The CSA45 uses a proprietary drop-free steel magazine, surprisingly lightweight, holding 25 rounds in a double-stack, single feed configuration. Unlike most such magazines, it is easy to load. The tapered top makes it easy to insert into the mag well. The bolt stays back on the last shot. The magazine weighs 0.4 pounds, compared to the 3/4-pound weight of the dimensionally similar M3 Grease Gun mag.

Three screws holding the gas system in are visible.

The muzzle comes threaded for accessories, such as sound suppressors. The enclosed receiver back, along with gas piston operation eliminates any blowback in suppressed use. While the gas system permits a lightweight bolt carrier, the overall weight of the carbine is 6.7 pounds with an empty magazine, about the same as that of the old Olympic Arms blowback 45ACP AR15. The difference is the much milder recoil impulse and the full-length free-float KeyMod rail on the CSA45. The carbine has excellent balance and shoots as well off hand as off a bench. Competitive shooter Amiee Williams, a fierce but diminutive woman, found it very quick and handy for ringing steel plates at speed. A lighter braced pistol and an SBR variant with 10-inch barrel are also available.

Takedown is similar to that of an AR15, with two captive pins holding the upper and the lower together. Once the lower is separated from the upper, the charging handle comes out to the side, and the bolt and carrier group slide out of the back of the upper. The gas system is retained with three 9/64-inch hex head screws; backing them out allows the entire piston and spring assembly to slide out of front along with the forend. The bolt and the gas piston may be further disassembled for detailed cleaning.

Although the instruction manual recommends sticking to brass-cased ammunition, the CSA45 ran well with steel-cased Tula ball. While the 230-grain 45ACP cartridge gains only slightly from the 16-inch barrel, lighter loads pick up 30-40% extra muzzle energy. A 185-grain +P load exceeds 1,400 feet per second from the 16-inch barrel, in contrast to 1,200 feet per second from an M1911, while standard pressure 185-grain loads go from 1,000 feet per second to 1,200 feet per second, respectively. Between the low recoil and flatter trajectory, this carbine is much easier to keep on distant targets than a pistol. While both pre-production and early production samples shot 10MOA with all loads, the practical accuracy is out of proportion to the theoretical limitations. Wide shot dispersion seems to be the bane of gas-operated 45ACP carbines, with the direct impingement BAZ45 yielding 12MOA at best. Charley Groves, the president of Flint River Armory, says that current production carbines shoot 3-4MOA. Several other shooters reported “golfball 25-shot groups at 25 yards.” Unlike BAZ45, CSA45 isn’t picky about ammunition and can be tuned to work with the weakest puff loads or the stoutest +P rounds. Left in default configuration, it already runs everything I’ve been able to find.

Only one of the two push pins is on the lower.

Felt recoil depends on the buttstock placement. For reasons that FRA hasn’t explained, the stock is open in the area over the tube. Placing the solid portion of the stock over the shoulder results in a gentle push not much greater than from a .22 rifle. Shifting the stock lower, with its top edge even with the top of the shoulder, puts the ridged hollow part against the shoulder and hurts considerably with every shot. The problem is simple to remedy with a slip-on rubber recoil pad, but none of the commercial pads I had on hand were wide enough to fit over the buttstock. That ergonomic issue should be corrected. While something as simple as a glued-on mousepad could remedy it, I’d like to see a factory solution. The rest of the carbine is nicely chamfered, with no sharp or abrasive spots. Unlike on an AR15, the bolt hold-open latch cannot be used to drop the bolt; pulling on and releasing the bolt handle accomplishes that.

My pre-production sample is owned by the FRA president and has shot very reliably despite the many thousands of rounds put through it in demonstrations and testing. I’ve had no parts breakage and very few malfunctions. Early feedback from high volume users indicates that the ejector design is not durable. FRA came up with a definitive fix for that, requiring trilling of the receiver to install the stronger ejector. All current production carbines already have that improved part installed from the start. A 9×19 Luger variant is expected in the near future, with 10mm and other calibers possible after that.

The CSA45 has several things going for it. Disassembly and maintenance are very simple, and the gun runs very cleanly. The carbine runs cool, allowing well over 100 consecutive shots before the forend warms up. Recoil is mild, and—once the buttstock is covered—feels that way. There’s nearly no muzzle rise on recoil, allowing rapid follow-up shots. Given the limited mechanical accuracy, it’s definitely best for ranges under 100 yards, but its fast handling makes it very formidable up close. Especially in the shorter rifle or braced pistol form, it has much to recommend it as a defensive weapon.

The piston key is integral to the carrier and very robust.

Partially hollow buttstock needs a cover for comfort.

Double-stack, single-feed magazine works with all bullet shapes.

This was the seventh biennial meeting of SITDEF in Lima, Peru. SITDEF has taken place every two years since the start of the show. The show has grown exponentially each time, and in 2015 there were approximately 40,000 visitors, mostly from South American countries, with official delegations from over 30 countries. In 2017 there were approximately 42,000 visitors, more than 429 national and international delegates, many representatives of armed forces in official attendance, with thousands more active-duty personnel as well. There were 156 exhibitors from 27 countries.

SADJ is a regular at this show. The Peruvian military groups have diverse needs from high mountain terrain to their long ocean coast—so the needs of the customers tend to draw a lot of interesting vendors and attendees.

Dave Selvaggio of DS Arms, the premier innovators on the FAL series of rifles, was showing us the DSA SPR in 7.62x51 when he realized SADJ wasn’t aware of his new line of Guncraft Beer. Dave’s pretty enthusiastic about FALs and beer, with his new offerings of 2nd Amendment Red IPA, M4 Amber Ale, Tactical Pale Ale and FAL Belgian Black Ale. See www.guncraftbeer.com. He was just as enthused about the SPR rifle—basically it was an upgrade of DS Arms’ SASS contender, including its new ambidextrous magazine release, Enhanced Trigger Guard, Prototype M-Lock Lightweight forend, the SPR Stock from SASS Trials, Short 10-round magazine, Atlas Bipod, all topped with a Leupold MK4 LRT 3.5-10 scope. The FAL rifle is very popular in South American military forces, and DS Arms is always popular at these shows. www.dsarms.com

One of DS Arms’ most popular rifles is the 7.62x51mm SA58. Shown here in left and right side views, with 13-inch barrel in a 1:10-inch twist, right hand eject, enhanced (enlarged) trigger guard and the new ambidextrous magazine release—AK-style flapper and the FAL style on the right. Other features include M-lock handguard, DSA Evolution stock, ergonomic, larger charging handle, Magpul hand stop, DSA Trident series flash suppressor, a 20- or 30-round box mag, and the SA58 is also offered in select fire mode. The stock is special—this is the new DSA “Evolution” patent pending side folding stock. It has 6-position length of pull, 4-position height, with the ability to have a canted position, and is designed to be non-snag for bearded users (more important than one might think). It has a bottom position release button. There are steel track and steel inserts throughout, making for a truly robust platform.

Matt Anderson, owner of Fierro International, made his first visit to SITDEF in 2015. He did this the right way—came and explored what was needed and over the next two years developed product lines and connections so that in 2017, his booth had very, very popular items. He had some military items, but SITDEF does bring in the civilian population and his KelTech displays opened doors with Peruvian distributors. All in all, a trade show success story. www.fierrointernational.com

The Battle of Zarumilla, July 23-31, 1941, between Peru and Ecuador, along the Zarumilla River in numerous areas. The Peruvian Army had 12 tanks in the conflict of the Czechoslovakian (LTL) LPT1 variety Medium Tank. In 1935, the Army of Peru purchased 24 of these armed with 8mm ZB-37 machine guns and a Skoda A7 37mm tank gun. Capt. Castillo of the Ejercito del Peru (Peruvian Army) helps this young future “Staff Sergeant” tanker take up the catbird’s seat above the main gun. SITDEF is a very family friendly show on “Family Days,” and the soldiers appear to have fun helping the youngsters onto the tanks and vehicles. Exhibitors be advised to expect lots of families on the weekend and have fun with the next generation.

The J-9 Sniper Rifle is from Jordan’s Jadara Equipment & Defence Systems in Amman. The rifle is offered in .308 Win (7.62x51mm) and .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6x70mm). This author has had some experience with the rifle during the KASOTC/SOFEX events, and the .338 LM version is quite impressive. Weighing in at 6.2kg and 1,297mm long (51.06 inches) with a 700mm (27.56-inch) barrel, the .338 round is pushing 1,000 m/s (3,280 FPS) and truly has a range exceeding 1,500 meters (1,640 yards). www.jadara.jo

Condor had a very popular display. This Modular Chest Set is lightweight and has add-on capabilities that drew a lot of interest from the Peruvian military—plate carriers, magazine pouches, just about anything needed can be added, but the end user is starting with a well-designed, comfortable system. www.condoroutdoor.com

FN Herstal is offering a very reasonably priced lightweight 7.62x51mm belt-fed machine gun—the 7.62 Minimi MK3 Tactical. This reliable upgrade from the 5.56mm Minimi is made possible by the fact that the original Minimi prototypes were 7.62x51mm, and the receiver for the 5.56mm was left the same size, allowing for enough length to go back to 7.62x51mm. The light bipod is strong enough for real use, and the tactical buttstock is an excellent addition to FN Herstal’s offerings. www.fnherstal.com

FN Herstal’s FN FCU MK3 is a Fire Control Unit for 40mm grenade launching. It ranges out to 1,500 meters accurately, accounting for spin and drift. It can be used on 40x46mm shoulder-fired launchers and 40x53mm grenade machine guns like the MK19 Mod 3.

For many in the industry, the SHOT Show in Las Vegas may be the firearms trade show they attend. For others, SHOT Show may be just the beginning of the trade show circuit, with plans to attend and exhibit at the NRA Show, Small Arms Review Show or other trade shows around the U.S. While many in the firearms industry tend to focus on the domestic U.S. market, there are dozens of small arms trade shows around the world. For an exhibitor, how does one get product out of the U.S. and back, with a minimum of regulatory and law enforcement hassle?

To start, the U.S. State Department regulates export of most firearms and accessories. A good start to the temporary export process is the DSP-71, Application for a Temporary Export License. The DSP-71 will ask “the 5 w’s”–Who, what, when, where, why and how. Who is hosting the trade show? Where is the trade show to be held? When is the trade show scheduled? Why is the trade show being hosted? Is the trade show focused on the civilian firearms market or the military end user? Finally, how does the exhibitor plan on shipping the firearms to the foreign trade show venue? Being able to answer these questions and having a good grasp on the export process will ease the export application process.

