Negev Machine Gun (Israel)

Army and Weapons | Negev Machine Gun (Israel) | Negev Machine Gun Israel, During late eighties IDF requested a development of the 5,56mm light machine gun which could complement reliable, but overly heavy 7,62mm FN MAG machine guns for foot soldiers. The goal was to design a tactical equivalent of the FN Minimi light machine gun,which was tested by IDF but for some reasons was not adopted. First prototypes of the new LMG, developed by Israeli Military Industries Company (now a privately-owned Israeli Weapons Inc) were issued to elite IDF Givati brigade in limited numbers for field testing in 1993.

 

Those early weapons developed a lot of problems with feed reliability and high sensitivity to sand and dust, and further development took about three more years. Starting circa 1996 IMI began to deliver Negev machine guns in limited numbers, and by about 2002 it became more or less a standard issue LMG across the IDF. Negev is favored by Israeli soldiers because it is much lighter and maneuverable than venerable FNMAG, and can be easily manned by single soldier. On the other hand, itis more sensitive to sand and dust that the MAG, and requires more care and cleaning; it also lacks the range and punch of the true GPMG, therefore both 7,62mm MAG and 5,56mm Negev continue to serve in IDF side to side, which obviously is most logical solution.

Negev is a gas-operated, air-cooled light machine gun. It features quick-detachable barrels, with two barrel sizes available –Standard (long) and Commando (short).  Negev machine gun utilizes long-stroke gas piston system located below the barrel. Gas system is fitted with three-position gas regulator, with first (minimum) position used to fire when fed from magazines, second when firing from belts in normal conditions and third – when firing belts under adverse conditions. The gas regulator setting also affects the cyclic rate of fire (position #1 – lowest rate, #3 – highest). The gas piston is attached to the bolt group by dual operating rods, running at either side of receiver, to provide necessary clearance for centrally mounted magazine housing. Barrel locking is achieved by rotating the bolt with four massive radial lugs which engages the cuts in the breech of the barrel.

 Firing is from open bolt, and gun provides selective fire capability through three-position manual safety-fire selector,located on the left side of the pistol grip. Negev machine gun features dual feed system, so it can alternatively use standard disintegrating belts or detachable box magazines. Belt feed unit is installed on the top of receiver, with belt feeding direction from left to right. Belt feed is operated by the side-mounted swinging lever,which is operated by cam track cut in the side of the bolt carrier(system somewhat similar to that used in post-WW2 Czechoslovak machine guns). Magazine housing is located below the receiver, with magazine being inserted vertically up. Ejection window for empty cases is at theright side of receiver, just below the empty link ejection window. 

By default, magazine housing will accept proprietary box magazines originally designed for 5,56mm Galil assault rifle,with 35-round capacity. An adapter can be installed in magazine housing to use STANAG-compatible (M16-type) 30-round magazines. Belts are usually fed from semi-rigid “assault pouches” with 150- or 200-round capacity. These pouches are clipped to machine gun below the receiver, using special projection at the top which is inserted into magazine housing and locked there using magazine catch. Early pouches were of circular (drum) shape, but later these were replaced with more rigid and reliable pouches of semi-circular shape. When not in use,magazine housing is protected by spring-loaded dust-covers.

Standard furniture includes polymer pistol grip, polymer handguard, and a side-folding Galil-type skeletonized buttstock. A lightweight detachable folding bipod is attached to the gas tube. It is interesting to note that when fitted with short (Commando) barrel and box magazine, and with bipod removed,Negev represents a formidable assault rifle, although it is somewhat heavy by rifle standards. It can be used as an effective CQB weapon,providing high maneuverability in confined spaces, with added benefit of serious firepower, thanks to its relatively heavy and quick-changeable barrel.

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FN Minimi M249 and Mk.46 Model

Army and Weapons | FN Minimi M249 and Mk.46 Model | The Minimi light machine gun was developed by the famous Belgian company FN Herstal, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Mass production began in 1982 in Belgium,and at about the same time it has been adopted by the US Armed forces as theM249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW). Since its introduction Minimi has seen widespread service, and numerous variations have been developed. First, the Para(Paratroop) version came out, with shorter barrel and tubular telescoped butt.

This gun traded off some of the range and firepower for compactness and maneuverability. Quite recently, an SPW version was developed, which featured a Para-type buttstock, a barrel of intermediate length (between standard and Paramodels), and a Picatinny-type rail mount, which allows a wide variety of sights and scopes to be mounted. To save weight, the magazine feed option of the standard and para models has been discarded. This version, in a slightly modified form, was adopted by the US Special Forces Command (US SOCOM) as theMk.46 model 0 light machine gun. The FN Minimi has an excellent reputation on reliability and firepower, and the latest reports on failures ofM249 SAW weapons in Iraq are attributed to the age of the weapons used - most of the current issue M249 in US Army are more than 10 years old and quite worn out.

Technical description.
 The FN Minimi / M249 SAW is an air cooled, gas operated, belt fed, automatic weapon. The Minimi is operated using conventional gas action with the gas piston located below the barrel, and the barrel is locked using the traditional rotary bolt. The barrel is quick-detachable, and has a carrying handle attached to it,to help for quick replacement procedure. The M249 has an alternative feed system, which allows to use disintegrating metallic belts as a primary feed option, or M16-type box magazines as a back-up feed option. The belt is feed using the top feed unit, the magazines are inserted through the magazine port,located at the left side of the receiver and angled down. The Flip-up dust cover closes the magazine port when it is not in use, serving also as a belt guide.

