Military camp protection has been an issue since the Roman era.  In the 1970s, the Vietnam War showed how much camps were at risk, especially in a jungle environment.  Besides direct assaults with infantry, the camps were submitted to daily mortar shelling, a threat that remains unchanged today, with the addition of direct sniper fire.  Surveillance, physical protection and effectors capable of neutralising the threat are the main elements required to protect a camp.

Here with the .50 cal M2HB with BFA – Blank Firing Attachment. (Courtesy of Rune Johannessen, Vice President, Business Development, the Americas Kongsberg Protech Systems USA)

Expertise from Norway
Numerous incidents in recent years have made it clear that bases and objects of the armed forces in the areas of application are vulnerable.  The number of recent incidents has clearly demonstrated security vulnerabilities.  Kongsberg offers a unique solution for the protection of deployed personnel.  Kongsberg has developed a weapon station named Containerized Weapon Station (CWS) for stationary use next to military camps, military bases, outposts, airbases, port facilities, or similar facilities.  This system is based on the widespread and standardized remote controlled weapon station, named Protector (or CROWS “Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station,” for the U.S. armed forces) and used in a variety of military vehicles.  With more than 16,000 systems sold worldwide, more than 25 million hours of operation and over 15 million hours in combat. The Protector has been selected or is already in service by 17 nations.

Kongsberg has developed a Containerized Weapon Station (CWS) that is specifically designed to protect military bases and outposts.  With this concept, CWS, the Protector system is used in an important new way.

Camp Marmal (CM) is the largest base of the Bundeswehr outside of Germany. It is located in proximity to Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan. The photo shows the Norwegian section of the camp. (Erebino)

Unmanned Sentry with Remote Controlled Containerized Weapon Station
The CWS has cameras that give a full 360 degrees view, and can see through the darkness.  Equipped with non-lethal weapons it can stop suspicious vehicles at a safe distance or deliver a hail of deadly standard rounds if necessary.  The time where soldiers must stand guard tower duty may soon be over.

One of the major challenges for the allied forces in Afghanistan is that they use a lot of personnel to secure their own bases.  In the major camps there are often hundreds of soldiers who have these guard duties as their only task.  This weapon system can reduce the number of troops while increasing safety and protection of the soldiers.

The graphic shows how the weapon stations can be set in the corners of an outpost to provide 360-degree protection. (Illustration: Kongsberg Protech Systems)

The CWS consists of a weapon station that is located on a mast lowered in a protective container.  The CWS can be used with the entire spectrum of Protector weapon station systems with weapons from 7.62mm MG, 12.7mm Browning M2 to 40mm Automatic Grenade Launchers.  From the outside it does not differ in appearance from all the other shipping containers outside the military base.  But appearances are deceptive.  With the push of a button, the roof opens and a weapons station rises several feet in the air.  With this concept, the weapons station is used in a new way.

What is new is that the CWS is controlled via fiber optics – making the user located in a protected position up to several kilometers away and able to control the weapon station.  This provides capabilities to monitor, engage and combat potential threats from a protected position.  Since the soldier himself is not in danger, he can take the time to properly identify targets.  Outside the camp fence, the situation is often unclear with civilians who live and work in the area.  With its advanced optics it is possible to see the difference between a tool and a weapon at distances hundreds of yards away.  This would be impossible with the naked eye.

For guarding the camp the Kongsberg Protech Systems engineers have developed a concept for mobile watchtowers in containers. With the push of a button, the roof opens and the weapon station rises several feet in the air. Here with 7.62mm MG. (Courtesy of Rune Johannessen, Vice President, Business Development, the Americas Kongsberg Protech Systems USA)

The system is self-powered, either in the form of an aggregate unit or solar panels.  The control unit is small enough to fit into a suitcase and control the weapons station that can be armed with everything from light machine guns to automatic grenade launchers and Javelin missiles.  However, lethal force is not the only available remedy.  The weapon station can be equipped with lasers or bright lights that temporarily blind people.  Other non-lethal weapons are acoustic or flash-bang grenades.  In this way, the CWS can also be used to guard embassies, quay structures or placed onboard cargo ships.

More weapons stations can be set up in the corners of a base and thus provide area control in all directions.  The sensors can help detect and defeat threats at long range.  The development of CWS was very fast as it took only eleven months until the prototype was finished.

Almost lost in a sea of plastic-fantastic new-wave “museums of idea, not objects” resplendent in touch-screens and 3D displays, but lacking substance and exhibits, in Germany there is a besieged island of a good, old time museum close to bursting its seams with the most fascinating hardware; a variety and quality of which is getting harder and harder to find.

If the winds of good fortune should ever sweep you across the pond to Europe, and you love arms of all types, make sure you got a spare day to spend in beautiful and ancient (it used to be a Roman Legions garrison city) Koblenz, a city at the junction of the Rheine and Mosel rivers, in the state of Rhein-Pfalz, about 100 km (60 miles) northwest of Frankfurt/Main.

Koblenz is the seat of the German Bundeswehr logistics service, known formerly as the BWB (Federal Office of Military Technology and Procurement), nowadays re-christened into a real mouthful of an acronym: BAAINBw (standing for Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support).  Never mind the name, in 1962 the office started a study collection of war materiel, collecting and researching German and foreign military hardware, teaching Bundeswehr soldiers the ins and outs of foreign (Warsaw Pact) equipment – and of course comparing German equipment with foreign ones with an eye towards what can be copied and/or improved to make the Bundeswehr combat load and hardware better.

The first 1892 prototype of the Bergmann pistol, designed by Louis Schmeisser (father of Hugo of SMG and Sturmgewehr fame). The early repeating and automatic pistols collection of the WTS is something one has to see to believe.

Soon, historical examples started to flow in as well, and in 1982 the combined influx of old and new artifacts made the BWB collection burst at its seams with both paper-pusher’s and collection items.  Thus, a new location was found, and the WTS (Military Technology Study Collection) moved out into a freshly vacated pre-war Langemarck Barracks at Meyenerstrasse 85-87.  There at last, a fixed exhibition was organized, and with the influx of new and old artifacts, the character of the collection steadily started to change course from strictly utilitarian towards more scientific.

The Nepalese hand crank-operated Birendra (Bira) machine gun is a reverse-engineered Gardner Gun fed from a top pannier magazine. Just one of the 50+ non-automatic machine guns on display at WTS.

Though the collection was initially off limits to civilians, that changed with time and at the beginning of the new century everybody could see the collection upon inquiring by telephone 24 hours in advance to make sure the collection was open on the targeted day.  Nowadays you don’t need even that: you just get there, any day of the year, except for Easter and Christmas weeks, between 9.30 AM and 4.30 PM, pay a mere 3 Euro and you’re in.  A practical note: make sure you have and use Euro coins.  This is a minimum-maintenance museum, meaning that you don’t normally meet a single member of the staff during your entire visit and no one is breathing down your neck when you’re lusting over some arcane handgun.  There’s no cashier desk to sell tickets, no credit cards (major or otherwise) are accepted – you just go to a gate with a turnstile and a slot machine.  Deposit your three Euro in coins into the slot, and a turnstile can be pushed out of the way to admit one.  Don’t develop any stupid ideas, though – from the moment you enter the Barracks you’re under constant CCTV surveillance.

In 1970 the Rheinmetall company tried to put its foot into the German individual rifle door, then as now, firmly stocked with HK weapons. The company tried to introduce the 5.56mm weapon, and decided to make it advanced enough for the Bundeswehr to be unable to overlook it. However, they were unsuccessful because the rifle was deemed too modern – guess the plastic receiver and optically-sighted bull-pups were not yet all the rage...

The WTS is an overwhelming mega-museum.  It displays a stupefying amount of everything a soldier would ever touch during his/her stint in the military: from underwear and uniform, to mess kit, to service piece, to tanks, artillery, jet aircraft – all the way to a midget submarine.  And all this had to be crammed into the display area – even though there’s 75,000+ sq ft of it.  Practical note #2: To secure maximum viewing pleasure, one is well-advised to not have any accompanying personnel who are not inclined to truly appreciate the hardware.  Just leave said personnel at a hotel to see the city, or if your credit card would survive such extremes, at a local mall, and take a day off from your vacation.  There’s enough there for a true military technology aficionado to spend an entire day 09:30 to 16:30 at the museum without a single moment of boredom.  But people not bitten by a hardware bug would find little for entertainment, would be terribly bored, and would spoil your delightful technical vacation.

A prototype Walther G43 model chambered for the 7.9mm Kurzpatrone fed from a Sturmgewehr magazine.

The ground floor has halls with tanks, vehicles, field artillery, flak artillery, heavy artillery (up to and including Hitler’s 240mm K3 supergun), radars, searchlights, noise-locating gear, engines, helicopters, aircraft, torpedoes, sea mines, depth charges, generators, bridge-building pontoons – just about everything that’s heavy and military.  The engine collection is really fascinating, including e.g., Jumo 205 aerial counter-stroking diesel engine that powered the Junkers Ju-86 bomber, or the masterpiece of Soviet engine design, a radial maritime 503A diesel engine comprising 7 banks of 6 cylinders each, numbering 42 cylinders in all.  It is hard to imagine the shape of the crankshaft that thing needed…

The first working model of the caseless HK G11 automatic rifle.

The second floor has halls upon halls of uniforms and personal equipment.  At the time of my visit there was a very interesting temporary exhibit of soldier pocket knives from the 19th century onwards showing examples starting from pen knives through the Swiss Army Knife from its humble beginnings until present day multitool “pocket tool boxes.”

9mm Walther AP (Armeepistole), a P.38 predecessor with internal hammer. This is the semi-compact size with the shortest (3 in.) barrel.

Then there’s light and anti-tank artillery, machine guns, machine cannons, Gatlings galore, from camel-gun to the GAU-8/A, including a very interesting selection of Soviet Gatlings, both engine-driven and automatic – and they had automatic multi-barrel guns, mostly aerial, starting at 7.62mm to .50 cal. (YakB-12.7 as mounted under the front cockpit of the Hind-D helicopter gunship), to 23 and 30mm (AK-630 maritime anti-aircraft 30mm water-cooled Gatling: the 6-30 in this designation stands for 6-bbl, 30-mm).  Apparently the Soviets wanted their Gatlings independent of electric power and instead they opted for gas-operated guns.  The GShG-762 on display in WTS is actually a cross-over between the power-driven and automatic: it uses an electric motor to load belt and fire first shot – and then powder gases take over.  This was meant to be an improvement over the YakB-12.7, using electric-primed pyrotechnical propulsion cartridges to propel the gun for the first shot.  The gun was loaded with a six-shot cylinder (actually an in-line harmonica-shaped magazine) of propelling rounds, and the pilot had to use his ammo supply in six bursts – or else he was unable to shoot it all out.  So afterwards, in the smaller caliber gun, the pyro starter was replaced with an electric motor – hence the cog wheel around the barrel cluster.  At the opposite end of the spectrum the WTS has acquired one of the late 1800s Nepalese Birendra (Bira) twin-barrel pannier-fed hand-cranked guns utilizing a copy of the Gardner Gun system.

A rarely seen weapon: the HK P11 five-shot underwater pistol for combat scuba divers.

The machine gun hall houses a most comprehensive collection of machine guns.  There are regular service models, their prototypes, never adopted test pieces and more.  Things like the 100-Shiki rifle-stripper clip fed aircraft (!) gas-operated machine gun.  There are a lot of Japanese aerial armaments there, things like the Ho-301, a 1940 caseless 40mm engine cannon for fighter aircraft, the 20mm cannon series based on .50 cal. Browning design, the 92-Shiki and 98-Shiki aerial flexible guns.  From the Germans’ unique designs, you can see the TuF-MG, which is the world’s first HMG, a 13mm Maxim chambered for the T-Gewehr ammo.  There are also two Knorr-Bremse prototype MGs, as well as Krieghoff’s prototype aerial MG and Krieghoff’s prototype contender for the FG-42 paratrooper’s rifle.

Blooper Tube with a difference – a three-shot repeating China Lake variant of the M79 grenade launcher.