What is going to be exported? Currently, the U.S. State Department will not allow the temporary export of a sound suppressor (or silencer) for exhibition at a trade show. Several licensing officers within the State Department still take a dim view to suppressors, holding the belief that a suppressor is “only good for assassinations.” Although most in the industry will dispute that belief, the State Department is the gate-keeper, and one must follow their policies in order to get an approved export license. Along the same lines, the export of live machine guns can be problematic.
From a policy standpoint, the loss of a suppressor or machine gun overseas could be problematic to U.S. foreign relations and the exhibitor. One may want to consider the temporary export of a dummy suppressor or non-functional dummy machine gun for exhibition at a foreign trade show. The U.S. State Department will allow the temporary export of dummy suppressors and non-functioning machine guns for exhibition abroad.

As part of the DSP-71 process, an import permit should be secured. It is possible to apply for the DSP-71 without an import permit from the destination country, but one should ensure that an import permit is in hand and secured prior to shipping. As one might expect, rules, regulations and laws vary from country to country. What is allowed in the U.S. may not be allowed within a foreign country. Case in point: China takes a dim view of pocket knives that may be opened with one hand–think Spyderco or a similar-style knife. Germany has strict rules about what determines a rifle to be “semi-automatic” and can impose strict fines on the spot if a violating firearm is found within the trade show. Arriving at a foreign trade show often involves a long flight and many sleepless hours. Arriving at the trade show floor to find foreign law enforcement within your booth is not comforting and may be made worse by a lack of sleep and loss of mental acuity. Knowing in advance of what is allowed will prevent headaches and trouble once you’re on-site.

As one might expect, the DSP-71 export license process is only the first step in the process. At this point, working with the show promoter or the freight forwarder designated by the show promoter may be helpful. Is an import permit required? What about a carnet? As discussed within this column in the past, a “carnet” is sometimes described as a “passport for goods.” In simple terms, a carnet works as a bond against import duties and taxes.

When the goods are temporarily imported into the foreign country, the carnet will put any import duties and taxes on hold, pending re-export. If the goods are not re-exported within a timely manner, duties and taxes will be imposed. Thankfully, a carnet is usually good for the length of the trade show and may be renewed–thereby extending the duty-free period. The trade show designated freight forwarder should be able to assist in securing the required paperwork needed for entry into the foreign country.

You’ve secured your temporary export license, shipped the goods via the show recommended freight forwarder, completed the flight to the foreign destination and arrive on-site to find that the firearms have not arrived. Murphy strikes again! In this case, you should have a phone number to contact the freight forwarder’s local agent. In some cases, it may be a U.S.-based employee for the freight forwarder who is on-site. In other cases, it may be an individual based out of the local office. In either event, the freight forwarder’s agent on the ground can assist. In some cases, the cargo may have been held up by foreign customs. In other cases, the cargo may be delayed and is still en route. The cargo may be misplaced within the freight forwarder’s warehouse. In most cases, the cargo will arrive in time for the exhibition. Occasionally, it doesn’t. Continue to work with the freight forwarder until all possible avenues of resolution are exhausted. Foreign customs officers may reject the shipment. In one case, copies of SADJ destined for a foreign trade show were delayed from entry into the country by foreign customs because the magazine depicted firearms; it took a day or two to get the magazines released and to the show floor. It turned out this foreign customs officer had seized every magazine and brochure coming into the show as “Possibly being seditious.” That country’s Minister of Defence found out and sent the local army to retrieve all of the magazines and catalogs, it was a state sponsored show and this was quite embarrassing. In nearly all cases, finding the firearms and retrieving them in person will not be allowed and is not advised.

Occasionally, a foreign end user may seek a demonstration before, during or after the trade show. While this may seem to be a non-issue, be advised that the U.S. State Department will only grant a license for the stated purpose within the export license application. If the export license is granted for exhibition at a trade show, performing an overseas demonstration will not be one of the allowed activities covered by the export license. Often, the U.S. State Department will require a separate export license for a planned foreign demonstration. As one may guess, the applicant will need to disclose who is attending the demonstration, the purpose of the demonstration and why the demonstration is being performed. Speaking to potential end users and buyers early in the export process can save valuable time and avoid trouble later. Worst case, a second trip may be required to perform the demonstration to a qualified buyer.

Finally, although not specific to the temporary export process, one topic bears mentioning. When attending a foreign trade show, use your own badge or credentials. Ensure that your show credentials match your identification. Do not lose your show credentials, do not lend them to colleagues and do not use a colleague’s credentials. During a recent trade show in the Middle East, a small number of individuals were arrested and jailed for using show credentials that did not match their identification. Reportedly, a $5,000 USD fine per person was required to secure release. The U.S. Constitution and many rights that we enjoy within the United States do not apply overseas. Do not risk it. Use only your own show credentials.

Attending a foreign trade show can be rewarding and exciting. Often, exhibiting at a foreign trade show can lead to increased international sales opportunities. Nevertheless, one who is not familiar or experienced with the process (or the venue) may want to consider attending and walking the trade show prior to signing up as an exhibitor. There are pitfalls and hazards to avoid in international transactions. With a little experience and the right team of freight forwarders, foreign agents and/or export consultants can go a long way. Good luck and safe travels.

Mr. Wong is a Washington-licensed attorney. He regularly provides legal counsel to the firearm and defense industry via his law firm, The Firearms Law Group. Mr. Wong also manages Hurricane Butterfly, an import/export company that assists firearm manufacturers, resellers and collectors from around the world to wade through the regulatory quagmire of U.S. import/export regulations. He may be found online at FirearmsLawGroup.com.

The preceding article is not intended as legal advice and should not be taken as legal advice. If the reader has specific legal questions, seek competent legal counsel.

Part 1: Weapons Training and Innovation

“The Asymmetric Warfare Group (AWG), headquartered at Fort Meade, Maryland, is an Army unit of highly skilled warriors who provide observation, analysis, enhanced training and advisory support to Army and Joint Force Units in order to enhance their capabilities to predict, mitigate, counter and defeat asymmetric threats and methods. The AWG is the only unit in the Army that actively seeks new enemy Tactics, Techniques and Procedures and looks to develop solutions. The Group maintains a global presence and focuses on identifying and overcoming emerging asymmetric threats.” AWG Statement

The United States Army’s “Big Green Machine” is well known for its ability to bring down a world of hurt on adversaries with overwhelming force and massive firepower, followed by taking and holding large areas of terrain. While essential in conventional warfare, this fearsome capability is not ideally suited to “asymmetric warfare”—non-traditional methods developed and used by enemy forces.

One prominent example is the employment of various types of Improvised Explosive Devices. Cheap, easy to make and hide, and demonically effective against vehicles and patrolling troops, comprehensive efforts at countering IEDs quickly became a high priority, eventually leading to the creation of AWG, the Asymmetric Warfare Group, in 2006. While this unique organization’s headquarters, concepts and operational elements are based at Fort Meade, Maryland, its Easy Squadron has the Asymmetric Warfare Training Center, occupying a 300-acre, razor wire ringed complex on Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. AWTC provides a venue to “refine training concepts and assess potential solutions in a realistic environment while serving as a laboratory for innovation.”

In addition to several specialized live fire ranges including a 14-lane indoor range that accommodates small arms up to 7.62mm, AWTC’s most notable feature is the $96 million Urban Complex, completed in 2014. It’s a highly realistic, modern cityscape, suitable for many types of training as well as the development of innovative tactical concepts. It boasts various buildings realistically representing a bank, hotel, police and fire station, and a five-story combination “embassy” with storefronts. There is an extensive system of tunnels underneath, plus a subway platform complete with retired DC Metro cars, an Amtrak station, a soccer field, a church and a mosque.

Unsurprisingly, AWTC’s Urban Complex has been luridly portrayed by some hyperventilating conspiracy mongers as—among other bizarre imaginings—a rehearsal facility for illegal military operations against American citizens. Naturally skeptical of the wild rumors, but determined to investigate and present the facts, we received permission to venture inside the wire for an in-depth look at what really goes on at AWTC.

What follows here is based on several fact-finding visits, extensive interviews with key personnel and input from AWG headquarters.

A Candid Conversation with AWTC’s Leadership

(Condensed from SADJ‘s two-hour interview with Lieutenant Colonel Tommy Broome, AWG’s Easy Squadron Commander and Mr. William “Bill” Mizell, Deputy Commander, at AWTC, Fort A.P. Hill, VA, February 21, 2017. The full interview is available online at https://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=3923, the full range of pictures can be found in the SAR Online Archive: https://www.smallarmsreview.com/archive/reference.06-2017.cfm#06202017)

SADJ: First off, the letter “E” in the U.S. Army’s current phonetic alphabet is “Echo.” What’s this thing with “Easy” Squadron?

Broome: When we stood up the org in March of 2006, it was a nod to the old phonetic alphabet of WWII: Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog and Easy Squadrons.

Urban Complex

SADJ: AWTC’s Urban Complex, run by Easy Squadron, is particularly impressive. What was the reasoning behind its design?

Mizell: We thought at the time—almost 10 years ago—it was a little bit different, cutting edge, not your average training area. We like to think we were sort of ahead of the times and saw the writing on the wall.

Broome: The intent of this urban complex training facility is to replicate the environments that our soldiers are now operating in. All you need to do is look at the news—certainly from Fallujah and watching it unfold now in Mosul. What does operating in these big cities require? Now the enemy is using all the domains: cyber capabilities, using UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) to direct movements, and defense belts using IEDs.

SADJ: What entities outside AWG utilize the complex?

Broome: AWG advises Army and Joint Forces, USSOCOM, other DoD branches, as well as interagency folks. (Requests are made through) RFMSS (Range Facility Management Support System).

Fort A. P. Hill, VA, 2017. Seen from the back, “smart” targets positioned in wooden building mockups in AWTC’s Range 43’s Urban Cluster can be independently presented or hidden under direct wireless control of an operator accompanying the maneuver element. The range also offers three sets of instrumented, variable-speed moving targets that simulate individual combatants or vehicles. Photo courtesy of Robert Bruce

Range 43

SADJ: Weaponry, of course, is our focus. We first learned about the development of AWTC’s Range 43 from Mr. Mizell and CPT Joseph Fyfe way back in May 2016 at the range day on A.P. Hill for NDIA’s Armaments Forum. We very much need to get some info and photos of at least a test run-through. Is this a sore subject?

