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Kuna Competition? Meet the Taurus RPC 9mm PDW

Love the increasing interest and availability of PCCs/PDWs but I'm sticking with my Kuna. My biggest question with the RPC revolves around the swappable rollers or whatever they have inside for suppressed vs non-suppressed action. Why do they need that when the Kuna seems to run fine no matter how you have it configured.

I've not heard any reports of malfunctions on the Kuna even when suppressed but why should I need to break an RPC down and swap some internals when going suppressed?
 
Love the increasing interest and availability of PCCs/PDWs but I'm sticking with my Kuna. My biggest question with the RPC revolves around the swappable rollers or whatever they have inside for suppressed vs non-suppressed action. Why do they need that when the Kuna seems to run fine no matter how you have it configured.

I've not heard any reports of malfunctions on the Kuna even when suppressed but why should I need to break an RPC down and swap some internals when going suppressed?
I'm of the same mind. Will be sticking to my Kuna and Scorpion. I'm definitely not a Taurus fan, although I will admit that I was impressed enough by my 1st gen TX22, that I bought a TORO version when they came out so I could install an optic.

With that said, I too am curious about the need for the rolling block swap. I've only seen one review video so far, but it clearly demonstrated that his example wouldn't run suppressed until he swapped the parts out. My Kuna, on the other hand runs flawlessly, naked or with my Rugged SUB9, using either 124gr NATO or light 147gr subsonics running around 950fps. During a range trip I often swap my can around between the Kuna and a couple of other PCCs, and I alternately run them all with various ammo, suppressed or bare. I can get tuning a gun to run optimally, but for my uses, I don't want to deal with having to open the gun up and swap out oily, sooty internals several times during every range session. I mean, it is what it is, and I'll remain open minded. But, I would like a better understanding of why exactly this parts swap is necessary... My totally uninformed hypothesis is that while "roller locked" the Kuna still uses a pretty high mass bolt. This means that while the roller does mitigate recoil, the gun is still relying on bolt mass for a lot of it's reliable functioning. And along with that line of thought, PERHAPS the Taurus uses a significantly lower mass bolt, which is more sensitive to pressures and recoil impulse. If that is the case, then perhaps also, the Taurus has lighter recoil than the Kuna, but also has a smaller window of operating parameters, thus necessitating different roller lock timing depending on the ammo and backpressure. Just a thought... Which is why I said I will remain open minded. Just haven't seen a direct side by side comparison between the two platforms yet....
 
And now joining the party is…

Sort of. In as much as it's yet another "new" entry into the 9mm PCC market. Although, the Saint gun isn't really "new" as much as just a revised version of the same basic straight blowback they offered before. The Kuna, and the new Taurus are both roller delayed actions. I looked at the Saint some time ago and opted for the Kuna for several reasons.... Mainly, the roller delayed action. But also the overall compactness of the Kuna due to the folding brace. I also prefer the side charging over the AR style of the Saint. I do assume that the Saint is a nice gun though, if it's feature set appeals to the individual looking for a new PCC.
 
My mother taught me not to say anything if I don't have something nice to say. Taurus? Well, when I worked in a gun shop I helped more customers use their lifetime warranty on new guns more any any other manufacturer. With the Kuna available, I fail to understand why someone would choose this.
 
Sort of. In as much as it's yet another "new" entry into the 9mm PCC market. Although, the Saint gun isn't really "new" as much as just a revised version of the same basic straight blowback they offered before. The Kuna, and the new Taurus are both roller delayed actions. I looked at the Saint some time ago and opted for the Kuna for several reasons.... Mainly, the roller delayed action. But also the overall compactness of the Kuna due to the folding brace. I also prefer the side charging over the AR style of the Saint. I do assume that the Saint is a nice gun though, if it's feature set appeals to the individual looking for a new PCC.
Meant to use this link (PDW), but I’m also a fan of my Kuna. It’s a blast to fire suppressed!

 
I'm of the same mind. Will be sticking to my Kuna and Scorpion. I'm definitely not a Taurus fan, although I will admit that I was impressed enough by my 1st gen TX22, that I bought a TORO version when they came out so I could install an optic.

With that said, I too am curious about the need for the rolling block swap. I've only seen one review video so far, but it clearly demonstrated that his example wouldn't run suppressed until he swapped the parts out. My Kuna, on the other hand runs flawlessly, naked or with my Rugged SUB9, using either 124gr NATO or light 147gr subsonics running around 950fps. During a range trip I often swap my can around between the Kuna and a couple of other PCCs, and I alternately run them all with various ammo, suppressed or bare. I can get tuning a gun to run optimally, but for my uses, I don't want to deal with having to open the gun up and swap out oily, sooty internals several times during every range session. I mean, it is what it is, and I'll remain open minded. But, I would like a better understanding of why exactly this parts swap is necessary... My totally uninformed hypothesis is that while "roller locked" the Kuna still uses a pretty high mass bolt. This means that while the roller does mitigate recoil, the gun is still relying on bolt mass for a lot of it's reliable functioning. And along with that line of thought, PERHAPS the Taurus uses a significantly lower mass bolt, which is more sensitive to pressures and recoil impulse. If that is the case, then perhaps also, the Taurus has lighter recoil than the Kuna, but also has a smaller window of operating parameters, thus necessitating different roller lock timing depending on the ammo and backpressure. Just a thought... Which is why I said I will remain open minded. Just haven't seen a direct side by side comparison between the two platforms yet....
I really do like this theory. Just from eyeballing some of the RPC internals they do infact look smaller/lighter.