The third floor houses the military communications gear and an interesting exhibition of aircraft instruments, and then you get into the attic and you think you came to heaven: the attic holds a knock-out exhibition of individual small arms, from double shot-single barreled flintlocks all the way to the HK XM8 and underwater P11 pistol.

Japanese 40mm caseless aerial cannon Ho-301.

Mars pistol?  Check – and not only one, but two different models: the 1900 Webley Mars and 1906 Consortium Mars.  And Whittman’s Webley & Scott 1903 pistol for better measure.  Bergmann pistol?  Check – with at least a dozen models from the 1892 prototype of the No. 1 pistol up until the Danish 10/21 Bergmann.  A Colt Model 1900 sight-safety Parallel Ruler?  You bet – USN s/n 85.  The repeating pistols – anyone ever seen a repeating pistol?  And I don’t mean the Remington XP-100 sawed-off rifle, but 1880s and 1890s military prototype repeating pistols, mostly Austrian and German.  They have them all, Volcanics, Bittners, Laumanns, Schillings, Schoenbergers, Schulhoffs – you name it.  Trivial stuff like Broomhandles, Lugers, Tokarevs, or P38s hardly deserve a notice and a photo.

A 7.75mm Vollmer A.35/III automatic rifle: Germany’s first assault rifle of 1935.

Unfortunately, the photography conditions are the only thing that truly detracts from an otherwise 100 percent enjoyable visit at the WTS Wonderland.  The exhibits are either too cramped or set behind greasy fingered glass, which reflects either the fluorescent tube lights, or your flash, or (most times) both, and then the attic section has glass panels with security wire molded in, and they also blink in your flash.  However, if you’re not making photos, but just using your Mk I eyeball, you can see anything and everything quite well. This museum is not only an excellent value for the price of admission, but is exceptional in its variety, rarity and comprehensiveness of its collection.  For people interested in this sort of thing, there will probably be a strong urge to return at the first possible occasion.

In this reviewer’s opinion, this was not one of their better ones.  If anyone came here specifically to see small arms, their ammunition and accessories, they would be rather disappointed.  The only really new thing discovered was at the stand of Sellier & Bellot from Vlašim (since 2009 a member of the CBC/Magtech group).  First was the new service ammo IR-DIM Tracer in calibers 5.56x45mm and 7.62x51mm.  Both have tracer bullets that only a soldier equipped with a night vision device can see.  For law enforcement, S&B presented new 9x19mm Lead Free Bullet cartridges for SWAT teams, which has lower penetration and higher stopping power and rounds are less inclined to ricochet after hitting a window of a car.

In the field of small arms, nothing was shown that was really new.  That does not mean that there was nothing worth seeing or taking note of.  Traditionally excellent was the stand of Česká zbrojovka a.s., Uherský Brod, which presented its current CZ Army & Law Enforcement program comprehensive series of pistols CZ 75 SP-01 Phantom and CZ 75 P-07 Duty (still the first version here), SMG CZ Scorpion EVO 3 A1, and assault rifles CZ 805 Bren A1/A2 plus grenade launcher CZ 805 G1.  A bonus was the launch of a new book on the greatest Czechoslovak designers of small arms (highly recommended to everyone interested in famous Czechoslovak small arms, although the text is only in Czech), which took place at the CZUB stand in the presence of CZUB CEO Ing. Lubomír Kovařík.

A booth under constant siege was the stand of Meopta – optika, s. r. o., today a Czech-American company (thanks to a manufacturing and assembly branch in the USA), producer of respected precision optics including riflescopes, sniper scopes, reflex sights, night vision sights, etc.  This year Meopta celebrated their 80th anniversary, and at IDET they did it in a very attractive way – with the help of rifles of the LUVO company based on the famous M16 design and produced in Strakonice.

Other interesting items worth noting can bee seen in the accompanying photos.  But you never know.  Maybe the next show in 2015 there will be plenty of new and highly interesting news in Brno.

LEAD IMAGE + BOTH IMAGES ABOVE: Meopta, which celebrates 80 years, decided to present its scopes and sights on a rich variety of the rifles from the company LUVO Praha (Prague). The Meopta optics suited the LUVO rifles pretty well and the stand was crowded almost all the time.

As usual, the Army of the Czech Republic presented an overview of its actual infantry weapons. Especially noteworthy were two less common long arms: the M6A2 Carbine by Land Warfare Resources, Corporation in caliber 5.56x45mm NATO and the HK 417 assault rifle in caliber 7.62x51mm. In both cases, the versions used by snipers of the Czech Special Forces were displayed.

So-called ‘rimfire assault rifles’ are ubiquitous and at least one did not miss the IDET 2013 fair – it was an attractive Austrian model ISSC Model Sporting Rifle Mk 22. It was displayed in the company of one of the Kriss weapons.

Besides modern small arms, you could find many more-or-less ‘veteran’ models at the IDET 2013. Shown are some nice examples of AKM assault rifles at the extra large stand of the Excalibur Army spol. s.r.o., company, which was loaded with interesting army surplus items.

The AR-15/M16/M4 series rifle is undoubtedly the most popular rifle in the United State for all military, law enforcement and commercial markets.  It is the most versatile platform of a rifle on the face of the planet.  Another rifle has crept up into that popularity; one that was on the scrap heap of the U.S. Army for nearly 40 years.  That would be the one that started it all, the AR-10.  “Tomorrow’s Rifle Today” in the late 1950s has turned out to be today’s rifle today.  The rifle that Ordnance Corp would dismiss in the late 1950s would have its day in the late 1990s and in the new millennium would serve as the primary sniper rifle for the U.S. Special Operations Command as well as the U.S. Army, replacing M24 bolt action rifles.  But where did all this begin?

In 1953, George Sullivan gained interest from Richard Boutelle of Fairchild Engine and Aircraft for his idea of developing a small arms design firm.  Boutelle, a gun enthusiast himself, invested capital to start up this new company on 1 October 1954.  The money came from the research and development budget of Fairchild.  This company would have an impact on the history and direction of the modern battle rifle in the U.S. beyond Sullivan’s and Boutelle’s expectations.  ArmaLite Corporation was born.  The Fairchild winged Pegasus would have a circle and cross hairs superimposed as the symbol of the new corporation.  ArmaLite was envisioned to be a “think tank,” not a small arms manufacturer.  The new designs were to be made but manufactured by a dedicated manufacturing facility.

Much success in life is timing, being in the right place at the right time.  Even more so, having an individual that knows how to spot talent and grab it.  While working on a prototype rifle, George Sullivan was test firing his design at the Topanga Canyon Shooting Range outside of Los Angeles where he saw and met a young man who was doing the exact same thing.  That young man was Eugene Morrison Stoner.

Shown is a Portuguese soldier with is A.I. AR-10. The Portuguese Army was well satisfied with the performance of the AR-10 and would have procured more if A.I. would not have cut off production.

Stoner was born in Gasport, Indiana on November 11, 1922.  His family would later move to California.  In 1939, Stoner worked for Vega Aircraft and with the U.S. entering World War II Stoner would serve in the Marine Corps as an Ordnance Specialist.  At the time of his chance meeting with Sullivan, Stoner was making dental plates and in his spare time he would design advanced rifles.  Sullivan was very impressed with the rifle Stoner was testing, later known as the M5 (it evolved into the AR-3), and hired him as the Chief Design Engineer at ArmaLite.  The AR-3 was granted U.S. Patent Number 2,951,424.

Stoner was a genius; well ahead of his time particularly in the firearms industry at that time.  In fact, radical would be the proper word.  In a world of tradition that required steel and wood, young Stoner would take his experience in the state-of-the-art aircraft industry and apply that technology to firearms development.  Using aircraft grade aluminum and synthetic materials in place of the traditional wood and steel, Stoner would create the lightest battle rifle in the world.  But was the world, particularly the U.S. Ordnance Corps, ready for it?

Stoner’s new concept, the AR-10 would deviate from tradition.  First, the AR-10 would be completely inline in construction.  Meaning the barrel, bolt, bolt carrier and recoil spring and buffer were directly in line with the shooters shoulder.  This reduces traditional muzzle rise and felt recoil compared to the traditional M1/M14 rifles.  This also makes the rifle firing in fully automatic that much more controllable.  Due to no drop in the stock, the sights had to be raised so the shooter could see through them; hence the carrying handle (third prototype) was born which would become an icon for Stoner designed weapons.

The first prototype rifle had the needed raised front and rear sight and was chambered for the 7.62x63mm (30-06 Springfield) cartridge.  The cartridges were fed from a standard BAR magazine.  The stock was a tubular stock with a butt plate added to the rear.  This rifle used the same direct gas system used in Stoners AR-3 rifle which we will discuss in more detail.

Shown is the bolt carrier group of serial number 1004 after firing 409 rounds. This picture is to depict the carbon fouling on the bolt carrier group.

The second prototype added a telescope sight, which was raised up to allow the shooter’s eye to align.  Stoner added a more conventional stock to the rifle.  The pistol grip was made from the same material as the stock and hand guards.  There were no iron sights on this model.  This model also differed in that it was chambered for the 7.62x51mm cartridge that was soon to be adopted as the standard cartridge for the U.S. military.

The third prototype was far more close to the finalized AR-10.  Many new features were added and also the gas system was altered.  The first thing you notice is the carrying handle on the upper receiver containing the rear sight as well as the raised front sight that is attached to a muzzle compensator.  The bolt was designed after the Mel Johnson designed multi lug bolt.  There are seven lugs as well as the extractor.

This rifle used a unique new gas system.  Although previously used on the Swedish AG42B and the French MAS44 and MAS49/56, the new part of the system was to be a gas cut off once enough gas was used to operate the action.  This reduced recoil as well as increased the service life of the moving parts of the rifle.

When the rifle would fire, the bullet travelled down the barrel until it passed the gas port.  Gas was tapped from the barrel into the gas port and pressurized a long gas tube on the left side of the barrel.  The gas tube entered the side of the bolt carrier group.  There a piston chamber was created between the back of an internal chamber in the bolt carrier and bolt.  The gas created an internal pressure, pushing the bolt carrier to the rear.  The cam pin is rotated by the cam path in the receiver unlocking the bolt as it moves rearward.  This also acted as the cut off for the gas once the bolt begins its rearward travel venting off the unused gas.  As the bolt carrier moves rearward the fired cartridge case is extracted and ejected from the rifle once the mouth of the case clears the ejection port.  Now the spring loaded buffer returns the bolt carrier group forward with the bottom two lugs stripping off the top cartridge from the magazine, feeding and chambering the round.  Then final movement locks the bolt into the barrel extension.

Perhaps the most disastrous moment in the history of the AR-10 and if any moment defined the failure in the U.S. trial was the catastrophic barrel failure of serial number 1002. This was caused by Sullivan’s decision to use his aluminum barrels with a SS rifle sleeve. Stoner was adamantly opposed to this course of action and he was right.

This gas system eliminated several heavy parts of the traditional piston mechanism including a heavy operating rod.  Recoil was drastically eliminated due to not having the mass of an operating rod and piston slamming into the shooters shoulder.  This decrease in weight of the carrier group increased accuracy as well.  To further lessen recoil in this inline construction rifle, a muzzle compensator was added.  This made recoil with the larger 7.62x51mm caliber round smooth and easy.

The 4th prototype took on more of what we see today in the design of the AR-10/AR-15.  The rifle has two receivers, an upper and lower held on by a front pivot pin and a rear takedown pin.  The receivers were manufactured from state-of-the-art 7075 T6 aircraft aluminum forgings.  The stock and pistol grip were manufactured from foam-filled phenolic resin, which was lightweight, very strong and impervious to the elements, unlike traditional wood.  The rifle was fed from an aluminum 20-round magazine.  For strength, reinforcing ridges were pressed into the sides of the magazine giving it the “waffle” appearance.  These magazines were intended on being disposable in combat.  Due to the light weight of the magazine, soldiers would be able to carry more ammunition in preloaded magazines compared to previous rifles.