Mizell: Not at all. It’s a long, drawn-out process. It’s online, but right now we’ve got logging going on clearing some more lanes … We designed the range to be multipurpose; that outdoor area where we could do kinetic solutions development and also tactics, techniques and procedures. So, we have a dedicated, twelve-and-a-half-mile mobility course. A series of networked roadways complete with targetry on the facility, about 200 separate digital targets.

Range 42

SADJ: With its stated 1100-meter limit and a six-story tower, comment on the versatility of AWTC’s Range 42 for different weapons training, like the Marine Corps’ Joint Sniper Improvement and the Army’s BOSS automated sniper sight.

Mizell: From the firing berm, it’s 800 meters. Back up 300 meters and there’s a six-story tower. You can get 1100 meters.

Broome: AWG works with the Army and joint forces as well as interagencies, so we have through years of partnership reached out to organizations like CTTSO (Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office) and others.

SADJ: AWTC has access to all the many ranges at A.P. Hill, but briefly describe other ranges “owned” by AWTC.

Mizell: A light demo range and the (50-meter) indoor range is up to 7.62mm. Built for solutions development … We can use optics in there, night vision, pull a vehicle in there if needed. … we maintain it, we keep it clean, we can shoot the length of it—not just stuck on the firing line.

Broome: A lot of the pistol work that OATC does is for concealed carry. Almost all of that’s done on the indoor ranges. We have M9s, Glocks and M11s too.

SADJ: Are your ranges available to entities other than AWG? How do Army and other appropriate entities request use?

Mizell: Yes, by request to A.P. Hill Range Control through RFMSS (Range Facility Management Support System).

Winner of the daytime “Siege Drill” exercise is Sergeant Major James Spencer from the elite 75th Ranger Regiment. Elapsed time and hit point notations on his well-ventilated silhouette target testify to a superior ability to put 5.56mm and 9mm projectiles in lethal zones despite binding sweat, heaving lungs, wobbly hands and beat-the-clock stress. Photo courtesy of Robert Bruce

Siege Drills for OATC 23

AWG Fact Sheet: Once an OA is selected, he or she will attend a six-month training course known as Operational Advisor Training Course (OATC) focused on enhancing the competencies we view as essential to be a successful OA executing the AWG mission as well as continue to assess the knowledge and attributes that we feel are most important. Training takes place all over the U.S. but is mostly centered at A.P. Hill and Meade.

SADJ: Shooting is obviously an element of OATC. Comment on the very difficult day and night “shoot and run” siege drills on Range 42 that we observed and photographed last October.

Master Sergeant Aaron Oliver, AWTC: The Siege Drill is designed to observe specific attributes and competencies of an individual in a physically tough and mentally demanding course of fire. Ability to manage time, problem solve, sound decision making, adaptability and motivation, along with accountability, technical competence and comprehensive fitness, just to name a few. At the end of this drill, individual skills are re-enforced and confidence built on not only the training received but also the individual soldiers’ ability to apply those skills.
SADJ: Other types of weapons training?

Broome: Without divulging too much … It’s a six-month training course designed to provide an OA the skill sets to embed at a tactical level, like a platoon in Afghanistan … In addition, to shoot, move, communicate and survive operating in a combat environment. All of our OATC shooting is taught in-house between Fort Meade and A.P. Hill.

SADJ: Noting the many challenges to OAs teaching rifle marksmanship in developing nations, do OATC students get training in this?

Broome: They get a block of small unit tactics. We’re assessing a much more senior population, guys much more experienced in that realm. The difference in shooting blocks of instruction and AWG’s adaptability aspects is how to train using different methodologies. Instead of lockstep processes that have been ingrained in so many of us, it’s looking at it a little bit differently to reach the same objective. We’ve identified the competencies we want our OAs to have in shooting. How we arrive at that is in the course. So we’ll set up different scenarios, much like the siege drill you saw. So the shooters, the Operational Advisors, are determining how they want to attack that problem set—certainly with support of the training cadre.

Scored by elapsed time and number of hits in lethal areas, the “Siege Drill” is intended to simulate shooting actions typical in an urban assault. After starting with five rounds from prone then running forward to shoot more from a kneeling position, this candidate in OATC Class 23 shows good crouching form with his M4A1 carbine. Continuing to run forward, he’ll quickly transition to his M9 pistol, firing two magazines into a silhouette target. Photo courtesy of Robert Bruce

Foreign Weapons and Ammunition

SADJ: Is hands-on/live fire training with selected foreign weapons—allied and threat—part of the OATC curriculum? Pre-deployment training for OA squadrons?

Broome: Yes. Here and at Meade. I wish we had more foreign ammo. That’s hard to get.

Major Tim Ballas, AWG: Foreign ammunition and foreign weapons are subject to various import and procurement laws and regulations when it comes to acquisition by the U.S. Military … Right now, only a couple of organizations in the Army have the ability to procure foreign weapons and ammo based on their mission and requirement to train and be proficient with these systems. Outside of that, conventional Army Forces have very limited access to live foreign weapons for training and practically no access to foreign ammunition to conduct live fire familiarization.

Mr. Joseph Vega, AWG: The first six years of AWG’s existence, all AWG members traveled to Blackheart International training center in West Virginia for Foreign Weapons training.

Combat Skills

SADJ: Comment on “OATC’s five-day Combat Skills Training Course (CSTC) at A.P. Hill that is focused on Shoot, Move, Communicate and Survive” to prepare OSS personnel to deploy worldwide.

Broome: We call it “survive.” That one’s a lot more cut and dried, it’s not ambiguous. It is the Group Commander’s tool to say “OSS individual X is certified ready to deploy in support of whomever,” whether they’re going down to Iraq to help run a support site or whatever. A baseline set of skills. They’re comfortable with their weapon, they can shoot.

They’re all the traditional support personnel, your S1 PAC S2 Intel, S3 Operational, S4 Supply, commo. Every OSS goes through it once a year. It’s actually a lot of fun and most people don’t mind.

Jim Schatz (left) with Lieutenant Colonel Tommy Broome. Photo courtesy TC Tommy Broome

Armory

SADJ: For the gun aspect of this feature, it would be good to know what you can tell us about what you’ve got in AWTC’s armory.
Broome: The armory here at AWTC is for our squadron. The rest of the squadrons’ and the group’s weapons are in the armory at Meade. Certainly, as guys come down they can park their stuff here.

Mizell: We do have a great deal of the crew-served weapons that we maintain here, because it’s generally where they’re going to be used. And a squadron-plus of weapons here.

Reply received by email from Major Charles Barrett, AWG Public Affairs: The decision was made to only (identify) weapons that are organic to AWG … The other weapons are here temporarily … it would be safe to say that we test other weapons on occasion and we work with foreign weapons from time to time.

MK48 Machine Guns

SADJ: LTC Broome, noting your numerous deployments, is there anything in particular that you’ve personally been involved with … that the larger Army says, “Wow, great idea!”

Broome: In 2008 I was involved in studies … on ways to lighten the soldiers’ load. … AWG knew about and had MK48 lightweight machine guns. The intent was not to replace the M240, but to give the commander another option to provide a base of firepower while allowing his soldiers to move more effectively … the starting point with the 173rd (Airborne Brigade) and went up through—CJTF 101 (Combined Joint Task Force 101st Airborne Division).

SADJ: If AWG wants to take a look at something—weapons, ammo, sighting systems, whatever—is it out of the ordinary to call up a manufacturer and ask to take a look?

Broome: The question I would ask is, “What is the end state?” I’d say we’d have no issues doing a loan, but Dog Squadron on themselves, we’re not going to get the Army to adopt it by ourselves. If the Army was looking at that, maybe. And we could do an evaluation. It’s just hard to get into that cycle, that pipeline, if you’re not in it from the beginning.

Kunar Province, Afghanistan, November 2010. Peering through the optic on his 7.62mm FN Mk48 Machine Gun, U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division Spc. Joshua D. Heinbuch (left) and Spc. James M. Piccolo secure the area after finding an improvised explosive device on a road in the Shalay Valley. AWG was instrumental in fielding the lighter-weight Mk48 for heavily burdened infantrymen operating in mountainous terrain. Photo courtesy of Staff Sergeant Mark Burrell, U.S. Army.

Dog Squadron

SADJ: Dog Squadron seems to have a big part in what goes on at AWTC.

Broome: Dog Squadron is concepts and integration … headquartered at Ft. Meade and they have a presence down here at AWTC. … we have through years of partnership reached out to organizations like CTTSO (Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office) and others. … CTTSO has been specifically looking at lightweight munitions. I would say from an AWG aspect on the development side our Dog Squadron ties in certainly to the Army’s Project Managers for scopes, weapons.

Mizell: We are interested in anything in the R&D world, anything academia wants to share with us, which is a great example of NDIA (National Defense Industrial Association) and CTTSO events here.

SADJ: What can you tell us about AWG and the HK416 controversy?

Broome: Some of the guys in AWG knew other orgs were looking at the HK416 for various reasons; certainly, the piston being the number one driving force, free-floating rails, things like that.

Follow-up response received from Mr. Jose Gordon, Senior Operational Advisor, Concept Troop, D Squadron, AWG: In 2006, AWG fielded the HK416 with the intent to evaluate the weapon’s operating system against the current fielded M16/M4. The unit conducted a limited user evaluation within the squadrons.

Gordon also provided SADJ with information on several other prominent weapons-related activities at D Squadron:

In partnership with the Rapid Equipping Force (REF), evaluated several weapons sighting systems including the Trijicon M150 RCO, Schmidt and Bender 1-4x, the One Shot and Tracking Point systems, and 15 different thermal sights.

Worked with the Combating Terrorism Technology Support Office Ammunition Initiative Meeting. In cooperation with the Rapid Equipping Force, the Army fielded 300 MK48’s to Units in RC East and North. Evaluation of suppressors in the Signature Reduction Program, assessment of shooting moving Robotic Human Type Targets both day and night.

SADJ: While sensitive to tipping off the bad guys, any general examples of “potential solutions” and challenge-driven “innovations”?

Broome: With non-state actors’ use of small Unmanned Aerial Systems—commercially bought (drones), common off-the-shelf types that the bad guys can get their hands on— this facility was able, in a very quick turn, to be able to get procedures in place to allow us to assess methods to counter this.

