June 21, 2019, in the Swiss Alps outside of Montreux: “Smoke on the Water” playing on the radio as we drove around hundreds of mountain curves, some at 320 degrees, uphill, downhill and finally to the destination on a remote Swiss military range where a 1600 meters target could be engaged. None of us, however, was planning on shooting at over 600 meters, but the range was beautiful nonetheless. RUAG, the Swiss company that owns many international divisions in munitions, had decided to push further into the U.S. (and world) tactical and precision shooting markets, using their well-established Swiss P ammunition program, and we were to test six of the .308 (7.62x51mm) offerings.

“Like a Swiss watch” is a common saying used to discuss a product of admirable reliability and quality. That’s for a reason: The Swiss have a reputation for meticulously made products and for machinery that is the most modern and reliable. Swiss P ammunition is a product of RUAG Ammotech AG, and, of course, the “P” stands for “Precision.” After shooting it, this author was thinking “P” for “Perfection.”

We went for a factory tour in Thun, Switzerland, where RUAG manufactures the ammunition. They are true manufacturers, not just assemblers of components. Starting with intense quality assurance inspection of any raw materials, rolls of brass and copper sheeting go into one end of the production lines, disks are stamped, made into cups, extruded and pickled, extruded, formed, trimmed and pickled again, primer pockets made, necks annealed, and the bullets are made on parallel lines. This allows RUAG’s quality control engineers to control every aspect of the process to ensure as near to perfect repeatability in each component. Final assembly is done with very reliable high-grade primers and temperature stable powder brought from other sections of the building to the assembly machines. There are state-of-the-art inspection stations that search for flaws and if any appear, knock any errant product from the line. After that, the product undergoes visual inspection and packaging as well as testing of selected lots.

That repeatable perfection in every component and dismissal of any imperfection is what it takes to make truly accurate ammunition. Anyone who has seen slow-motion photography of a bullet uncorking from a rifle muzzle knows how crazy it looks and automatically question how the rifle can even hit close to the same place with subsequent rounds. It’s all about repeatable events. In order to achieve true accuracy, you need a good, solid bedded rifle; every action should be identical for the interior ballistics of that rifle, correct lands and grooves as well as barrel length. Uncorking should be from a perfect chamfered exit, the platform firing it should be stable (that platform is the shooter, who also needs skills), and of course the ammunition must be homogenous to an incredible degree. The targets we fired in this case, speak for themselves.

There are common threads between the offerings in each caliber from Swiss P (RUAG). In the case at hand, we were testing 7.62x51mm (.308 NATO) rounds.

Some of the features include:

• Match grade accuracy
• Coordinated ballistics between the various rounds in the same caliber
• Militarized crimping and sealing
• Optimized for semiautomatic and fully automatic weapons as well as bolt action.

SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE ROUNDS TESTED

——————–

The selection of rifles and optics RUAG brought to the range matched the expected quality of the Swiss P ammunition:

• Truvelo CMS 7.62×51 with Kahles K624i 6-24x56mm scope
• Blaser Tactical 2 with Schmidt & Bender PMII 4-16×50 scope
• Steyr SSG 04 with Kahles K624i 6-24x56mm scope

We fired three rounds of each type of ammunition, at each of 600m, 300m and 100m targets. RUAG engineer Michael Muster was the shooter at 600m from the bipod supported prone, and he chose the Truvelo CMS 7.62 with a Kahles K624i to start with. After each type of ammunition was fired, the hits were circled with coded shapes. His groups at 600m varied from 1 MOA to 1.5 MOA, a very respectable showing. On inspection of the primers, there was a bit of backflow, which was clearly an issue with this particular CMS rifle.

We then moved to 300m, and this author chose the Steyr SSG 04 with a Kahles K624i scope. I have fired Truvelos extensively, as well as the Blaser (both excellent rifles), and wanted to try the SSG 04. Each of the groups was within 1 MOA, with occasional floaters due to operator error—I was firing over a truck hood. The most amazing group was with the Swiss P Armour Piercing. It was well under .5 MOA, and the AP had lived up to its reputation as one of the most accurate rounds they make.

A storm was coming in very quickly, so we moved to 100m, and I fired three rounds over the truck hood, grouping under 1 MOA. We then quickly loaded up and got out of there before the storm hit.

Conclusion

RUAG Ammotec’s precision ammunition is everything they claim it is, and it is everything an accurate shooter or sniper could want. Explaining the nuances of firing different ammunition, slight changes in felt recoil and so on are pretty pointless and very subjective. Different rifles can be quantified, different calibers can be explained, but within a caliber range, unless there is a massive difference in powder loads or projectile weights, they’re the same. What matters is shot placement, repeatability and terminal performance. The terminal ballistics are explained by RUAG technicians and were not what we were testing.

This author can attest to the accuracy throughout the 7.62mm NATO Swiss P offerings; these rounds were taken from unopened cases and were clearly standard production. The consistency was outstanding. I suspect that well-trained snipers could drive any of these rounds at sub-.5 MOA on demand.

Contact

RUAG Ammotec AG

Uttigenstrasse 67

3602 Thun | Switzerland

Tel: +41 332 282 879

Fax: +41 332 282 644

Email: sales.ammotec@ruag.com

ruag.com

Now, with apologies for some of these rough-looking images—presented as they were found—let’s look at some very unusual weaponry from the 1940s through the 1950s.

CREDIT: U.S. WAR DEPARTMENT/NATIONAL ARCHIVES/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Atomic Bazooka! Undoubtedly the most spectacular of these oddities is the M28 and M29 man-portable, tactical nuclear weapon system, officially named the “Davy Crockett” after a semi-mythological American patriot of the early frontier days. Developed in the late 1950s Cold War period, in this case, Davy’s job was to quickly move into position to take out Communist enemy concentrations with the watermelon-sized M338 mini-nuke. The inability to kick its atomic warhead to a safe distance from the gun crew was an unfortunate limitation that added to other concerns, and the project was scrapped after very limited deployment. Photo taken at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

CREDIT U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Effect on Target! While we’re exaggerating the Davy Crockett’s nuke blast effect (equivalent of 20 tons of TNT) in this photo of a 14-kiloton test, it is in color and has its characteristic mushroom cloud. The M29 weapon itself used a novel piston-spigot system to propel the 50-plus-pound Mk-54 sub-fission warhead to a maximum range of 2.5 miles. Photo taken October 30, 1951, at Yucca Flat, Nevada.

_________

Now that we’ve set the stage, let’s go back in time to the early 1940s, just two decades after “The War to End All Wars.”

___________

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY ORDNANCE MUSEUM

Frankengun .45! Despite being nearly perfect in its original M1911 form, John Moses Browning’s superlative .45 ACP semiautomatic handgun was an apparently irresistible candidate for “improvement.” And so, here’s what happens in peacetime when idle hands at Army Ordnance Corps go to work to fit a detachable shoulder stock, extended magazine and slide with long barrel and an eye-catching perforated cooling jacket. Photo taken at Aberdeen Proving Ground, one month before the U.S. entered WWII.

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY ORDNANCE MUSEUM

Convertible Chopper! Urgent wartime production demands spurred experimentation in alternatives to America’s heavy and expensive Thompson Submachine Guns. Here’s the UD-1, a novel offering from United Defense that can be quickly converted to fire either standard U.S. .45 ACP ammo or the European-favored 9mm Parabellum. For various reasons, it lost out to the ultra-cheap and simple M3 “Grease Gun.” Photo taken at Aberdeen Proving Ground in April 1943.

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY ORDNANCE MUSEUM

A Mortar Rifle? Desperate times for Marines in desperate fights with a fanatical Japanese enemy in early Pacific island-hopping combat inspired this trigger-fired 60mm mortar. Don’t make fun of this clever field-expedient because it’s a very practical solution to the urgent need for Marine mortarmen to move fast and hit hard in close-range jungle fighting. Its tube, carried by a single Marine, has an under-slung rifle stock serving as both a trigger mechanism and its baseplate (seen buried butt-deep into a sandbag); not intended for shoulder firing. While seen here with the heavy and ungainly standard bipod with quick release collar, this was most certainly dispensed, in most cases, with the gunner slamming the butt into the ground, grabbing that broomstick foregrip and using “Kentucky windage” to aim.

