The Springfield Kuna has arrived. The gun, hot off winning a contract with elite police forces in Brazil, has hit American waters. The Kuna, named after the national animal of Croatia, is a 9mm pistol caliber subgun or large format pistol. Who knows what we are calling them this week. At this point, most of us expect a fairly standard straight blowback gun.
That’s not what the Kuna has to offer. Instead, we get a roller-delayed blowback action like the MP5 series. Why does that matter to you? Well, a roller-delayed blowback gun has two advantages.
First and most importantly, the violent recoil of a blowback action is gone. It’s a steady hum with a downright soft recoiling design. The red dot on top barely moved between shots, making it insanely easy to put a ton of rounds on steel targets.
The other reason is how well a roller-delayed gun runs suppressed. I shot about 300 rounds through the Kuna with two different suppressors at the recent Athlon Outdoors Rendezvous, and I never got a gas cloud to the face.
The Kuna – More than Roller Delayed
The Kuna has a few more tricks up its sleeve. First, it’s got controls that mostly mimic an AR on the lower receiver. Best of all, they are completely ambidextrous. When we pop up top, we have a nonreciprocating charging handle that can be reversed for either side’s use.
At the range, the Kuna proved to be a stress-free shooter. The controls were all at hand, snapping and popping as they should. The charging handle wasn’t overly tight, and mags dropped free with the press of a button.
We have our selection of MLOK slots for accessories and a large top optics rail. On the optics rail sits a novel set of sights. We have a folding backup peep sight that’s adjustable for windage and elevation. Additionally, when they sit down, they form a traditional front post and U-notch, much like your favorite pistol sights.
We have a 1913 tail at the rear of the gun, and the Kuna will ship with or without a brace. It’d be an easy candidate for an SBR as well.
Ringing Steel
I shot the gun as quickly as they handed me mags, and I hope the Springfield guys didn’t mind me digging through hundreds of rounds of ammo. It allowed me to see that the gun is quite accurate.
I couldn’t judge the group size, but I was making easy hits on a small diamond-shaped steel plate at about 70 yards. The gun worked quite well.
While magazines are proprietary, they have an MSRP of $24.99 and do feature a metal feed lip. I imagine the street price will be closer to $19.99.
While I don’t have enough time on the gun to form a real review, I can say it’s quite promising. The Kuna will be competitively priced and sell for well under the other roller-delayed options. I’m extremely excited to grab one of these for a more long-term review.