Work with DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) on a Computational Weapon Optic … a device that does the rapid zero and makes the changes for you.

SADJ: Much has been made of the U.S. M4, M16 and M249 being outranged and underpowered vs. adversaries’ weapons firing 7.62x54R and similar higher-powered rounds … Any AWG review/evaluation of Jim Schatz’s Lightweight Intermediate Caliber Cartridge Individual Weapon?

Broome: Not just Jim, but the community at large has been looking at the overmatch and what is the next evolution. We are involved through organizations like CTTSO in the LICC, the (General Dynamics) Lightweight Medium Machine Gun in .338 Norma.

Jim Schatz and HK

SADJ: Care to comment on your professional relationship with the late, great Jim Schatz?

Broome: I have a penchant for HK products, I read the HK Pro Forums, on my own accord have taken some of the HK armorer courses. I’ve run into Jim in that capacity as a civilian. As a hobbyist first. Small world, when he was still at HK two of our individuals here now (Chris Erich and Joe Klepacz) were both armorers at HK.

I’ve gotten a chance personally to work with him on some of the HK stuff, armorer’s course. On the professional side with CTTSO and some of their efforts. Jim’s reached out to us, he understood what this complex could bring to the industry and some of the organizations like that, so he asked us to host the CTTSO live fire portion and NDIA’s Armaments Forum. We’ll be doing both of those again. Jim will be missed.

U.S. Army Asymmetric Warfare Group

Asymmetric Warfare: The application of dissimilar strategies, tactics, capabilities and approaches used to circumvent or negate an opponent’s strengths while exploiting his weaknesses.

Mission: The AWG provides operational advisory support globally and rapid solution development to the Army and Joint Force commanders to enhance soldier survivability and combat effectiveness and enable the defeat of current and emerging threats in support of Unified Land Operations.

Core Functions: Operational Advising, Identify Capability Gaps, Solution Development, Assist Doctrine, Organization, Training, Materiel, Organization, Leadership and Education, Personnel, Facilities and Policy Integration.

Website: www.awg.army.mil and Facebook, YouTube, Twitter

Asymmetric Warriors Wanted

www.awg.army.mil

www.army.awg.recruiting@mail.mil Phone: (301) 833-5366 (Maryland)

Operational Advisor (ASI U9): Operate in an unconstrained and undefined environment where there are no scripts, and where the enemy does not follow a playbook. Applicants must be active duty SFC-SGM, senior CPT-LTC and meet a list of specific requirements.

Operational Support & Staff (ASI U8): Hand-picked experts whose missions vary based on MOS and experience. Applicants must be active duty SGT-SGM, CPT-LTC and meet a list of specific requirements.

Civilian Contractors: Meeting requirements specified by approved companies.

Boko Haram with UAG-40 Automatic Grenade Launcher in Nigeria

By the ARES Team

In April 2016, Boko Haram (the Nigerian affiliate of the Islamic State) released information and images relating to an ambush against a component from the Nigerian Army’s 155 Task Force. Among the captured weapons and equipment was a UAG-40 automatic grenade launcher manufactured by Leninska Kuznya of Ukraine.

The UAG-40 is a blowback-operated automatic grenade launcher chambered for the 40 x 53SRmm cartridge. It is significantly lighter than many other automatic grenade launchers chambered for this cartridge, weighing less than 30 kg complete with tripod. The model seen in Nigeria seems to be the more recent iteration of this weapon, which was presented to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in January 2015. This version includes a MIL-STD-1913 (“Picatinny”) rail for mounting optics, modified ammunition feed device and a footrest incorporated into the tripod of the weapon. The UAG-40 captured by the Nigerian affiliate of the Islamic State seems to be mounted in an elevated tripod connected to the bed of a pickup truck.

In recent years, Ukraine has made a number of substantial arms deals with Nigeria, including the sale of BTR-4 infantry fighting vehicles and T-72AV main battle tanks. Another UAG-40 was documented in March 2016 in service with Nigerian forces during the offensive against Boko Haram in Maiduguri and Yola (see image).

The UAG-40, chambered for 40 x 53SRmm caliber common among Western military forces, represents a way for Nigerian forces to standardize with Western calibers while acquiring weapon systems faster than is often possible from Western manufacturers due to licensing and export restrictions.

UAG-40 Automatic Grenade Launcher Technical Specs

Special thanks to ARES Researcher Yuri Lyamin and @AbraxasSpa. This article is courtesy of Armament Research Services (ARES). See www.armamentresearch.com for further original content.

Imam Ali Brigade members with a North Korean Type 73 GPMG.

North Korean Type 73 GPMGs in Iraq, Syria and Yemen
By Ali Richter | ARES

The North Korean Type 73 GPMG has been previously documented in Iraq and Syria and observed in Yemen. Images from Iraq show the Type 73 primarily in the hands of Iraqi Shi’a militias, particularly Badr Brigade forces, which have operated under direction from, and with substantial military support from, Iran. Other groups have also acquired limited examples of the Type 73, including the al-Imam Ali Brigade and the Christian Babylon Brigades.
The Type 73 has also been documented in the hands of the Syrian Arab Army operating near Palmyra, Syria. A recent video from the Al-Masirah channel shows the Type 73 in the hands of a Houthi fighter in Taiz governorate.

Houthi fighter armed with a North Korean Type 73 GPMG in Taiz governorate, Yemen.

The Type 73 is a rotary-locked, gas-operated general purpose machine gun chambered for the 7.62 x 54Rmm cartridge. It weighs in at 10.6 kg and is 1,190mm in length. It is commonly fed from either non-disintegrating belts (typically 100 or 250 rounds, although troops in combat sometimes shorten these or use irregular lengths) or 30-round removable box magazines. The Type 73 is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a “light machine gun.”

The common denominator linking the presence of the relatively rare Type 73 GPMG in Iraq, Syria and Yemen is likely to be support from Iran. Iran received the Type 73 GPMG from North Korea, likely during the late 1970s to mid-1980s, and employed these weapons during the 1980-1988 Iran–Iraq War.
Iran has continued to employ the Type 73 GPMG in a reserve role in recent years, issued to the paramilitary Basij forces and observed during exercises in the past decade.

North Korean Type 73 GPMG Technical Specs

Special thanks to ARES Researcher Yuri Lyamin and Associate Researcher Galen Wright. Technical specifications from Maxim Popenker’s World Guns. This article is reproduced courtesy of Armament Research Services (ARES). See www.armamentresearch.com for further original content.

PHOTO COURTESY ARES

Craft-Produced Suppressed Weapons in Donbass
By ImproGuns

Images shared via social media purport to show new “silent weapons for Special Forces of the [Donetsk People’s] Republic.” Information accompanying the images claims the weapons are manufactured locally by DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic) separatist forces in Donbass. One of the weapons, dubbed “Deaf-mute Aunt Tanya from Donbas,” appears to be a modified Russian TT-33 type, self-loading pistol which has been converted to chamber the 9 x 18mm Makarov cartridge with the addition of a newly manufactured barrel. This barrel is threaded to accept a suppressor.

Also shown are two locally produced submachine guns, one of which was previously documented in an ARES Research Report No. 3, “Raising Red Flags.”
This particular weapon appears to be a derivative of a submachine gun produced in the early 1990s at the Zavod Arsenal plant in Kiev and is possibly a continuation of this production by separatist forces. The weapon can be seen fielded by a separatist fighter with the suppressor and wire stock removed. A smaller submachine gun, which is also shown, appears to incorporate an integrally suppressed barrel unit. Such a configuration reduces overall length while still incorporating a
suppressor of a useful and effective size.

This article is courtesy of Armament Research Services (ARES). See www.armamentresearch.com for further original content.

PHOTO COURTESY ARES

Hungarian Danuvia K1 for Sale in Libya
By Graeme Rice | ARES

ARES recently announced our ongoing data collection and analysis pertaining to the illicit sale of arms via social media and communications platforms in conflict and post-conflict zones.

A rare Hungarian Danuvia K1 (Kucher Model 1) submachine gun was offered for sale on a social media platform used to trade arms in Libya in February 2016. More properly the Kucher Könnyü Géppisztoly K1 Minta, the K1 is a simple blowback weapon which fires from the open-bolt position. It is chambered for the 7.62 x 25mm Tokarev cartridge, which has proven relatively rare in Libya. The weapon features an under-folding metal buttstock and feeds from a 35-round detachable box magazine.

The K1 is based on the prototype Géppisztoly 44.M, itself a simplified derivative of the Danuvia 43.M, designed by Pál Király of the Danuvia company. As such, it is sometimes referred to as the Király-Kucher K1. The 44.M prototype was refined and developed into the 53.M by József Kucher, formerly an assistant to Mr. Király.

One of these weapons was offered for sale at 600 Libyan Dinars (approximately $440 USD) while another post acted as a “wanted” advertisement seeking magazines for the weapon. These weapons are considered rare globally, and there is little information available regarding their international distribution. It is unclear how many of these weapons are in circulation within Libya, and they have only been documented twice during ARES’ analysis of the online illicit arms trade in the country.

The K1 was adopted in limited numbers by Hungarian law enforcement and border guard units in 1953; however, it was not selected for widespread use by the Armed Forces. In Hungarian service it is known as the Géppisztoly 53.M. It is not clear how the weapon arrived in Libya.

Hungarian Danuvia K1 Technical Specs

This article is courtesy of Armament Research Services (ARES). See www.armamentresearch.com for further original content.

The HK G3 is still soldiering on more than 50 years after its introduction. Cheap and reliable, the G3 is the western parallel to the AK47. However, its WWII heritage means its ergonomics sorely require updating. The length-of-pull is too long when employing body armor and the modern squared-on stance. The comb was set low for the iron sights, and one can only obtain a chin weld with optics. The two-position collapsible stock of the G3A4 shortened the rifle for transport, but it is uncomfortable to shoot for the author and still does not address the length-of-pull concerns. The Spuhr collapsible stock assembly addresses all these concerns and will equip the AK4B (locally produced G3) of the Swedish Armed Forces.
Installation

The Spuhr stock assembly is comprised of the buffer tube, stock and cheek riser. To install, one removes the metal back plate and buffer from the original stock. The buffer tube assembly is then secured to the back plate by the buffer and its countersunk screws. A long spacer (for a standard G3 buffer) or a washer-thin spacer (for a long pneumatic buffer found on HK21/23 and AK4B) is used along with a bolt to secure the buffer to the buffer tube assembly at the rear. The stock is then attached along with the check riser. The Spuhr product fit perfectly on the author’s PTR91 GIR, an American manufactured G3 “clone.”

