Turkish Company UTS to Produce 5.56mm and 9mm AR15 Clones

    UTS Defense, known for their commercial pump action 12 gauge shotguns in the United States has featured a promotional image on the Turkish website (not the U.S. one though) that shows a 5.56x45mm AR15 derivative titled the UT512 and a 9x19mm version titled UT9S. The promotion had the simple title of “Coming Soon” at the top, probably in time for SHOT 2018. It would appear that both of these designs have the intent of Military or LE application due to neither of them being legal in Turkey for civilian use, and both would at least be classified as SBRs if imported in the United States. Apart from a few different features, both weapons share the same handguard design, charging handles, BUIS sights, pistol grips, and similar but different telescoping stocks and flash hiders. Both appear to have ambidextrous magazine releases, in addition to what most likely are ambidextrous safety selectors. The handguard is very Midwest Industries-esque with the two bolts at the rear, gas tube vents, 

    The UT512 rifle version appears to come with a translucent magazine and what appears to be a 14-inch barrel with a flash hider that looks very similar in dimensions to several suppressor ready compensators currently on the market today. It also appears to be direct impingement in operation.

    The UT9S appears to take MP5 magazines, probably because UTS wants to market this design to Law Enforcement organizations that are interested in retiring their old MP5 submachine guns. There appears to be a magazine catch on the left side of the weapon, but interestingly no bolt hold open catch. In its place are two hex bolts, probably to hold the barrel in place so multiple barrels can be used over the course of its lifetime (as they get shot out and replaced). Because it is 9x19mm, this design is most likely blowback in operation.

    Miles

    Infantry Marine, based in the Midwest. Specifically interested in small arms history, development, and usage within the MENA region and Central Asia. To that end, I run Silah Report, a website dedicated to analyzing small arms history and news out of MENA and Central Asia.

    Please feel free to get in touch with me about something I can add to a post, an error I’ve made, or if you just want to talk guns. I can be reached at miles@tfb.tv


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