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY ORDNANCE MUSEUM

Improved One-Marine Mortar! Probably inspired by that rifle stock mortar, Master Gunnery Sergeant Garrett pushes this to the limit with his design for a bipod-mounted, trigger-operated, shoulder-fired 60mm mortar. Yes, Leathernecks are notoriously tough guys, but ouch! Noting the angle of the simple quadrant sight on its left side, that bipod will have to extend pretty far to lob the shell even a short distance. Photo taken at Aberdeen Proving Ground in September 1943.

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS, NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Gotta Have a Bayonet! Among the first M1 Carbines delivered to the Army’s Infantry Board at Fort Benning, Georgia, February 1942, this one has been “improved” by taping a trench knife to the barrel. This came at the start of a crash program to put a “pig sticker” on the little rifle. Well, only about 2 years later, the M4 Bayonet was standardized, secured to carbine barrels modified with the T2 lug assembly.

CREDIT U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS, NATIONAL ARCHIVES

First Full-Auto M1 Carbine? While industry and Army Ordnance Corps engineers and technicians back in the U.S. were scrambling to provide full-auto capability to semiauto-only M1 Carbines, some muddy-boots Ordnance GIs in Europe apparently didn’t wait. Photographed in Belgium on November 10, 1944, “Sergeant Harold Schwarz, one of two inventors of an improvement of the Carbine, proves the worth of the piece by firing 15 rounds in less than 2 seconds.” It was apparently not good enough, and Inland Manufacturing’s trip lever mod won, standardized as the M2.

CREDIT U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS, NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Backpack Machine Gun! U.S. Army Technical Sergeant O. P. Peterson demonstrates a clever, field expedient backpack mount for the Browning M1919A4 .30-caliber machine gun with pintle, T&E and a can with 250 rounds of belted ammo. This rig was made by enterprising, close-to-the-front-lines Army Ordnance Corps soldiers in response to the call from “line doggies” for greater portability and faster setup time for this workhorse infantry medium machine gun. Unstrapped and placed on its four, fold-down wire feet, the gun goes immediately into offensive or defensive action.

IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM COLLECTION VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Sticky Grenade! It’s just no good to throw an ordinary grenade at an enemy vehicle because, more often than not, it bounces right back at you. So, early in the second war against the “Hun,” clever Brits fielded the “Sticky Bomb,” a hand grenade coated with a particularly strong and thick adhesive that would cling to its target then explode with maximum effect. This 1943 photo shows how the grenade was packaged in a sheet metal clam shell to protect its inherent stickiness without also gluing it to everything it touches. But it wouldn’t also stick to its shell due to numerous little spikes inside.

U.S. NAVY BUREAU OF ORDNANCE VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Inside the Sticky Grenade. When a suitable target presented itself at close range, the plucky British Tommy would reach into his haversack, firmly grasp the hand bomb by its protruding handle and quickly undo the protective shell. It was a bit complicated to use; pulling one pin armed the fuse striker mechanism so the grenadier could throw or stick it. When the safety spoon lever on the handle was released, the nitroglycerin filler detonated in five seconds. “Sticky wicket lads!”

CREDIT: PHOTOGRAPHED BY DER RIKKK AT WEHRTECHNISCHEN STUDIENSAMMLUNG, KOBLENZ. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Shoot Around the Corner! A WWII German Krummlauf (curved barrel) seen here on an MP 44 select-fire 7.62mm kurz rifle in a display cutaway of a typical armored vehicle mount. This model has a 90-degree bullet deflector barrel clamped on that allows a crewman safely inside to shoot attacking infantrymen as they approach or in the dire situation when they’re climbing aboard. There was also a 30-degree model for dismounted combat in built-up areas, enhanced by a prism sight that allowed somewhat accurate target engagement out to nearly 200m. Oh, and a similar curved barrel was developed for the U.S. M3 “Grease Gun.”

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY ORDNANCE MUSEUM

Copycat Recoilless Rifle WWII German paratroopers were equipped with the 75mm L.G. 40, a 325-pound highly maneuverable and hard-hitting wheeled recoilless artillery piece first noted in the airborne assault on Crete in 1941. Quickly responding on behalf of America’s brand-new airborne forces, the Army Ordnance Corps developed the T26 Artillery Rocket Launcher, with a 4.5-inch (115mm) bore. Parallel development of what was to become the shoulder-fired 2.36-inch “Bazooka” rocket launcher apparently doomed the T26 and GI paratroopers were stuck with heavy 1400-pound M1A1 75mm pack Howitzers.

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS, NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Nazi Death Metal “Music?” In this 1945 photo, a U.S. Army officer examines a pair of gigantic parabolic reflectors that concentrate, and direct intense sound waves generated by pulsed detonation of a methane/oxygen mix. Theoretically, this sonic cannon—intended for defense of static positions—would incapacitate or even kill attacking troops. But don’t laugh, this concept and other “directed energy” weapons are being deployed right now by friend and foe alike.

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS, NATIONAL ARCHIVES

German-Based Night Vision. Posed in front of a tank fitted with a large infrared spotlight, this is the U.S. M3 Sniperscope, an early night vision device consisting of an M2 Carbine topped with an infrared light and cathode ray detector sight. It’s based on the WWII German Vampir (vampire) night vision system for vehicles and small arms that gave enhanced tactical capability at night. This set-in motion a crash program of reverse engineering and subsequent enhancements by Army Signal Corps and Ordnance Corps technicians.

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY ORDNANCE MUSEUM

Bazooka Revolver! October 14, 1947, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. This Army Ordnance Corps photo is one of several we found documenting progress on Project No. TS4-4007, the “Launcher, Rocket, Repeating, 2.36-inch, T112 (Drum Type).” When a loaded tube is rotated into alignment with the forward end of the M9A1 launcher, moving the black knobbed lever apparently twist-locks it into the coupling for firing. Two more rockets can then be quickly launched and—as empty tubes are rotated around—reloaded.

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY ORDNANCE MUSEUM

Magazine-fed Super Bazooka! February 23, 1950, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Another Army Ordnance Corps photo of Bazooka experimentation, this one is from Project No. TS4-4019. It shows the “Launcher, Rocket, Repeating, 3.5-inch, T115.” It looks like its gravity-fed magazine holds at least three of the “Super Bazooka” rockets that drop down into the firing tube in turn. Too bad this wasn’t available at the outbreak of the Korean War when GIs only had puny single-shot 2.36-inch bazookas against the enemy’s heavily armored, Soviet-supplied T-34 tanks.

________

Conclusion

While the end of the Cold War came in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union, don’t think that the “peace dividend” that followed would have put a crimp in experimental oddities by newly idle bureaucracies. Many of the developments in weaponry that followed are no less interesting.

The Kel-Tec KSG was as conventionally American as a bullpup with twin seven-shot magazines can be. UTS-15, designed in Turkey to American specifications, was closer in layout to the Neostad, placing the magazines above the barrel and allowing manual selection of mag tubes or alternating side feed. Both guns were almost 2 pounds lighter than the Neostad and used conventional pumping direction. The UTAS UTS-15 one-upped the KSG by incorporating a light/laser controlled by a receiver switch into the forend, though only one of the two options can be used: Light and laser cannot be on simultaneously. Muzzle brake, chokes and a rifled barrel extension are also available. Received with great hopes, the UTS-15 proved better suited to science fiction movies than to combat use.

The UTS-15

The first generation UTS-15 proved rather fragile, with the forend breaking off at times leaving the user with a shotgun and no way to unload it. The mechanism for alternating the magazine tubes took a good deal of effort to run, making pumping more work than usual. And, probably most significantly, the magazines could not be topped off until empty. The loading process was unusual, requiring manually locking the magazine follower forward and then pushing shells in. Once the magazine was full, the user would close the dust cover, and the whole shell stack would slam about 3 inches back. Sometimes, that happened with the cover open and hurt the user’s fingers. In theory, the cover could be re-opened with a partial shell stack inside, the top shell pushed forward, and more ammunition added, but that was not a practical proposition. On the plus side, the entire action could be accessed by lifting the top cover over the receiver in case of a jam. Subsequent revisions of UTS-15 made it more robust and reliable but could not address the odd manual of arms. Initially, it sold well on the strength of specifications and martial appearance. A trickle of sales continues, but I wouldn’t rate this design as a success.