Spuhr stock assembly and optical front rail. Optic is a Trijicon TA44 1.5x ACOG.

Adjustments

The six-position stock can be adjusted from 40cm to 32cm (trigger to buttpad) to suit various statures and shooting positions. For example, the 1.8m (5 ft 10 ¾ inches) tall author preferred the stock one detent from fully closed for use with body armor, but needed to extend two more detents for a sling-supported prone position. At the lower front of the stock, a spring-loaded lever is pulled down for adjusting length. While different than an AR15 stock, this can be adjusted with one hand after some practice.

The cheek riser is attached at the front via a screw, and the stock slides along a key on its underside. This keeps the cheek riser stationary and independent of stock position. It also helps reduce play between the stock and buffer tube. The author found the standard riser to work well with his Trijicon TA44 ACOG on a high mount. The resultant 50mm offset between optical center and cheek riser is similar to that of an AR-15. Risers in 8mm and 12mm are also available to accommodate large objective scopes and their taller mounts. Note that iron sights are not usable with the stock assembly due to height mismatch, but the improved check weld with optics is more than a fair tradeoff.

A G3 equipped with the R-401 G3 Optical Front Rail is shown next to an AR-15 for sizing reference.

Sling Attachment

The Spuhr product provides two HK hook attachment points on the castle nut endplate. This allows one to convert a two-point sling into a one-point by attaching both ends onto the endplate. This attachment location duplicates the Swedish Armed Forces-issued vapenfäste kolv strap system that wraps around the G3A3 stock just aft of the “hump.”

Shooting Impressions

The Spuhr stock assembly noticeably reduced felt recoil by improving fitment and by placing the stock in-line with the barrel. The adjustable length-of-pull better fit the rifle to users of all stature and allowed the squared-on stance. This imparted better recoil management and protection when using armor. The serrations in the buttplate prevented slippage even against a plate carrier or slick clothing. A rubber pad, to be released in the future, will undoubtedly further improve handling. In contrast with the concave buttpad of the G3A3 fixed stock, the Spuhr product allowed the user to place the rifle higher or lower on the shoulder according to shooting position and preferences. And unlike the convex buttpad of the G3A4 collapsible stock, the Spuhr product did not concentrate recoil into one point.

The original stock had the shoulder contact point below the recoil vector, and that height induced additional muzzle rise that hindered follow-up shots. The in-line positioning of the Spuhr product was well proven in designs like the FG-42 to mitigate such effects, and the result on the G3 was notable.

Note the pull down adjustment for length-of-pull, as well as the HK-style sling attachment eyelet on the castle nut endplate.

Conclusion

Spuhr collapsible stock assembly brought the G3 into the 21st Century with improved ergonomics and recoil management. The six-position adjustable stock improved fit for various statures and shooting positions. The cheek riser improved cheek weld with optics. Lastly, the in-line design of the stock assembly improved recoil management. This reduced both fatigue and time for follow-up shots. These improvements are well worth the consideration of any G3 user.

Recently we tested a newcomer to the AOW field–the Typhoon 12. Manufactured in China by Hurricane Butterfly Research, a Type 7 manufacturer located in Washington State, the Typhoon 12 is based on the Remington 870-type action. However, it is configured to take a five-round box magazine. Caliber is 12-gauge, and the plastic magazine is limited to 2-3/4-inch shells due to space limitations in the action. With one in the chamber, the Typhoon 12 has a total six-round capacity. There is no ammunition in the former ammo tube. This AOW is manufactured at the same company that builds the Harrington and Richardson Partner Protector 12-gauge pump shotgun.

This extremely poor testament to my photography shows the moment the fifth shot is fired into a single hole in the 3-yard target. This is with no sights whatsoever on the prototype Typhoon 12.

Overall length is 20.5 inches. It has a barrel length of 8.75 inches, not including the muzzle brake, and is configured similarly to a door breacher, which brings the total barrel length to 11.75 inches. Empty weight scales right at 5.8 pounds, and the plastic magazine adds two-tenths of a pound. Other barrels are available without the muzzle brake/door breacher.

The breaching barrel is purposely made to solve the need of law enforcement and military to take a door with speed and precision. The muzzle has large teeth to bite into the door and hold hard. Royal Arms International in Oxnard, CA, builds the breaching barrel. The barrel material is 4140 chromoly steel RC 48-52. The breaching section of the barrel is 1.225 inches in diameter. The rest of the barrel is .895 inch in diameter. The barrels can be built with either four, six or 12 teeth. They are heat treated and given a durable black nitride finish. The breaching barrels are direct drop-in replacements for the standard Typhoon 12 barrel; no machining or fitting required.

The mag has a plastic follower, steel floorplate and spring. When the last round is fired, the follower rises up into the action and holds the bolt open. The magazine release latch is between the rear of the magazine well and the front of the trigger guard. Full and empty magazines drop freely. A lip on the magazine stops it from seating too deeply. There are two holes in the side of the magazine, which allow a shell count.

During development, hundreds of rounds were cycled through the magazine with only one failure to fire. The chief engineer at the factory inspected the firearm and stated the problem was with the ammunition. A different batch was sourced, and no further problems were encountered. Some problems arose when steel shot was run through the Typhoon 12. Additional testing discovered that the wad/shot collar was causing some small malfunctions.

When the magazine is empty, the mag follower extends into the action. The bolt cannot be closed unless the magazine is removed. Any type of red dot, or optical sight, can be attached to the Picatinny rail on top of the receiver. The sling loop on the pistol grip will support any single point carrying sling similar to the Urban-Sentry.

The forearm doesn’t have a fixed grip. Instead there is a MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail fastened to the action bars which allows a number of grips to be used. The firearm tested has a Magpul Rail Vertical Grip (RVG) in place, but any foregrip configured for a rail can be easily interchanged.

The Typhoon 12 is imported unassembled, without a shoulder stock, so it qualifies as an AOW instead of an SBS, which requires a $200 tax stamp. It’s assembled with a synthetic pistol grip to follow BATFE requirements. There is an attachment point on the upper rear to take a single-point sling. A double-point sling can be attached by using the hole in the tube nut on the forward end of the tube barrel. If the potential buyer wanted an SBS, any butt stock for a Remington 870 would fit. It would have to be registered, and the $200 transfer tax stamp procured.

The Typhoon 12 should be available just about when you are reading this. There are 300 currently being shipped to the USA, and as this Small Arms Defense Journal issue goes to press (September/October), the distributors are cataloging them for sales. Hurricane Butterfly’s CEO told me that the price will be set in the $575–$600 range, but as this is being written, no final price has been determined. For comparison’s sake, the Serbu Super Shorty is priced at $1,050 with a Mossberg action, and an additional $175 if the Remington Breacher is selected. The Vanguard Sub Compact retails for $1,025. It’s built on a Remington 870 action with a 10-inch barrel, but without the door breacher. The Typhoon 12 looks to be a very good investment for buyers who want a 12-gauge pump AOW.

Range Testing

The Typhoon was shot at Green Valley Range in Henderson, NV. All testing was done at the 3-yard range. Federal 2-3/4-inch, 12-gauge OO buckshot with nine pellets at 1,325 feet per second filled the magazine. The first five rounds went into one large hole. The one shaky photograph caught the moment the fifth shot was fired. It’s admittedly a bad photo, but it does show the one jagged hole that 45 .33 caliber pellets will create out of a short barrel.

Your humble writer was a tad leery about touching off the Typhoon. 12-gauge pump firearms aren’t known for their gentle push of recoil. Add in a barrel less than a foot in length, and the results could be interesting.

In reality, it was fairly easy to shoot. Recoil was there, but no worse than an S&W 500 or a hot .44 Magnum. It was controllable, and three shots went into the same hole. A bit more practice would gain a lot more accuracy.

The door breacher is available with either four, six or eight teeth. The holes in the muzzle brake are canted slightly forward to direct gas at the door.

AOW Transfer Requirements

For the transfer of a National Firearms Act (NFA) weapon, such as the Typhoon 12, from a person, or entity entitled to transfer it (FFL Class III dealer) to yourself or a Gun Trust or LLC, a BATFE Form 5320-4 (Form 4) must be submitted to the ATF. An AOW weapon transfer requires a $5 tax stamp. Any violation of the NFA carries a heavy penalty. Fines can be as high as $250,000 and up to 10 years in prison. Also, any firearm involved is forfeited and destroyed. Other than the $5 transfer stamp, in lieu of the $200 stamp required with other Class III transfers, all NFA rules apply to an AOW. Law Enforcement and Military do not have to pay the transfer tax, Transfers are done on a Form 5 Tax Exempt form.

What it comes down to is this: For a potential buyer to purchase an AOW, the first step is to make sure the AOW is legal in the state of residence. Contact the local Chief Law Enforcement Officer (CLEO) and ask what the procedure for an AOW purchase is. Then, the buyer and the Class III dealer would have to fill out a Form 4, supply two sets of fingerprints on the FBI FD-258 fingerprint cards which will have to be done by the local law enforcement agency, provide two 2-inch x 2-inch photographs and do other related paperwork. All forms then go to the NFA in West Virginia. Expect a wait of 90 to 120 days.

COR is a supplier to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and other allied Ministries of Defense around the world. With more than 50 years of experience, the company has built a worldwide reputation for supplying high-quality products on time and to its customers’ precise specifications. COR has a highly experienced team of engineers and scientists who are world leaders in pyrotechnic compositions, energetic materials and illumination technology, with established links to many of the recognized research and development centers and academic institutions in the U.S. and abroad.
COR works to the latest international standards such as MIL-STDs, STANAGs and ISO regulations. Chemring Ordnance operates in accordance with an ISO-9001:2008-compliant Quality Management System, audited and certified by SAI Global. Its Environmental Management System has been certified to ISO 14001:2004 by SAI Global since 2009 and the company’s Environmental Policy represents its total commitment to protecting the environment. Chemring Ordnance’s occupational health and safety management system has been certified to OHSAS 18001:2007, also by SAI Global since 2011.
For more information, please visit the website at www.chemringordnance.com.

Soldiers set up the M7 MOD 2 Anti-Personnel Obstacle Breaching System.

