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Lewis Machine and Tool Company (LMT) is an American armaments company founded by Karl Lewis, in 1980. LMT manufactures weapon systems including the
M4 carbine The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO, gas-operated, magazine-fed carbine developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle. The M4 is extensive ...
, and the
M203 grenade launcher The M203 is a single-shot 40 mm under-barrel grenade launcher designed to attach to a rifle. It uses the same rounds as the older stand-alone M79 break-action grenade launcher, which utilizes the high-low propulsion system to keep recoil forces ...
. LMT products are used by the military forces of the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
,
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...
, and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
.


Products


Bolt and bolt carrier groups

Lewis Machine and Tool Company produces a patented AR-15-pattern bolt design featuring a redesigned extractor intended to improve extraction of cartridges under adverse conditions. The company also produces a redesigned bolt carrier intended to improve the performance of the rifle's direct-impingement gas operation.


LM308MWS and CQB MRP Defender

Lewis Machine and Tool Company created the Monolithic Rail Platform (MRP), a one-piece, Picatinny-topped AR-15-pattern upper receiver made from a forged aluminum block. The MRP upper receiver has a quick-change barrel system. Its top rail position matches M4 and E3-type weapons for optical and sight compatibility. In late 2009, LMT introduced the .308 Modular Weapon System LM308MWS, which uses the
7.62×51mm NATO The 7.62×51mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 7.62 NATO) is a rimless, bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It is a standard for small arms among NATO countries. First developed in the 1950s, the cartridge had first been introduced in U.S. service fo ...
round. In February 2012, the
British Transport Police , nativename = , abbreviation = BTP , patch = , patchcaption = , logo = British Transport Police Logo.svg , logocaption = Logo of the British Transport Police , badge = , badgecaption = , f ...
began to use AR-pattern short-barreled rifles produced by LMT.


L129A1

In 2009, Lewis Machine & Tool Co was contracted to supply the
British Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence (MOD or MoD) is the department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. The MOD states that its principal objectives are to d ...
(MOD) with 440 LM308MWS 7.62×51mm rifles under the official service designation as the L129A1. Its
NATO Stock Number A NATO Stock Number, or National Stock Number (NSN) as it is known in the US, is a 13-digit numeric code used by the NATO military alliance, identifying all the 'standardized material items of supply' as they have been recognized by all member s ...
(NSN) is 1005-99-226-6708. As of December 2014, over 3,000 units have been supplied to UK forces. The LM308MWS was submitted for the British Ministry of Defence's Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) for immediate deployment of a semiautomatic 7.62 NATO caliber sharpshooter rifle in Afghanistan. Other rifles submitted included the
FN Herstal Fabrique Nationale Herstal (), trading as FN Herstal and often referred to as Fabrique Nationale or simply FN, is a leading firearms manufacturer based in Herstal, Belgium. It is currently the largest exporter of military small arms in Europe. ...
SCAR-H,
Heckler & Koch Heckler & Koch GmbH (HK; ) is a German defense manufacturing company that manufactures handguns, rifles, submachine guns, and grenade launchers. The company is located in Oberndorf am Neckar in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, and also ...
HK417 and Sabre Defence XR-10. LMT's rifle was chosen, earning it the L129A1 designation and entered service April 2010 in Afghanistan. The standard optic for the L129A1 is the TA648-308 6×48 Trijicon ACOG. It can fire standard 7.62 mm ball ammunition, but the official issue rounds are 155-grain L42A1-A3 sniper and L59A1 "High Performance" ball ammunition.Sharpshooter: The UK’s New L129A1 7.62x51mm Rifle
''Small Arms Defense Journal''. 11 January 2012.
The ACOG is mounted to a Picatinny rail to which is fitted a Trijicon RM01 1 x Ruggedized Miniature Reflex (RMR) for Close Quarters Battle use. The LM308MWS standard US commercial model differs slightly from the UK issued L129A1 in barrel length and twist rate. Its muzzle device is a standard M16A2 flash suppressor. It uses detachable fixed sights instead of folding sights. Its furniture is black instead of brown. Finally, the designation on the receiver is "LM308MWS" instead of "L129A1." There are also UK commercial variants of the L129A1 and the CQB MRP Defender. Designated the LMT308SP and CQB 5.56SP, the models are a straight pull action rifle, and not semi-automatic due to UK laws. The New Zealand Army adopted the rifle in October 2011. It differs from its UK counterpart in the use of a Leupold adjustable 4.5-14× scope, canted iron sights and a foldable foregrip.