The XTR-12

The next 12-gauge shotgun from UTAS was the exact opposite: a box-fed semiauto based on the all-American AR-10 lower receiver. A streamlined, reliable weapon with a completely conventional manual of arms, the UTAS XTR-12 is one of the best fighting shotguns ever made. It solves most of the usual complaints about shotguns—hefty kick and slow reloads. The expected recoil of a full-power buck or slug is tamed by a short-stroke piston gas system and linear recoil buffer. Instead of single loading, slow and prone to fumbling, 5- and 10-round box magazines latch straight up the flared magazine well.

The manual of arms matches the AR-10 and the AR-15. A competition barrel accepting Benelli-style chokes—including rifled inserts—is available. Already accurate as a smoothbore and augmented with a rifled choke, the XTR-12 using full caliber Brenneke or DDupleks slugs can keep up with most 45-70 rifles. The AR-10-compatible UTAS lower accepts any DPMS-pattern AR-10 uppers for an even longer reach, though a lighter trigger would be a recommended upgrade going past 200 yards. In my experience, XTR-12 has been unfailingly reliable with every type of ammunition and comfortable even with magnum loads. It even feeds 23/4 or 3-inch shells from the same magazine. Between high reliability, low recoil and familiar manual of arms, UTAS hit a real home run with this model.

The Hatfield Brand

Both of UTAS shotguns sold for around $1,000 when they first came out, now perhaps they sell for $100 less. The price neglected the more populous entry-level segment of the market, so UTAS introduced the Hatfield brand. Named after the UTAS marketing director and sold mainly through discount retailers, Hatfield provides functionality without thrills. That said, the guns still come with nice hardwood stocks and a modicum of decorative trade dress. Four main models are offered, from the simplest break-open single shots, to over and under, to pumps and finally a somewhat unusual short-stroke, gas-operated autoloader in hunting and tactical configurations.

Going by such easily remembered model designations as USH410BY SGL 410, Hatfield shotguns are meant to deliver functionality at a decent price point. At the bottom of the line-up, single-shot break open models come with a useful feature: a hollow forend. Once broken open, the front of the action can swivel 150 degrees to fit into that hollow for a very compact storage without disassembly. The barrel opens just enough for loading and stays in place when the action hinge is new and stiff, but there’s no detent for the loading position. When broken open, the action would likely allow the barrel to point straight down. Break-open triggers are fairly heavy at 8 to 9 pounds, and the manually cocked external hammer is heavier still, making these better for adults than for kids. The guns come with a recoil pad, but their light weight makes the recoil of 20- and 12-gauge variants rather brisk. That can be mitigated with the use of Aguila Minishells®, which give a 410-like recoil with the shorter full-bore shot stack. The fit and finish are no-frills but entirely adequate. At $120 retail, these lightweight scatterguns are a fair way of getting into shotgun hunting.

Over and Under

Over and under (O/U) shotguns rise to a whole other level of performance. These extractor designs are also a bit stiff when new but come with excellent triggers and options of fancier wood and metal finish or all-weather Cerakote. In the low $300s, retail, they are quite a deal compared to even entry-level options from other brands. Heavier and equipped with more effective recoil pads, they are comfortable even with full-power slugs or buck in 12 gauge. Shooting the .410 and the 20 gauge is like diving into a popcorn bucket; before you know it, a whole case of birdshot is gone. Set up with fiber optic beads on textured ribs, Hatfield O/U proved ergonomic and handy. The safety is a slider permitting top or bottom barrel selection.

Pump Action

Next up, the Hatfield pump-action line is represented by two looks, hunting and tactical. The hunting guns come with nice wood, shiny metal and bead sights, looking very nice for under $200. The internal finish is very good on all moving parts, but outright rough wherever parts fit isn’t relevant. That doesn’t affect performance but makes reassembly a little more difficult until one learns where to just push on the bolt and the action bars to get them into the receiver. The quality of bores is illustrated by slug groups in the 1-inch range at 20 yards with cheap Turkish ammunition and bead sight. All pump and semiauto Hatfields have 5+1 capacity. A slightly wider loading port on the 12 gauge would have been nice, being just right on the .410 and 20-gauge guns. Functionally, these ran pretty much the same as any other pump—simply and reliably.

Testing the Tactical Model

My friend and I put quite a bit of ammunition through the tactical version of this model set up with a synthetic pistol grip stock and a full-length ventilated aluminum heat shield with Picatinny rail on top. While the barrel has a front sight blade, it’s not visible to the shooter. The gun can be set up with AR-height iron sights or a red dot, the latter being more useful for moving targets. The heat shield isn’t my favorite; the first range session came to a halt because the red dot fell off of the gun. A closer look showed that the Picatinny rail teeth rounded off from recoil! The sight was reinstalled further forward, no problems since. The rail is easily user-replaceable, but I have not bothered to install the spare yet since the original one held up for the thousand or so shells fired through that gun since. We also discovered that screws holding the shield in place loosen over time, corrupting the sight alignment. Blue Loctite® fixed that, rendering the shotgun fit for defensive duty. The telescoping AR-style stock is well-padded and comfortable. For some reason, it comes equipped with a completely unnecessary cheek riser, easily removable to get a better sight picture. The tactical variants retail in the low $300s.

Hunting Hatfields

Semiauto Hatfields likewise come in hunting and defensive configurations. Based loosely on the Benelli pattern, they use short-stroke gas operation rather than the more common long stroke. The loading is different from the familiar American pattern. Closing the bolt on a directly loaded shell is done by pressing a button on the side of the receiver, not by tugging on the bolt handle. Release a shell from the magazine with a tab near the trigger guard. When fired, the trigger release also pops that tab, but it has to be pressed every time when cycling shells out of the magazine. This arrangement makes it easy to clear the chamber without having to dump ammunition from the tube—very sensible for hunting though a bit more complicated for defense. On the plus side for defense, this also permits a very rapid switchover to different ammo types, such as a slug with the tube still holding buckshot. Functionality has been impressively flawless even with lower powered ammunition, though full-strength shells are recommended. The 12 gauge also comes with a second piston for 3-inch magnum shells. Fit and finish are again adequate, with well-fitted metal and quality wood. Laser checkering is functional but won’t win beauty pageants. Assembly and disassembly were easier than with pumps, thanks to the smoother internal finish. The semiauto tactical variant has none of the heat shield issues of the pump, probably thanks to reduced intensity of recoil delivered by autoloading.

Final Thoughts

At the range, several of these shotguns became crowd-pleasers, especially the over and under .410 and 12 gauge. The 12- and 20-gauge autoloaders likewise gathered their share of fans, and the pump became our go-to trainer weapon. All in all, UTAS fills two niches well—the budget offerings with Hatfield and the no-compromise fighting performance of the UTAS XTR-12.

The “Carmel,” named after Mount Carmel which is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel next to Haifa, was unveiled to the public in April 2019 at the LAAD Defence & Security trade show in Rio de Janeiro, catching many people by surprise. I was very excited to see this new rifle platform, so much so that I flew to Israel to try it out.

There seems to be a trend with various manufacturers around the world to have new and common features such as fully adjustable folding stocks, fully ambidextrous controls, non-reciprocating charging handles, etc. This is likely to be driven by requirements from government contracts. The Galil ACE®, while it has proved itself over the years, does not meet all these new requirements. Thus, a new rifle design was born.

However, instead of using either an aluminum upper with a polymer lower receiver like the FN Scar, CZ Bren 2 or HK433, IWI has chosen to go with a full external polymer shell with internal aluminum reinforcements.

Features

The Carmel is short-stroke, gas-piston-driven with three adjustable gas settings: normal, adverse and suppressed. The suppressed setting is necessary due to the ever-increasing use of suppressors in various Special Forces units worldwide. The gas settings can easily be adjusted on the exposed part of the gas block using the tip of a bullet just like on the Tavor 7.