When magazine is in place, this cover raises up and closes the belt-way to avoid dual feeds and jams. Since the belt feed uses additional power to pull the belt through the gun, the rate of fire with the belt is somewhat slower (750 rpm)than the rate of fire with magazine feed (1000 rpm). The latest SPW and Mk.46mod.0 versions of the Minimi have no magazine feed module as a weight-saving measure. The belts are fed from special 200 rounds plastic boxes that can be clipped beneath the receiver. All Minimi versions fire from open bolt to ensure optimal barrel cooling between bursts. The folding bipod is mounded under the gas chamber, and the gun has provisions for tripod or vehicle mountings. The open sights are standard, with the availability of vide variety of optical and night sights for SPW and Mk.46 versions with Picatinny rails.

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Cheytac M200 LRSS

 Army and Weapons | Cheytac M200 LRSS | Cheytac M200 LRSS,  When the designers first started work on the rifle, the cartridge on which to base the rifle was in debate. Existing rounds, namely the .338 Lapua Magnum and the .50 BMG, were candidates, but eventually a new round was created, the .408 Chey Tac. Once the cartridge was designed, work was started on the rifle, which was built around the .408 Chey Tac cartridge.

The M200 was once available only to goverment purchasers, and a purposely made less accurate variant (the M200 Civilian Intervention Version, CIV) was sold to civilian purchasers because Cheyenne Tactical believed the standard M200 was 'too accurate' for civilians and they reportedly 'did not want their incredible technology to fall into the wrong hands'. However, Cheyenne Tactical stopped production of the CIV and the standard M200 is now available for civilan purchase because Cheyenne Tactical apparently realized that voluntarily supporting govermental supremacy is not a good business strategy. 

he first step in designing the M200 was creating the cartridge. Existing rounds, namely the .338 Lapua Magnum and the .50 BMG, were candidates, but eventually a new round was created, the .408 Chey Tac. Once the cartridge was designed, work was started on the rifle, which was built around the .408 Chey Tac cartridge. The rifle has an integral bipod, folding stock, and a seven-round removable magazine. Lastly, the Advanced Ballistic Computer is used to determine the wind speed, elevation, and other factors, which is then transmitted to the rifle. The rifle is then able to be fired accurately at ranges of over two miles. 

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M1911 Pistol

Army and Weapons | M1911 Pistol | The M1911 Semi-Automatic Pistol is a single action short recoil-operated semi-automatic pistol, chambered in .45 ACP. It features a 7 round magazine and has an effective range of approximately 50 meters. The M1911 produced by Colt was the standard sidearm of the U.S. military from 1911 to 1985.  The history of the Colt M1911 began in early 1900s, when famous designer John M. Browning began to develop semi-automatic pistols for Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company. In 1905, Browning designed two .45 cal. semi-automatic pistols in response to government interest in a higher-caliber sidearm to replace the standard-issue .38 cal. 

Revolvers then in use (primarily the Colt M1892). The two designs were hammer and hammerless versions of the same basic design and show a clear resemblance to the M1911. In 1906-1907 the U.S. military tested several semi-automatic pistols including designs from Colt, Luger, Savage, and others. These weapons were deemed unsatisfactory for military use and the competitors were asked to improve their designs in anticipation of new trials in 1910. The Colt Model 1905 remained a popular civilian pistol. 

However, Browning and Colt spent the next three years engineering improvements to the Model 1905. In 1911, after further extensive testing, the new pistol and its cartridge were adopted for U.S. military service as the M1911. Prior to and during World War I, more than one million of these guns were manufactured by Colt, Springfield Armory, Remington UMC, Burroughs, Savage, and others.  The rights to manufacture Colt/Browning design were also sold to some foreign countries, such as Norway and Argentina.  The M1911 is a short-recoil operated, locked breech, semi-automatic pistol. It has a single action trigger with a frame-mounted safety that locks the hammer and slide. The hammer can be locked by the manual safety in the cocked position only. An additional "grip" safety is incorporated into the rear of the grip that locks the trigger when the gun is not held in the hand properly.

The barrel and slide are interlocked via lugs on the upper part of the barrel, just ahead of the chamber. After firing, the barrel and slide recoil for a short distance, before the rear part of the barrel is lowered by a tilting link that separates the barrel from the slide. The slide continues back, extracting and ejecting the spent case, compressing a recoil spring located under the barrel, and cocking the hammer. The recoil spring then returns the slide and barrel to battery, chambering a new round on the way back. When the magazine is empty, the magazine follower activates the slide stop, locking the slide in the open (rear) position. The gun is fed from a single stack, seven-round magazine. The magazine release button is located on the left side of the frame, just behind the trigger guard.

8 round magazines are also available for the M1911, and some variants offer "double-stack" magazines that hold 14 rounds. Recoil operation is based on the law of conservation of momentum (Newton's Third Law, commonly paraphrased as "every action has an equal but opposite reaction"). In a recoil-operated firearm such as the M1911, the momentum of the projectile traveling forward out of the barrel is balanced by an equivalent recoil force acting on the barrel/slide assembly in the rearward direction. 

A recoil-operated self-loading firearm depends on proper "tuning" of the projectile's momentum (its mass multiplied by its velocity) so that there is sufficient recoil force generated to perform the extraction, ejection, and chambering of the next round. Optimal operation of a standard M1911 occurs with the use of .45 ACP ammunition weighing 230 grains traveling at approximately 250 meters/second. 

Modern Gov't/1911 variants may differ, more or less, from this description: some guns may have widebody frames that can accept dual stack, high capacity magazines; frames could be made from steel, aluminum alloys or polymer; some could have Double Action or even Double Action Only triggers, ambidextrous safety switches and slide stops, and other modifications. There are compact variants of the M1911, and variants of the M1911 that are different calibers; 9x19mm Parabellum variants are fairly common. The Colt Delta Elite is a M1911 modified to accept the 10mm Auto cartridge. 

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