The Firearm Blog

You saw it here first! I had no idea that Sig Sauer were making AR-15 / M16 rifles but my DSEi spy spotted this prototype SIG516 ¹ PDW at the DSEi 09 expo. It features a 7" barrel, putting it firmly in the PDW class, and chambers the 5.56mm NATO.

The SIG 516

Markings indicate manufacture at the Sig Sauer plant in Exeter, NH, USA

I do not know if Sig plan on a civilian carbine version. If they did it would compete directly with their Sig 550 line of full length and short barreled rifles.

UPDATE: jcmiller points out that the lower receiver is semi-automatic. A production PDW would have to be fully automatic. Maybe Sig are thinking of civilian sales.

UPDATE:

The SIG516 Tactical Rifle line has three different models:

• SIG516 PDW : 7" barrel. A personal defense weapon (pictured above).
• SIG516 CQB : 10" barrel. A Colt M4 Commando equvelent.
• SIG516 BASELINE CARBINE : 14.5" barrel. A M4 Carbine equvelent.
• SIG516 Patrol. 16" barrel.
• SIG516 Tactical Marksman: 16" barrel A squad level sniper / designated marksmen rifle.
• SIG516 Precision Marksman: 20" barrel. Possibly a true sniper rifle, or designated marksmen rifle.

They are all piston operated and feature an adjustable gas regulator like the Ruger SR-556.

Upper receiver assemblies will be sold. Just before anyone gets their hopes up, while it is likely that Sig will sell civilians models, this has not been confirmed.

Big thank you to Lusaka for the information and photos.

Indian soldiers are complaining about the INSAS rifles they are issued. One of the chief complaints is the poor sling design. It breaks easily and its placement on the rifle obscures the front sight! Times of India reports:

Also, its sling often snaps while firing, making it fall during manoeuvres. The sling also obstructs the rifle’s sight. But most of all, the size of the sling never took into account the bullet proof jacket worn by jawans. As a result, it falls short and is uncomfortable to hold. This hampers quick reaction. Insas also does not have a rapid fire feature; it shoots only three rounds in a single burst

INSAS (left)

Other complaints include loss of zero after cleaning and the barrel overheating when firing.

The INSAS is, I believe, is the standard issue rifle of the Indian Army, although it is one of many rifles used by the Indians. It is loosely based on the AK-47 design and also comes in a 5.45×30mm variant.

Hat Tip: MP.net

Benelli, not wanting to miss out, has entered the lucrative black rifle market with Benelli MR1 Carbine, a 5.56mm gas piston operated rifle.

Benelli MR1 Carbine

The MR1 Carbine is the civilian version of the Beretta Rx4 Storm (which never took off). Benelli, a subsidiary of Beretta, designed the ARGO gas system used by the MR1/Rx4 and manufactured both the MR1 and the Rx4 Storm.

Beretta RX4 Storm with accessories. The collapsible stock is not available currently on the RX4.

What differentiates the MR1 from other 5.56mm rifles is the gas system it uses. Originally the Auto-Regulating Gas System (ARGO) was designed for the Benelli M4 Super 90, better known by its US Military designation, the M1014 Joint Service Combat Shotgun. Benelli then adapted the system for their ARGO line of hunting rifles (branded the R1 in the United States). In 2005 the Beretta Rx4 Storm, a tactical version of the ARGO rifle, was introduced and marketed to law enforcement. As far as I know the Rx4 has never been available in a select fire variant but they decided to market it to civilians as the Benelli MR1.

Benelli M4 Super 90 / M1014

Benelli ARGO EL

The ARGO gas system has an interesting short stroke piston design. Gas is trapped very close to the chamber. The high pressure gas ensures reliable cycling regardless of ammunition. This means that it can cycle any shotgun shells, regardless of the load. For a rifle it means the barrel can be very short and a suppressor could be fitted without any cycling issues. This gun is just asking to be converted into a Short Barreled Rifle!

The gas is then fed into an expansion chamber. The pressure in the chamber drives the piston assembly, which has dual rods. The high pressure is regulated by a release value. These diagrams should illustrate how the system works.

The receiver is made of aluminum, it is fully compatible with AR-15 magazines (including the 100 round drums) and, like all Benelli shotguns and rifles, the main spring is placed inside the butt stock - meaning a folding stock is not an option, although hopefully an M1014 folding stock will be made available.