Various barrel lengths are available, 10.5 inches, 12 inches, 14.5 inches and 16 inches. The rate of fire is 850 rounds per minute which makes this rifle controllable even under full-auto fire. As with all IWI products, the barrels are cold-hammer forged.

Accuracy is rated at 1.5MOA using quality ammunition.

On the handguard, hidden under polymer panels, are polymer Picatinny rails at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock. The panels can be unlocked and removed by pressing the tab with your finger similar to the X95. The handguard feels slightly large, but the operator can remove the rail panels and install slimmer rail covers if needed. On the left side of the handguard hides a small lever that can be unlocked with a tip of a bullet for the quick-change barrel.

One of the unique features is the non-reciprocating charging handle. Instead of being a removable handle for switching from left to right and vice versa like the Tavor 7 and HK433, once set in the middle position, it can simply be pushed to the opposite side. This is even simpler than the Beretta ARX-160 design which requires the operator to flip the charging handle over to the other side.

If you are an AR-15 user, you will be right at home with the control. Everything is ambidextrous including the bolt hold-open and bolt release which are paddles (instead of a lever, such as on the HK416 A5) on the right side. The Carmel has a 90-degree safety with a shorter throw from semi- to full-auto.

The folding, fully adjustable stock is intuitive and easy to use. There is a small tab at the rear to adjust the length of pull from its six positions. Shooting with just a shirt (no body armor), I find setting 2 or 3 to be quite comfortable. The cheek can also be raised to three different positions by pressing the two tabs on the left and right sides at the same time. The lowest setting at 1 works perfectly with the Mepro Foresight optic. The rifle can be fired with the stock folded.

The stock folding latch is large and looks to be designed for abuse. With the stock folded, it unveils another latch that unlocks, and the bolt carrier group, together with the captive dual recoil spring, comes out for field-strip and cleaning.

How Does It Shoot?

The author’s first impression of picking up the Carmel is the almost upright pistol grip. This makes holding the rifle very comfortable without adding strain to the shooter’s wrist. The grip, along with the trigger guard, is part of the lower receiver and cannot be switched out. For the author’s medium-sized hands, there’s no need to change this.

The rifle feels light at 3.3kg (7.27 pounds) without the magazine and is equipped with the 10.5-inch barrel. That is slightly lighter than a Micro Tavor X95 with a 13-inch barrel at 7.5 pounds.

The trigger feels good on initial take-up but becomes lighter as it’s squeezed and breaks light and clean. It’s certainly a very good service rifle trigger at around 6 to 6.5 pounds with a positive and short reset compared to most MIL-SPEC triggers.

The long polymer cheek piece provides comfortable shooting from standing to prone positions, and a large, angled recoil pad offers great support on the shoulder. I was told to use a C-clamp-style grip with my left hand right up to the end of the handguard where it angles down to the gas block adjustment knob. I was able to do a 30-round, full-auto mag dump at 15m toward a human-size steel target with ease. Impressive!

Overall, with over 80 years of experience in making automatic weapons, it is not surprising at all that IWI knows how to make the Carmel rifle tick like a precision Swiss watch.

No Commercial Version in Sight

IWI does not have information on when a semi-automatic only, civilian-legal version will be available. It’s safe to say it will be quite some time before we will see it. Just like the HK433, it is first and foremost catered to the LE and military markets. Deliveries of the Carmel have already begun, but IWI is mum about to whom or where these rifles are going.

Mepro Foresight

Representatives from Meprolight, an Israeli optics company also under the SK Group, were present to show a hardware-finalized version of the new Mepro Foresight. First unveiled at SHOT Show in January 2019, the Mepro Foresight is an augmented weapon sight that features multiple reticle options, compass, leveler and shot counter (to be available later via a firmware update) as well as built-in lithium battery with USB charging. It also features Bluetooth, which, when connected to the Mepro Foresight app on your smartphone, offers up to 10 gun profiles that store the zero of the optic and other settings.

The optic is non-magnified at 1x, but it is compatible with Meprolight’s MX3 series of 3x magnifiers.

The display is amber in color, with a hint of purple tint on the glass to enhance visibility as well as battery life. Battery life will get the most criticism here, rated for only 2 days. But how long does your smartphone last with one charge? The idea is you can charge it using your phone or a battery pack that you may be already carrying for charging your phone. It does have a low-power mode that automatically engages when the battery is low and disables all other on-screen functions except the reticle. The Android app will be available first, followed by the iOS version. At the time of writing, the Android app is in its final phase of testing.

Pressing the up/down arrows cycles through the five preset reticle options, from a simple circle dot, circle with a horizontal line crossing through the dot, circle with a line pointing up to the dot, circle with a cross, to a circle with a “T.” I was told that custom reticles can be made by the user and uploaded to the sight using the phone app.

This is the author’s first time using this sight mounted to a rifle in an outdoor setting. The objective is large and unobtrusive, similar to the Mepro M5 electro-optical red dot sight which is standard issue on X95 rifles for the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). The experience can only be described as being in a video game. The compass and leveler shown on the upper left and left display area are sensitive to small movements, and they can be disabled in the menu setting if the operator finds the display to be too cluttered with information. There’s a battery icon showing the battery percentage level on the upper right corner as well.

Conclusion

This rifle is part of a revamp of IWI’s product line starting with the Masada 9mm striker-fired polymer pistol. While there are many countries, particularly in the South American and Asian regions, that have issued Galils and Tavors, the rest of the western world has a fresh set of requirements. IWI is no longer constricted to selling only Galils, Uzis, bullpups and hammer-fired pistols. They have caught on to other small arms manufacturers such as Heckler & Koch, CZ and FN that produce modernized modular assault rifles for the 21^st century and beyond.

The author sincerely thanks Shiri Katsav Begoon, Yoav Hirshberg at IWI and Amir Karo at Meprolight as well as the rest of the IWI and Meprolight team for inviting and spending a warm summer afternoon with me at the range, showing me these interesting new products.

Photos by IWI

ACRO® Mount for GLOCK® MOS® Models

TangoDown®, Inc. is excited to announce the latest addition to its lineup: the TangoDown® ACRO® Mount for GLOCK® MOS® Models (AAM-01). This mount works perfectly to install Aimpoint®’s new ACRO P-1 Reflex sight. The ACRO® mount plate won’t dent your wallet while maintaining a solid mounting platform. The AAM-01 is made from ordnance-grade steel with a Melonite finish to remain rust-free. Fits GLOCK® MOS models only. If not familiar with modifying your firearms, seek appropriate assistance from a certified GLOCK® Armorer or Gunsmith.

tangodown.com

TASMANIAN TIGER®/PROFORCE EQUIPMENT, INC. 

TT Medic Assault Pack MKII S

Tasmanian Tiger®, a leading global supplier of premium professional military, tactical and police equipment distributed exclusively to the U.S. by Proforce Equipment, Inc., announces its TT Medic Assault Pack MKII S, which received the Silver score from the National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA) Member Tested and Recommended Program. The TT Medic Assault Pack MKll S bag is a versatile carry bag for basic level tactical medical team members. The bag can be outfitted with multiple tourniquets, trauma bandages and gauze, chest seals, tape, eye shields, etc. The TT Medic Assault Pack MKll S measures six liters in volume, weighs 41 ounces with a dimension of 13x9x4 inches and is made from CORDURA® 700 den material with YKK zippers. It is available in Black, Olive and Coyote.

tasmaniantigerusa.com/proforceequipment.com

FN HERSTAL

FN® RMP Pod

The .50 cal FN® RMP Pod is an airborne fixed-forward firing solution with an ammo capacity of 250 rounds and three 2.75-inch rocket launcher tubes. The FN® RMP is fitted with an FN® M3P machine gun, featuring high rate of fire (1,100 RPM). Variants without rocket launcher tubes are also available.

fnherstal.com

SPARTAN ARMOR SYSTEMS

Concealable Level IIIA certified Wraparound Vest

Spartan Armor Systems announced its new wraparound body armor vests for tactical operators and professionals requiring additional security and safety in a lightweight, concealable carrier. The Concealable Level IIIA Certified Wraparound Vest is designed for discrete operation and protects the wearer from standard handgun rounds. The construction features a moisture-wicking, anti-microbial inner liner for all-day comfort. Featuring a side opening design, the fully adjustable shoulder straps allow the wearer to make adjustments while the carrier is being worn. A low-profile loop provides less bulk and reduces any friction against the wearer’s clothing. The Concealable IIIA wraparound vest has a 5×8-inch trauma plate for back face deformation reduction and dual 6×8-inch and 7×9-inch front plate inserts. Under the NIJ Certification Level IIIA specifications, the vest is rated to stop .44 Magnum SJHP and Special Threat Rated to stop .357SIG FMJ. Available in sizes small to XXL.

