I don’t know why people get so up in arms about bullpups. I mean that figuratively and not literally. Bullpup fans seem harmless, but man, plenty of people really seem to despise bullpups enough to be real negative nancies in the gun culture. I like bullpups. I enjoy shooting them, I like the futuristic look they have, and I can always appreciate how short and handy they are. But I don’t own any dedicated bullpups.
I do, however, own a couple of standard configuration firearms that have been converted via a series of kits to turn a standard platform into a bullpup. That seems like an awful lot of runaround just to get a bullpup, but I’ve got my reasons. I think that bullpup kits are a great way to get into bullpups because a standard bullpup platform can be quite expensive. Guns like the Tavor tend to be expensive, especially in any configuration outside of 5.56.
Why Go With a Bullpup Kit?
Bullpup platforms in the States also tend to be expensive and tough to find compared to standard firearms. While guns like the Tavor use standard AR magazines, a lot of bullpups may use expensive proprietary magazines that are tough to find. Bullpups can also be a risk, especially if you are taking the Turkish shotgun bullpup route. These can be unreliable.
When we convert a standard platform into a bullpup platform, we already have a proven and reliable weapon. If someone is going to invest the time and money necessary to make a bullpup conversion, it’s going to be a popular platform. If it’s popular, it’s widely available, and likely so are the magazines and accessories.
Bullpups are fairly fun guns. Bullpups are different enough to be a bit more enjoyable than the “Plain Jane” AR. Different can be fun, and bullpups are certainly different. They tend to be very short and compact, which makes them highly maneuverable and perfect for home defense.
With all this said, I’ve gathered what I think are the best bullpup kits to convert your standard firearm into a bullpup firearm.
The Best Bullpup Kits
The Manticore CZ Scorpion Bullpup Kit
Manticore Arms is a small custom shop that produces a number of upgrades for a number of platforms. They are very well known for producing high-quality products for platforms that are often ignored by the greater worldwide market. Manticore Arms teamed up with CZ USA to produce a bullpup kit for the CZ Scorpion rifle. The CZ Scorpion is a 9mm platform originally based on the military-issued submachine gun. CZ stretched the weapon into a full-on rifle.
The CZ Scorpion Bullpup Kit converts your 9mm rifle into a much smaller platform. In fact, it shrinks down to nearly 26.1 inches, making it as small as it legally can be. This ultra-small rifle is very easy to wield. The Manticore kit looks identical in its polymer to the standard CZ Scorpion, so the kit looks as if CZ USA put the rifle together themselves.
It looks great and seamlessly integrates with the Scorpion rifle. The end product is a very competent platform that has excellent ergonomics. Most of these kits compromise the ergonomics, but the Manticore is quite solid in its design. The downside is that it’s not the easiest kit to install. It takes quite some time to get everything clicked and popped into place.
Metal Tactical Apex Kit
The Meta Tactical Apex Kit doesn’t just make a bullpup rifle, but it actually converts a handgun into a bullpup rifle. The Meta Tactical Kit can convert your Glock into a rifle via a 16-inch barrel and drop-in stock kit. Installation takes no effort. Drop the barrel in the gun, and then drop the long-barreled Glock into the Apex Stock kit. Sure, there are a couple more steps than that, but it’s not exactly rocket science.
Once installed, you get a very short and lightweight platform. It’s a hair over 26 inches total and weighs a little more than 4.5 pounds. The Meta Tactical Apex Kit gives you an adjustable stock, a non-reciprocating charging handle, and a reversible magazine release. It’s fairly impressive how well-built the kit is, and Meta Tactical certainly put some thought into the Apex’s design.
The end result delivers a very soft shooting platform that’s quite accurate and fun to shoot. It’s super short and perfect for home defense. The kit has a long optics rail and a series of M-LOK slots for accessories. It’s a neat kit, and I very much enjoy mine.
Reap Weaponries Scy
The Reap Weaponries Scy is surprisingly the first kit I’ve ever seen that’s produced for the AR-15. That’s surprising because the AR-15 is so popular. Reap Weaponries only recently released the Scy, and it’s a fairly simple kit that requires some extensive installation. The kit works with any AR that has a standard lower receiver and a handguard that features M-LOK slots.
The Scy will also work with the BRN-180, which also helps eliminate the need for an external buffer tube and buffer device. The Scy setup allows you to use most of the standard AR-15 controls, which includes the safety selector. However, the Scy has a second safety up front that makes it easier to deactivate on the fly. Using the AR ergonomics makes things a little less easy to activate, but with practice, it gets easier.
The simplistic design does keep things fairly easy, and the Scy effectively shrinks your rifle to a very handy platform. The main problem you’ll run into is the length of pull. You really need to purchase a shorter PDW-type buffer tube to get an acceptable length of pull. If you built it the right way, you have the customization of an AR-15 in a bullpup package, as well as a wide variety of calibers available.
Bullpups Unlimited Shotgun Conversion
The Bullpups Unlimited Shotgun conversions allow you to take the Remington 870, the Mossberg 500 series, and even the Mossberg Maverick and turn them into a bullpup shotgun platform. This takes what is a 38.5-inch shotgun and shrinks it to 28.5 inches. This makes it much shorter and only a little heavier than the standard Mossberg or Remington shotgun you convert.
Bullpups are great for close-quarters engagements due to their shorter overall length, and that blends well with a shotgun. Shotguns also excel for close-quarters usage, and in a bullpup platform, you get a short but powerful platform. The Bullpups Unlimited Shotgun conversion embraces your shotgun in its entirety, making it go from a plain Jane shotgun to something out of the future.
The design incorporates an optics rail across the top, as well as side rails and even a rail on the pump. This compact package gives new modularity to your shotgun. The function is not inhibited in any way. The downsides are mostly tied to a rough trigger and somewhat gritty action with the conversion. It’s not perfect, but it’s a helluva lot more reliable than any Turkish shotgun.
Desert Tech Trek-22 Conversion Kit
Finally, let’s leave off with one of the coolest kits on the market. The Desert Tech Trek-22 is designed to take your Ruger 10/22 and make it something new, something bullpup. This super slick kit is streamlined and laid out to provide a minimalist rifle platform that is short and sweet for the Ruger 10/22 owner. The Trek-22 stock is over 10 inches shorter and even a hair lighter than the standard Ruger in a standard wood stock.
It’s a polymer stock design that your Ruger 10/22 drops into with ease. The kit has an integrated optics rail and several M-LOK slots for accessories. At the rear of the stock sits a set of integral mag storage slots to fit extra BX-10 magazines. The Trek-22 even has a flat-faced trigger that is downright impressive. Bullpup triggers usually suck, but that’s not the case here.
The Trek-22 is quite high-speed and well thought out. It’s likely the best of the kits here. To be fair, it’s also one of the easiest to design. The Ruger 10/22 is very simple and lightweight in its original design, and it fires the relatively low-powered .22LR. This makes it a bit easier to convert to a bullpup.
Bullpup It
My love of bullpup kits may seem silly, and I’m willing to accept that. I also enjoy the bullpup as a concept and love that the industry has made several conversion kits that allow shooters to take a normal gun and bullpup it. What do you think? Am I all wrong? Let me know below, and let me know why!