MR1 Specifications:

Caliber: 5.56mm NATO / .223 Rem. Barrel: 16". Hard chrome lined. 1:9 twist. Rear Sights: Military-style Aperture Weight: 7.9 lbs.

The MSRP is $1299. I think they have priced it right. Although not cheap, and they can do better than the one five round magazine they ship with it, I doubt they could sell it much cheaper.

MR1 with 5 round magazine.

The Beretta ARX 160 is the new assault rifle being adopted the the Italians. I first mentioned it on in blog post last October and now thanks to REMOV I have the specs and some detailed photos (copyright Armi e Tiro/Beretta). According to REMOV the R&D cost 4 million euros, 70,000 man hours and 500,000 rounds of ammunition for testing!

Click to expand the photos.

GLX 160 grenade launcher attached.

The weapon has been designed to be modular and easy to maintain in the field. It has an upper/lower polymer receiver, much like the AR-15, a gas piston system and a rotating bolt. An interesting feature, for an assault rifle, is the ultra-quick change barrel system. Beretta claim barrels can be swapped in two seconds without tools by simply depressing two latches in the upper receiver! Quad Picatinny rails allow for accessories to be attached.

Ergonomics have been an important design goal in the development of this rifle. To this end the ejection and charging handle can be switched from one side to the other in no longer than a minute. All selector switches and buttons are fully ambidextrous and the folding stock is collapsible (four position).

The rifle will come three variants: the Special Forces (12″ barrel), Carbine (16″ barrel) and Designated Marksmen / light Sniper (16″ heavy barrel). This is the first time I have seen a designated marksmen rifle come standard with a 16″ barrel and is another step in the current trend towards shorter carbines and sub-carbines.

The standard rifle configurations are chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO and use STANAG (M16) magazines. By swapping the bolt head, lower receiver and barrel the rifle can be reconfigured to use 5.45×39mm, 7.62×39mm or 6.8mm SPC rounds.

12″ barrel (bottom and middle) and 16″ barrel (top)

The GLX 160 grenade launcher can be quickly attached to the ARX 160 or be used as a stand-alone weapon. In its most basic configuration is weighs less than 1 kg (2.2 lbs) and 2.2 kb (4.8 lbs) when fitted with a collapsible stock and grenade iron sights.

The GLFCS ( Grenade Launcher Fire Control System ) is a range finder / ballistics calculator for the GLX that attaches to the ARX 160 allowing for accurate fire.

Not much has been said about this rifle while the Bushmaster ACR and FN SCAR have been getting all the attention. I think the ARX / GLX 160 is an impressive package and I look forward to seeing how it performs in Italian service.

Credit for this blog post needs to go to REMOV who provided me with a lot of information. Thanks Remi.

Two months ago I blogged that the Norwegian Army suspected that the ammunition used in their new H&K 416 rifles were making soldiers sicks. Chief of Staff Brig. General Rune Jakobsen initiated an investigation after Army HQ received three different reports about groups of soldiers getting sick after firing the new rifles. Symptoms included headaches, fever and joint pain. The investigation has determined that the soldiers were experiencing mild heavy metal poisoning caused by the “green” lead-free 5.56mm NATO ammunition manufactured by Nammo.

Norwegian solider with H&K 416

The report states that the gas exhausted from the rifles contained high levels of copper and zinc which account for all the symptoms suffered by the riflemen. A few, quite comical, short term solutions have been recommended. These include only shooting outside, slower rate of fire and spacing the shooters out more when at the range!

In 2003, under pressure from environmental groups and politicians the Army started using environmentally friendly ammunition. Since then they have had plenty of problems. The Norwegian ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) troops in Afghanistan were ordered to use the new ammo. The ammunition delivered either failed to fire or did not have enough energy to cycle the weapons. 300,000 rounds had to be dumped leaving the troops with no reserve ammunition. All the troops who did not need to leave the base had to hand in their ammunition so it could be distributed to those who needed it. The Army has also had to ban the green ammo from use in the MG3 machine guns because unspecified malfunctions occurred that could harmed the operators.

Nammo 5.56mm ammunition

I found a powerpoint presentation on the internet made by Nammo in 2006 extolling the virtues of their green ammunition. Here are a few very ironic slides (I added the red arrows):

Recently it was determined that the “green” tungsten training ammunition used by the US Military could be toxic.

So in summery: don’t use green ammunition.
Many thanks to Daniel Watters of The Gun Zone for the research he did for this blog post.