SpartanArmorSystems.com

SPARTAN ARMOR SYSTEMS

Tactical Level IIIA Wraparound Vest

The Tactical Level IIIA Wraparound Vest features a streamlined design for first responders requiring greater protection and versatility. Made from a 1000 denier material for maximum durability, the Tactical IIIA wraparound vest offers four-point adjustability with a slide closure cummerbund and shoulder straps that allow for adjusting fit while wearing the carrier. The MOLLE front pocket allows the wearer to fully customize his carrier with additional pouches or accessories. The front and back pockets will hold a Spartan Armor Systems 10×12-inch steel core plate or the composite/ceramic plates. The drag handle is heavy-duty and load-bearing. ID attachment platforms measuring 10.5×3 inches are located where they will be highly visible on the front and back of the vest. Under the NIJ Certification Level IIIA specifications, the vest is rated to stop .44 Magnum SJHP and Special Threat Rated to stop .357SIG FMJ. Available in sizes small to XXL.

SpartanArmorSystems.com

DRD Tactical

APTUS® Assault Rifle

The semiautomatic APTUS Assault Rifle features DRD’s patented internal recoil system and quick-change barrel weapon systems in .556 and .300BLK. The patented internal recoil system eliminates the standard buffer tube/spring associated with most .556/.300BLK rifles allowing the rifle to be fired with the Magpul stock folded. The rail is 7-inch, 10-inch and 15-inch M-Lok compatible with full-length MIL-STD 1913 Rail at 12 o’clock. The rifle has a left-side non-reciprocating/folding charging handle and can be assembled in less than 60 seconds without the use of any tools.

drdtactical.com

Black Hills

HoneyBadger™.40 S&W Design

The Black Hills Ammunition’s HoneyBadger™ ammunition line gets even more ferocious, with a new offering in .40 S&W caliber. The new load features a futuristic looking but very effective 115-grain bullet at an impressive 1325 fps. Normally experienced shooters, while impressed by the high velocity, might be cautious about the lighter weight bullet, fearing over-expansion and under-penetration. That is definitely not the case here. The solid copper, fluted, sharp-edged design efficiently cuts efficiently through barriers and reliably penetrates to 18 inches in 10% ballistic gelatin with no loss of weight. Gelatin testing shows this combination outperforms conventional hollow-point bullets, not only in terms of velocity, penetration and weight retention (100%), but it provides superior temporary cavity diameters of 3 inches to 3.75 inches. The profile and solid copper design assures flawless feeding.

black-hills.com

SKB Cases

3i-1006-SP iSeries Custom Single Pistol Case

SKB’s new iSeries 1006 Custom Single Pistol Case is waterproof, MIL-SPEC and features a form-cut, foam interior designed to fit a single pistol and accessories. Adjustable high density foam plugs provide a custom fit for a variety of pistol makes and models (up to 25 different styles tested), and an added accessory slot will accommodate an extra magazine or other gear. Like all SKB iSeries cases, the 3i-1006-SP is made in the U.S. and comes standard with an unconditional lifetime warranty.

skbcases.com

SPYDERCO

Dragonfly 2 Emerson Opener

One of the tradeoffs of compact knives is that they are somewhat more challenging to deploy one-handed. The new Dragonfly 2 Emerson Opener solves that problem by enhancing the popular Dragonfly 2 Lightweight with an Emerson Opener—an integral hook that snags the top of the pocket to automatically open the blade as the knife is drawn. Sporting a distinctive gray FRN handle with non-slip, bi-directional texturing, this high-speed version of the Dragonfly 2 proudly includes all the other defining features of this popular model.

spyderco.com

ALIEN GEAR

Rapid Force Duty Holster

Alien Gear Holsters, the top-selling and most trusted brand for civilian everyday carry, continues to innovate with a thoroughly tested holster, designed specifically for police and military applications. Incorporating valuable feedback from law enforcement, military and Special Operations personnel along with countless hours of research and development, Alien Gear has developed the Rapid Force Duty holster featuring GMR (Gross Motor Response)™ Technology. The holster is easy to draw, hard for the bad guys to defeat and light years ahead of the competition.

aliengearholsters.com

In the mid-1980s, the Soviet Union was engaged in a silent battle. Organized crime and terrorist cells had adopted body armor use alongside its growing use by conventional fighting forces. Terrorist threats were quickly spreading from the Middle East during the Afghan War and affecting urban areas. These changes contributed to the ever-growing need for body-armor-defeating weaponry paired with a diminished sound signature, packaged in both a sniper rifle and an assault rifle. The Soviet Union’s answer in 1987 was the VSS Vintorez (Special Sniper rifle) and the assault variant, the AS Val (Special Automatic rifle). Both designs were the creation of Pyotr Serdyukov at the Central Research Institute of Precision engineering (TsNIITochMash) in Klimovsk. The need for such a weapon arose in the 1970s, and in 1972, the Soviet command established a special development group at TsNIITochMash. Among the elite selected, the Baku native Serdyukov, an alumnus of the Tula Polytechnic Institute, was chosen to run the VSS Vintorez project. Serdyukov came to Klimovsk in 1969 upon graduation and quickly became known as a gun smith with proclivities for design. In total, he would create 14 designs at TsNIITochMash, but the AS Val and VSS Vintorez are notably his most famous. When asked what his favorite weapon design is during an interview with Russian media, he responded, “It is not right to have a favorite of anything that kills.” The VAL and VSS would draw first blood in the Chechen conflicts of the tumultuous 1990s.

Armor-Defeating Cartridge

One the most distinguishing features of this weapon is the ammunition; the 9×39 cartridge also born in the late 1980s in Klimovsk. TsNIITochMash designed the cartridge to meet Spetsnaz requirements issued from the Soviet Ministry of Defense in the prior decade. The round should be for subsonic special-purpose, intermediate ranged weapons with improved penetration and stopping power against armored targets. Testing at the KSPZ Klimovsk Specialized Ammunition Plant yielded a muzzle velocity of 925 to 958 feet per second with the 250- to 260-grain SP-5 and SP-6 projectiles (SP-Special Cartridge).

The designers created the improved subsonic ammunition based on the 7.62×39 case, necked up to 9mm. To achieve stability at subsonic velocity, they were loaded with heavier projectiles. The SP-5 was loaded with standard “ball” rounds with a lead core and was intended for accurate sniper work out to 300 to 400 meters. The SP-6 cartridge featured an armor-piercing projectile with a machine-hardened steel core. This round could defeat all common levels of body armor up to 300-400 meters. Some reports suggest the round has successfully defeated body armor out to 500 meters, though this is outside the design parameters and has little official documentation. In current Russian deployment, the round is used against a target no more than 300 meters to give sufficient accuracy and ballistic performance.

Despite meeting the Spetsnaz technical requirement, the 9×39 came at a prohibitive price, which at times restricted availability and live-fire training for some less specialized units. Naturally, these problems did not affect training and deployment of the cartridge in the hands of the FSB. However, TsNIITochMash attempted to economize production of the 9×39 AP (Armored Piercing) cartridge with a new version designated the PAB-9. This cartridge featured projectiles with a stamped steel core, instead of a machined steel core as in the SP-6. The result was unsatisfactory accuracy and performance, and the PAB-9 was officially withdrawn from service. It does appear out of storage from security agencies from time to time, and some sales to foreign groups. The trajectory of a subsonic bullet is anything but flat, so an operator must know dopes calibrated to a 9×39 calibrated optic, such as the PSO-1-1 and the PSO-1M2-1.

