The Federal Riot Gun (FRG) is a firearm made by Federal Laboratories Inc., designed to fire non-lethal munitions. Its

ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

includes 37 and 38mm baton and tear gas rounds. The baton rounds were cylindrical, rubber projectiles. The most popular model, 37-mm M201-Z, has a distinctive ringed barrel.

History

Introduced in the 1930s by Federal Laboratories Inc., of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, the FRG became the standard

riot gun In current usage, a riot gun or less-lethal launcher is a type of firearm used to fire Non-lethal weapon, "non-lethal" or "less-lethal" ammunition for the purpose of suppressing riots or apprehending suspects with minimal harm or risk. Less-leth ...

used by the British Army throughout

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. A single-shot weapon, which breaks open by unlocking a catch at the top, it has since been replaced in British use by the multiple-shot

ARWEN 37 The ARWEN 37 is a less-lethal launcher which fires a variety of 37mm less-lethal munitions which includes direct impact batons, chemical irritant delivery munitions and smoke delivery munitions. The ARWEN 37 has 5-round rotary drum magazine. H ...

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

. It was also issued by the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...

, subsequently the

Canadian Armed Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

.Canadian Military Police Virtual Museum. The Canadian Provost Corps, 1946 - 1968. Weapons: Federal Tear Gas Riot Gun
/ref> It had been used by the

South African Police Service The South African Police Service (SAPS) is the national police force of the Republic of South Africa. Its 1,154 police stations in South Africa are divided according to the Provinces of South Africa, provincial borders, and a Provincial Commis ...

during the apartheid era. Spare parts could not be purchased, due to the 1977 arms embargo, so a domestically produced weapon, the "Stopper" replaced the Federal Riot Gun.

Non-lethal design

Fired at a relatively low velocity, the baton rounds are intended to knock rioters down, or momentarily stun them, but not to cause serious injury or death.

Field experience

Safe operating procedures in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

eventually ruled out firing the gun directly at rioters, as it was found that the rounds could cause serious and permanent injuries. In 1993, a constable of the

Bermuda Police Service The Bermuda Police Service is the law enforcement agency of the British Overseas Territory and former Imperial fortress of Bermuda. Overview The BPS is responsible for policing the entire archipelago, including incorporated municipalities, ...

, acting the role of enemy for a rifle company of the

Bermuda Regiment The Royal Bermuda Regiment (RBR) is the home defence unit of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is a single Territorial Army (United Kingdom), territorial infantry battalion#British Army, battalion that was formed on the amalgamation ...

, being exercised at

Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune ( or ) is a United States military training facility in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Its of beaches make the base a major area for amphibious assault training, and its location between two deep-water ports ( ...

USMC The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

Base, was seriously injured by a baton round fired from a soldier's FRG, shattering his jaw, which required extensive surgery to reconstruct. Subsequently, orders were given that the weapons were to be fired into the ground ahead of rioters. The baton rounds would deflect upwards into the rioters, but would lose

kinetic energy In physics, the kinetic energy of an object is the form of energy that it possesses due to its motion. In classical mechanics, the kinetic energy of a non-rotating object of mass ''m'' traveling at a speed ''v'' is \fracmv^2.Resnick, Rober ...

in the process.

Gallery

File:Srinagar Riot Indian Security Force standing by with tear gas.jpg, Indian Police in Kashmir File:Gas gun.JPG, An Israeli Border Guard with a M201-Z File:Hong Kong police officer with a Federal M201-Z riot gun.jpg, A Hong Kong PTU officer with a M201-Z File:Mossberg 500 shotgun & Federal Riot Gun of the Bermuda Regiment.jpg, A Federal M201-Z Riot Gun (right), with a

Mossberg 500 The Mossberg 500 is a series of pump-action shotguns manufactured by O.F. Mossberg & Sons. The 500 series comprises widely varying models of hammerless repeaters, all of which share the same basic receiver and action, but differ in bore size, ...

shotgun, of the Bermuda Regiment.

References

{{commons category, Federal Riot Gun * Riot guns Riot control weapons Teargas grenade guns