Strange Guns: Bullpup Ak5 (FNC)
The Ak5 is the Swedish military’s variant of the FNC carbine. The “C” variant is the short-barreled carbine model, now widely used by the Swedish Army. Shorter still, though, is this bullpup conversion of the Ak5, shown below:
The image first appeared online in 2013 on the Swedish message board Klocksnack (though the original image has long since expired). The text describes the weapon as an early developmental model of an attempt to shorten the Ak5, from the 2000s. Beyond that, virtually no other information is available, except what can be gleaned from the image itself, which has been making the rounds on Reddit and Imgur recently.
The gun is clearly a converted Ak5, the upper and lower being modified from standard production items. The trigger group has been covered by two welded sheet metal panels, a buttstock adapter fitted to the rear of the receiver, an extension for the new pistol grip and trigger fitted, and a raised sight mount welded to the upper receiver. To facilitate firing, a curved rod was run from the front pistol grip to the original trigger group in the receiver.
Sweden is not the only nation to create a developmental weapon of this kind. In the 1960s, the UK modified Sterling-made AR-18 rifles to the bullpup configuration in a very similar manner. This project eventually led to the troubled L85 rifle.
Nathaniel is a history enthusiast and firearms hobbyist whose primary interest lies in military small arms technological developments beginning with the smokeless powder era. He can be reached via email at nathaniel.f@staff.thefirearmblog.com.
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That is one frikkin' fugly gun.
Actually, my money is on the AK shown using a solenoid to pull the trigger.
On the British example, note how the traditional external trigger is entirely omitted on the British rifle, while being shrouded on the AK5. Note also that the linkage on the British rifle is practically a straight rod connecting the forward trigger to the sear interface, while on the AK5 it appears to just be a wire (note the clip near the trigger group pins) routed from the grip to the rear of the stock.