Another outstanding feature of the design and one that would certainly decrease weight was the design of a barrel extension for the multi-lug bolt to lock into.  Unlike previous designs, a large chunk of metal surrounds the chamber to contain the pressures of the chamber and afford a location for the bolt to lock into.  The AR-10 barrel extension screwed onto the rear of the chamber and focused the pressure into a small area.  U.S. Patent Number 3,027,672 was granted for the barrel extension on April 3, 1962.

The rifle was very user friendly.  With the shooting hand, the thumb actuated the selector lever and trigger finger actuated the trigger and magazine release button.  The left hand actuated the bolt catch and cocking handle located inside the carrying handle on top of the rifle.  The left hand also loaded and unloaded the magazine.

Close up view of the muzzle compensator found on the early Hollywood rifles. The end is held on by a snap ring that could be removed with the tip of a bayonet.

The rifle appeared futuristic and broke with traditions of what a military rifle was supposed to look and feel like.  Too new for some and those were often the influential people making the decisions on procurement.  Many new designs were tried to make use of new materials such as the use of aluminum barrels.  That came to no avail but shows the type of research and development going on at ArmaLite.

In late 1955, the U.S. Army got their first look at the new AR-10.  It was demonstrated to high ranking officials at the Infantry School at Fort Benning and Headquarters, Continental Army Command at Fort Monroe.  It was ArmaLite’s hope to delay the selection of the new rifle to replace the M1.  The T44 (M14) and the T48 (FAL) had been tested for quite some time and the decision was close.  Using the 4th prototype as the base, 50 rifles were handmade.  The barrels were a controversial issue within the walls of the ArmaLite shop.  Stoner had highly recommended and fought to have standard military grade steel barrels used.  Sullivan however over-ruled his recommendations and they used aluminum barrels swaged around 416 SS rifled liners.

Two of the constants that have featured in the field of U.S. military small arms for the last half-century are the AR-15 firearms family, in the form of the M16 rifle and M4 carbine, and the 5.56×45 cartridge.  Ever since the M16 and 5.56mm combination first entered service during the Vietnam War it has been a source of controversy.  It had a poor start mainly due to a change in the ammunition propellant in the process of moving from prototype to production status.  This seriously affected reliability in combat, leading to some bad headlines about guns jamming in the heat of battle.  These initial problems were soon addressed but the gun and ammunition have had their critics ever since, focused partly on the direct gas impingement operating system of the gun but mainly on the small size and power of the cartridge.  Criticism of the cartridge applies just as much to the Army’s light machine gun, the M249, which uses the same ammunition.

Both rifle and cartridge have seen many modifications and, given the conclusion in 2013 of the Army’s Individual Carbine competition without a winner, it looks as if versions of the M4 will remain in service for a long time to come.  The Army has so far shown no interest in changing the cartridge other than in modifying the bullet and loading; the original M193 gave way to the NATO-standard M855 over 30 years ago, but continued complaints about lack of effective range and erratic terminal effectiveness, combined with the Army’s wish to standardize on lead-free ammunition, led to the 2010 introduction of the M855A1 EPR (Enhanced Performance Round).  Other forces make use of different loadings including the heavy-bullet MK262 for SOCOM and the MK318 for the USMC.

Danny Mathers on the test bench.

In addition to these official developments, designers and manufacturers keep coming up with proposals for further improvements to the gun, including modifying it to use larger cartridges.  The 6.5×40 is the latest attempt to introduce a new round for the M4 platform and offers some specific benefits mainly focused on achieving extended range for military operations.

One of the strengths of the AR-15 is its versatility, making it easy to adapt the design to accommodate larger cartridges.  The main constraint is the overall length of the complete round, which must remain within the 2.26 inches (57.4 mm) of the 5.56×45 in order to avoid fundamental and costly changes to receiver/design and construction.  There are also limitations on the width of the cartridge case linked to both the width of the magazine well and the maximum chamber pressure developed by the cartridge: within the standard AR-15 external barrel dimensions, a wider cartridge means thinner chamber walls and (other things being equal) the bolt thrust will also be higher, putting more stress on the action.  Within these limitations, a very wide range of larger-caliber cartridges has been developed for the AR-15 platform, up to a maximum bullet diameter of 12.7mm in the .50 Beowulf.

The simplest type of modification is to retain the basic 5.56×45 case (adjusted in length as required), but increase the caliber to anything up to a maximum of 8.6mm as used in the straight-cased version of the .338 Whisper.  This approach has the advantages of requiring the minimum change to the gun and retaining the full capacity of the magazine.  The disadvantage is that there is no room for more propellant, in fact there may be less if the case has to be shortened to accommodate a longer bullet, so performance improvements are limited.  As a result, such cartridges are usually intended for special purposes, particularly subsonic loadings for use in suppressed weapons.  The 7.62mm caliber is by far the most popular for this purpose; the original .300 Whisper having been joined by variations on the theme, most notably the .300 AAC Blackout (300 BLK), which is virtually identical to the Whisper but SAAMI registered.  Both subsonic and supersonic loadings of these cartridges are available, but the effective range even of the supersonic loads is limited by the combination of the short, light bullets and a modest muzzle velocity.

To achieve a significant performance improvement, it is necessary to increase the diameter of the cartridge case from the 0.38 in (9.6mm) of the 5.56×45.  This is most easily achieved by adapting existing cases, so there are several steps based on available production cases.  The first step up in common use is the case for the 6.8mm Remington Special Purpose Cartridge (SPC), which measures 0.42 in (10.7mm) in diameter and was itself developed from the old .30 Remington.  Next up is the 0.44 in (11.2mm) case of the Russian 7.62×39 AK round that has since been used for a number of different cartridges, most significantly the 6.5mm Grendel.  The largest of the common case diameters is the 0.47 in (12.0mm) as used by the 7.62×51 NATO, which can trace its direct ancestry back over a century to the U.S. military .30 cartridge and has since spawned countless variations.

Left to right: 7.62mm 175gr OTM, 7.62mm 147gr FMJBT, 5.56mm 62gr FMJBT, 6.5mm Berger VLD 140gr OTM, 6.5mm Lapua 144gr FMJBT, 6.5mm Norma 120gr FMJBT, 6.8mm 115gr FMJBT.

The Origins of the 6.5×40
Mitch Shoffner of Rockingham, North Carolina, is a combat veteran who was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division 1/508 PIR in December of 1967, served with Recon in 1968 in Vietnam with the same unit, and subsequently became a weapons specialist with A Company, 6th Special Forces Group, before leaving the army and training as a teacher.  From his own experience he was aware of the limitations of the 5.56mm cartridge, and his opinion was reinforced by complaints about its combat performance in the 1990s.  After 9/11 he decided to begin work on a new cartridge that could replace the 5.56mm, a project that was given even greater relevance by more recent events in the Middle East.

The lengthy conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have both featured extensive use of small arms, with contrasting results.  The M4 carbine proved well suited to the mainly urban, short-range fighting in Iraq, but circumstances changed dramatically when the Taliban began to make their come-back in Afghanistan.  Noting the limited effective range of 5.56mm weapons, they have often chosen to attack dismounted ISAF patrols in open country from distances of 500-900 meters, using SVD rifles and PKM LMGs firing the old but powerful 7.62x54R Russian round.

The response of the U.S. Army to this has been to update and reissue to the infantry squad the old M14 rifles in 7.62×51 caliber, along with the M240 7.62mm machine guns that had previously been held back as support weapons.  The main problems these brought with them were those that had caused them to be replaced by 5.56mm weapons and ammunition in the first place: gun and ammunition weight.  These problems were exacerbated by the heavy loads that modern infantry carry, especially troublesome when operating in the rugged terrain and at the high altitudes common in parts of Afghanistan.

Mitch Shoffner’s project is focused on greatly improving the long-range performance and effectiveness of the existing 5.56mm weapons by developing a new cartridge that could fit into them, with the M4 requiring only a new barrel, bolt and magazine.  He has not been the first to try to improve the performance of the AR-15 family in this way.  The two most significant attempts from the point of view of their military potential have been the 6.8×43 Remington SPC and the 6.5mm Grendel already mentioned.

The Barnes 126.5 grain lead-free hunting bullet that performs so well in the 6.5x40. Mitch comments that a variation with a steel or tungsten rather than polymer tip could meet military requirements.

The 6.8mm SPC was the result of a joint effort between Remington and members of the U.S. Special Operations Command, working in conjunction with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit at Fort Benning, Georgia.  The project took place before the problem of the long-range engagements in Afghanistan emerged, so the priority was to develop a round that would deliver more reliable terminal effectiveness than 5.56mm at normal combat ranges.  This it does very well by all accounts but, as Mitch discovered after experimenting with the round, the relatively short, stubby bullets blunt the long-range performance.  Using the finely-pointed long-nosed bullets needed to achieve the high ballistic coefficients required would make the 6.8mm cartridge too long to fit into the AR-15 action.

In contrast, Alexander Arms designed the 6.5mm Grendel around the use of long, low-drag bullets.  To provide enough space for their long noses without exceeding the overall length limit, the case length has been held back to 1.52 inches (38.7 mm).  To compensate for its shortness the case has been made wider than the 6.8mm’s in order to hold enough propellant.  This round can provide excellent long-range performance when bullets of around 120 grains are used, although commonly quoted muzzle velocities are usually from long (24 inch) barrels.  Furthermore, the short, wide case, with little taper and a sharp shoulder, has prompted some debate about its suitability for military use in belt-fed machine guns as well as about the potential for increased stress on the M4’s action, as described earlier.

Design and Performance of the 6.5×40
The approach that Mitch Shoffner has taken with his 6.5×40 is to design a compact, long-range military cartridge that would not experience any functioning problems in magazine or belt-fed automatic weapons.  He accordingly adopted the same 0.42 inch case diameter as the 6.8mm SPC together with a case taper and a shoulder angle similar to those of the 7.62×51.  He chose the 6.5mm caliber and a case length of 1.57 inches to allow the use of long, low drag bullets within the M4 platform.

It is worth mentioning that a 6.5mm version of the Remington case was explored during the development of the SPC but 6.8mm was preferred as it was found to have superior terminal effectiveness.  However, long range was not a priority in the development of that cartridge, and the 43 mm case length meant that the 6.5mm version could only use relatively short, light bullets.  As always in cartridge design, compromises are necessary; if you emphasize one characteristic there will be penalties elsewhere.

Comparison data is shown here, all from the 14.5 inch barrel length of the M4 carbine except for the 7.62x39 of the AKM, which is from a 16 inch barrel. The JBM Trajectory ballistic calculator has been used for all of these comparisons. The 6.5mm muzzle velocities have been measured by MagnetoSpeed chronograph. The chamber pressures of the 6.5x40 are stated to be comparable with those of the Grendel and SPC.

The use of low-drag bullets means that the initial velocity penalty compared with the equivalent 7.62×51 loads gradually reduces as the range increases.  The lightest and least aerodynamic military-pattern bullet recommended for the 6.5×40 is the 120 grain Norma FMJBT.  This loading develops 97% of the velocity of the 7.62mm M80 at the muzzle and 100% at 1,000 meters when both are fired from 14.5 inch carbine barrels.  The 144 grain Lapua FMJBT performs even better at long range, with the velocity of only 90% at the muzzle rising to 106% at 1,000 m, at which distance it also retains more energy than the M80.  The optimum bullet for long-range performance in the 6.5×40 is the 140 grain Berger VLD, a match-grade target bullet, which remains supersonic to 1,000 meters even from the 14.5 inch carbine barrel – an impressive statistic given the modest initial velocity.

Mitch has sought the views of other combat veterans concerning the characteristics of his cartridge.  MSG Danny Mathers is a ten-year veteran with the Combat Materials Evaluation Element (CMEE) and a master sniper with experience of all types of weapons and combat, and was part of the early development of the M4 with the CAR15 platform. He comments: “I was immediately impressed with the power and the accuracy at 400 meters with his carbine chambered in a 6.5mm cartridge.  I later fired several of his weapons at a police range on full auto [and] I could not believe the natural control of the weapon with a standard flash suppressor.  I have no doubt that the 6.5×40 is the most logical improvement to the assault rifle.  The conversion is simply the most cost effective improvement available.”

