Bullpup rifles have always triggered the sci-fi nerd in me. I love the old joke that they are the rifle of the future—and always will be. If I ever want to LARP (live-action role play) like I’m in “The Expanse” or as a Space Marine, I’m turning to a bullpup rifle. With that in mind, I’m also confused by the lack of bullpup PCC options. There are plenty of bullpup rifles out there, but bullpup PCCs seem few and far between in this massive market.
Why Bullpup PCCs?
Why not? They make a good bit of sense. Bullpups are designed to be more compact rifles, and the PCC is often a smaller operating system which can result in a very small and very lightweight carbine. Plus, PCCs are just fun. Ammo is cheap, mags are plentiful, and the guns tend to be easy to handle.
There also seems to be some NFA and ATF sneakery inbound regarding braced pistols. A bullpup with a 16-inch barrel avoids the NFA but still provides a small and compatible pistol caliber platform.
Sadly there isn’t a whole lot of them. In fact, these days, there is only one standard production bullpup PCC on this list. However, the love of bullpup PCCs has driven several companies to produce PCC bullpup kits. As the great Jeff Goldblum said, “Bullpups, uh…find a way.”
The High Tower Armory + Hi-Point Carbine
Do you want a bullpup PCC but don’t want to spend a ton of money? Well, it’s possible to get into the bullpup PCC world for less than $500 or so. It starts with a Hi-Point carbine in nearly any caliber, from 10mm to .380 ACP, and then you drop it into a High Tower Armory stock system. The end results in an affordable, super short bullpup rifle chambered in a variety of different calibers.
In fact, this is the only bullpup PCC option that allows you to utilize cartridges like the 10mm. A 10mm bullpup carbine is quite handy and quite powerful. The high Tower Armory kit is space age with a mixture of Picatinny rails and M-LOK slots for all the customization you could want. The kit is also ambidextrous, and a brass deflector allows lefties to wield it with ease. Left-handed bullpups are a rare commodity.
The downside really comes down to the Hi-Point carbine. It’s admittedly a standard blowback gun without a great trigger. The magazines are limited severely by their single-stack design, and the gun is far from refined. However, for less than 500 bucks, you could have a space-age blaster at your side, and that’s tough to beat in this economy.
CZ/Manticore Scorpion Bullpup
Manticore is one of the coolest companies out there. This small American shop makes some awesome upgrades for a variety of platforms. They teamed up with CZ to create a bullpup kit for their Scorpion rifle series. This takes the Scorpion carbine and shrinks it to nearly the same size as a braced Scorpion pistol. The Scorpion platform is plenty popular, and magazines are affordable and made by a few aftermarket companies. Hell, you can even use a drum with it.
Manticore went above and beyond to create an ergonomic bullpup system that looks natural on the Scorpion. It’s compact but ergonomic and makes use of the Scorpion’s standard M-LOK handguard. Some controls are changed, and the safety is improved as far as I’m concerned. Magazine swaps are also easy and far from complicated, which often isn’t the case with the bullpup platforms.
The Scorpion as a bullpup is a light and handy weapon that’s only 26.1 inches long. The real downside is that installing the kit is not easy. In fact, it can be frustrating at times, although anyone with a good YouTube video can figure it out.
Meta Tactical Apex
So far, we’ve seen two kits that have adapted standard carbines into bullpup platforms. What about a platform that turns a handgun into a bullpup carbine? Well, we have that! Meta Tactical produces the Apex kit that allows you to convert your Glock or S&W pistol into a carbine. The presence of a 16-inch barrel turns it into a rifle and avoids NFA territory.
The Meta Tactical Apex kit is an easy install that allows you to slide your Glock into the back of the Apex kit, and bam, you are good to go. This kit isn’t your typical Glock chassis, and it’s a very ergonomic kit that allows for left-handed use. Recoil is barely noticeable, and the Apex kit performs reliably and downright admirably for a kit that turns a handgun into a rifle.
The Meta Tactical Apex kit isn’t your typical bullpup carbine, but of all these conversion kits, it’s admittedly my favorite and one I enjoy quite a bit. It’s still fairly expensive but allows your Glock to pull double duty as both a handgun and a rifle.
Tavor X95 9mm
Finally, at the end of the list, we have a real, true bullpup PCC. The X95 Tavor isn’t a kit that turns your rifle into a bullpup weapon. It’s a factory-produced 9mm bullpup. The Tavor X95 uses Colt SMG magazines and provides a blowback-operated design. Since the bullpup design is purpose-built, the ergonomics are on point.
The charging handle, safety, and magazine release are all well-placed and are not compromised by any means. It’s easy, intuitive, and easy to handle. No conversion is necessary here. The X95 in 9mm is a soft shooter that’s crazy easy to handle. It’s quite accurate, and adding muzzle devices like suppressors, compensators, and more is possible.
The Tavor X95 9mm rifle, gives us a real pistol caliber carbine designed from the ground up to be a bullpup design. Thanks to IWI, we have a real PCC bullpup, and the X95 is a fantastic platform.
Honorable Mention — JTAC Stribog Kit
The JTAC Stribog Kit takes your Stribig pistol and turns it into a bullpup pistol. Yep, it’s weird, but weird is okay. This kit earns an honorable mention only because it’s not released and who knows how well it will work when it’s released?
It gets an honorable mention because it’s a very cool concept. In practice, it could make the Stribog easier to control without a brace. Hopefully, the JTAC kit will come out soon, and maybe we can get one in hand for test and evaluation.
Bullpup PCCs
Bullpup PCCs are sadly underserved in the current community. Some may point to the Beretta CX4, but that’s not really a bullpup anymore than an Uzi is a bullpup. I think there is a gap in the market that could be better served. Maybe 2023’s SHOT Show will give us a few more bullpup PCCs. Or not, who knows?
