Hank Strange notes:

Hank Strange, the Iraqveteran8888 crew, the Talkinglead guys, Peter Palma, Aaargo Jay and Chad from Kel-Tec got together on the IV8888 Farm to shoot Keltec Weapons debut of their new Bullpup 556 Rifle Prototype: the M43 shooting for video cameras. The M43 is a steampunk style hybrid of wood and metal awesomeness, that was first seen at Shot Show 2014.

Like Hank, we first saw the M43 at SHOT Show, and it was an very nicely balanced rifle that intentionally leans towards Kalashnikov-style aesthetics. The current version is a 5.56 rifle using AR magazines, but what really intrigues me are several of the proposed future calibers for this firearm. A rifle that looks like it belongs in the AK family from the very beginning, a variant will be offered in 7.62×39, using AK magazines. The scene-stealer, however, will be the M43 in 6.5 Grendel.

A M43 in 6.5 Grendel will be an ultra-short and maneuverable firearm, with a potential longer effective range than 7.62 NATO sniper rifles.  Of course, it remains to be seen how accurate the 6.5-chambered M43 with be, but if it is a 2 MOA or better gun, then we’re talking about an incredibly rarity of a rifle that can presumably excel at CQB to sniper distances  and everything in between.

I’d like to fantasize that it will also have AKM ruggedness and reliability as well… and there’s nothing wrong with that.