SFC Charles Williams was a U.S. Army Special Forces sniper with the 5th in Iraq, and as a very experienced hunter has been testing the 6.5×40 in the field to evaluate its effectiveness.  He has used rifles with barrels ranging from 14.5 to 24 inches and has found the 6.5mm to be accurate and highly effective, bringing down over 20 deer and coyote.  He has tested a wide variety of bullets and found the Barnes 126.5gr LRX to be most effective.  He comments: “The round has performed extremely well in every situation.  I documented every harvested animal with wind, weather, distance, round impact site, internal organ damage, and exit site.  No animal required more than one shot to bring down.  The damage performed by the round was the same at 375 yards as it was at 3 yards.”

Mitch Shoffner and his daughter Stephanie with two of his 6.5x40 rifles. Both rifles use an ADC (Arnold Dew Custom) adjustable carbine length piston gas system, which Mitch says is a low maintenance system. Both also use Noveske HBAR Taper barrels with a SureFire adapter/flash hider. The rifle held by Mitch has a 14.5-inch barrel with a 1:7 twist. Stephi’s has a 12.5-inch barrel with a 1:8.5 twist. The stocks on both are Magpul CTR. Mitch’s rifle is fitted with a TA11 3.5x35 ACOG sight while Stephi’s has an Aimpoint M2 red dot sight. The lower and upper receivers are all Mil-Spec and Mitch has used various brands – Colt, Tri Star, DPMS, Rock River, Sun Devil, etc. Any 6.8mm Rem SPC magazines can be used; Mitch finds that PRI are the best.

What all of this means is that the 6.5×40 remains an effective cartridge out to ranges at least equal to those of the equivalent 7.62×51 loadings, while fitting into appropriately modified versions of 5.56mm weapons and saving around 30% of the 7.62mm’s ammunition weight.  It is not intended to replace the 7.62mm cartridge, but as a replacement for the 5.56mm it could make it unnecessary for dismounted soldiers to carry the 7.62mm weapons that would be retained for the support role.

The 6.5×40 clearly has some very desirable characteristics, but given that all cartridges are compromises, what are the downsides in this equation?

The most obvious one is that the ammunition is some 30% heavier than 5.56mm.  It also has a greater recoil impulse although, as comparative testing has revealed with other cartridges of this power such as the 6.8mm Remington, the perceived recoil is much closer to the 5.56mm than it is to the 7.62mm and controllability is not seriously affected.  Another inevitable downside is that the lower initial velocity means a steeper trajectory at medium ranges compared with the 5.56mm.  At 300 meters, the 5.56mm M855A1 drops around 16 inches when zeroed at 100 meters, while the 6.5mm 120 grain Norma drops 20.5 inches.  These comparisons are however only relevant for distances that are within the relatively short effective range of 5.56mm weapons.  If troops ever need to engage at longer ranges, the only valid comparators are the 7.62mm systems, which have trajectories not very different from the 6.5×40.

A potential issue is that of terminal effectiveness against unprotected personnel, which is affected by the bullet’s yaw characteristics.  If the bullet does not yaw shortly after impact, it may just punch a neat hole through the body.  This may not matter so much at longer ranges when the primary problem is hitting the target at all, but the shorter the range, the more vital it becomes to incapacitate the enemy as quickly as possible before he can kill you.

With all small arms ammunition, bullet placement is the most important factor: immediate incapacitation will only occur if the central nervous system is hit.  However, this is a small target, and with hits elsewhere on the body, the larger the wound channel created, the faster incapacitation is likely to be.  Choosing or designing bullets that demonstrate rapid and reliable yaw characteristics to maximize the size of the wound channel are therefore important.

The 6.5x40 loaded with a Lapua 144 grain FMJBT compared with other rounds.

If a yaw performance similar to that of the 5.56mm can be achieved then the long 6.5mm bullets, twice the weight of the 5.56mm, should deliver more reliable terminal effectiveness.  They should also penetrate intermediate barriers more easily, given their high sectional density.  By comparison, the 7.62mm M80’s yaw performance is not particularly good and the sectional density is worse than the 6.5mm, but its sheer size and power provide some compensation for that.

Another potential downside is that the 6.5×40 cartridge really requires the use of heavy, lead-cored bullets to deliver the full performance potential at long range.  Replacement of lead with less dense materials such as copper or steel entails a reduction in bullet weight and therefore ballistic coefficient and long-range performance.  The alternative approach of lengthening the bullet to maintain the weight isn’t really feasible since that would leave too little room for propellant in the case thereby reducing the velocity at all ranges, and the heavier bullets could also become too long to stabilize properly.  These problems could be resolved by using tungsten cores, which would also deliver effective armour penetration but at considerable material cost.  Tungsten is also a controversial material to have accumulating in the environment of practice ranges.

Having said that, it is worth noting the performance of the Barnes 126.5 grain LRX in the table above, which is a solid copper bullet with a polymer tip.  An efficient nose shape helps this to match the long-range performance of the lead-cored 120 grain Norma FMJBT.

Finally, there is the issue of suitability for use with polymer/metal hybrid cases, which are steadily being developed towards military acceptance.  These reduce ammunition weight by 23-32% depending on design and materials, so are likely to be adopted very quickly as soon as they prove satisfactory.  However, they have thicker walls and will therefore reduce the propellant capacity to some degree.  In compensation, there is some evidence that they may be thermodynamically more efficient since polymer is such a good insulator that very little of the energy generated is lost in heating up the case or the chamber, but that remains to be tested for each cartridge.

To sum up, the 6.5×40 offers an intriguing mix of characteristics that could well make it attractive for those armed forces who need a much better long-range performance than 5.56mm can offer, don’t want to burden dismounted infantry with carrying the extra weight of 7.62mm guns and ammunition, do want to retain their light and handy 5.56mm weapons and, for optimum performance, aren’t too concerned about lead-free bullets.  If these characteristics appeal, then the 6.5×40 is worth careful study.

ABOVE: PLA soldiers practicing with Type 67-2 GPMG (front) and Type 81 LMG (in background).

Up until the 1960s, all machine guns manufactured in China were of foreign design.  Earliest of these were well known copies of the German Maxim MG 08, generally known as Type 24 machine guns, chambered for 7.9mm Mauser ammunition of German origin.  Lesser known weapons were locally made copies of the Browning M1917 and Schwarzlose M1907/12 machine guns, made between the two World Wars in very limited numbers.  Light machine guns included domestic copies of Czechoslovak ZB-26 and ZB-30, as well as the Swiss SIG KE-7 machine guns, also chambered for 7.9mm Mauser ammunition.

When the communists took over mainland China in 1947, they switched to Soviet-pattern weapons, producing a number of Soviet designs using machinery, plans and technical assistance provided by the Soviet Union.  These weapons included local copies of the Degtyarov DPM and RP-46 light machine guns in 7.62x54R, Goryunov SGM medium machine guns in the same caliber, and Degtyarov RPD light machine gun in 7.62×39.

It is hard to imagine the shape of the world had the close relations and warm friendship between the USSR and China continued up to the present.  However, because of the political changes initiated after Stalin’s death by the new Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev during the late 1950s and early 1960s, the relationship quickly cooled down and soon friendship was forgotten.  Political disputes based on different views on Communists ideology and Stalin’s cult of personality split the two states like a sword.  The former allies started a series of border disputes that included human wave attacks, tank incursions and the use of artillery and rocket salvos.  In most of these encounters, Chinese soldiers had their butts handed to them by numerically inferior, but far better trained and motivated Soviet troops.  From that time, Chinese small arms manufacturers were left on their own in the hard task of supplying the huge and poorly-trained conscript Chinese army with new weapons and equipment.

It is believed that at about that time the Chinese political leaders decided that copies of foreign weapons are good only for foreign users; there is nothing wrong in making some yuans or dollars by selling copies of foreign weapons to foreigners, but domestic demand must be satisfied with indigenous arms of Chinese origin.  Most probably, the first Chinese military weapon developed and adopted under this concept was the Type 63 assault rifle.  The first indigenous machine gun to be adopted by the PLA was the Type 67 universal (general purpose) machine gun.

5.8mm Type 88 GPMG on sustained-fire tripod.

Work on the new medium machine gun commenced in about 1959, with the intention of replacing the somewhat obsolete machine guns of Soviet design.  First prototypes were ready by 1963, and, according to official Chinese reports, proved to be superior to existing weapons.  At about the same time PLA experts received their first samples of the U.S. M60 general purpose machine gun from Vietnam.  Close examination proved the value of the general purpose machine gun (GPMG) concept to Chinese experts, and the new machine gun was redesigned from the medium to the universal role.  While the entire weapon was an original design, most of its parts were copies or adaptations of previous foreign designs, all of which were made in China before.  There was a sound rationale behind this “Frankenstein” design.  First, a lot of effort was saved in the design of many parts, as copying is always faster than designing new components; second, and not less important, was the fact that the “copycat” parts of the new gun could be produced on existing machinery and with existing tools and gauges, originally used for earlier guns.  The Type 67 combined parts and features of guns like ZB-26 (bolt group), Maxim (belt feed), RPD (gas regulator), and SGM (removable barrel with adjustable headspace).  The basic design, which was adopted for PLA service in 1967, went through several modifications, first in 1978 (type 67-1) and then in 1982 (Type 67-2).  This weapon is still the primary company- and platoon-level machine gun of the PLA.

The general dissatisfaction with the 7.62×39 Type 56 (Degtyarov RPD) LMG / squad automatic weapon resulted in the development of a new light machine gun, which took place during the 1970s.  This initially resulted in the Type 74 LMG, which, while being somewhat similar in appearance to Soviet Kalashnikov RPK LMG, was of completely original design.  It seems that the Type 74 LMG was never adopted on a large scale and only small numbers of this weapon were produced for troop trials (which, according to Chinese sources, proved this weapon to be inherently inaccurate).

Further PLA plans apparently included adoption of a new infantry small arms system, which would consist of a standard infantry assault rifle and a machine rifle / squad automatic weapon, based on the same design.  Such a system appeared in 1981, in the form of the Type 81 assault rifle and Type 81 light machine gun, both chambering the 7.62×39 Soviet cartridge.  The Type 81 rifle bore certain resemblance to the Soviet Kalashnikov AKM rifle, and, similarly, the Type 81 LMG looked somewhat like the Kalashnikov RPK.  It must be noted, however, that internally these weapons were different from the Kalashnikov, being of more or less indigenous design.  Tactically, these weapons were on par with their Soviet counterparts.  Like the RPK, the Type 81 LMG also lacked a quick-replacement barrel facility and used a large-capacity drum magazine.  This combination of assault rifle and squad automatic weapon became the primary infantry armament of the PLA for the following decades.

At about the same time the Chinese army decided to pursue the worldwide trend towards smaller caliber, low impulse ammunition for infantry small arms.  A development program, which commenced during the late 1970s, centered on cartridges of calibers between 5.6 and 6 millimeters; again, foreign cartridges of the same class, the 5.45×39 Soviet and 5.56×45 U.S. were ruled out of the competition from the start, most probably due to political reasons, despite the fact that both types of ammunition were already produced in China for export.  The final design of the cartridge appeared in 1987.  It was a new design, with a nominal caliber of 5.8mm (actual bullet diameter 6mm), and with a lacquered steel case 42mm long, officially known as the DBP87.  Early military tests were conducted with the Type 87 assault rifle, a small-bore adaptation of the 7.62mm Type 81 rifle.  Having selected the new ammunition, Chinese immediately began development of an entire family of infantry small arms, with the intention of replacing both 7.62×39 and 7.62x54R rifles and machine guns then in service.  The new generation of Chinese small arms included a sniper rifle, an assault rifle / carbine / squad automatic family, and a general purpose belt-fed machine gun, all firing the same ammunition.  Since the original DBP87 cartridge proved to be satisfactory only at ranges of up to 400 meters, Chinese experts developed a special ‘sniper / machine gun’ version of the basic round, loaded with a heavier, longer bullet with better geometry.  This ‘long range’ cartridge is said to be compatible with standard DBP87 in all weapons, although long-range trajectory will be certainly different for either round.  Recently, the Chinese press announced development of the new, all-purpose DBP10 5.8mm cartridge, with better long range capabilities than the original DBP87.  Detailed specifications of this new round are yet to be discovered.