Sig are offering the Sig 556 rifle in a pistol configuration called the P556. It has proved very popular at SHOT Show and looks like a really fun gun!

Sig P556

Apart from the 10″ barrel and lack of a stock, it has all the same features of the SIG 556 rifle: Flash suppressor, picatinny rails, two stage trigger, weather resistant Nitron finish. It also comes with a Sig branded mini red dot sight.

Specs:

Caliber: 5.56mm NATO
Overall Length: 21.5”
Barrel Length: 10”
Rifling: 1 in 7”
Weight (w/o Magazine): 6 lbs 7 oz
Magazine: 30 Round STANAH (AR-15)

The MSRP is $1875.

It also comes in a SWAT variant which has a alloy quad rail in place of the standard handguard. No word on pricing for this model.

P556 SWAT model

At SHOT magpul have displayed their new EMAG and a 7.62mm PMAG.

There is not much information available and some of the forums I have read are saying contradictory things. This is my take on it, I may be wrong and if I am I will update this post with the correct information.

The EMAG is a 5.56mm slick-sided STANAG magazine. It is compatible with all rifles that use STANAG magazines, such as the HK416, FN2000, Steyr AUG (NATO variant) and many other rifles civilian and military . This is a very clever move by Magpul and could dramatically increase their export sales.

EMAG

The 7.62mm PMAG is compatible with SR-25 compatible rifles and the Magpul Massoud.

seven point six two


LaRue Tactical with what appears to be a PMAG

UPDATE: I was right (that does not happen very often!). EMAG is short for Export Magazine. It will retail for $22.95.

Click to expand.

One more teaser photo from Magpul after the jump (frontpage is currently clogged up with photos)
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The FN IAR is based on the SCAR. It has a rate of fire of 650 RPM and weights in at 10.4 lbs.

FN IAR. Click to expand.

One very interesting features is that it switches automatically from closed bolt to open bolt depending on the chamber temperature. From FNH-USA:

Today FN offers the new Infantry Automatic Rifle (IAR), a unique, highly-adaptable, modular selective fire weapon system that fills the roles of both individual battle rifle and squad automatic weapon in one light, compact package. The magazine-fed FN IAR is capable of firing from a closed bolt in both semi-automatic and fully-automatic modes, yet automatically transitions into open-bolt operation in semi-automatic or fully-automatic before reaching cook-off temperature for a chambered cartridge.

I do not think the temperature switch would be electronic. Most likely there is a piece of metal that expands when heated and causes a switch from closed to open bolt.

Again, a bit thanks to Daniel Watters for pointing this out to me.

GunPundit stumbled across a photo at Marines.mil with a caption that suggests that some Marines are hunting ducks with 5.56mm NATO rounds and/or 5.56mm blanks.

My take on it: They reckoned punt guns are pretty cool for duck hunting but rifle grenades (fired with a blank round) are even better!

(Just joking)

Earlier this month SIG announced an the new SIG 556 Classic. The design is modeled on the SIG 550. From what I can see the primary difference is the swiss style folding stock and polymer handguard.

SIG 556 Classic

SIG 550 (Photo from Wikipedia)

I am surprised they did not duplicate the “classic” 550 handguard exactly since the main selling point of this rifle is the look. It does not include the 550 integral bipod.

Specs:

Caliber: 5.56mm NATO
Overall Length: 37.1”
With stock collapsed: 34.3”
With stock folded: 28.1”
Barrel Length: 17”
Rifling: 1 in 7”
Weight (w/o magazine): 8 lbs. 2 oz.
MSRP: $1998.00

I like the lines on the Classic. Very sleek looking, at a price.

Hat Tip: Police One

I have previously discussed the Ultimax 100 Mk4. This is the latest iteration of the Ultimax 100 design and is being entered into the IAR competition by General Dynamics, although it designed by Singapore Technologies Kinetics (STK).

Photos by SMGLee. Click to expand:

Quick Change Barrel

I like the design of the ambidextrous fire selector.

Compared to the Mk4 the Mk5 takes unmodified STANAG (M16) magazine, has quad rails and a bipod/foregrip rather than a separate bipod and foregrip.

I am not sure if the Ultimax 100 Mk4 100 round drum magazine will be made compatible with the Mk5. The Mk4 took modified STANAG magazines.

Ultimax 100 Mk 4


Ultimax 100 Mk 5

UPDATE: Defense Review has more info.

