From the Ukrainian company Xados that brought us the MG34 lookalike .50 BMG Rhino Hunter, now comes a 14.5x144mm anti-material rifle, recently at Arms and Security 2017 held in Kiev. The rifle manually loaded with each round by inserting a round into an open chamber, then pushing the bolt forward which locks via what appears to be a rotating mechanism with a cam that is visible from the chamber. The bolt itself is operated via a sort of M3 “Grease Gun” like charging toggle that is on the right side of the receiver. The company claims it is of a bulpup configuration because the chamber and bolt are behind the trigger guard. From the images at Arms and Security 2017, it appears that the bolt is locked via a 3 sectioned, multi-lugged system into the chamber.
The barrel is also claimed to be free floated, but it appears that semi-free floated would be a better description due to the barrel resting on a block just above the fixed bipod. Optics can be mounted what appears to be a riveted or screwed in mount that is suspended above the chamber itself. There is a monopod that looks to be thread adjustable and a butt plate that doesn’t appear to be adjustable at all. A pin on the right side of the rifle appears to be the take down pin, similar to the Barrett M107 series of designs.
Honestly speaking, apart from the Nightforce optic, and possibly the threat of death at the other end of the muzzle, I’m not quite sure how this constitutes a modern firearm.
Specifications from Xados-
Caliber | 14.5×114 |
Total length | 1870 mm |
Barrel length | 1320 mm |
Number of grooves
|
8 |
Muzzle velocity | 1000 m/s |
Effective range | 5000 m |
Shooting range | up to 7000 m |
Weight | 30 kg |