Chemring Military Products

A subsidiary of Chemring Ordnance, Chemring Military Products (CMP) procures and delivers worldwide U.S.-standard and non-standard ammunition, supplies, weapons, pyrotechnics and platforms. CMP offers DDTC-registered and ISO-9001:2008-certified brokering services, including ATF licenses, export licensing, supply chain management, quality management, acceptance inspection and transportation logistics.

For more information, please visit the website at www.chemringmp.com.

40mm HE Door Breacher

One of the most interesting new products from Chemring is the 40mm HE Door Breacher. This has proven to be an innovative standoff Door Breaching cartridge that can be fired from single- or multi-launch 40x46mm grenade launchers and minimizes fragmentation hazards on both sides of a door. This 40mm low velocity cartridge is utilized for rapid entry through locked doors, without risk of injury to the shooter. It has demonstrated breaching capabilities against both inward and outward opening doors from distances of 15 to 60 meters with no fragmentation back at the shooter.

Specifications

Used in: 40x46mm M320, M203 launchers
Part No.: 044-043-000
Weight: 0.635kg
Most Effective Range: 15-60m
Velocity: 247 ft/s
Fuze: M550

M430A1 HV HEDP

The M430A1 is a 40mm high velocity, dual-purpose round designed to penetrate up to 50mm of hardened steel plate and inflicts casualties in the target area. The cartridge is an anti-material round and is fired from an automatic grenade launcher. It is lethal against armored targets, structures and personnel.

Specifications

Weapons: High velocity MK19 type, HK GMG, etc.
Part No.: 12926811
NSN: 1310-01-567-5540
DODIC: B542
Weight: 0.339kg
Max Range: 2000m
Muzzle Velocity: 241 m/s
Fuze: M549A1 or equivalent, per MIL-STD-1316

Anti-Personnel Obstacle Breaching System (APOBS) MK 7 MOD 2

APOBS is a self-contained, one-shot, expendable linear demolition charge, capable of safely clearing a footpath through anti-personnel mines and multi-strand wire obstacles.

Clearing a pathway 45 meters in length, one APOBS clears what it would take 27 sections of Bangalore Torpedo to clear. APOBS can be easily transported and deployed by a two-person team. This lightweight system is carried in two backpacks and a small, soft pack with a combined weight of 125 pounds and a setup time of less than 2 minutes.

APOBS can either be employed with either “Delay Mode” or “Command Mode” initiation of the tractor rocket motor. Line charge detonation occurs approximately 10 seconds after launch.

APOBS meets the Insensitive Munition (IM) safety and hazard standards defined in MIL-STD-2105 and also meets the fuze board safety requirements of MIL-STD-1316. The Forward and Aft Fuze provide safety redundancy. The system meets Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation to Ordnance (HERO) requirements by using no electrically initiated devices. The environmentally sealed shipping and storage container and backpacks ensure a long shelf life.

Specifications

Obstacles Defeated: AP mines, IEDs, command wires, pressure plates, multi-strand razor wires, fences, barricades
NSN: 1375-01-508-4975
Length of Breach: 45m
Width of Breach: approximately 0.6m
System Weight: 125lbs (56kg)
Deployment Time: 30-120 seconds
Standoff Distance: 35m
Explosives Type: Grenade, PBXN-10
Shelf Life: 15 years minimum
Service Life: 12 years minimum

M213 Fragmentation Hand Grenade Fuze

The M213 Fragmentation Hand Grenade Fuze is used to detonate the M67 Fragmentation Hand Grenade. The M213 has been a mainstay in the U.S. military for over 30 years.

Specifications

Part No.: 8822131
NSN: 1330-00-182-3570
DODIC: G877
Weight: 0.073kg

Chemring Ordnance
10625 Puckett Road
Perry, FL 32348 USA
www.chemringordnance.com

The attempt to develop an indigenous rifle in Korea began during the 1960s; they (Koreans) tried many formats, from a selective-fire conversion of the M1 Garand to a loose copy of the HK G3; calibers were .30-06 or 7.62x51mm NATO. None of them went into actual production. Until the 1970s, South Korea’s industry and economy couldn’t provide Korean made military rifles. Very low on budget and almost without technology and industrial capabilities, it seemed impossible for Koreans to develop and produce their own rifles during this period. Until the 1970s Korean armed forces had to rely completely upon military support from U.S., mostly with M1 Garands/M1-M2 Carbines.

Things changed rapidly during the 1970s. The Korean economy grew surprisingly quickly, and with that growing economy, industrial capacity expanded. There’s one very important thing that happened; Korea began license-building M16A1 rifles.

XB series of prototypes; one can see how those prototypes evolved into the K2 rifles of which we now know. Courtesy Top Class Magazine

From 1974 to some unknown point, South Korea had built M16A1 rifles, under license from Colt. That gave not only the first modern assault rifles in quantity to the Korean military (Korean Army/Marines got M16A1s during the Vietnam War from U.S. military aid, but it wasn’t a large enough quantity to arm all Korean active military personnel), but it also gave a tremendous evolution in small arms R&D capabilities.

With those enhanced capabilities, the Korean government hurried their development of an indigenous rifle program in the early 1970s. There were good reasons—from that point in time, U.S. forces in Korea were considerably decreased due to the Nixon doctrine and then the Carter administration’s human rights policy. At that time, Korean government records about human rights and democracy were considered poor, so the Carter administration used the U.S. military presence in Korea as leverage to force improvement in the situation. Koreans suddenly felt it necessary to control and make their own weapons, at least the basics like the firearms. While they could build M16A1s, that wasn’t enough; the original license agreement was 600,000 rifles, and while that number increased considerably later, the point was that Koreans couldn’t make as many M16A1s as they might want. The Korean armed forces themselves needed wartime reserves, and Korea also maintains millions of reservists, who also need to at least have modern rifles. Korea had to pay a license fee for every single M16A1 to Colt, and for a country that is always short on foreign currency (the 1970–1980 Korean economy was far smaller than today’s) that was definitely not a small consideration, especially when they needed to have millions of modern rifles to replace obsolete WWII-era weapons like Garands and Carbines.

With newly formed ADD (Agency for Defense Development) and Busan government arsenal (a new factory was built to make M16A1s at that place: it later became Daewoo Precision), the Korean government seriously began the indigenous rifle program starting in 1972. There’s one strange thing, at least from today’s point of view—from the beginning of the program to around 1975 to 1976, all prototypes made by ADD were in 7.62x51mm NATO caliber, not 5.56x45mm. There were two reasons. First, there was not much 5.56mm ammunition in Korea. Korea couldn’t produce 5.56mm ammo at that time, and almost all U.S.-supplied 5.56mm ammo was used by Korean forces in Vietnam until 1972, and even after that, most of them were used for front line troops. It was hard to spare the large amount of ammo necessary for R&D in Korea. The situation only changed after 1973, when the Poongsan Metal Company (PMC) factory beginning to produce 5.56mm ammo. For a short while after that, the Korean military demanded development of 7.62x51mm NATO rifles rather than 5.56mm. Even the developers didn’t know the exact reason why, but maybe the 5.56mm ammo supply from that early stage of manufacturing wasn’t stable.

Very early production K1A SMG. K1A has a flash hider copied from the XM177 series of weapons.

All rifle prototypes were numbered in “XB,” like XB-1 or XB-2; until around XB-5, most of them were rather like a 7.62x51mm NATO version of AR-series rifles with odd cosmetic changes. The reason was that most of them used direct gas impingement for operation; all of them had M16-style front sights and many even had M16 handguards. It was obvious to see that the designers tried to use available M16 components as much as possible or copied the components to save development time and resources.

Things changed a lot around the time when prototype XB-6 appeared in 5.56mm, probably around 1976 to 1977. It had a long-stroke gas piston, which was somewhat similar to the AK, and a recoil spring moved from the buttstock to the upper receiver, similar to SIG SG540 series or Stoner 63 series. There were reasons for the change. During the Vietnam conflict, Korean soldiers experienced some unreliability of their M16 rifles, so Korean developers tried to make a more reliable rifle using the long-stroke gas piston. Probably around 1977 to 1978 army began to require the new rifle should have a folding stock, so the recoil spring had to move from the stock.

While the prototype XB-series rifles were developed, some unexpected requirements came from Korean Army special command. When personnel from Spec-Ops Command were invited to see the test-fire of the XB prototypes, they requested the development of a new “Submachine gun” for them. And, they needed that in a hurry.

Very early production K1A SMG. K1A has a flash hider copied from the XM177 series of weapons.

Spec-Ops Command was desperately in search of new weapons. They used a hodgepodge of weapons, from WWII-era M2 Carbines, M3 Greaseguns, to the brand-new Ingram M10, Israeli Uzi or Colt CAR-15s (XM177s) and M16s, but none of them were in enough quantity for homogenous issue, and maintaining such a variety of weapons was also a logistical nightmare. They wanted to acquire a quantity of standardized personal weapons adequate to their needs.

ADD had to respond to this demand very quickly. Since the “customer” was in a hurry, they (ADD) had no time to develop a completely new weapon. They made a weapon based upon one of their rifle prototypes (probably XB-6 or 7), under the “XB-S” project name (S means short), replaced gas piston with gas tube (so making a direct impingement weapon like the M16), and dramatically reduced its total length. The reason why they used DI, not piston, was also this very short length; they had no time to develop a new short gas piston for a very short barrel (slightly more than 10 inches), while they already had some samples of short barreled CAR-15s to learn how to make a DI system for such barrels. The stock design was very similar to that of the M3 Grease Gun.

This shortened (and DI-converted) rifle became the “SMG, K1” around 1980 to 1981, adopted, manufactured and issued to special operations units first, then to the other MOS who needed short SMG-like weapons, such as tankers, commanders and radio operators. The K1 has 1:12 inch rifling, because during its development there was no plan to adopt 5.56NATO (SS109) ammo in Korean army, and ADD had to adopt the new SMG to then-standard M193 ammo. The K1 series in the Korean military still uses the same rifling, but for export, 1:7.3 inch rifling (same as K2 rifle) is being offered.

Early K2’s rear sight and recoil spring guide stud. It employed a fixed front sight, so elevation is also achieved on rear sight. K2’s recoil spring guide design also changed like the design of the K1A.