Clones

Increased attraction to Russian firearms in the last few years comes from the more publicized use by Russian Special Operations and Airborne units in the Chechen conflicts, Georgia, Ukraine and Syria. Slagga Manufacturing, LLC, out of Connecticut is planning to develop a clone of the VSS with the AS Val, and SR-3M options are also planned to share the same receiver.

Slagga Manufacturing states that they are “still experimenting with materials,” though the receiver and most components will most likely be from 4140 steel. The stock will be plywood, though a walnut option will be available. The receiver will be milled with welded receiver rails. The bolt carrier will most likely be cast to accommodate the internal cam grooves. However, Slagga Manufacturing has “been playing with the idea of DMLS (Direct Metal Laser Sintering).” Slagga Manufacturing plans to start with the 9×39; however, there are plans to construct versions in 7.62×39 and .300BLK. After heat treatment, the majority of parts will be Cerakoted. All mechanical parts will be machined and cast oversized slightly, then individually fitted to ensure perfect tolerances. The weapon will be a 1:1 clone with the exception of the auto selector. The weapon will have a quick-detach suppressor and stock for easy take down, and the side receiver rail will be compatible with SVD optics. Magazines for 10 and 20 rounds will be available.

AS Val Rifle

The AS Val is nearly identical to its sibling, the VSS. The discernible difference is the folding stock. The AS Val is an integrally suppressed, gas-operated, select-fire rifle, operating with a long-stroke gas piston. The weapon is locked using a rotating bolt with six locking lugs. The AS Val has a floating hammer and features a cross-bolt-type fire selector switch located in the trigger guard behind the trigger. The weapon has a right-handed fixed charging handle and an AK-style safety. As the weapon is integrally suppressed, the barrel extends to 12cm long; the porting consists of six rows of nine holes spiraling along the rifling grooves. The twist rate is 1:8.3 inches. Each port is approximately 2mm in diameter. These ports further reduce velocity before the projectile enters the suppressor baffles, producing a muzzle velocity of 920 to 960 feet per second. Though designed at TsNIITochMash, production began at the Tula Arms Plant (Tulsky Oruzheiny Zavod or TOZ).

In Russian military service, “specialized weapons” have lower acceptable requirements for testing. Operators have reported that the VSS stops functioning if submerged in water. The waterlogged firing pin channel provides resistance against the hammer. The reliability of the VSS is measurably lower than the Kalashnikov assault rifle and therefore has limited mission parameters. However, within those parameters, the AS Val and VSS have carved a niche that has allowed them to survive in the Russian battle space for years to come.

Optical borescopes have existed for years, but they are very expensive. With the miniaturization of digital cameras, along with the rapidly dropping prices of same, it is no surprise that a digital version has appeared.

This is actually an improved version of a borescope introduced several years ago. Lyman felt it could increase the clarity and resolution with the new version. It was hoped the new Borecam would be unveiled at the 2018 SHOT Show, but it was not ready at that point. It was eventually released around mid-year.

Using the Borecam is very straightforward. The 20-inch-long wand contains a miniature camera at the end along with an angled mirror and a tiny LED light. The mirror is set at 45 degrees to allow the camera to view the barrel wall. The light can be adjusted for six levels of brightness. Personally, this author prefers the maximum setting, so the lesser settings don’t get used.

The wand connects to the display monitor by way of a cord with a typical mini-USB connection. The display monitor is powered by a small transformer power adapter, also connected by a mini-USB cord. The transformer comes with several types of wall outlet plug-ins, for those who travel to exotic locations.

The camera has a very close focus, so it needs to be almost in contact with the barrel surface being examined. This makes perfect sense, as when one views a small diameter barrel (.20-caliber minimum), the camera is at the correct distance. However, when viewing a much larger bore, the user must position the wand to be in close proximity to the surface he wishes to view. This author taped a small ball of paper to the backside of the wand, in order to keep the wand mirror in position.

I was curious to see how much area a typical photo captured, so I laid the wand on a metric tape measure. It captured just over 3mm (1/8-inch) of the tape measure. I suspect that if it were a higher magnification, it would become a chore to use. By slowly creeping the wand down the barrel, I was able to get a good feel on the bore’s condition. The wand has a ruler scale printed on it to allow you to note a particular area for further study. As well, the handle has a line printed on it that notes the lens location. A sliding plastic cone helps position the lens at a particular distance from the end of the barrel.

While an optical borescope still beats a digital one in terms of clarity, the digital type wins on cost, as well as on the ability to take and record photographs. The monitor has a built-in SD card slot, allowing photos to be saved and transferred to a computer. The package comes with a 128MB SD card, which can hold approximately 3,600 images. (I didn’t think 128MB cards were still available. A current 32 GB card should hold close to a million images!)

Something that I wish Lyman included, but did not, is a lesson on how to read the images. A few color photos, along with an explanation on what to look for regarding machining marks, copper fouling, powder residue, throat erosion, heat cracking (also called craze cracking), etc., would be most welcome.

One word of warning for anyone who has not viewed his or her own barrels before: You will probably be shocked to see what your bore actually looks like! I knew the bore of my SVT-40 was dark from firing corrosive primed ammo decades ago, but this author was surprised to see the extent of the pitting. With a newer rifle, corrosive ammo wasn’t an issue, but copper fouling was. I have not fired many rounds through it, but the copper streaks were there, to my surprise.

This unit is a useful piece of kit for an advanced shooter. It certainly isn’t mandatory, but it can alert one to copper fouling and powder residue build-up that may otherwise be missed. This author will definitely use this borescope to inspect more of his own guns soon.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

lymanproducts.com

7-Year Framework Agreement

Before Christmas 2018, a 7-year framework agreement was awarded to U.S. Ordnance according to an announcement in January 2019. The Norwegian Armed Forces will receive 1,000 new M2A2 HMGs from U.S. Ordnance. A framework agreement was signed at a ceremony at the Defense Museum at Akershus Fortress, February 7, 2019. The museum was quite an apt place to carry out the contract signing, as the new HMGs, designated “M2A2N,” replace the current 12.7mm units that were provided by the U.S. after the World War II. An upgrade (cal. 50 M2HB-QCB—designated “Mitraljøse 12.7mm NM218”) that was completed in 1999 to 2001 does not prevent the fact that the weapons have very different ages and wear. According to Chief of Defense Materiel Land Capacities Brigadier General Morten Eggen, a thorough assessment of three weapon manufacturers, including technical and operational testing, was carried out before they chose U.S. Ordnance. In addition to performance, operational reliability and price, the ability to deliver within a few months after the order was an important factor for in the choosing of U.S. Ordnance. Now, the new M2A2Ns are going to be delivered within a year at a much faster rate than what was originally thought possible. The frame agreement gives a high degree of flexibility. In total, around 1,300 M2A2Ns may be needed. Furthermore, the security of supply on spare parts, tools and other materiel for an additional period of 15 years is also included in the 7-year framework agreement.

Earlier Suppliers

As mentioned above, many of the weapons that the Norwegian Armed Forces have today were produced for the Americans during World War II. The weapons were produced at a time when the U.S. engaged as many mechanical workshops as possible to produce many weapons at a rapid pace. The M2A2Ns that are acquired now come from automated production lines with completely different tolerances and materiel quality. The weapons which are being phased out now, come from a two-digit mix of suppliers over the years. In 1999 to 2001, Belgian FN Herstal, the company that delivered the 12.7mm NM218’s QCB (Quick Change Barrel) upgrade, has been the group the Norwegian Armed Forces have dealt with as long as they delivered the equipment. Now the Norwegian Defense Materiel Agency (NDMA) has only one supplier to relate to: U.S. Ordnance, with configuration control and system responsibilities. That is important for the Norwegian Armed Forces when weapons might be in the organization for 30 to 40 years. A contract for support systems remains to be concluded, so that the actual fielding to the units will start in 2020. There is also a sub-project under way which may result in new thermal sights for the M2A2Ns. NDMA had also considered other solutions of the same caliber for a period but ended up with the M2 Browning design for economic reasons. To integrate a brand-new weapon system into vehicles and remote weapon stations would be far more costly than buying new variants of the M2 design.