According to type designations, the first weapons to be adopted in this new caliber were QBU-88 (Type 88) sniper rifle and QJY-88 (Type 88) universal machine gun.  However, the PLA apparently delayed issuing these arms until the completion of the development of the standard infantry rifle and squad automatic weapon.  These weapons were adopted in 1995 as QBZ-95 (Type 95) assault rifle and QBB-95 (Type 95) light machine gun.  These new weapons were first observed in 1997, when a Chinese garrison entered Hong Kong, after its return to Chinese administration.  The Type 95 family of small arms is intended to replace all 7.62×39 rifles and light machine guns still in service with the PLA, and probably the PAP (Chinese police).  What is more interesting; it seems that new Chinese doctrine has no place for a “full power” sniper rifle / machine gun cartridge like the 7.62×51 NATO or 7.62x54R Russian.  All infantry needs are to be fulfilled with a single 5.8×42 cartridge – a sensible decision, at least from the logistical point of view.  However, there will be a significant gap in the ammunition power spectrum between the 5.8×42 and the 12.7×108 heavy machine gun cartridge, and it is yet to be seen if this gap will put Chinese troops to any tactical disadvantage.

7.62x54R Type 67-2 universal machine gun on sustained fire tripod.

Type 67 universal machine gun
The Type 67 machine gun is a gas operated, air cooled, belt fed machine gun that fires from an open bolt and in automatic mode only.  The barrel is fluted and quick-detachable.  The Type 67 uses a ZB-26 type vertically-tilting bolt to lock the barrel.  The gas system features an RPD-type gas regulator, and the trigger unit is generally patterned after the Soviet DPM machine gun.

The feed is from the right side only, using steel, non-disintegrating belts with open pockets (type 67-2 belts are assembled from 25-round pieces using the cartridge as an inter-link).  To avoid using the two-stage feed that is usual with rimmed ammunition, the Type 67 uses a push-out type feed, where cartridges are pushed down and out of the link by cams in the feed module, then fed forward and into the chamber by the closing bolt.  The standard belt capacity is 250 rounds, but for the LMG role 100-round belts can be loaded into a drum-type container that can be clipped to the receiver.  The belt is said to be incompatible with any other weapon.  The design of the belt traction unit has a certain resemblance to the Czechoslovak Vz.59 machine gun.

Furniture (pistol grip and shoulder stock) is made from wood.  Original Type 67 machine guns were fitted with an integral, non-detachable, folding bipod, attached to the gas tube.  For sustained or long-range fire missions, the Type 67 can be installed on an infantry tripod.  Sights are of the open type, with a fully-adjustable rear sight; additionally, a special base for an anti-aircraft rear sight is installed at the front of the receiver, just ahead of the feed cover.

7.62x54R Type 67-2 universal machine gun on integral bipod.

Modifications

Type 67-1: Barrels with a plain (non-fluted) profile; the bipod is clamped to the barrel (below the front sight) and can be easily removed.  Furniture is made from plastic instead of wood.

Type 67-2: Barrels also of plain, non-fluted profile, and somewhat lighter than on earlier models.  A new tripod is issued with the Type 67-2, which is significantly lighter because it uses stamped steel instead of steel tubing for the legs.  Provisions are made for the installation of a telescope or night sight.  On late production Type 67-2 guns the AA sight base is omitted.

7.62x39 Type 74 LMG.

Type 74 light machine gun
The Type 74 light machine gun is a gas operated, magazine fed, air cooled weapon, which fires from an open bolt.  The gas system is located above the non-removable barrel, and consists of a gas block with a four-position gas regulator, a gas piston tube and a gas piston.  Locking of the barrel is achieved by the laterally tilting bolt, apparently copied from the Soviet SGM machine gun.  The cocking handle and ejection port are located on the right side of the stamped steel receiver, and fitted with separate dust covers.

The feed is from magazines; the standard magazine is a 100-round drum.  Alternatively, Type 56 assault rifle (Kalashnikov AK) 30-round magazines can be used.

The Type 74 LMG is normally fitted with a non-detachable folding bipod mounted below the front sight base on the barrel.  The pistol grip and handguard are made from plastic while the buttstock is made from wood.

7.62x39 Type 81 LMG with unusual 20-round box magazine.

7.62x39 Type 81 LMG with drum magazine.

Type 81 light machine gun
The Type 81 is a gas operated, magazine fed, selective-fired machine rifle / light machine gun.  It uses a short-stroke gas piston located above the barrel and a two-position gas regulator.  The Type 81 fires from a closed bolt.  The gas system, as well as the bolt group with the three lug rotating bolt, is reminiscent of that of the Type 63 rifle.  The Type 81 LMG also retains the bolt hold-open device, which catches the bolt in the open position after the last round has been fired from the magazine.  The fire selector / safety switch is located at the left side of the receiver, just above the pistol grip, and can be easily operated with the right hand thumb.  The open sights are marked from 100 to 500 meters, with the front sight being mounted on the muzzle end of the barrel.  Ammunition is fed from 75-round drum magazines or from 20- and 30-round curved box magazines intended for the Type 81 assault rifle.  Furniture (handguard, pistol grip and buttstock) is made from wood; additionally, a folding carrying handle is provided at the center of mass of the weapon.  A folding bipod is permanently attached to the barrel, just behind the front sight base.

Modifications

WQ 112: an export version of the Type 81, adapted for Type 56 (Kalashnikov AK) compatible magazines, and with minor cosmetic changes in furniture.

5.8mm Type 88 GPMG on integral bipod.

Soldier training with 5.8mm Type 88 GPMG.

Type 88 (QJY 88) universal machine gun
The QJY 88 is a gas operated, air cooled, belt fed machine gun with a quickly-detachable barrel.  It fires from an open bolt in automatic mode only.  The design is rather conventional, with a long-stroke gas piston, located below the barrel, which operates the bolt group with a rotary locking bolt.  The feed is from non-disintegrating steel belts from the left side only.  Belt is of open-pocket type, with single step, push-trough feed.  A special plastic container can be attached to the left side of receiver, or below it, to hold the belt while on the move.  The gun is fitted with a skeletonized shoulder stock, made of polymer, and an integral folding bipod attached to the gas block.  For sustained fire missions, the QJY 88 can be installed on a special lightweight tripod.  The standard sights are of the open type, but a telescopic or IR sight can be attached to the weapon if required.

Modifications

QJT 88: vehicle (tank) version of the basic weapon.  It has a heavier barrel with a longer flash hider and is fitted with an electric solenoid trigger that replaces the buttstock.

Modified 5.8mm Type 95-1 squad automatic weapon / LMG, with optional telescope sight.

Type 95 (QBB 95) light machine gun
The Type 95 is a gas operated, selective fire, air cooled, light machine gun, which fires from closed bolt.  It uses a short stroke gas piston located above the barrel.  The rotary bolt has three lugs that lock into the barrel extension.  The receiver is made from polymer and is of a bullpup layout.  The charging handle is located at the top of the receiver under the carrying handle.  The safety / fire mode selector switch is located at the left side of the buttstock, close to the rear end of the weapon.  Ejection is to the right side only.  The standard magazine is a proprietary 80-round drum with an asymmetrically located mouth.  The QBB-95 can also accept standard 30 round box magazines from the QBZ-95 assault rifle.

Modifications

Type 95-1: An improved version of the basic weapon developed from the Type 95-1 assault rifle.  Major changes include more ergonomic manual safety / fire mode selector switch relocated to the top of the pistol grip, manual gas regulator, strengthening of certain parts, and improved ejection pattern (forward and to the right), which allows to fire the weapon from the left shoulder more or less safely.

Type 97: An export version of the QBB-95 that is offered through the NORINCO Corporation.  It is basically the same weapon but adapted to fire the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge from M16-compatible (STANAG) magazines.

At this year’s 21st International Defence Industry Exhibition (MSPO is an acronym from Polish name of the fair: Międzynarodowy Salon Przemysłu Obronnego), almost 25,000 square metres of exhibition space was the showcase for 400 companies from 23 countries.  It is a tradition of the MSPO to designate the Leading Nation, which has a national pavilion to promote its defense industry’s capabilities.  This year was Turkey, which signified two important anniversaries in Polish-Turkish diplomatic relationship: this year is the 90th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relation between the Republic of Poland and the Republic of Turkey – but next year will be an even more solemn occasion: the 600th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Poland and the Ottoman Empire.  The Turks were Poland’s south-eastern neighbor and scourge for several hundred years.  Both countries fought long and hard, but in the end it was the Ottoman Empire that up until 20th Century remained the only power not to accept the division and occupation of Poland in late 18th Century by Russia, Prussia and Austria.

The honors bestowed on Turkey were more than matched by the appearance of the Mekhteran, the world’s oldest military marching band, still performing in 17th Century costumes.  The Mekhteran greeted the arriving VIPs, including the President of the Republic of Poland, Mr. Bronisław Komorowski, Poland’s, Turkey’s and Ukraine’s Defense Ministers, Polish Minister of Treasury, and Poland’s National Security Council’s Chairman.

The Turkish National Pavilion comprised half of Hall F with products from many Turkish defense industry companies, including the Otokar (armored vehicles manufacturer), as well as small arms manufacturers, MKE and Sarsilmaz.  The MKE is a many year licensee of German companies, mostly HK and Rheinmetall, so their walls of HK rifles and SMGs, as well as MG3s, were not much of a surprise to anyone.  Sarsilmaz manufactures mostly handguns – hardly innovative as one can guess their inspiration at first glance.  Their pistols are much like CZ-75s or HK USPs, with a pinch of Walther P-99 look-a-likes, and revolvers hold few secrets to anyone familiar with S&W L-frames.  Recently they ventured into the rifle market with a Black Rifle offer of their own called the SAR-223.  Their semiautomatic only and select-fire military/police propositions look exactly like a direct-impingement AR-15 of M4 proportions should or would.  But there’s more to that: a 9mm SMG/semiautomatic carbine called TE54 is not a clone of the Colt 9mm SMG (Model 635) but an original design in 9mm, with a magazine well of the lower receiver shrunk for MP5 magazines and ejection opening in the upper receiver small enough to pass only a 9mm Luger round or case, and devoid of cover.  The internals are of course completely different, with straight blowback action, but the external ergonomics are exactly the same between the TE54 and AR-15 platform, so re-training is almost non-existent.

The only thing new at Fabique Nationale was this F/X Minimi, showcased at the F/X firing range that became a regular feature of the Polish distributor, Cenzin.

After Beryl was finally made to feed from the STANAG magazine, time came to reap the harvest and install a bolt stop at long last. This year’s Beryl modification with STANAG magazine adaptor was fitted with a functional bolt stop, complete with bolt release lever inside the trigger guard.

A prototype of the new version of the Croatian VHS-D2 rifle was displayed along with the new Croat 40mm underbarrel grenade launcher. Finally, the FA MAS style crank fire-selector gave way to a conventional thumb-operated ambidextrous lever. The flipside is that the pistol-style thumb-operated bolt-stop had to be moved somewhere else – and got on the bottom of the receiver, behind the magazine, which is not a perfect solution, to put it mildly. The case ejection direction is finally changeable now, and there’s one feature that no bullpup ever had: an adjustable butt-plate. An adjustable butt stock on a buttless rifle might seem funny, but in fact, the bullpup users also tend to wear body armor, and hitherto had to make do with non-adjustable weapons – now that problem’s gone. The grenade launcher is also highly unorthodox in having an entire barrel assembly swinging out for loading around the axis parallel to the barrel.

Mekhteran waiting for the VIPs to arrive.

ZM Tarnów was this time much more low-key, presenting mostly readily available guns like the Alex family of all three sizes (7.62mm, .338 and .50 BMG).

Sarsilmaz had nice M4-styled direct gas impingement AR-15s, called the SAR223.