While the unexpected SMG version made its appearance first, the development of the original rifle requirement continued. Around the end of the 1970s, the final prototype, XB-7, was developed; from this point the shape of the K2 we now know of was almost complete. Even the XB-7 prototypes had some variations. XB-7A to C were designed; the first one still had a fixed stock, but it soon changed to a side-folding stock similar to FN FAL’s para version. That also changed, since that metal stock was heavy for Koreans as well as expensive. It finally gave way to the side-folding polymer stock we know today.

Around 1982 to 1983, development of the XB-7 was finally completed and received official nomenclature of the K2 rifle. K2 rifle endured many more field tests, and serial production began around 1984. It was officially fielded to frontline units during 1986, and first appeared in public during the 1987 Armed Forces Day Parade.

When K2s began to be mass-produced and fielded, the K1 SMG also experienced evolution. Originally the K1 SMG had a cone-shaped muzzle device, similar to that of AR-18 Shorty; but this had many drawbacks, so around 1984 to 1985, it was replaced with new muzzle device, which is a copy of the XM177’s flash hider. With this change, the K1 SMG became the K1A SMG (some people mistakenly refer to this as the K1A1, but that’s not right). K1, early K1As and early K2s had no locking device on the recoil spring guide, and there were few incidents of “automatic opening” of upper receiver, since the spring guide holds the upper receiver like the AR-18’s spring guide—and without a locking method for the guide, recoil could move the spring guide forward and force the upper receiver to open during shooting. Around 1986 to 1987, both the K1As’ and K2s’ spring guide stud design was changed to have a new locking key to prevent such accidents.

Very late prototype, which already bears K2 nomenclature, with FAL-para-type metal folding stock. Only a very small quantity was built.

Thus, the design evolution of K1/K2-series weapons was complete around 1986 to 1987, but minor changes kept being applied to the weapons. The gas regulator was re-designed to prevent accidental removal, barrels were changed to be chrome-plated to have longer life, and many parts’ heat treatment methods were improved as the production progressed.
K-series weapons are still in production, and almost a million K1s/K2s have been produced since the early 1980s. Together with the M16A1 license program, Korea produced slightly more than 2 million personal weapons (excluding handguns). Without K-series weapons, that was probably impossible or would have needed much more time to accomplish. The experience of designing the K1 and K2 weapons evolved into the other K-series weapons as production capability expanded.

Early K1A’s rear sight and recoil spring guide stud. Rear and front sight are very similar to the M16A1’s, and this is unchanged up to today. But later versions (after late 1980s) have a new recoil spring guide, which prevents moving while shooting.

Gemtech Tames the Beast: “MGS” Suppressor MilSpec Test

Why perform a MilSpec test on a machine gun suppressor? Because that is the next level of where firearms are headed. Over the past 10 years the military and police have been becoming more and more aware of the damage being done to shooters’ hearing and the costs associated with their healthcare. Operationally, it’s no longer just about concealing location, it’s about an increased ability to communicate among the squad, minimizing the effect of muzzle blast on the operator’s concentration, making for a more effective combat team by lessening some of the mayhem of the immediate area on the battlefield. There is also the ever-increasing awareness of how heavy metals such as lead and antimony are working their way into the bloodstream of shooters and how to use new suppressor designs to decrease the blowback gases as opposed to increasing the gases like many traditional suppressors do. There are heavy metals in the aerosol of firearms gases, and moving them forward away from the shooter is a major focus at present.

This series of tests was performed to answer questions—not just the questions asked by operators and high-speed shooters who want to see how many rounds go through the suppressor before it glows white and the guts go downrange. The questions we need answered are how the suppressor will hold up over time in the training environment. Logistics and procurement personnel need to know how the suppressors they add to their TO&E will perform over time. If used in training once a year for 8 squad members to qualify, or twice a year, or once a month, what is the degradation, if any, of the suppression? What is the degradation of accuracy over a simulated 10 years? Answers for heavy combat use must be found as well. Thus, we at Small Arms Defense Journal designed this test series for Gemtech after consulting with SOCOM testers, Army procurement personnel and a number of scientists in the field. There are no universally accepted test criteria for suppressors other than the MilSpec for firearms sound measurement, which we adhered to. For the rest, we adjusted machine gun test requirements and the suppressor tests some military groups have done to design this test. This means the testing is boring for the testers, keeping a cadence of fire and resisting the urge to speed it up too much. Mandatory cooling cycles, cleaning cycles and temperature measurements as well as accuracy checks make for a tedious day, but for many shooters, any day at the range beats a day at the office.

We at SADJ sincerely hope that not only the end users, but the people in procurement will be able to take these results and apply them to their requirements. This author will state that the Gemtech MGS Suppressor performed astonishingly well, as you will see.

Gemtech

Gemini Technologies has its roots back in 1976, when Dr. Philip H. Dater started Automatic Weapons Company in New Mexico. His experiences with suppressor design had begun in the early 1960s. This author had conversations with him about rebuilding the Vietnam Era MAC Ruger MKI suppressors in the 1970s and has traveled with “Doc” around the world testing hundreds of historical and modern suppressor designs. “Doc” Dater joined with some other experienced designers in the early 1990s and formed Gemini Technologies, or “Gemtech.” Through a number of evolutionary moves, Gemtech has evolved into one of the top suppressor design/manufacturers in the world. Recently acquired by Smith & Wesson, Gemtech products are all from (ISO) 9001:2008 certified manufacturing, and they have suppressors in active use by all branches of the U.S. military, as well as many Special Operations Forces, military and police in other friendly countries around the world. Gemtech is a name recognized worldwide as a quality suppressor designer and manufacturer. When Gemtech teamed up with LEI in England for the British MoD Suppressor R&D contract and applied lessons learned to their new Machine Gun Suppressor (MGS) it was a natural progression that SADJ would be asked to test it. This author performs all MilSpec tests personally and did so on this MGS test.

Gemtech’s Derek Smith feeds 7.62x51mm on M13 links into the Ohio Ordnance Work’s M240 machine gun, brass in the air.

What are Firearms Suppressors?

The first modern firearm suppressors were actually on Greener’s Humane Cattle Killer in the 1890s, basically a large chamber after the muzzle of a cattle killer. There were many patents filed for sound suppressors in the 1900 through 1930 era, perhaps the most famous being from the Maxim Silencer Company. There is a long history of attempts to quiet the effects of a firearm being fired. The theoretical boundaries of simple mechanical suppression have been plateaued; instead of incredible leaps in level of suppression, modern manufacturers now must concentrate on smaller size and longer life under use.

How do we suppress a firearm? By taking the products of combustion of rapidly burning and expanding powder/gases and cooling as well as disturbing their forward motion. Slow, expand in a chamber, and cool the gases before they exit into the atmosphere. There are many variations on a theme, but essentially that’s it. Slow and cool the gases. This requires the construction of a suppressor to be a heat sink, as well as a radiator for that heat, and to have channels to internally redirect and slow the gases. Those can be baffles or any of a number of bizarre designs. A simple large chamber with enough material strength to withstand the hoop stress of the expanding, burning gasses will provide some sound reduction; proper scientific designs can amplify that effect. Some suppressors use large volume to good effect; others unique baffle or core designs, others based on the heat qualities of the materials. In extreme cases, all of the firearm’s actions can be reduced; buffers used where metallic surfaces connect, barrel porting to bring projectile velocity under the speed of sound, etc.

In the case at hand, Gemtech is trying to harness a true beast: the U.S. M240 machine gun, firing full military 7.62x51mm NATO Ball ammunition through a 24.8-inch barrel at 2,800 feet per second, in fully automatic mode at a cyclic rate of around 700 rounds per minute. This is not a gentle project calling for muffling the sound of a bolt slamming home, nor is it time to reduce velocity. Gemtech is taking on a full work-horse medium machine gun, and that requires robust design, solid materials and the impeccable application of science. The intended purpose? To make the beast hearing safe at the shooter’s ear according to OSHA and Military standards, i.e., 140 dB or under, and survive in long-term training as well as in full-tilt boogie combat conditions.

What is Firearms Sound?

Before we can discuss the sounds a firearm makes and what we can adjust about them, the first question to answer must be “What is Sound?” We’re actually talking about “audible sound,” the sounds that humans can hear. Many animals can hear other wavelengths outside the human spectrum, and just because we can’t hear it doesn’t mean the mechanical events are not happening. There is sound both above (Ultrasound) and below (Infrasound) the range we can hear, and in this discussion we’re not concerned with this other than in weighting our testing to make it more understandable.

A common definition would be that “Sound” is composed of vibrations that travel through the air or another medium and can be heard when they reach a person’s or animal’s ear. On a more complex level (discussing only sound traveling through a medium of air), sound is a wave with three levels of description: mechanical because sound requires a medium to travel through—in this case air (Sound cannot travel through a vacuum); longitudinal because the air particles vibrate parallel to the sound wave direction; and pressure variations. Pressure is mostly what concerns us in this discussion; a pressure wave is high and low pressure regions moving through the air, and this can be measured. What we hear is related to the modulations in that pressure. Obviously, a firearm creates some very high pressure events of very short duration. Measuring this is trickier than it might seem.

The sounds a firearm makes can be divided into seven describable events; simplifying this there are three main ones: there is the noise the firearm’s action makes whether semi-automatic or bolt; the sound when the bullet uncorks from the barrel allowing the heated expanding gases to break out into the atmosphere with their incumbent pressure waves; and the sound of the projectile traveling through the air, which may be supersonic and create a ballistic crack as it passes the sound barrier.

Maxim’s patent for his improved silencer, the successful Model 1910.

Trying to quiet these noises and mask the location or presence of the shooter is one goal of suppressing a firearm; another is protecting the firearm operator’s hearing. Sounds above a certain decibel level cause permanent damage to the operator’s hearing leading to debilitating diseases that require many billions of dollars to treat over the course of soldiers’ and officers’ lives. So, motives to suppress sound are not simply for use during a combat action; the long-term debilitating effects and costs of training come into play as well.
How Do We Measure Firearms Sound?

The basic measurements of pressure are performed in a unit called “Pascals.” The pressures we deal with in firearm sounds produce very large numbers, difficult to deal with. Instead we use Decibels (dB). Decibels are a logarithmic scale- a 10 dB increase is a 10-fold increase in absolute pressure; however, subjectively it is perceived as twice as loud. This is because of the non-linear response of the human ear.

Setting up equipment to test the sound levels has many nuances to it. The microphone placement is critical and must be homogenous—the same each time. There have been protocols requiring a 10-meter distance from the muzzle, others that required 1 meter to the left and others at the shooter’s ear.