From Open to Closed Bolt

Associated equipment must be purchased in addition to the actual weapons: integration adaptations on vehicles and weapon stations and on so-called NM152 soft mount, for example. The new M2A2Ns have a closed-bolt mechanism instead of an open-bolt mechanism and thus cannot be inserted directly onto existing NM152 soft mounts. Today’s Norwegian 12.7mm NM218s have been upgraded with an open-bolt mechanism that was designed by Vinghøg in the 1990s. This means that the bolt group is automatically hooked up to the rear position when the trigger is released. The reason for this is to avoid a round lying in a hot chamber, which occurs when a lot of automatic rounds have been fired. In the worst case, the explosive in the projectile can ignite, or the powder in the projectile cartridge ignites, then one gets what is often called “cook-off.” There are hardly any other nations that have open bolt in the M2 design; only closed bolt. If one were to continue with an open bolt, it would require a rebuild, and NDMA didn’t want to change the standard configuration, according to Major Eirik Horst, project manager for the M2A2N acquisition in NDMA—Land Capacities. Closed bolt is not a big problem. It can be solved by simple handling drills.

Description of the M2A2 (Source: U.S. Ordnance)

According to U.S. Ordnance:

The M2A2 machine gun is an air-cooled, belt-fed machine gun that fires from a closed bolt and operates on the short recoil principle with fixed headspace and timing. It’s capable of both sustained automatic and accurate single-shot fire. It can be mounted on a vehicle, boat, helicopter or other aircraft. Ammunition may be fed from either the left or right side of the gun, making it suitable for use by both infantry and in armored vehicles. The M2A2 weapon system has been tested to well over 50,000 rounds. Its single-breech lock system allows for field rebuild, eliminating the need for depot-level maintenance during its lifetime and thereby greatly reducing logistical support. U.S. Ordnance developed its M2A2 12.7mm weapon after years of experience manufacturing machine guns for the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Foreign Allies. Its M2A2 offers the proven performance of the existing M2HB machine gun but also features fixed headspace and timing. This upgrade improves the performance of the battle-proven M2HB weapon system, largely increases the safety level for operating personnel and affords barrel changing on crew-served or coaxial-mounted weapons in 10 or fewer seconds. Only one person needs to change the M2A2 barrel, thereby reducing exposure to enemy fire and quickly readying the weapon for continued operation. The U.S. Ordnance M2A2 system utilizes the standard barrel thread, which means standard M2HB barrels can be used in the A2 gun as needed, in emergencies or training. (Using the standard M2HB barrel in a QCB weapon requires removing the Barrel Support Locating Pin, then headspacing the barrel using the standard headspace and timing gage.) Using only the A2 conversion kit, an armorer at the customer location can convert an M2HB machine gun into a U.S. Ordnance M2A2 weapon system in fewer than 30 minutes, without complex tools or machines.

M2A2N Improvements

Inside the receiver there are some good technical solutions that make the weapon less maintenance-intensive at the workshop level, while for the users, it will be more reliable, have smoother recoil and have a longer lifetime than its predecessors. An important improvement on the M2A2N is the new muzzle flash damper. Today’s M2 machine guns also have an option for mounting this damper. The flash damper is primarily designed to protect the shooter because it has the advantage of emitting considerably less muzzle flash. Reduced signature means reduced risk of exposure of a heavy machine gun position—a target the enemy will prioritize taking out. The user teams that have been involved in the operative testing of the M2A2N, have expressed that it’s perhaps the best muzzle flash damper they have used. Instead of large flashes, the new damper’s muzzle flash appears more like something that can be mistaken for lighter small arms. The characteristic .50-caliber firing sound will still be there. Although the M2A2Ns that Norway has now ordered are confusingly similar to the ones John Moses Browning constructed as far back as World War I, they are in no way obsolete. It is an incredibly flexible and effective weapon against a wide range of targets, except the heaviest armored ones. It’s easy to handle. It has a high firing rate and effect on targets according to Major Eirik Horst.

The two Kalashnikov rifles represent the latest iteration of the classic design, originally adopted by the Soviet Army some 70 years ago. These rifles were recommended as potential replacements for an existing bunch of AK-type rifles in general service in the Russian military, including the 5.45mm AK-74M and older 7.62mm AKM rifles. As of early 2019, the Kalashnikov Group confirmed governmental orders for at least 150,000 of the new 5.45mm AK-12 and 7.62mm AK-15 rifles, plus an unspecified number of export orders.

Rifles from Degtyarov were recommended for adoption by Russian Special Forces, and so far no specifics are available for the possible number of rifles on order, but it is safe to assume that numbers would be much smaller than those mentioned above. However, both ZiD rifles, which differ only with cartridges they use, are sufficiently unusual in design to warrant this article.

Unusual ZiD Rifles                                                                

The most unusual and unique aspect of the A-545 and A-762 rifles is their so-called “balanced action.” Originally devised in the mid-1960s by Soviet small arms engineer Pyotr Tkachev, this system adds an additional gas piston and operating rod to otherwise more or less traditional gas-operated action. It is a common fact that the unrivalled reliability of AK-type rifles comes from, among other things, heavy bolt groups reciprocating inside receiver with significant velocity. Under normal circumstances, an AK-74 bolt group, which weighs around 500g, slams against the rear trunnion inside the receiver with terminal velocity of 3m to 4m per second. This creates significant additional recoil impulse that disrupts aiming and increases muzzle rise during full-automatic fire. An additional impulse is created when the same bolt group slams the front trunnion after chambering the next round. The simplest way to reduce shocks and vibration from these impulses is to adopt a “constant” or “soft” recoil system, similar to that used in the Utimax machine gun, where the bolt group does not hit the receiver upon its travel back. However, this simple system results in a longer receiver and decreased reliability under harsh conditions.

Tkachev’s idea was to counter and neutralize these impulses with addition of the counter-mass, moving inside the gun in a direction opposite to movement of the bolt group while having the same velocity and, if possible, mass. That way a shooter won’t experience additional recoil shocks from movement of the bolt group, and full-auto or rapid semiautomatic fire dispersion would be noticeably decreased without sacrificing power necessary to overcome dirt, powder residue or frozen grease during extensive combat.

History of Balanced-Action Assault Rifles

Starting in the late 1960s, balanced-action assault rifles were designed in parallel at two leading small arms development centers: in Izhevsk, it’s IZHMASH, and in Kovrov, it’s KMZ, Kovrov Mechanical Plant. IZHMASH produced a line of rifles designed by Mikhail Alexandrov, which started with the AL-5 and culminated in the unsuccessful AK-107. Early work in Kovrov resulted in the 5.45mm Konstantinov SA-006 assault rifle, which competed against Kalashnikov AK-74 and eventually lost trials in 1972 to 1973, as being more complicated, more expensive and having some other issues, while offering only limited improvements over the conventional 5.45mm AK and only when firing short bursts from off-hand positions.

Despite this setback, designers from Kovrov continued their work on balanced-action rifles, which resulted in the AEK-971, a 5.45mm balanced-action weapon which was extensively tested during the “Abakan” trials of the late 1980s and early 1990s and lost it again, this time to Nikonov AN-94, another unusual rifle that features an entirely different system. Undeterred, KMZ continued development of the AEK-971 until around 2006, when it passed all small arms development to another factory located in the same city, the aforementioned Degtyarov Plant, or ZiD in short. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, KMZ produced small batches of AEK-971 rifles for use by Russian police SWAT-type units, but the military remained mostly uninterested in this gun.

However, around 2012 the Russian Army initiated the R&D program that sought new and improved assault rifles, with better effectiveness, improved ergonomics and modern sight interfaces. For these trials, known as “Ratnik” (medieval Russian warrior), ZiD submitted severely modified balanced-action rifles, heavily based on the earlier AEK-971 but with redesigned receiver and stock. As said above, those rifles eventually were recommended for adoption by Russian Special Forces, and the final goal of our article is to describe these interesting rifles for western readers. In the course of tests, the A-545 rifle received an official GRAU index of 6P67, and A-762 was designated as 6P68.