The “Neon”?

It looks like Poland is developing their own version of the XM29 OICW concept, according to the MSPO 2008 website. It may or may not be called the “Neon”, Google translate is not great at best of times.

What makes the Polish concept unique is that the grenade launcher part of the weapon will, at this stage in the design, be able to be removed and swapped for a different caliber, either 40mm or 25mm.

I am going to predict that they will end up with one caliber and not bother with the complexity and cost of multiple calibers.

It has the usual fire control system to program air burst grenades to detonate at a certain distance.

I will be watching with interest to see what happens with this program. Sweden and Singapore are also developing similar weapons and South Korea will be fielding the XK11 Korean New Rifle in 2010.

XK11 Korean New Rifle

More information here (translated with google)

I have done my best to find accurate information about this firearm on the Polish MSPO 2008 website. I do not speak or read Polish so I had to rely on Google Translate. If I got something wrong, please correct me in the comments.

Those lucky Canadians will be able to purchase the Norinco Type 97 later this year.

Type 97A. Click to expand.

The Type 97 is the civilian export version of the QBZ-97 rifle, which in turn is the export version of the 5.8×42mm QBZ-95. It is chambered in 5.56×45mm and takes STANAG magazines. Looking at the photo I think it has a 20″ barrel.

According to CanadaAmmo it will be available in December 2008 and will sell for $849.00.

UPDATE: A couple of photos from Dennis. Thanks Dennis

Military.com reported a few days ago that the entire Iraqi army is moving to the M16A2 and M4. Some Iraqi units have been using M16s since May last year. The move was originally announced last April.

So far, the U.S. military has helped the Iraqi army purchase 43,000 rifles – a mix of full-stock M-16A2s and compact M-4 carbines. Another 50,000 rifles are currently on order, and the objective is to outfit the entire Iraqi army with 165,000 American rifles in a one-for-one replacement of the AK-47.

“Our goal is to give every Iraqi soldier an M-16A2 or an M-4,” Scott said. “And as the Iraqi army grows, we will adjust.” – Military.com

Reasons given are logistical and that the M16 is a superior and more reliable weapon. Many think it is superior but few would say more reliable. It is easier to see the logistical benefits. I imagine training will also be easier.

The big advantage is that the rifles can be easily traced. Mexico has gone down this route by using a weapon they themselves designed. If a FX-05 “Xiuhcoatl” ends up in the hands of a drug runner, the Mexican army will know where to find the culprit who supplied it.

Last year it was reported that then an Iraqi soldier gets issued an M16 he is finger printed, undergoes a digital retina scan, and is photographed with the rifle serial number. The information is then transfered into a central database.

The weapon exchange is just the first step in a five-day program of instruction for the Iraqis. However, new rifles are not handed out in a one-for-one swap. Coalition Forces assign each IA recruit a weapon using a high-tech, biometric issue system.

Verified against a master list and having tuned in his old rifle, the IA soldier and his new M-16 continue on to one of ten biometric stations, where he is finger printed, undergoes a digital retinal scan and is photographed with the M16’s serial number. Officials then transfer the information to a database in Baghdad, to ensure accountability and to prevent the weapon from ending up in the wrong hands. – Blackanthem Military News

The BAT (Biometrics Automated Toolset) in Iraq

The DOD Biometric Task Force

My thoughts on the move to the M16

The move of course also sends money to American factories. It makes sense as hundreds of millions have been spent on arms for the Iraqi army. At the end of last year Iraq’s defence Minister Abdul-Qadir al-Obaidi announced a US$230 million deal with Serbia for what is likely to be rifles, machine guns, explosives and ammo.

Serbia has signed a US$230m (£116m) deal with Iraq to sell weapons and military equipment, the defence ministry said yesterday.

It did not specify the weapons but Serbian military experts believe they include Serbian-made assault rifles, machine guns, anti-tank weapons, ammunition and explosives. – IRAQ UPDATES

Training with M16s in Iraq. May 2007. US Army photo.

Unfortunately for the rest of us who do not own shares in ammunition manufacturers the supply of 5.56mm to yet another army at war, and who will be at war for a long time, means the price is only going to go up and up.

What does not make sense is why they do not supply them with the gas piston AR variants. Politics would be my guess. I think they had enough media attention over the body armor, they don’t want to be accused of issuing the Iraqi superior rifles.

Iraqi Army soldier loading
5.56mm ammo.