Spend enough time around gun counters or internet forums and you’ll eventually hear someone grumble about “video game guns.” Usually it’s from shooters who grew up watching westerns, war movies, or cop shows instead. The reality is every generation has had something that sparked its interest in firearms. For some it was John Wayne, Dirty Harry, or The A-Team. For today’s younger shooters, it might just as easily be Halo, Call of Duty, or any number of other video games.
That’s hardly a bad thing. If a fictional firearm gets someone interested in learning to shoot safely and spending time at the range, that’s a win in my book. We saw the same appeal with Manticore Arms’ Ripley Rail, which let Aliens fans build their own M41A inspired rifle. FarrowTech takes a similar approach, but at a fraction of the cost.
Their FT-M conversion kit transforms KelTec’s P17 into something that most gamers will recognize as the M6 Magnum from the Halo universe. It’s not an exact replica, and it isn’t meant to be. But it does capture the overall look and feel while remaining an affordable, practical upgrade to KelTec’s inexpensive .22 LR pistol.
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The result is a rimfire that’s as much about smiles as it is tiny groups. FarrowTech isn’t trying to turn the P17 into a defensive handgun or a competition pistol. The FT-M is simply a fun range toy that turns an already inexpensive plinker into something that Halo fans and sci-fi nerds will appreciate.
FarrowTech FT-M Kit
The FarrowTech FT-M kit is a set of 3D printed parts designed specifically for the KelTec P17. They attach to the pistol without permanently modifying it and give it the futuristic profile that Halo fans will recognize immediately.
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The kit is printed from durable polymer and comes with the necessary mounting hardware for installation. It consisted of a barrel shroud with full grip length handguard, and a pair of slide covers, one with fixed sights and one optics ready. The optics ready one is cut for RMR footprint sights.
Because the chassis is simply an accessory, all of the P17’s original features remain unchanged. The pistol still offers its 16 round magazine capacity, threaded barrel for suppressor use, and exceptionally light weight. The FT-M simply wraps those features in a package that’s considerably more interesting to look at.
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Installation of the FarrowTech FT-M kit on the KelTec P17 is about as simple as it gets. FarrowTech has an excellent step-by-step video on its website, and the entire process only takes a few minutes. Better yet, everything needed for the installation is included with the kit.
Start by removing the factory front sight, rear sight block, and the lower front screw at the base of the grip frame. With those out of the way, slide the barrel shroud and handguard assembly onto the P17’s Picatinny accessory rail. Secure it using the supplied screw through the bottom of the grip, then tighten the set screw located underneath the rail.
Next, replace the factory magazine baseplates with the FT-M versions included in the kit. Standard KelTec P17 magazines will still work with the chassis installed, but the FarrowTech baseplates give the pistol a much more finished appe arance. They also provide a little extra surface area to grab if you ever need to pull a stubborn magazine free.
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The final step is choosing between the fixed sight cover or the optics mount cover. Place your choice over the exposed slide and secure it using the two factory screws removed from the original rear sight block.
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If you’re using the optics version, mount your red dot and you’re done. The whole process only takes a few minutes and nothing you do permanently alters the P17. If you get tired of playing Spartan, you can swap everything back to factory configuration just as easily.
For my build, I spent time running the FT-M with both slide cover options. I started out with the optics mount and added a Swampfox Kingslayer with a green circle dot reticle. It looked right at home on the FT-M and definitely added to the Halo vibe. I also screwed my Bowers Bitty suppressor on for some of my range time. A suppressor on a space gun just seemed like the right thing to do.
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Later I swapped over to the fixed sight cover to see how it changed the overall look and handling. While I liked both configurations, the optics version was my favorite. It just seemed to complete the package.
Other than the FarrowTech kit, my P17 remained largely stock. The only other modification was a left-side extended safety that I designed and 3D printed myself. It’s a simple upgrade that makes the safety easier for me to manipulate, but otherwise the pistol is exactly what came out of the KelTec box.
No, I didn’t actually engage any Covenant troops with my FT-M Magnum. I did, however, spend plenty of time ringing steel and blasting plastic jugs around the range.
The FarrowTech kit completely transforms the look of the KelTec P17, but it doesn’t change the way the pistol operates. All of the controls remain accessible, and the gun functions just as it does in factory trim. I did appreciate the left side extended safety I had 3D printed, but that’s an upgrade I preferred on the stock pistol as well. I started my testing with the optics cover installed and a Swampfox Kingslayer green circle-dot mounted on top.
Function was generally good, but I found my P17 preferred higher velocity ammunition when both the optic and my Bowers Bitty suppressor were installed. The extra weight on the slide simply needed a little more energy to cycle reliably. In fairness, I experienced the same thing when running an optic on KelTec’s factory slide cover, so it wasn’t something introduced by the FarrowTech kit
Since I knew the pistol would run reliably with the right ammunition, I decided to swap over to the fixed sight cover and see how it compared. Without the added weight of the optic, the P17 happily digested just about everything I fed it. It especially seemed to like some ancient Remington Thunderbolt ammunition that I’ve had sitting on the shelf for years.
The molded sights are fairly chunky, being integrated into the barrel shroud and slide cover, but they’re perfectly usable for what this pistol is intended to do. I had no trouble knocking one liter bottles around the backstop at 25 yards. They’re probably not the sights I’d choose for shooting tiny groups off a bench, but that’s not really the point of the FT-M kit.
The Halo inspired chassis isn’t designed to turn the P17 into a target pistol. It’s designed to make an already inexpensive and enjoyable .22 LR even more fun to shoot. On that score, it succeeds. It was a hit with my buddies on the range and when I shared pics of it. It’s an attention getter and that’s a lot of the point.
FarrowTech took a dive into pop culture with the FT-M kit, and I think they nailed it. It doesn’t make the P17 shoot better, and it certainly doesn’t make it more tactical. It just turns an already fun and inexpensive .22 into a pretty convincing Halo-inspired range toy.
And really, that’s enough. Not everything we bolt onto a gun needs to have some serious purpose behind it. Sometimes you just want to scratch that nerd itch and build something because you think it’s cool. The FT-M lets you do that without spending a ton of money or permanently modifying your P17.
The price is a big part of the appeal too. The KelTec P17 is already an inexpensive pistol, often selling for well under $250. The FT-M lists for $105 and is currently marked down to $95. If you already own a P17, that’s not a lot of money to completely change the look of your pistol. Even if you buy a P17 specifically for the project, you can put together your own Halo Magnum for under $350. That’s less than plenty of .22 pistols on the market, and none of them are going to look quite like this one.
If you grew up playing Halo, or still play it for that matter, the FT-M is an easy way to scratch that nerd itch at the range. FarrowTech seems to understand that not every firearm accessory needs to be serious or even particularly practical. Sometimes “because we can and it’s fun” is all the reason you need.
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