It must be noted that while all descriptions below refer primarily to the current A-545 rifle, they’re also applicable to the A-762 as well, which differs only by caliber and type of ammunition used. Differences from earlier the AEK-971 rifles also are mentioned in the text, where applicable.

Assault Rifle Comparison

The A-545 assault rifle has a gas-operated, balanced action with rotating bolt locking. “Balancing” means that the gas system has two co-axial gas pistons. The primary gas piston has annual shape and is linked via the tubular operating rod to the bolt carrier and operates as usual. The second gas piston is linked to a balancing steel weight and moves in the opposite direction to the main gas piston, inside its hollow tubular body. As a result of this setup, the gas tube has a “T” shape, with the gas port located in the middle. Both pistons are synchronized through a simple gear (in early models) or two gears (in current production models). Gears are assembled into a small caret which remains stationary inside the action when the gun is fired, as it forms an integral front part of the return spring guide rod. The synchronous and opposite movement of the balancing weight eliminates all impulses except one generated by projectile and burning powder, so the rifle becomes more stable during full-auto fire and vibrates less.

Production AEK-971 rifles had side-folding plastic buttstocks, plastic forearms and fire control grips, and used standard AK/AKM or AK-74 30-round magazines (depending on the chambering). They also featured safety switch/fire mode selectors of various designs, depending on the year of manufacture and factory. The fire selector normally permitted three modes of fire: single shots, 3-round bursts and full-auto. Inner workings of the gun were accessible through a detachable top cover, made from stamped steel.

The A-545 rifle features numerous internal and external improvements over earlier AEK-971s. These include, among other things, a redesigned receiver with integrated Picatinny rail on the top and hinged pistol grip/trigger unit at the bottom. This rifle is disassembled by removing the rear end-cap from the receiver, swinging the pistol grip down and then pulling out the bolt group with recoil spring and synchronizing gear cart as a single unit. Other features include ambidextrous fire mode selector/safety levers (with positions for safe, single shots, 2-round bursts and full-auto), retractable and adjustable shoulder stock and aperture rear sight. It is interesting to note that early A-545 and A-762 rifles featured HK-style drum rear sights, while later models replaced them with more common types of tangent rear sights.

To achieve the desired weight, a set value under the “Ratnik” program requirements, the A-545 features several parts and subassemblies made from titanium alloys. It also features a diopter-type rear sight; although iron sights are seen now mostly as back-ups for red dot or electronic night sights. The barrel features a quick-removable muzzle brake/compensator which can be replaced with a tactical sound suppressor, optimized for work with standard issue, supersonic ammunition.

According to published information, the A-545 indeed offers less dispersion when firing 2-round bursts, compared to the AK-74M or AK-12. The same is applicable to the A-762 compared to the AKM or AK-15. However, in single shots, conventional Kalashnikov-type rifles proved to be more accurate; although there’s no explanation why. Overall, the Russian press quoted that the A-545 offered 10% more combat effectiveness compared to the AK-12 when used at ranges under 300m. At extended ranges, the AK-12 has a slight edge over the A-545, which is also close to 10%. When seen from outside, the A-545 appears to be more “modern,” with its plastic lower receiver, solid top with integral Picatinny rail and ambidextrous controls.

However, some of its features raise questions when the gun is actually handled. Its “HK-style” retractable stock with relatively small butt-pad, which has to be rotated 180 degrees between a retracted (combat) and fully collapsed (storage) position, is less than ideal and does not offer a good cheek-weld. Its balanced action requires more force to manually cycle the bolt, is noticeably more complicated and requires more meticulous and time-consuming maintenance when compared to AK-type rifles. Other less obvious but inherent set-backs of the balanced system are increased cyclic rate of fire, about 900 to1000 rounds per minute, and a slight loss of the muzzle velocity due to more powder gases used up to cycle dual pistons.

Conclusion

Unlike conventional designs, it is almost impossible to produce short-barreled PDW or CQB-style rifles with balanced action without significant redesign. The final, and probably most important, problem with the A-545 is its cost. It is believed that the initial unit price, quoted by the factory to the Russian Ministry of Defense, is about three to five times higher than the unit price of the new AK-12 in the same caliber. Considering that the A-545 offers only a stated 10% increase of combat effectiveness over 200% to 400% increase in price, it is not hard to see why the A-545 and A-762 were recommended only for relatively small Russian Special Forces.

Specifications

With the onset of World War II, the Swiss Army saw a need for a light tank. They purchased some Panzer 38(t) tanks from Czechoslovakia that were armed with 20mm cannons. The Swiss decided that the armament was not powerful enough, so they chose a cannon that fired the 24x138mm round–the Tb 41. Swiss company Waffenfabrik Bern built the cannon, and its design was overseen by Colonel Adolf Furrer, former director of the arms factory at Bern. Furrer had designed the Leichtes Maschinengewehr Modell 1925 (Lmg 25), a toggle-lock action light machine gun, in the 1920s, and he patterned the Tb 41 after that weapon. The action was sometimes referred to as a “Luger” or “Maxim” action; however, it was quite a bit different. His action consists of three arms, as opposed to the Luger’s two. These arms were interconnected by rotating pivots. Recoil would drive the bolt backwards, folding the arms against the recoil spring. The spring would drive the arms forward, moving the bolt into the breech.

It was later decided that the Tb 41 could be used against light armor and lightly protected trucks, so it was modified for use by the infantry. The infantry weapon was fed by a six-round magazine that inserted on the right side, with ejection on the left. When the sixth round was chambered, the magazine was automatically ejected. When the last round fired, the bolt locked open so that a fresh magazine could be immediately inserted. Some Tb 41 guns were installed on tanks, and the gun was rotated 90 degrees so it could be fed from the top. Some were mounted on a tripod and used in fortified positions.

The Tb 41 was designed as a semiautomatic to enable it to put a lot of rounds downrange in a short time. The thinking was that an enemy tank could be disabled if it were hit enough times by the 24mm bullets. As the War progressed, and heavier, better armed tanks were developed, the Tb 41 was relegated to use against light vehicle and armored cars.

It took seven men to operate the Tb 41. Ammo loadout was normally 160 rounds of which 40 were explosive, and the rest were armor-piercing. When used in the field, the gun was transported on a single-axle, wheeled cart by anything from a bicycle to a car. It could even be moved by two soldiers if the need arose. The wheeled cart could be turned into a mount by removing the wheels and rotating the axles into an upright position.

It was possible to remove the gun from its mount and fire it simply by laying it on the ground. This author imagines recoil was somewhat interesting. It did have a rather sophisticated muzzle brake that consisted of eight rings held in a sleeve. Five of the rings had grooves to direct the combustion gas out to the side and rear. The remaining three rings had no gas grooves. By changing the rings, recoil and weapon function could be altered.

Sights were either iron sights similar to the ones found on a Schmidt–Rubin rifle or a 2.2x periscope-shaped optic. The range was said to be up to 1500 yards, but 300 yards is much more likely. Two types of ammunition were available: the armor-piercing Pz-G.V. and the explosive St-G.

The Tankbüchse 41 was the Swiss Army’s first mass anti-tank weapon; although the Tb 41 was never used in combat. Technically, the Tankbüchse 41 was an intermediate anti-tank weapon, but it was not an actual full-on, anti-tank cannon.

24x138mm, Ammunition

The armor-piercing 24mm Pz-G.V. and explosive St-G were created for the new anti-tank rifle. Both of these shells weighed 225g (3,500 grains); the full rounds weighed 460g and were 210mm long. The first shell was painted gray, and the second shell was painted yellow. The explosive shell was equipped with an impact fuse. There was also a training 24mm U-G shell, which weighed 225g and had a delayed fuse and a smaller load of explosives. The training shell was painted black. The velocity was 2,900 fps, and the shell could penetrate 30mm of armor plate at 200m and a 30-degree impact angle.