Finnish Ensio FireArms KAR-21 Multi-Caliber Rifle

Ensio FireArms, a small arms manufacturer from Finland, has released a new rifle called KAR-21. This rifle is designed by a gentleman named Toni Käräjämies and KAR in the model name stands for Käräjämies Automatic Rifle. One of the main features of the rifle is its multi-caliber design that allows changing the caliber from .223 Remington to .308 Winchester by swapping the barrel, bolt and magazine well.

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The Ensio FireArms KAR-21 is a gas-operated rifle with a rotating bolt lockup, short stroke piston and adjustable gas block. The monolithic aluminum upper receiver features a full-length top Picatinny rail and M-LOK slots on the handguard portion. There are also QD and HK hook sling attachment provisions on the upper receiver. The ejection port is on the right side only. The non-reciprocating forward charging handle is reversible. The safety selector and magazine release button are ambidextrous. The two-stage trigger is not AR-compatible and the trigger mechanism allows putting the gun on safe with the hammer down. The rifle is fed from standard AR-15 and SR25 pattern magazines (shown with Magpul PMAGs) and apparently it is compatible with AR-15 pistol grips and buffer tubes/stocks.

The KAR-21 rifle utilizes Lothar Walther button-rifled barrels that have 1/2×28 (.223 Rem) or 5/8×24 (.308 Win) muzzle threads. The barrel length in .223 Rem configuration is 16″. The .308 Win version is offered with 16″ or 20″ barrels. Depending on the caliber and barrel length, the overall length is 33″ (.223 Rem, 16″ barrel), 33.6″ (.308 Win, 16″ barrel), or 37.6″ (.308 Win and 20″ barrel). The overall weight with a 16″ barrel is 3.7kg (8lbs 2.5oz).

It is unknown if Ensio FireArms has designed this rifle for the Finnish military considering that the country has recently announced that they are looking to adopt a new rifle to replace the RK62 series rifles. At any rate, the civilian version of the KAR-21 rifle is already available for preorder in Finland at an MSRP of €3,063 (about $3,725). The caliber conversion kits are sold separately and cost €1,289.