|
Bullpup
A bullpup firearm is one with its firing grip located in front of the breech of the weapon, instead of behind it. This creates a weapon with a shorter overall length for a given barrel length, and one that is often lighter, more compact, concealable and more maneuverable than a conventionally configured firearm. Where it is desirable for troops to be issued a more compact weapon, the use of a bullpup configuration allows for barrel length to be retained, thus preserving muzzle velocity, range and ballistic effectiveness. The bullpup concept was first tested militarily in 1901 with the British Thorneycroft carbine, but it was not until the Cold War that more successful designs and improvements led to wider adoption. In 1977, the Austrian Army became the first military force in the world to adopt a bullpup rifle, the Steyr AUG, as a principal combat weapon. Since then the militaries in many countries have followed suit with other bullpup designs, such as the Chinese QBZ-95, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SA80
The SA80 (Small Arms for the 1980s) is a British family of 5.56×45mm NATO service weapons used by the British Army. The L85 Rifle variant has been the standard issue service rifle of the British Armed Forces since 1987, replacing the L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle. The first prototypes were created in 1976, with production of the A1 variant starting in 1985 and ending in 1994. The A2 variant came to be as the result of a significant upgrade in the early 2000s by Heckler & Koch and remains in service as of 2020. The A3 variant was first issued in 2018 with several new improvements. The remainder of the SA80 family comprises the L86 Light Support Weapon, the short-barrelled L22 Carbine and the L98 Cadet rifle. The SA80 was the last in a long line of British weapons (including the Lee–Enfield family) to come from the Royal Small Arms Factory, the national arms development and production facility at Enfield Lock, before its weapons factory was closed down in 1988. Development Post w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
QBZ-95
The Type 95 automatic rifle () or QBZ-95 is a bullpup assault rifle designed and manufactured by Norinco, and issued since 1995 as the service rifle for the People's Liberation Army, People's Armed Police and various paramilitary law enforcement agencies in the People's Republic of China. The rifle's designation "QBZ" stands for "' light weapon' (''Qīng Wŭqì'')—'rifle' (''Bùqiāng'')—'automatic' (''Zìdòng'')", in keeping with the coding standards of the Chinese defense industry. The QBZ-95 is the flagship of the Type 95 gun family (95式枪族), a family of firearms sharing a common receiver design, which includes a standard rifle, a carbine and light support weapon variants. It fires the 5.8×42mm DBP87, an indigenous intermediate cartridge. An export version chambered for 5.56×45mm NATO, the QBZ-97, is available for sale in Canada and various countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Africa. Development The Chinese military started to develop s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IWI Tavor
The IWI Tavor TAR-21 is an Israeli bullpup assault rifle chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO caliber with a selective fire system, selecting between semi-automatic mode and full automatic fire mode. The Tavor is designed and produced by Israel Weapon Industries (IWI). It is produced in two main variants: the TAR-21 and the CTAR-21. Built around a long-stroke piston system (as found in the M1 Garand and AK-47), the Tavor is designed to maximize reliability, durability, simplicity of design, and ease of maintenance, particularly under adverse or battlefield conditions. In 2009, the Tavor X95 (also known as the Micro Tavor or MTAR) was selected by the Israeli Defense Forces to gradually replace the M16 assault rifle and M4 carbine variants as the standard-issued weapon of the Israeli infantry by the end of 2018. The first X95 bullpup rifles were issued to infantry units in 2013. Both the TAR-21 and X95 are part of the Tavor family of rifles, along with the Tavor 7. In the beginning ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steyr AUG
The Steyr AUG () is an Austrian bullpup assault rifle chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO intermediate cartridge, designed in the 1960s by Steyr-Daimler-Puch, and now manufactured by Steyr Arms GmbH & Co KG. It was adopted by the Austrian Army in 1978 as the StG 77 (''Sturmgewehr 77''), where it replaced the 7.62×51mm NATO StG 58 automatic rifle (a licence-built FN FAL).Ezell (1993) p. 223 In production since 1978, it is the standard small arm of the '' Bundesheer'' and various Austrian federal police units, and its variants have also been adopted by the armed forces of dozens of countries, with some using it as a standard-issue service rifle. Steyr AUG importation into the United States began in the 1980s as the AUG/SA (SA denoting semiautomatic). President George H.W. Bush banned the AUG via an executive order under the 1989 Assault Weapon Import Ban. Six years into the ban, AUG buyers gained a reprieve as cosmetic changes to the carbine's design allowed importati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FAMAS
The FAMAS (''Fusil d'Assaut de la Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne'', "Assault Rifle from the Saint-Étienne Weapon Factory") is a bullpup assault rifle designed and manufactured in France by MAS in 1978, a year after the Austrian Steyr AUG. It is known by French troops as ''Le Clairon'' (The Bugle) due to its distinctive shape. The FAMAS is recognised for its high rate of fire at 1,100 rounds per minute. Beginning in 2017, the FAMAS was replaced in most frontline units in the French Army by the HK416F, and the FAMAS is expected to remain in limited service until 2028. History The first French bullpup rifles were developed between 1946 and 1950 at the AME (''Atelier Mécanique de Mulhouse'') and MAS, testing rounds such as .30 US Carbine, 7.92×33mm Kurz, 7.65×38mm (Made by ''Cartoucherie de Valence'') and some other intermediate calibers. Since France was engaged in the First Indochina War at the time, and was also the second-largest contributor to NATO, the re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Ferguson