Our test decision was to use MIL-STD 1474D which dictates a placement of the microphone 1.6 meters above a non-reflective ground surface and 1 meter to the left of the muzzle of the suppressor, perpendicular to the ground—this produces a grazing incidence where the sound wave is going directly over the microphone’s sensing area (Transducer). We elected to also perform “At Shooter’s Ear” testing, about 15 cm from the shooter’s left ear.

The older analog meters are probably the best equipment for testing. We had two Larson Davis 800B meters on site and used both with A weighting. Why older equipment? It’s the weakest link in the chain theory—the quality of the information gathered is only as good as the least accurate piece of equipment. In other words, if you use new digital equipment that can’t record the fastest part of the event, then your data will not reflect what’s truly happening. There will always be “Rise time,” which is a lag between the start of an event and the ability to begin gathering data. If the equipment isn’t able to respond quickly enough, the true event will be misstated. Decibels are a logarithmic scale- a 10 dB increase is a 10-fold increase in absolute pressure; however, subjectively it is perceived as twice as loud. This is because of the non-linear response of the human ear. The microphone must also be able to withstand the high pressure coming from a firearm. That will give a true picture of the decibel level the firearm has produced. Doc Dater has trained hundreds of scientists and designers on suppressor measurement and history, and for a better understanding of this, SADJ suggests the interested student take his course or review Doc’s online tutorials.

This chart shows minor degradation in suppression after 7,000 rds. While the sound at shooter’s ear was very low to start, it was still significantly within the OSHA and Military safety guidelines after 7,000 rds. We performed inspections of the suppressor at every 1,000 rds and cleaning of the M240 at 3,200 and 7,000 rds.

Gemtech & The British MG Suppressor Tests

Law Enforcement International, Ltd (LEI) from St. Albans, UK, is well past 25 years in the suppressor design/supply business, and Greg Felton of LEI and Doc Dater are close friends and colleagues. Great Britain has been working on the idea of suppression of all of the firearms in its inventory since the mid-2000s, much of it inspired from presentations by Doc Dater as well as their health services community. In early 2014, LEI was awarded an MoD Competitive Contract; GB-UK: DTECH/0026, beating out B&T, SIG, B.E. Myers and Surefire in the competition to design five suppressors on different firearms for MoD. The contract was a research and development (R&D) contract and was a joint contract with LEI and Gemtech. One of the suppressors was for the “Jimpy,” the GPMG Machine gun, which is designated as the L7 series in British use and is in the MAG58 family just like the U.S. M240.

The joint design work was Greg Felton from the LEI end, and Doc Dater and Blake Young from the Gemtech team. The suppressor is a thread-mounted unit which was supplied in multiples for the testing by MoD and was a “Core within a Core” based on a Gemtech design. Delivery of the suppressors was very quick, in late 2014. The basis of the UK test is classified, but this author can share that it revolved around fast firing far more than the SOCOM Hasty Defense test of 600 rounds cyclic. The joint LEI/Gemtech design performed so well that it out-performed the MAG58 machine guns; the multiple guns got so hot that the operators had to stop firing. The suppressors were just chugging away, handling the intense firing very, very well. Phase 2 of the contract is under consideration.

This obviously led to the Gemtech team taking lessons learned and applying them into a completely new design; the Gemtech MGS (Machine Gun Suppressor) which is the subject of this test.

Testing the BEAST
Typical Military Requirements

How do we best design a test that will answer the questions for the procurement/logistics people, as well as end users?

First, we have to simulate the training environment that the MGS will be used in. Most U.S. military personnel fire 50 rounds during qualifications, and many do this on a yearly basis. If eight soldiers are put on the same gun, there will be 400 rounds fired in short-burst cadence, and then their issue M240 and MGS will be put away until the next cycle. There are a thousand variations of this possible in the system—monthly training, cadre that use it every day to cycle students from multiple units so this M240 and suppressor will be consistently fired and retired faster. We chose to test for the longer term unit training use, with a torture test segment called “Hasty Defense”—one minute of cyclic rate of fire of the weapon. After all, if you have a machine gun you should know how to use it to save the lives of your unit and cover their movement from an area if maneuvering against a large hostile force. Putting the hammer down.

Logistics people want to know how the system is going to work over time. The U.S. military is in its 240th odd year, and it’s clear that personnel will cycle through and weapons will be reused. How will Gemtech’s MGS suppressor perform in the long run? Is there sound reduction degradation? Is there accuracy degradation? At 10 years and x amount of rounds, what can a unit expect from the suppressor? Finally, is this protecting our soldiers’ hearing, and is it a good value?

We set out to get the answers to these questions, using 7,000 rounds of linked 7.62x51mm ammo.

Gemtech’s MGS on the OOW 240P

After a few weeks of preparation and gathering materials, we met at the Parma Rod & Gun Club in Parma, Idaho. Gemtech personnel were Blake Young, Jake Kunsky, Travis Bundy, Jason Harper, Derek Smith, Doc Dater, Jerry Hurd from Ohio Ordnance Works with the OOW240P and this author from SADJ.

On a relatively nice day, we assembled the guns, ammo, testing equipment and cooling system and proceeded to start putting rounds downrange. The cyclic rate of fire of the OOW240P tested at 615 RPM, then at 778 RPM with MGS installed. Any muzzle device like a suppressor is going to affect rate of fire; in this case, it increased it. Thankfully due to design, it did not increase blowback of gasses.

Environmental conditions can affect sound suppression data and were as follows: sunny/ light cloudy day on both days, low wind.

1) After initial suppressor testing, accuracy was fired for five rounds. Firing was started with 400 rounds in 3-5 round bursts at 3 second intervals, and the suppressor and barrel started at ambient air temperatures. We then cooled the barrel and suppressor down to approximately 90°F or under and repeated this throughout the testing. We reduced time between bursts to 1 second due to low temperatures on the MGS, so we could raise the cadence. After a few thousand rounds, we increased the starting temperatures to observe any changes—nothing of consequence.

2) Day 2 we fired in the same cadence, using a different OOW M240 (Jerry Hurd had to go to another engagement). This M240 was much more worn and experienced some problems unrelated to the MGS.

Accuracy Testing

Single fire from an OOW240P GPMG can be problematic; the OOW patented select fire trigger group fixed that problem and allowed smooth, accurate single fire. The first photo shows the original group from a new barrel and new MGS Suppressor. The second photo is a test of the barrel without suppressor after 3,200 rounds fired. The third is the barrel with MGS can installed, showing a minor spreading of the group. The last picture shows the MGS suppressed group after 7,000 rounds. The groups were approximately 1.5 inch from start to finish, with one flyer on the last group. Firing was at 25 meters. Even after one minor baffle strike, the accuracy shows very little degradation, if at all.

Temperature Chart

This temperature chart represents the data taken from our testing records to show consistency in temperature depending on intervals between bursts. Temperatures are measured in Fahrenheit:

Note: In the testing, we switched ammunition from Lake City 2015 to British L44A1 for 1,200 rounds to observe any temperature differences. There were none to speak of.
Malfunctions

We had three malfunctions related to the trigger pack—these had nothing to do with the MGS suppressor or the OOW240P; the semi-automatic mode on the trigger pack requires a positive trigger pull and let-off and firing loosely by a first-time user can cause a failure to feed. At 5,600 rounds we had a cook-off in the last few rounds. This was not suppressor-related; it was related to leaving an unfired round in the chamber due to chamber dirt. At 6,400 rounds a projectile became stuck during a misfire of ammunition. On inspection, we found a small metal piece in suppressor and a small baffle strike clearly not from a projectile. The part in the suppressor appeared to be a piece of an M13 link, or spring part from the top cover, which had been driven down the bore by a previous projectile. This didn’t compromise the suppressor, didn’t affect either accuracy or suppression, and the test kept on running. The sound and accuracy results in the charts speak to how robust and reliable the MGS suppressor is.

In Conclusion

What does all of this mean to a procurement person? It’s simple: the Gemtech MGS Suppressor is one outstanding, robust, high-performing can. There were zero malfunctions due to the suppressor—that’s Zero Failures. Accuracy degradation over the torture testing? None to speak of. Suppression degradation after 7,000 rounds and high temperatures? Slightly more than 2%. This is excellent performance over a simulated long-term training use. Easily surviving core temperatures in excess of 1,300°F, as well as a foreign metal object getting inside the suppressor, the MGS kept on working. SADJ puts a big stamp of approval on the Gemtech MGS. Of course, we’d like to fire 50,000 rounds through one, but time and budget dictate otherwise—and this 7,000-round torture test has proven how well designed and effective the MGS is. Additionally, there was a marked reduction in blowback gases, evident to all who fired the M240 with MGS installed.

About the Author

Dan Shea is a U.S. Army veteran and has 40 years’ experience with suppressors; from hobby use after ETS and small level design, to supplying end users. He organized and ran the 1997 and 1999 Suppressor Trials, coordinating groups of scientists, designers and engineers to allow hundreds of examples to be submitted by manufacturers and tested by multiple scientists including Dr. Philip H. Dater, Al Paulson and Dr. Chris Luchini. Dan is the National Defense Industrial Association’s 2017 Colonel George M. Chinn Awardee, as well as the Editor-in-Chief and Technical Editor of Small Arms Defense Journal, Small Arms Review, the old Machine Gun News and many technical books on firearms. He was the founder and General Manager of the now closed Long Mountain Outfitters for almost 40 years and is currently the General Director of Phoenix Defence, an armorer training and weapons supply company.

Air Cooling the OOW 240P with Gemtech MGS.

Ohio Ordnance Works 240P

Jerry Hurd brought an OOW240P (P for Patrol) machine gun out to use as a test firearm at the range. It has the Trijicon TA648 ACOG optic in place—a very popular machine gun optic for 7.62x51mm, allowing clear vision and an outstanding field of view. With the Darley Defense bipod mounted for accuracy shooting and using the M192 lightweight tripod for stabilized full auto, the day went very smoothly. Ohio Ordnance Works has been working to lighten the M240 system and make it more user friendly.

Ohio Ordnance Works’ select fire trigger group for the M240 machine gun.

Jerry Hurd from Ohio Ordnance Works feeds ammo as Dr. Philip H. Dater fires fully automatic through the soon to be introduced OOW240P on M192 tripod with Trijicon ACOG 6x48 and the excellent Gemtech MGS Suppressor.