New for 2016 from Battle Rifle Company is the BR4 Trident rifle. The BR4 is one of Battle Rifle Company’s base platforms, and the Trident model is designed specifically for Maritime Security (MARSEC) users and others who spend time in a salty maritime setting and need weapons that can stand up to the harsh environment. A big fish tank filled with water and fish at the BRC booth contains a Trident and it was getting a lot of strange looks.

The BR4 Trident has a Cerakote finish and uses stainless steel or nickel boron for virtually every non-coated component. Anyone who spends time at sea or on the coast knows how difficult the conditions are on equipment and how even gear that never gets wet almost seems to rust and deteriorate before your very eyes. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of their design, Battle Rifle Company put a Trident into a fish tank of sea water for 30 days with a live feed so viewers could watch. By the end of the month, a lot of things had started to grow on the gun and it looked pretty scummy, as should be expected. But Battle Rifle Company engineers pulled it out of the water, knocked the crust off, and popped in a mag. 500 rounds were sent downrange without a failure. No cleaning. No lube.

The only component that was worse for wear was the dust cover. It suffered a fair amount of surface rust and functioned perfectly, but the decision was made to replace it with a polymer cover for production.

Now, even Battle Rifle Company notes that thirty days submerged in seawater isn’t generally recommended for firearms. Well, for anything, really. Think twice before trying it with it your gun and at least oil it up at bit when you pull it out. But it demonstrates that the Trident treatment is as effective as one can hope for and that those who count on their guns in similar environments, such as law enforcement in coastal areas and security in maritime facilities or at sea, will hear a bang when they pull the trigger.

A side effect of the finish is that the action is about as smooth as you’re going to find. A test gun at the booth which had been fired cycled so slick it was like music. Definitely nice.

The Trident is available with a standard 16-inch barrel or in an SBR version. A free float option is available for the 16-inch model.