MARS-L


New Zealand

On 12 August 2015, the
New Zealand Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence ( mi, Manatū Kaupapa Waonga) is the public service department of New Zealand responsible for advising the government on strategic defence policy, acquiring military equipment to meet defence capability and conducting au ...
announced that it would be replacing the current
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 A ...
rifle for the three branches of the
New Zealand Defence Force The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF; mi, Te Ope Kātua o Aotearoa, "Line of Defence of New Zealand") are the armed forces of New Zealand. The NZDF is responsible for the protection of the national security of New Zealand and her realm, prom ...
with a rifle from LMT, one of eight companies that had submitted rifles for trials between March and June 2015. Like the Steyr AUG, the submitted LMT design was also chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO. A contract of NZD $59 million was awarded to LMT for 9,040 rifles, designated the MARS-L (Modular Ambidextrous Rifle System-Light). The rifles were delivered in May 2017, and soldiers began training with them at Waiouru Military Camp on 15 June 2017. In September 2018, it was reported that some of the rifles had experienced breakages, including 130 with cracks around the bolt, and that all 9,040 rifles had had their firing pins replaced under warranty. LMT later claimed that the number of worn or broken firing pins was actually much smaller, in the range of "less than one tenth of one percent". The issue reportedly stemmed from improper tempering. While replacing the firing pins, a similar quantity of selector switches and bolt carriers had also been found to display premature wear and were replaced.


Estonia

In May 2019, the
Estonian Defence Forces The Estonian Defence Forces ( et, Eesti Kaitsevägi) are the unified military forces of the Republic of Estonia. The Estonian Defence Forces consist of the Estonian Land Forces, the Estonian Navy, the Estonian Air Force, and the paramilitary E ...
selected the MARS-L after two years of testing to replace their
IMI Galil The IMI Galil ( he, גליל) is a family of Israeli-made automatic rifles chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO and 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges. Originally designed by Yisrael Galili and Yakov Lior in the late 1960s, the Galil was first produced ...
and
Ak 4 The Ak 4 ( Swedish: ''Automatkarbin 4'') is a Swedish-made version of the Heckler & Koch G3A3 battle rifle. It has been produced in several versions, with minor changes and upgrades. The original Ak 4 model (Ak 4A) featured a buttstock that is ...
rifles. 16,000 MARS-L rifles were ordered under the designation R20 Rahe ("Hail" in Estonian). The upper receiver has a
Picatinny rail The Picatinny rail ( or ), or Pic rail for short, also known as a MIL-STD-1913 rail, 1913 rail or STANAG 2324 rail (cancelled), is a military standard rail interface system that provides a mounting platform for firearm accessories. It was ...
on the top and
M-LOK M-LOK, for Modular Lock, is a firearm rail interface system developed and patented by Magpul Industries. The license is free-of-charge, but subject to an approval process. M-LOK allows for direct accessory attachment onto the "negative s ...
compatible attachment points on its sides and uses a short-stroke gas piston system. The standard barrel length of the R20 is 14.3", but a 12.5" variant designated the R20 S is also produced. A modified trigger design allows the trigger safety to be engaged without the hammer being cocked, which is not possible on a standard AR-15 pattern rifle. In June 2020, the first batch of 1,500 R20 Rahe rifles was delivered. The R20 is planned to fully replace the Galil and Ak 4 by 2022. Estonia also acquired a
designated marksman rifle A designated marksman rifle (DMR) is a modern scoped high- precision rifle used by infantrymen in the designated marksman (DM) role. It generally fills the engagement range gap between a service rifle and a dedicated sniper rifle, at aroun ...
variant of the MARS chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO with a 16" barrel. The official Estonian designation for the marksman rifle is the R20 L.


References


External links

* {{ArmaLite AR-10 derivatives Firearm manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Illinois Milan, Illinois Quad Cities Companies based in Rock Island County, Illinois Companies based in the Quad Cities Designated marksman rifles