Zenith Firearms has been making roller-delayed blowback firearms for a number of years now after they separated from MKE. They just announced their latest roller-delayed blowback firearm. The ZF-56 is a firearm chambered in 5.56 and appears to be a hybrid of typical roller-delayed rifles like the HK93 and an AR-15.

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According to Zenith, the ZF-56 will have a roller-delayed blowback bolt. It will have last round bolt hold open but uses a proprietary lower receiver. The trigger, grip and magazine are AR-compatible.

Take a look at the lower receiver. There are some interesting things going on. There are a lot of holes and pins, more than your standard AR-15. Also, the pistol grip does not sit flush with the trigger guard.

It looks like the ZF-56 might take MP5/HK93 style stocks but the interface is different. Normally HK93 and MP5 end caps slide over the back of the receiver and are attached by a single pin. Here it looks like they might be using an HK MP5K end cap since we see two pins and the end cap does not slide over the receiver.

Like traditional roller-delayed blowback guns, there appears to be a folding charging handle and it might lock downwards instead of up like an H&K-style charging handle. No more HK slap? We shall see when the gun comes out. The handguard is free-floating with M-LOK and Picatinny at the top. There is a heat shield built-in.

They will be offering the ZF-56 in 5.56 but later they will offer it in the following calibers: 9mm, 10mm, and 7.62. I wonder if they mean 7.62×51 or could they make a .300blk (7.62x35mm)? I suppose they could also make it in 7.62×39 but for now, they only mention “7.62”.

The rifle weighs 7.3 lbs. It will have a cold hammer forged, fluted, 6-groove, 1:7″ right-hand twist, hard chrome plated or nitrided barrel. Barrel lengths will be 12″, 14.5″ and 16″.

At the moment, there is no mention of price. But you can check out their website for any updates.