Idea for a new rifle, what do you think?

C

Correia

New member
I've got this idea for a different kind of rifle. To my knowledge nothing like this has been done before.

I don't want to go into any specifics but I think that it is kind of innovative. I also don't want to get too specific because I'm currently looking into having some gun accesory prototypes made up and if this idea is viable I may look into it as well.

Would you be interested in a rifle that was:

Advantages:

1. The shortest and lightest semi .308 on the market. But still with a long barrel.
2. Bullpup configuration that was totally ambidextrous, and usable by left handers with out any sort of modifications at all. (Yep, no ejection out the side).
3. Free floated barrel.
4. Raised and modular sight rail for mounting optics.
5. And for those of us who are paranoids at heart; a plate that goes over the bullpuped action to prevent damage to the shooter in case of catestrophic case failure. (See the plate is actually neccesary for something else).
6. The actual operating system would not be that different from a proven military design. So there is no need for anything really new or complicated in the actual operation of the gun.
7. Slightly weird shape of the gun would allows for some good spots for the mounting of different kinds of lights or devices. And there would be a space for a trapdoor for a cleaning kit, or recoil reducer.
8. G36 style folding cocking handle.
9. The gun will be fed with M1 Garand en-bloc clips.

I see this as a general purpose, all around beater gun/lightweight emergency tool that still has some oomph to it. Plus bullpups are just cool, and it would be nice to not get hot gases in your face or eat brass if you need to fire from your off shoulder. Why .308? I think that it is the best availible all purpose round for North America. And there is lots of cheap surplus availible. Plus the action would be shorter than an '06.

But nothing is perfect.

Disadvantages:

1. 8 round capacity in total. But it reloads real quick.
2. It looks really weird. (Though for some of use that is a plus). Kind of like a mutant FN P90 on steroids. If your tastes run towards fine walnut and blueing this is not your gun. But if you want something short, squat, light, and powerful this is it.
3. There is no way in hell that it would be legal in California. :p It has a protruding grip, not really a pistol grip but more of a thumbhole stock. But I still think that I could make it comfy to shoot.

So gentlemen. What do you think? Would you be interested?

Edited because I figured I might as well say how it works rather than have everybody keep guessing. :)
 
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In .223 no - I wouldn't be interested if it didn't take AR type mags.

In .308 - Then I would interested.

In an even bigger caliber - I would be all over it.
 
Trigger would of course be so-so. Long linkage, can't really be helped. But wouldn't be any worse than an Aug, and they aren't that bad. Well, not good. But ok.

Shin, close but no cigar. It is a not a flat magazine. It is actually something much simpler. It is bottom ejection, but the thumbhole stock is mostly to keep your wrist and forearm from getting hit by brass.

Michael, I'm not talking about a standard bullpup. (FAMAS, L85, Aug, Bushmaster, or any of the others that are in current existence). They all eject out one side or the other, making use from the off shoulder difficult. So no, it ain't been done this way as far as I can tell. Though the new FN2000 ejects out the front by using the shell holder design of the old Maxim, but this is different than that as well.

How much? I have no earthly clue. I'm still trying to figure this out. I don't know jack squat about machining or production.
 
Would it be possible to have a feed system so we can have a FAL-type magazine in the normal "forward" location, and have the cartridges moved back? This adds complexity, of course..

-z
 
Shin, tube mag would prevent the use of pointy bullets.

Smithz, nothing that complex. Plus the mechanism for something like that would have to be pretty big, defeating the original purpose of having a .308 utility rifle.
 
Magazine loadable with standard military five-round stripper clips? How about something akin to the Johnson semi-auto rifle, which could be stripper-loaded with the action closed?

Best,
Johnny
 
There is a tube magazine system that stores the cartridges with the slugs off-center, like a cork-screw patern. This allows pointy bullets.
 
Johnny is closest so far. But it won't use 5 round stripperclips. But he is close.

I'm all excited. I drew up some measurements last night. It should work perfectly, and it is actually pretty darn simple. :) Though the manual of arms is considerably different than most other guns.
 
Ziggy got it. :P

Its really simple. en-block clip inserted through the bottom of the action. Bottom ejection. Thumbhole is there to keep from getting hit in the arm by brass. Front of the but plate will have a form of mag funnel to make reloading in a hurry easier. Automatic ejection of the empty en-bloc can be disabled if the shooter so desires.

I wasn't going to say anything about the feeding mechanism, but I just got too excited. I really think this is a good idea. En-blocs are cheap and super availible. And it costs basically nothing to make more. Since this is supposed to be a utility/farm/truck gun it would be super easy to drop a couple of en-blocs into various pockets and go.
 
Well, All RIGHT!

Correia--

Okay, now hurry up and register some sort of plan with "Intent to Seek Patent" or the like, to protect your idea, and come on and post some drawings, or a mock-up, or something! I'm becoming interested in spite of myself.

Have you looked into the patent or design registration area at all? It might just be that you can patent only the new application of the en-bloc loading of various types of rifles, and not necessarily the whole shootin' arn. I don't know of ANY other design utilizing the 8-round Garand clip, and I imagine the original patents have long expired.

Don't forget the Picaninny rails on top, bottom and sides, to mount lasers, LEDs, FLIR and heat-seeking guidance devices, along with forward-mount scope and backup peep sights. Oh, yeah, its gotta be BLACK, and with the word TACTICAL someplace in the design name. And, and - - - -

SLAP! slapslapslapslap! Sorry--I just got a little carried away. I'm okay now.

Good luck, and keep us informed.

Best,
Johnny
 
I bought a scanner. I'm going to try and figure out how to post my drawings. If that doesn't work I guess that I can e-mail the pics to somebody who does know how to post pictures.

I'll keep you updated.
 
Well actually, it would work in anything that you could fit into an en-bloc (though the action would have to be elongated of course). But I know that 5 .338 magnums will fit into an en-bloc. :) And if the action could be made strong enough, I've actually seen a conversion where an M1 Garand was changed over to .458 win mag. But I don't know if I would want that sitting directly under my cheek.

Of course I would still want to start with .308. For the reasons listed in the first post.

I'm definatly thinking of an adjustable gas system though, just for such contingencys.

George, I will e-mail you pics tonight.
 
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