shroud around its 127 mm barrel, the KG-9 fired one round per trigger pull as a semi-automatic, sold on the civilian market without the collapsible stock or vertical foregrip of the select-fire MP-9 it descended from. Its open-bolt design, however, was deemed by the ATF to be readily convertible to fully automatic fire, and on 19 January 1982 the open-bolt KG-9 was reclassified as a Title II machine gun, ending its sale as an ordinary firearm. Interdynamic responded by re-engineering the weapon to fire from a closed bolt as the KG-99, which in turn evolved into the Intratec TEC-9 - one of the most recognizable and notorious civilian firearms of the late 1980s and 1990s.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 1400 g (49.4 oz) |
| Overall Length | 318 mm (12.52") |
| Barrel Length | 127 mm (5.00") |
| Action Type | Blowback |
| Firing Mechanism | Open Bolt |
| Trigger Type | Single Action |
| Magazine Capacity | 32 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Detachable Box |
| Muzzle Velocity | 360 m/s (1181 fps) |
| Muzzle Energy | 481 J (355 ft·lbf) |
| Effective Range | 50 m (55 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 100 m (109 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Rifling Twist | 254 mm (10.00") |
| Number of Grooves | 6 |
| Frame Material | Stamped Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Finish | Phosphate |
Calibers
- 9x19mm Parabellum · primary · 9mm NATO — also known as 9mm Luger, 9mm NATO, 9x19mm
Features
- Firing modes: Semi Automatic
- Feed systems: Detachable Box Magazine
- Safety mechanisms: Manual Safety
- Features: Barrel Shroud, Extended Magazine Compatible, Stamped Steel Receiver, Open Bolt Operation, Rear Sling Loop
Variants
- Intratec KG-99 — Closed Bolt Variant
- Intratec TEC-9 — Successor
Production
Production years: 1980-1982
Produced for roughly two years before the ATF's 19 January 1982 ruling reclassified the open-bolt KG-9 as a machine gun. Pre-1982 open-bolt examples are collector items; total production figures for the open-bolt KG-9 specifically are not reliably documented separately from the broader KG-99/TEC-9 family.
Origin
Country of origin: United States
Designer: George Kellgren
Discontinued: 1982
Notes
The open-bolt KG-9 is the origin of the entire TEC-9 lineage but is a distinct, earlier firearm: it fired semi-automatically (one round per trigger pull), and it was its open-bolt mechanism - considered trivially convertible to full-auto - rather than its rate of fire that triggered the ATF's 19 January 1982 machine-gun reclassification. That ruling forced the redesign into the closed-bolt KG-99 and subsequently the TEC-9 (see data/firearms/intratec-tec-9.json). variant_of is left null because the KG-9 is the ancestor of the TEC-9, not a derivative of it. The KG-9 descended from the select-fire Interdynamic MP-9 submachine gun developed in Sweden, with the stock and foregrip removed for the US civilian semi-auto market. A genuine select-fire/machine-gun KG-9 was not a factory production model; the firearm was sold as semi-automatic only, hence firing_modes lists only semi_automatic.
Background
The KG-9 is the open-bolt grandfather of the TEC-9. Designer George Kellgren adapted it from the Swedish Interdynamic MP-9 submachine gun, removing the stock and foregrip for the US civilian market. When the ATF reclassified the open-bolt design as a machine gun on 19 January 1982, Kellgren re-engineered it into the closed-bolt KG-99 and then the TEC-9, which Intratec produced until the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban outlawed the TEC-9 by name. Kellgren later left to found Kel-Tec CNC Industries in 1991, going on to design far more respected firearms such as the P-11, SUB-2000, and KSG. Though the KG-9 itself is a relatively obscure collector's piece, the lineage it started became a cultural shorthand for 1990s street crime through countless films and music videos.