Jonathan Steven Ferguson (born January 3, 1979) is a British firearm historian and author who is currently the Keeper of Firearms and Artillery at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, England. He is also a technical specialist with Armament Research Services, a consultancy firm. Career Ferguson received a Bachelor of Arts degree in archaeology from the University of Exeter in 2000, and a postgraduate diploma in museum studies from the University of Leicester in 2002. He held posts at the Colchester Museum, Imperial War Museum Duxford, and National War Museum of Scotland before joining the Royal Armouries Museum in 2009. He has appeared in two documentaries: ''Sean Bean'' on ''Waterloo'' (2015) and ''Sword, Musket & Machine Gun'' (2017). Ferguson is also a Technical Specialist with Armament Research Services, a technical intelligence consultancy. In 2020, GameSpot began a series titled "Firearms Expert Reacts". In the series, Ferguson analyses the firearms from video games suc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Firearm
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes containing gunpowder and pellet projectiles were mounted on spears to make the portable fire lance, operable by a single person, which was later used effectively as a shock weapon in the Siege of De'an in 1132. In the 13th century, fire lance barrels were replaced with metal tubes and transformed into the metal-barreled hand cannon. The technology gradually spread throughout Eurasia during the 14th century. Older firearms typically used black powder as a propellant, but modern firearms use smokeless powder or other propellants. Most modern firearms (with the notable exception of smoothbore shotguns) have rifled barrels to impart spin to the projectile for improved flight stability. Modern firearms can be described by their caliber ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FN P90 PDW
The FN P90 is a compact 5.7×28mm personal defense weapon designed and manufactured by FN Herstal in Belgium. It can also be considered a submachine gun. Created in response to NATO requests for a replacement for 9×19mm Parabellum firearms, the P90 was designed as a compact but powerful firearm for vehicle crews, operators of crew-served weapons, support personnel, special forces, and counter-terrorist groups. Designed in conjunction with the FN Five-seven pistol and FN 5.7x28mm NATO ammunition, development of the weapon began in 1986, and production commenced in 1990 (from which the "90" in its name is derived), whereupon the 5.7×28mm ammunition was redesigned and shortened. A modified version of the P90 with a magazine adapted to use the new ammunition was introduced in 1993, and the Five-seven pistol was subsequently introduced as a companion weapon using the same 5.7×28mm ammunition. Featuring a compact bullpup design with an integrated reflex sight and fully ambidextro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thorneycroft Carbine
The Thorneycroft carbine was one of the earliest bullpup rifles, developed by an English gunsmith in 1901 as patent No. 14,622 of July 18, 1901. This bolt-action rifle featured a bullpup action in which the retracted bolt slid back through the stock nearly to the shooter's shoulder, maximising the space available in the body of the firearm. The rifle was chambered in the contemporary .303 British (7.7 mm) service cartridge, and held five rounds in an internal magazine. The Thorneycroft was shorter and 10% lighter than the standard Lee–Enfield rifle used by the British military at the time. However, when tested at Hythe the firearm exhibited excessive recoil and poor ergonomics, and was not adopted for military service. See also * List of bullpup firearms The following is a list of firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FN P90
The FN P90 is a compact 5.7×28mm personal defense weapon designed and manufactured by FN Herstal in Belgium. It can also be considered a submachine gun. Created in response to NATO requests for a replacement for 9×19mm Parabellum firearms, the P90 was designed as a compact but powerful firearm for vehicle crews, operators of crew-served weapons, support personnel, special forces, and counter-terrorist groups. Designed in conjunction with the FN Five-seven pistol and FN 5.7x28mm NATO ammunition, development of the weapon began in 1986, and production commenced in 1990 (from which the "90" in its name is derived), whereupon the 5.7×28mm ammunition was redesigned and shortened. A modified version of the P90 with a magazine adapted to use the new ammunition was introduced in 1993, and the Five-seven pistol was subsequently introduced as a companion weapon using the same 5.7×28mm ammunition. Featuring a compact bullpup design with an integrated reflex sight and fully ambidex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neostead
The NeoStead 2000 (NS2000) is a bullpup combat shotgun developed by Truvelo Armoury of South Africa. Production of the shotgun began in 2001 and the first models were made available in October of that year. It is notable due to its unusual forward pump action. History in the United States In 2002, Jerome Kunzman Jr contacted the owners of Truvelo Armory, Ann and Haynes Stead to inquire about importation of the Neostead shotgun into the United States. Eager to work together, the Steads agreed to allow the export to the United States. Kunzman then contacted Lefty Curtis of Custom Gunstocks in Antioch, California because Curtis had a federal firearms license for manufacturing firearms. Kunzman worked successfully to get Curtis a Federal Firearms Importation License. In early 2003 Kunzman received approval from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) to import the shotgun. By the middle of the 2003 year, Curtis and Kunzman picked up the first Neostead at the cargo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragunov SVU
The OTs-03 SVU (russian: Снайперская винтовка укороченная, , Sniper Rifle Shortened) is a bullpup designated marksman rifle. The SVU was developed to meet the needs of the security forces of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, such as OMON. The SVU was first seen in use in the First Chechen War. Originally, the plan was to just slightly modernize the aging SVD, but the designers eventually realised that the configuration of the weapon would have to be completely altered, leading to the creation of the SVU. A special muzzle brake was added that could absorb up to 40% of the recoil energy and an elastic butt stock with lamellar spring was non-rigidly attached to the receiver. The acoustics of the rifle were also improved by adding a sound suppressor. The other main improvements made to the SVU over the SVD include replacement of the butt stock, pistol grip, trigger and the mounting for the sight; and shortening the barrel by 100 mm achieved ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