Radon-K (aka MSBS-K) with the all new conforming 40mm underbarrel grenade launcher is getting ready for a huge military debut, and was now presented with new sights. The grenade sight is of a customary quadrant style with front post and notch – but there’s also a cleverly shaped mounting rail to attach, for example, the Meprolight grenadier sight. The sighting unit sitting on the main rail is a new product from PCO – the Szafir.

The RGP-40 revolver grenade launcher form ZM Tarnów is also still living and on the brink of acceptance into the inventory: this year’s MSPO saw two versions with different barrel lengths.

This year’s show brought a multitude of (mostly) indigenous UAV projects, of all sizes and descriptions – gliders, fixed-wing tractor and pusher aircraft, as well as helicopters, for reconnaissance and tactical use – like the ILX-27 unmanned helicopter gunship prototype armed with a ZM Tarnów 4-barreled .50-cal. Gatling gun.

The days of the basic WWII “steel pot” helmet are over.  Head gear now serves a multipurpose role beyond strictly protection; night vision gear (NVG), communication, and other types of surveillance gear is often supported via a helmet system.  Revision is at the forefront of making ballistic head protection not only more comfortable but also effective in stopping a wider range of threats.  The increased comfort eases the operator’s chore of maintaining self discipline in wearing their gear.  Protection equipment can be characterized as a contingency, a “what if” plan if you will.  Head protection has become just as crucial a part of an operator’s equipment as sidearm, rifle, and ammunition.  It’s worn for the same reason seat belts are used.  The most important thing is making sure the protective equipment is worn.  As stated earlier, trained personnel are the real commodity in any organization.  Revision products aid in making sure personnel wear their equipment with the confidence it will perform when needed while being as comfortable as possible considering the weight and mass involved operating with it.

Revision Cobra helmet system heralds a new development stage for personal protection in terms of head gear. (Revision Military)

The see-saw battle of armor protection versus armament has been going on since the first wooden shield deflected bone or stone tipped spears.  Most people associate the knights of medieval times as the epitome of armor over armament.  In Europe, plate armor reached its peak in the 16th century.  The evolution of firearms brought an end to plate armor ascendancy.  Research & Development (R&D) in armor protection continued behind the scenes without managing to catch up to firearm effectiveness for hundreds of years.  Flak jackets created for the WWII aircrews signified the return of relevance for body armor thanks to advancement in material technology.  The WWII flak jacket consisted of manganese steel plates sewn into a waistcoat made of ballistic nylon engineered by the DuPont Company.  The ballistic protection we are more familiar with and serve as direct descendant of current body armor was developed in the 1970s in the form of DuPont’s Kevlar fabric.  The development of ballistic protection gear has been going at an unprecedented rate since the 1970s with new materials and techniques discovered that can literally stop a bullet.  The manufacturing and material improvements since the Vietnam War are enabling a level of protection with minimal added weight, so important for mobility, unmatched for centuries.

Forward mounted red dot optic proved possible to use with the Revision Cobra’s Mandible Guard in place.

Research sources indicate that helmets are among the oldest forms of personal protective equipment.  Sumerian soldiers in 2300 BC and are known to have been worn helmets into battle.  Helmet materials and construction became more advanced as weapons became more powerful and were initially constructed from leather and brass and then bronze and iron.  Helmets came to be made entirely from forged steel protecting the head from cutting blows with swords, flying arrows, and low-velocity musketry.  Military use of helmets declined after 1670 with the widespread introduction of firearms.  World War I and its increased use of artillery renewed the need for steel helmets for protection for the head from shrapnel and fragments.  Today’s military helmets are made of ballistic materials that offer improved protection from projectiles as well as shock waves from explosions.

A dial ratchet mechanism allows quick one handed adjustment of the Revision Cobra helmet. A neck nape pad adds to comfort.

Revision Military recently introduced the Batlskin (pronounced “Battle Skin”) Cobra P2 Helmet.  The Cobra is the foundation for other helmet mounted modular components, including the Front Mount, Mandible Guard, and Visor.  The Revision Cobra is a lightweight ballistic combat helmet (42 ounces), front mount, visor and ballistically rated mandible protection system.  The Revision Cobra helmet is the end result of a 3 year contract to develop the U.S. Army’s next-generation head protection system.  The goal of the Cobra helmet and modular components is a single, fully integrated system that provides excellent protection from blunt force, blast and ballistic threats, with lightweight wearability.  Extending protection from the head down into the face was practiced by the Greeks and Romans.  However, just as gun powder vanquished the armored knight, the same was done in terms of full faced battle helmets for soldiers.  The Revision Batlskin Cobra system is a new development for modern soldier in terms of full face protections.  As stated by Jonathan Blanshay, CEO of Revision, “The unfortunate reality is that wartime head and face injuries are at an all-time high.  The Batlskin System not only makes radical leaps forward in helmet and liner technology; its integrated visor and mandible guard could also greatly reduce the incidence of traumatic brain injury in blast situations.  At the same time, the modular and scalable nature of this system provides soldiers with the unique ability to quickly armor up and down as the threat environment dictates.”

The Revision Cobra’s Mandible Guard is easily removed as the mission dictates.

The Batlskin Cobra uses advanced shell technology to achieve weight reduction while increasing ballistic performance.  It is 20% lighter than current helmet shells while still retaining protection against blunt force, blast and ballistic threats.  Summary of the product data indicates that the Batlskin Cobra offers NIJ Level IIIA ballistic protection (9mm NATO/.44 Magnum).  This is possible via a manufacturing process using hybridized layers of materials.  One concern of the Cobra when fully outfitted with the Mandible Guard and visor is heat build up for the operator.  This would be the case with any “closed” helmet system without active cooling.  The Cobra’s liner system offers stability and custom fit with its multi-level design allowing for cooling.  Another issue is compatibility with different communication systems employed by forces.  It must be said that the High-Threat Mandible Guard is engineered for rapid attachment and removal while on the fly, which assists with managing heat to threat assessment.

The Batlskin Front Mount is the core piece of the Cobra helmet system seamlessly integrating Batlskin Visor and Mandible Guard allowing for rapid attach/detach of the modular pieces.  Batlskin Front Mount also serves as a universal NVG mount interface – crucial on the modern battlefield.  The Batlskin Cobra Visor is a lightweight and easy to use protective enhancement to the Batlskin Head Protection System.  The visor provides clear maximum field of view visibility, while its pivoting arm allows for three positions: up when not in use, vented for cooling, and locked in the down position to protect against movement during blast and ballistic impact.  The Batlskin Visor is designed for quick donning and doffing while on the move.  It is scratch, fog and chemical resistant.  The Cobra helmet features Revision’s Batlskin Ergonomic Retention System employing one-handed adjustment buckles for ease of use and straight-line-force design for stability – even with night vision equipment.  A dial ratchet mechanism adjusts the fit band with a simple one-handed operation.  A comfortable nape pad and cabretta leather-lined chin strap allow for superior wearability.

T&E consisted of donning the Batlskin helmet with the visor and Mandible Guard installed then running various drills as experienced attending Graham Combat, Suarez International, and other training entities to verify viability of the Batlskin helmet in “run-n-gun” CQB scenarios.  Velocity System chest plate carrier and Mayflower chest rig was also incorporated in the drills as this would be a likely load out for an operation.  A short duration mission would impose no issues with heat, while a longer type would as with any closed face helmet.  The best analogy is a full face motorcycle helmet as you go around on daily tasks; it would become untenable after a while.  However, the ability to remove the Mandible guard and raise visor would help to alleviate the heat discomfort with the Batlskin Cobra helmet.  The protection offered would be worth the effort in terms of going into an engagement where contact is likely.  Different AR rifle platforms were used outfitted with eye relief dependent optics as well as forward mounted red dots to verify if Mandible Guard impacted access to the sights.  Evaluation for this article indicates that cheekweld and sighting of weapon is impacted when the Cobra’s Mandible Guard is mounted.  Eye relief dependent optics are near impossible to use; red dot optics required rifle to be canted inboard to access aiming point with both eyes open – important for success.  Rifles with laser designated or infrared aiming points would be one solution with the Mandible Guard in place; the current prevalent doctrine of night time operations would not make this as onerous as it sounds.  The visor did not impact field of view in any way during use and with Mandible Guard removed one could obtain a solid cheekweld with it in closed position.  Fogging of the visor did not occur during outside evaluations, but would need to be monitored if working indoors in a conditioned environment or outside when temperatures where cooler.

Individual operators using the Batlskin Cobra helmet will have the final say in how well the Revision helmet is received and if it will see widespread use.  This is always the case when something “new” is introduced.

Revision Military
7 Corporate Drive
Essex Junction VT 05452
(800) 383 6049
www.revisionmilitary.com

With the creation of NATO, several programs were put into place for militaries of these nations to have some sort of compatibility.  One part of that would be standardization of small arms ammunition.  Throughout the NATO countries numerous calibers and different types of weapons were being used.  The United States had great influence in the NATO ammunition trials, or it could be better said, they drove it.  Even after World War II and the success of the StG44 Sturmgewehr or assault rifle, NATO countries would pursue full powered military cartridges while the Warsaw Pact would grasp the idea of the assault rifle and develop the AK-47 and its intermediate 7.62x39mm cartridge.  The U.S. would introduce the 7.62x51mm cartridge into the NATO mix, which was basically a cut down .30-06 (7.62x63mm).  The British had their own idea with the .280 British cartridge which they submitted.  The U.S. forced the 7.62x51mm cartridge down the throats of NATO on December 15, 1953.  The British did not go quietly into that good night.  They felt the U.S. was wrong and actually began production of the EM-2 Enfield bullpup rifle and its .280 cartridge.  Churchill himself stepped in, ordering his forces to comply with the new NATO standard.  But what rifle?  In December of 1953 the British ordered 5,000 FAL rifles (X8E1) rifles from FN for testing.  In January of 1954 the Canadians procured 2,000 FAL rifles for testing.

FN in Belgium had began development of a new rifle in 1947 based on the German 7.92x33mm Kurz cartridge, believing they would follow the breakthrough in small arms technology the Third Reich had developed.  In 1948, the British requested FN to develop two new rifles, both chambered in the .280 British caliber.  One they requested be in the new bullpup design.

Right side of the classic FAL – the DS Arms SA5821S-A rifle. All parts of this rifle are made in the USA. This no frills classic fired accurately with no malfunctions of any sort.

Designed by Dieudonné Saive and Ernest Vervier in 1951, and produced two years later, the FN FAL would be destined to be the main battle rifle for more than 90 countries.  However, similar to the past, the United States would favor a home grown rifle over a superior foreign design.  The U.S. would adopt the M14 to fire this new 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge.  Basically a magazine fed M1 Garand, the rifle was difficult to control on automatic fire so it was issued for its years of service mostly with the selector removed making it a semiautomatic only rifle- in the American-Vietnam War, only the “Automatic Rifleman” was issued his M14 with selector, taking the place of the “BAR Man.”  The FAL was easier to control on automatic fire, more reliable under adverse conditions and used more advanced materials including aluminum and plastic.  The M14 would go down in small arms history as the shortest serving rifle in U.S. military history with it only being in production for 6 years, until it was replaced by the AR-15/M16 series even though it was still in use in combat.  The FAL would go on to be the most mass produced and used 7.62x51mm caliber rifle in history throughout the Free World.  FAL rifles would be produced under license from FN in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Mexico, Netherlands, South Africa and Venezuela.

The FAL is a 7.62x51mm caliber, selective-fire magazine-fed and air-cooled battle rifle.  The magazine holds 20 rounds of ammunition.  The rifle utilizes a short stroke tappet piston operating mechanism.  The bolt is different from many used previously as the bolt design is similar to that of the Soviet SKS-45 and German StG44 rifle.  When the bolt carrier moves to the rear, the bolt lifts out of engagement via locking shoulder to extract and eject the fired cartridge case.  The bolt is very hefty and exceptionally robust.  Also, the rifle uses a gas regulator valve to restrict the gas flow to only that which is needed to operate the rifle.  The principle is to open the port just enough to reliably cycle the rifle.  This lowers the cyclic rate and prevents excessive wear on the rifle by over gassing it.  If the rifle was to get extremely dirty, the operator could open the port up to get more power until he could clean his rifle.  The soldier would set the regulator by firing a single shot and waiting for the rifle to cycle and lock open on the magazine.