I'm also wondering if there is any history here between the development of these roller delayed PCCs like both the Kuna and RPC? Like were they both designed for a bid with the brazilian military/leo and the kuna ended up winning? Or am I just drawing connections where none exist and these were just developed coincidentally?
 
Meant to use this link (PDW), but I’m also a fan of my Kuna. It’s a blast to fire suppressed!

Yeah, I knew the one you were talking about as I had recently received an email from Springfield about it. Although, what I said stands. The one I looked at a while back, when I decided to go with the Kuna, was this one...


https://www.springfield-armory.com/...victor-ar-15-pistols/saint-victor-9mm-pistol/


The recently released one is essentially the same thing as far as I can tell.
 
I really do like this theory. Just from eyeballing some of the RPC internals they do infact look smaller/lighter.

I'm also wondering if there is any history here between the development of these roller delayed PCCs like both the Kuna and RPC? Like were they both designed for a bid with the brazilian military/leo and the kuna ended up winning? Or am I just drawing connections where none exist and these were just developed coincidentally?
Funny you say that, as I had the same thought recently when I first ran across the RPC...

When the Kuna first came out I was interested. And pretty quickly I learned it's origin from HS Produkt, who had developed it specifically in .40 for a Brazilian M&P contract... Then, when I saw the RPC, my first thought was... "That looks like Taurus built that as a direct competitor for the Kuna! Hmmm... Taurus is a Brazilian company. The RPC is built in Brazil. And yet still, the HS Produkt gun won the Brazilian M&P contract."

We can make of that what we will... My gut says, "Yeah, it's a Taurus, that's why." However, I will withhold judgment until the proof is in the pudding, as they say, and the RPC has been proven as a worthy addition to the marketplace, or just another typical Taurus product with lackluster QC... I will admit that the overall design appears good, from a cursory look. But I haven't held or shot one, let alone broken one down for a good inspection. But, Taurus has made quite a few guns that looked good on paper, but were let down with subpar QC, leading to the experiences @Winchester67 mentioned above.
 
Drawing almost the exact same conclusions I was. The Brazil connection was too odd to overlook. I'd love to hear someone who really knows the history lay out how each of these guns were designed. I think we give it 5-10 more years and the Kuna will be very well respected more like how the MP5 is but I'm just a random fanboi. Who knows.
 
Then again, it may have less to do with quality or reliability, but rather that the decision makers for the M&P contracts felt the same as me, and preferred a gun that ran reliably suppressed, unsuppressed, and with a wide range of ammo. From a military or police armorer's perspective this makes life MUCH simpler than a system where untrained officers or recruits just swapped parts willy-nilly... And for me personally, that sees such a gun as a potential defensive weapon, the last thing I want to worry about when things go bump in the night is, "DID I SWAP OUT THAT ROLLER BLOCK AFTER I WENT TO THE RANGE LAST WEEKEND???"
 
That's the same brace that's on the Kuna, right?

Yeah, the videos I've seen show that the gun seems reliable IF you have the right part in the bolt/action. If not, things seem to go sideways quickly. Good on Taurus for including both the parts, but it is less than ideal to have to swap them to run suppressed/not suppressed.

This guy posted the manual and shows that the specs in the manual include an 8" barrel model. https://www.gunsholstersandgear.com/2026/04/16/taurus-rpc-9mm-pdw-pistol/ That would be the one I would want. Also, it looks like the manual is showing the guns as lighter than the specs Taurus has on its website? Maybe they printed the manuals before the gun was really ready?
 
The kuna also has the built in flip up sights that the RPC and Stribog both lack. But that's trivial to add I guess.
No. Not trivial to me either. I noticed the same thing, and the same can be said of the Saint Victor series as well as others. Call me old school, but I want BUIS on pretty much any optic equipped firearm that even has a slight chance of being needed for "social purposes". I've been a red dot guy for a long time, and have them on a LOT of my guns. And generally speaking, they have all proven to be very reliable. But interestingly enough, just a couple of weeks ago I pulled out one of my carry guns and found the optic to be dead. Surprised the hell out of me as that optic was relatively new on that gun. My first thought was that I had somehow managed to accidently turn it off during transport or handling. I checked, and it turned out that the almost brand new battery had died prematurely. Just making the point that anything that can fail, and the more complex it becomes, the more things there are that can go wrong. Irons are dead simple! And if all else goes wrong at the darkest of hours, I do like a backup.

And I quite like the BUISs on the Kuna. They're quick and easy to deploy, functional when wanted/needed, and yet are completely unobtrusive when you don't.
 
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