To produce its innovative PR57 handgun, KelTec not only developed a unique design, the company also invested in an entirely new manufacturing facility in Rock Springs, Wyo., specifically to produce the gun. "American Rifleman Television" traveled to this new facility to get an inside look at how they make these pistols and how affordability and manufacturing efficiency are at the top of the company's priority list. Watch our feature segment above for a look at the PR57 and KelTec's production process.
"All the products we make in Florida and all the products we actually design for KelTec are designed primarily with two specific intentions," said Adrian Kellgren, KelTec's director of operations. "The first intention is affordability, and in American manufacturing and American labor, we live within the marketplace of American labor. We can't go offshore anything and go for that $3 an hour workforce. So the design of all these products require us to be very, very efficient with our manufacturing process."
In the interests of efficiency, KelTec chose to dedicate its newly established production facility in Wyoming entirely to making the PR57, which was introduced early in 2025 and is unique within the current marketplace of concealed-carry handguns, due to its design and feature set.
"We chose to make the PR57 here because it was a nice little pilot program for this facility," said Derek Kellgren, KelTec's director of sales. "And we felt it'd be a lot easier to have a new model done from scratch at a new facility rather than have half of it done in Florida, half here, and try to get all the parts to coordinate with each other simply to have it all here in this facility, which is pretty far away from our Florida factory. It just made more sense that way."
At the Rock Springs production plant, every aspect of PR57 manufacturing has been streamlined with efficiency in mind. Raw material arrives in pre-cut lengths that allow machine operators to quickly cut trunnions and slides from the cylindrical 4140 steel rods. Parts production and assembly is organized to prioritize efficiency, resulting in a gun that's as affordable as possible while still remaining entirely made in America.
"The expansion into Wyoming, particularly deciding to go with a new product out here, was intentional," Adrian Kellgren said. "The important factor of any new product releases, we're not doing an AR-15, we're not doing a 1911 that's been seen, everything we do is brand-new, and we know based off experiences that a product when release usually has about a 10 year arc of popularity from peak popularity to where it tapers off. So we wanted to set something up here in Wyoming that has longevity."
At the heart of the PR57, as well as many of KelTec's designs, is affordability. Ultimately, the design is intended to be as easily and quickly manufactured as possible to keep the cost of entry down
"We're always going through and pushing the boundaries on how we can keep it as tight as possible to make sure that anybody that wants to exercise those Second Amendment rights has the ability to do it," said Parker Rosenberger, KelTec's director of business development.
To that end, the KelTec PR57 was designed to be as simple as possible not only to manufacture but also to use. It is one of the few handguns in modern times to be built without a detachable box magazine. It is also chambered in the 5.7x28 mm FN cartridge, which is still uncommon within the defensive world, but when these two aspects are combined, it allows for the PR57 to have a higher initial capacity than many similarly sized handguns currently available.
"One of the most interesting features that I think a lot of people are gonna notice that there is no detachable magazine on this particular pistol. And the intention of that was to make the thing extremely simple to operate," Adrian Kellgren said. "So we designed a product that doesn't have a detachable magazine. It's added complexity. Generally, it's not used. It kind of looks a little bit into the same theory of a revolver. You have the shots you have on there, and then if you're still in a gunfight, you are probably in the wrong place. So with this platform, you have 21 potential opportunities to get out of the situation."
To watch complete segments of past episodes of American Rifleman TV, go to americanrifleman.org/videos/artv. For all-new episodes of ARTV, tune in Wednesday nights to Outdoor Channel 8:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. EST.