Due to the folding stock, the recoil spring is modified. Instead of it being in the stock like the standard FAL, there are two embedded recoil springs and a short guide that inserts into the upper receiver.

The British FAL was the first to use modern materials such as plastic on the stock, pistol grip and handguards: this material was called “Maranyl.”  There were handguards made out of wood but this was not common.  It was found during destruction testing that the wood on an M14 would catch on fire where the polymer would melt at extreme temperatures and not catch fire.  The polymer would of course not splinter nor swell due to wet conditions.

For many years, FAL rifles have come into the U.S. for commercial sales.  Springfield Armory produced them in the 1980s to early 1990s and over these intervening years rifles have been assembled from parts kits imported to the U.S. built on American made receivers.  These kits could come from any of the countries throughout the world that produced them.  By today’s standards, the FAL would be considered obsolete.  The rifle does not have fancy rails all over to place any of the new hi-tech optics, lasers, vertical grips, and so on.  Though the mechanism is sound and proven, the rifles employed today are shorter, lighter and more accurate.  However, the FAL is a force to be reckoned with throughout the world and it will be for some time.

In 1987, a Federal Firearms License was granted to a start up gun company named DS Arms.  When David Selvaggio started up the company he looked at every automatic and semiautomatic only rifle available in the world.  He shot and evaluated and came to the conclusion he wanted to work with the FAL rifle system.  He was particularly impressed by the workmanship of the weapon, the handling features and the streamlined contour as well as the developmental history of the weapon.  He picked a winner: the most mass produced 7.62x51mm rifle in the world that had proven its mettle in every corner of the globe.  In April of 1993, DS Arms sold 1,000 stripped Imbel Springfield Armory marked receivers.  In May of 1993, DS Arms sold 1,000 stripped DGFM Argentine receivers, which Fowler had to stamp the serial numbers on a punch press himself.  In May of 1994, DS Arms began to sell 3,000 DGFM Argentine receivers.  Then DS Arms began to produce their own receivers, parts and eventually all the parts to make a 100% American made FAL.  For a brief time a hybrid rifle using both American and foreign made parts was made but it was quickly discontinued in favor an all American made parts.  The American made rifles were called the SA58 series.

This is the SA85SPR SASS rifle that DS Arms submitted to the U.S. Army for competition in the SASS program that was eventually won by Knights Armament Company. The rifle has the basic FAL mechanism with many improvements/updates including a SAW pistol grip, 1913 rail and fully adjustable folding stock.

There were two rifles provided for test and evaluation for this article.  The first would be a stock and traditional FAL rifle that would be seen anywhere around the globe, the SA5821S-A and the second would be the DS Arms world class SA58SPR sniper rifle.  This shows an evolution of the standard 1950s combat rifle to the 2012 modern version of a 60-year-old combat proven weapon system.

The SA5821S-A rifle is in many ways identical to the rifle put into service in the 1950s.  The rifle has a 21-inch chrome lined barrel with a Belgium made flash suppressor.  There are 12 holes drilled at an angle to allow gas to escape forward of the muzzle rather than to the sides.  The barrel is cut for a bipod as well.  On the barrel is the standard gas regulator, which has enabled the FAL rifle to function with the ammunition provided without over gassing the rifle, extending the service life of the rifle and reducing the recoil to the shooter.  This rifle was provided with black synthetic handguards.  This is definitely an improvement over the wood for many reasons including that these handguards do not catch fire, swell from rain nor crack and splinter.  The front sight is a post type common on many rifles.

The receiver is Parkerized grey and machined well.  No cosmetic flaws can be noted.  The traditional carrying handle is on this rifle as well.  The bolt carrier has the sand cuts and is also well made.  The charging handle is the round lever type located on the left side of the receiver.  The bolt carrier has the standard recoil slide rod hinge that links up with the recoil spring and plunger located in the fixed stock assembly.

The author test firing the SA5821S-A rifle. This is the basic battle FAL – strong and durable are the best words used to describe this rifle.

The lower receiver is manufactured from aluminum and is lightweight and anodized black.  The safety lever is located on the left side of the receiver.  The magazine catch and bolt catch are located in their traditional places in front of the trigger guard.  The stock and pistol grip are manufactured from high impact polymer and made in the USA.  The rifle is quite comfortable to anyone including a Sasquatch size man like this author.

This rifle weighs 8 3/4 pounds with an overall length of 43 inches with a impressive 22 inch sight radius, which is very beneficial on a 7.62x51mm caliber rifle as it enables the user to take advantage of the long range capabilities of the cartridge.  Fit and finish was superb and there were no rattling parts common on many field grade rifles.  The rifle was shipped with a 20-round FAL magazine with a DS Arms floorplate on the bottom.  The only major issue discovered with this rifle is one that is inherent to the family of weapons and not this particular rifle: difficulty in replacing magazines.  It is difficult to insert the magazine not even under stress as well to remove it.  It does not have the speed of many other comparable designs.  But the magazine is very reliable and robust. I would expect anyone who is to use this family of rifles would be able to get used to the magazine release and become proficient with it. The Maglula LuLa loading tool was found to be a plus in loading the magazine easier.

The SA85SPR has a fluted barrel with a M16-style flash suppressor.

The SA58SPR is totally in a class of its own.  Looking at this design it is clear to see how you can make a 60 year old design new again.  Similar to the AR-platform of rifles, the key to their success is modernization and keeping up with the changing needs of the operator.  Originally this rifle was designed to compete in the XM110 competition where it would compete with the likes of Knight’s Armament Company and ArmaLite, Inc. to name a few.  The DS Arms was a worthy competitor with all the features that the requirements asked for.

Starting from the front and working back, the SPR has a 19-inch fluted medium weight tactical barrel with a M16A2-style compensator on the end.  The rifle has the gas regulator enabling easy use of a sound suppressor as well as a Mil-Std 1913 rail segment on top of the gas block.  Full length quad Mil-Std 1913 rails are on the handguard also giving a continuous top rail from the gas block to the rear of the upper receiver. Unlike the original FAL, easy and reliable form of attachment for optics and all the new high speed lasers, flashlights, IR pointing devices, night vision/thermal optics as well as much more not seen on the early rifles that were designed for iron sight use only.  Both front and rear back up iron sights were provided on the SPR.  There was a Harris Bipod provided for the rifle.

Perhaps the only real complaint seen by this author in the FAL design is that the magazine release is not easy to get to and manipulate. The SWAT snipers found this awkward as well as they had issues inserting magazines into the rifle compared to the LMT and LWRCI semi-auto sniper systems they use on the job.

The lower receiver was manufactured from aluminum and matched the color of the steel upper receiver perfectly.  The safety lever is ambidextrous.  The pistol grip chosen was of that found on a FN Minimi SAW rifle as opposed to the standard FN-type.  The stock itself is very unique in that the stock folds to the right side of the rifle and is adjustable for cheek weld and length.  The rifle was provided with a monopod attached to the bottom of the stock.

The rifle was provided with a heavy duty carrying case, brass catcher, sling, detachable rail mounted swivel, three 10-round magazines & an instruction manual.  For test firing the optic chosen was the same optic that was adopted on the M110 rifle, the Leupold Mark 4 LR/T 3.5-10x40mm scope with the M3 illuminated reticle.  The scope was mounted on A.R.M.S., Inc. throw lever mounts. The ammunition tested for this rifle was both Silver State Armory & Black Hills ammunition in 168 grain & 175 grain OTM loads.  The best group obtained with the rifle was with Silver State Armory 175gr OTM with 3 bullets within .55 inches at 100m.

The quad Mil-Std 1913 rail with a bipod mounted to the underside. Also notice the front folding backup sight.

The SA5821S-A was test fired with 200 rounds of Silver State Armory 147gr ball ammunition.  No malfunctions were noted.  This rifle felt like the robust war horse it is.  Offhand there were no problems engaging a steel plate at 200 yards.  It was evident what the reputation of the military grade rifle was based.

The FAL is a pivotal design in the transformation from general issue of autoloading firearms throughout the world.  In many cases it was a interim rifle in use until it was eventually replaced with a mid-range assault rifle.  However, this family of weapons still sees action in every part of the globe.  In that case, it is hard to say the rifle is obsolete.  It is a true battle rifle for the traditional soldier – heavy caliber, selective fire and iron sights.  DS Arms has taken the rifle to the U.S., made it here and taken into the new millennium.  The SA58SPR is clearly an old design with a modern flare by taking a design from the 1950s and competing with many new designs for the next U.S. sniper rifle.  Wait, most of the guns that competed were also 1950s designs, but by Gene Stoner in the AR-10.  Classics never die, they just get updated and better.

There are many manufacturers making ammunition as well as remanufacturing it.  Few have a reputation of being precision ammunition manufacturers let alone manufacturing military grade ammunition.  But consider ammunition that is match grade loaded to military specifications?  Trying to bridge match grade accuracy and ability to produce military reliability is very difficult.  Loading any precision round is difficult in mass production.  But there is one company out there that has done it, and that is Black Hills Ammunition owned by Jeff Hoffman and his wife Kristi, who is a co-owner and an integral, indispensable part of Black Hills Ammunition.  This “little big company” has produced the most precise and sought after military ammunition in the industry.  Not only have they produced it, they designed the specifications as well.

Jeff Hoffman was a police officer in 1979 and has served as a police sniper since 1989.  Financially strained, he worked two other part time jobs and Kristi worked a full time job.  In late 1982, the Hoffman’s had an opportunity to buy into Black Hills Shooter’s Supply (established in 1981).  They borrowed $12,000 and bought into the new company.  The company did well selling ammunition and reloading supplies.  In 1988 the Hoffman’s broke off of the Black Hills Shooting Supplies and opened Black Hills Ammunition.  The same ammunition, machines and people; the Hoffman’s took that part of the company and their then partner continued with Black Hills Shooter Supplies.  Working this end alone, the Hoffman’s were financially strapped in this new venture.  But one phone call was a game changer for Black Hills Ammunition.  They had sent the Illinois State Police some sample ammo and they called and said that they wanted to place an order for 700,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition and needed it now!  Jeff was very excited about the order but very nervous about being able to manufacture it in a timely fashion.  One range master, Master Sgt. Norm Higgerson, said he did not care and that he was sending money and Jeff would make the ammo for him.  Jeff did not want to take the money upfront feeling that was a lot of trust on the Department’s part.  Jeff was then assured by the officer that that was no trust at all – if he messed the order up he would get down to Black Hills Ammunition and personally break Jeff’s legs!  Jeff saluted and said “Yes, sir.” and delivered.  That solved the temporary cash flow problem.

Black Hills President Jeff Hoffman training at Asymmetric Warfare Group School in May of 2013. He is shooting a MK12 Mod1 rifle with his Mk262 Mod1 ammunition. (Jeff Hoffman)

Nearly 30 years later, Black Hills Ammunition recently moved into a new 60,000 square foot facility plus a 7,200 square foot warehouse on 10 acres of land.  Black Hills Ammunition has 75 full-time employees and nearly half of them are in the inspection side of the business alone.  They are the only manufacturer in the country that meets all the military safety requirements without waiver for military ammunition manufacturing.  Their reputation is based on quality and precision.  Black Hills is an assembler of ammunition.  They do not manufacture components.  They rely on tight relationships with vendors of projectiles, primers and propellants.  When components arrive at Black Hills, every projectile and cartridge case is checked for uniformity and quality.  These are all checked before any component reaches a loading machine.  The ammunition is assembled with extreme care by employees with years of experience manufacturing premium quality ammunition.  Once the ammunition is manufactured, each round is handled and inspected by a well trained inspector searching for any anomaly (dent, scratch, blemish, crack…) that may cause rejection.  The last step in inspection in loading military contract ammunition is to weigh the completed box of ammunition.  If this weight is off it is an indication that a projectile could have been incompletely manufactured or any other possible deformity.  The key is catching the anomaly before the box of ammunition goes out the door.  In the early days, Black Hills Ammunition was known for remanufactured ammunition.  There were many companies offering reloaded ammunition and he found he was competing at a price point.  However his competition lacked the quality and consistency of the ammunition.  This is where Black Hills truly shined.  Once this was seen in the market place, Black Hills no longer played the low bid game.  Educated customers wanted quality ammunition and they were willing to pay for it.

Military packaging for Black Hills’ famous and in high demand MK262 Mod 1 ammunition.

In 1996, a monumental year for Black Hills Ammunition, they were awarded their first military contract for the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU).  At the request of LTC Mike Harris (ret), Black Hills bid on a contract for producing V8 load, which was an 80 grain OTM cartridge intended for single loading and shooting 600 yards during slow-fire competition.  This cartridge was hand loaded by the AMU using Vitavouri powder.  There was a catch; the load had to maintain velocity without exceeding SAAMI pressure.  The actual specs for this round were impossible, there was no way to attain that velocity and keep the pressures within SAAMI specifications.  Black Hills loaded the ammunition to the velocity specification using the best possible powders available at the time.  They informed the Army who already knew of the situation and knew of this problem.  However, the Army was happy Black Hills saved them 10,000 psi over the AMU hand loaded ammunition plus it gave them the required accuracy, resulting in Black Hills Ammunition’s first military contract.  The AMU was very impressed with the quality of Black Hills Ammunition and they began to order additional loads including 73 grain Berger and Sierra 69 grain Match King bullets specifically designed for the AMU.  Eventually, Black Hills manufactured ammunition for the USMC Rifle Team and ultimately the Air Force and Navy teams as well.  The ordnance community watches to see what the AMU does because they have such a great competitive team.

Black Hills works very closely with their suppliers; particularly powder manufacturers to get powder blends to perform the specific task of each round.  Over the years Black Hills has loaded 5.56x45mm/.223 Rem ammunition with 69 grain Sierra Match King, 73 grain Berger, 75 grain Hornady A-MAX, 77 grain Sierra Match King and 80 grain Sierra Match King bullets for a variety of marksmanship teams.  Black Hills also loaded 6mm Benchrest, 9x19mm and .45 Auto match ammunition for the US Military.

The Black Hills Ammunition manufacturing facility located in Rapid City, South Dakota. (Black Hills Ammunition)

With the variety of offerings Black Hills had, one particular load became the most popular and was destined to be the most sought after military load in SOCOM.  In 1999, SOCOM requested that Black Hills to work with them jointly to develop the MK12 Special Purpose Rifle (SPR) weapon system.  SOCOM was to develop the rifle and Black Hills Ammunition was to develop the ammunition the new rifle would shoot.  This rifle was to be accurate out to 600 yards.  The load would use the proven Sierra 77 grain open tip match projectile of the AMU.  To meet the requirements, the cartridge must be “militarized.”  This included switching from .223 Rem to 5.56mm cartridge cases, loading to the increased 5.56mm pressures, crimping and sealing the primers and adding flash retardant to the powder blend.  Black Hills Ammunition developed the first 5.56mm sniper cartridge, the MK262 Mod0 cartridge adopted in 2002.

Like every piece of equipment ever developed within the small arms community, the MK262 round went through a development process.  During evaluation of the new round, issues came up with reliability when the temperatures dropped and the guns got dirty (external dirt, not ammunition).  Issues with short stroking when the rifles were in these conditions without sound suppressors were encountered in the cold with the SPR, which uses a 2 inch shorter barrel than the original 20 inch M16A2 gas system the SPR was built on.  Black Hills got right on the problems and through switching to a slower burning powder with a pressure curve tweaked for the 18 inch SPR barrel, the MK262 Mod 1 was born.  Later during extremely rigorous function testing at Black Hills, when the weapons were fired at rates greatly exceeding the 12 to 15 round spec rate of fire for the M16/M4 weapon system, it was found that the new propellant was more sensitive to heat from the chambers of hot weapons.  This resulted in the increased pressure and increase incidences of failure to extract.  Black Hills notified NSWC-Crane and set out to work again to improve the load.  By working on a powder blend with higher heat tolerance and improving the brass, these issues were overcome.  Another issue that needed to be addressed during the product improvement stage was Black Hills’ desire to have Sierra manufacture a cannelure on the 77 grain OTM projectile.  Sierra feared this would affect the accuracy of the projectile.  Black Hills knew that this round was being used in an auto-loading rifle and wanted to avoid the possibility that a rough feed could cause the bullet to push back or telescope back into the case, resulting in a malfunction.  Sierra agreed to produce the cannelured version of the projectile.  The new and final round was named the MK262 Mod1 in 2003 and with the correction of the temperature sensitive powder the specification changed but remained the Mod1.

On the left is the first MK262 Mod0 – notice the 77 grain projectile has no cannelure. On the right is the current MK262 Mod1 which has the cannelure on the projectile.

The effectiveness of this round was not just seen in the MK12 but by the M4A1 and the MK 18 short barrel as well.  Due to the dynamics of this round it offered match accuracy and an increased terminal performance over the M855 ball.  When tested in 10% ordnance gel with the M4A1, the initial yaw of the projectile began 2.125 inches.  The temporary cavity length is 10.125 inches with a temporary cavity diameter of 5.75 inches.  The round performed consistently regardless of the depth of the target whether it is a thin malnourished Taliban or a heavy set adversary.  The M855 round developed a poor reputation; the bullet would pass right through the thin malnourished Taliban not disrupting much tissue at all.  The MK262 Mod1 would take down the target regardless of width.  Even with the short 10.5 inch MK18 carbine, this ammunition had readily been the preferred ammunition for this carbine.  The MK262 Mod1 has become the 1st choice of SOCOM for all of their 5.56mm caliber rifles and carbines and is the cartridge our warfighters use to engage targets well out of the range of the AKs used by the enemy insurgents.  The ammunition provides unquestioned stopping power to the adversary.  Black Hills Ammunition is and has been the sole source for this incredible round.  This author has used this ammunition for a base line cartridge for accuracy for more than 5 years on every 5.56mm rifle tested.

A box of MK248 Mod1 ammunition, which is a .300 Win Mag caliber cartridge firing a 220 grain projectile. Black Hills was instrumental in the development of this round.

Black Hills was at the forefront of the M118LR AB39 PIP (Product Improvement Program) round.  Hoffman was asked by elements of the U.S. Army stationed at Fort Bragg to see if he could look into improving their existing 7.62x51mm M118LR cartridge, which was loaded with a 175gr Sierra MatchKing projectile.  Initial testing showed Hoffman that he could not improve on velocity or accuracy.  Accuracy was consistently 1 MOA with the MK11 Mod0 rifle.  Later Hoffman was contacted by a civilian trainer working with the army who advised that an area that needed to be addressed on the M118LR round was temperature stability.  Hoffman immediately began environmental testing and found the M118LR conditioned to -40 deg F, +70 deg F and +140 deg F.  Results showed the total spread on velocity was 227 feet per second and the pressure spread was 1,8120 psi.  To put that into a real world situation, a 227 fps change would indicate an elevation correction of 6.3 MOA, which is 58 inches and the difference with a 10 mph full value crosswind (90 deg to path) effect is 10 inches.  Black Hills’ input to the Navy resulted in the solicitation for the improved performance round that became the AB39.  Black Hills competed on this solicitation, meeting the solicitation’s higher required performance levels.  The contract was ultimately awarded to Federal based on price but Black Hills was pleased its efforts resulted in another improvement to the U.S. Military sniping capability.  Black Hills produces a 7.62mm load they sell for export that is 100% compatible and equivalent to the M118LR AB39 PIP load.  They have in fact sold this improved load to foreign governments.

A box of Black Hills match grade .338 Lapua Magnum ammunition loaded with a 300 grain Sierra MatchKing projectile.

The main improvements of the new AB39-PIP M118LR are that the cartridge is loaded with a propellant that is much more temperature stable.  The second change is the specifications were written differently, increasing the required uniformity of the lots.  What this meant was that a sniper did not have to try to hoard lots of M118LR from the same lot so he did not have to re-zero and change his “dope” when he switched to a different lot of ammunition.  The new specification made it so the consistency of the ammunition was improved enough so he would not have to change his “dope” when switching from lot to lot.

Another of the Black Hills manufactured (A191) MK248 Mod 1 .300 Win Mag 220 grain Sierra OTM is used in the SOCOM MK13 Mod5 sniper rifles.  An early requirement for the .300 Win Mag cartridge was a 190 grain Sierra Match King projectile with an effective range of 1,200 yards (A190/MK248 Mod0).  Black Hills Ammunition provided some small quantities to the U.S. Government.  Hoffman had sent communication to Crane regarding his belief that the 190 grain Sierra projectile could be improved by the heavier 220 grain projectile.  With Hoffman’s suggestions of improvement possibilities, the .300 Win Mag cartridge got a new requirement established for a 1,500 yard maximum effective range.  Two other objectives were to decrease the effect of wind drift and flash reduced and increase temperature stability as tested in ranges from -25 F to +165 F.  Results of testing concluded that there is comparable velocity retention between 250 grain .338 Lapua Mag and the 210/220 grain .300 Win Mag.  The muzzle velocity of the 220 grain Sierra OTM .300 Win Mag is 2,768 feet per second.  It was also found that there was only a .5 moa difference in the 190 and 220 grain projectiles when compared at 1,000 yards: this is less than typical fine tuning necessary for each rifle/shooter/load combination.  The 220 grain .300 Win Mag met all objectives, could be fired in existing weapons, was less sensitive than the 210 grain VLD, had comparable accuracy and velocity retention to the 250 grain .338 Lapua Mag round and the .300 Win Mag is a significant cost savings over the .338 Lapua Mag ammunition.  There were two areas in which the (A191) MK248 Mod1 was an improvement over its predecessor.  These areas are temperature stability (less pressure and velocity change in internal ballistics as a result of ambient temperature) as well as a reduction of muzzle flash.  Black Hills met these requirements with a new powder blend that included flash retardant.  The work Black Hills did on the advancement of this cartridge was done at no cost to the U.S. government.  This cartridge is devastating when seen in 10% ordnance gel.  The initial yaw is in just .5 inches with a temporary cavity length of 14 inches.  The temporary cavity diameter 7.75 inches with a temporary cavity diameter locations length of 5 inches.  The projectile fragments into many pieces creating significant tissue damage.

Black Hills 7.62x51mm 175 grain Match Hollow Point, which is equivalent to the M118 LR PIP cartridge.

The U.S. Military contract was ultimately won by Federal, but Black Hills efforts again led to improved capability of the U.S. sniper.  Black Hills Ammunition does continue to supply the U.S. military with .300 Win Mag ammunition on other contracts.

Black Hills Ammunition has also done significant testing and development on the .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge.  The quality of this ammunition gets them continuous contracts from the U.S. government as well as foreign military units.  They produce a 250 and 300 grain Sierra Open Tip Match projectiles.

Another very important niche filled by Black Hills Ammunition is their manufacturing of factory proof loads for the gun manufacturers.  These specially designed high pressure loads insure the weapon is manufactured properly.  In mil-standard testing, both barrels and bolts are shot with a proof round and then magnetic particle tested to ensure against stress fractures.  These loads are made in virtually all centerfire cartridges and Black Hills Ammunition sells more than 24 OEMs of this proof ammunition.  Black Hills also provides approximately 30 OEMs with test ammunition so they may function test and test accuracy in their firearms before they are shipped out of the factory.

Manufacturing ammunition for commercial and hunting use is certainly one thing.  Manufacturing military and law enforcement ammunition is another.  At the end of the day, if you miss that deer or bear, the hunting trip is a loss but you go again next year and try again.  If military ammunition fails, that is the soldier’s life on the line.  There is no second chance.  There is a significant amount of pressure and responsibility put on manufacturers such as Black Hills to make our war-fighter the best ammunition possible not to just win the battle but to come home alive.  Hoffman and Black Hills Ammunition continue to work with our warfighter to insure they have the best ammunition available with the ever improving technology of manufacturing of propellants, projectiles and other components.