Forgotten Weapons

Rock Island Armory page.

Designed in direct collaboration between C. Reed Knight, Jr. and Eugene Stoner.

Fitted with a globe spirit level front sight, R.P.A. adjustable peep rear sight, shell deflector, A2 pattern checkered polymer pistol grip and fixed buttstock with checkered polymer buttplate.

Article link.

Excerpts:

When Mitch WerBell III began his clandestine weapons business, he set up shop on his property near Powder Springs, Georgia in 1966; in 1967 the company incorporated. Initially, the product line consisted of suppressors for the US M14 and M16 rifles, later adding pistol and submachine gun suppressors. On December 21, 1970, SIONICS officially changed its name to the Military Armament Corporation also known as MAC.

The M10 and M11 suppressors’ rear section had a core that was a simple tube with a series of holes; the area around the core was packed with shoestring eyelets. The front section had a simple baffle followed by two helicals—one right-hand spiral, the other left-hand—designed to slow down the escaping gases. A threaded plate was used to hold the parts and the wipe assembly (consisting of several urethane disks and spacers crimped into a module) in place. A few modern suppressor manufacturers that upgraded the MAC suppressors agree that the original rear section (with the eyelets) is effective.

https://www.khm.at/en/artworks/radschlossgewehr-373835-1

Developed by the Central Scientific-Research Institute of Precise Mechanical Engineering under request of FSB, the SR-2 has been in service since 1999.

Mechanically, the SR-2 is gas operated, and its action is based on a scaled-down version of the SR-3 Vikhr compact assault rifle. The SR-2 uses long stroke gas piston, located above the barrel, the rotating bolt has multiple locking lugs.

The 9x21mm round was developed for the SR-1 to be a compact, armor-piercing round similar in concept to western PDW calibers like 5.7mm and 4.6mm. The round is designed to be effective against unarmored targets by way of its construction, with a steel penetrator core surrounded by a polyethylene sleeve. When striking a soft target, the round is supposed to stay together, creating a larger wound cavity.

The SR-2 has been superceeded by SR-2M which has a redsigned handguard with a forward protective handstop, and the SR-2MP which has picatinny rails and a suppressor capability.

A version of the SR-2MP has been seen with an alternative stock option for use with faceshielded helmets.

TFB source for some photos.

Wiki link.

Modern Firearms source.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Early_Modern_Grenade_Rifles,_Bayerisches_Nationalmuseum,_M%C3%BCnchen._Pic_01.jpg

A diagram showing the hole in the grip:

A photo of a later production GP-25 without the hole in the grip:

The minor change in design was not accompanied with any nomenclature change.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pistol_falchion-J_361-IMG_0886-black.jpg

Guns Ammo Tactical Daily Gear Blog The Cook Automatic Rifle – The Bullpup BAR By Travis Pike- April 17, 2024

In a post-World War II world, there was a flurry of attempts to better modernize the American fighting man. Lessons were learned, and some radical concepts were given at least a chance to flourish. While many weren’t adopted, the typically conservative U.S. Army was willing and funded enough to allow some Ordnance officers to experiment and create some fairly interesting weapons. That brings us to Benicia Arsenal, a U.S. Army Ordnance facility in beautiful Suisun Bay. Here, warrant officer Loren Cook designed a weapon known as the Cook Automatic Rifle.

From the BAR to the CAR The Browning Automatic Rifle was the standard squad support weapon designed to have rifle-like power and range and effectively suppress targets. It became an integral part of the rifle squad as maneuver warfare took over. Soldiers in the base-of-fire teams laid down suppressive fire with the BAR to allow their assault elements to move. These weapons were highly effective, but they had their faults.

The BAR was a great big gun. The M1918 was 47 inches long. It’s nearly the size of a 1st grader. Imagine trying to use that anywhere but the relatively open fields of Europe! Imagine trying to fight in the urban environments that the G.I.s found themselves in across Europe or the jungles of the Pacific! It would be a handful of a gun. I cleared rooms with an M16A4 and hated it. Imagine a bigger, heavier, full auto only .30-06!

The BAR was a big gun, but in the 1940s, it was still an important one. Warrant Officer Cook saw the potential of the BAR as a bullpup. He created the Cook Automatic Rifle to trim the bulk of the BAR and make it more accessible for the fighting man. The Cook Automatic rifle made a number of changes to the BAR, namely, making it a bullpup rifle.

The Cook Automatic Rifle In Color Obviously, the bullpup configuration required a very short stock at the rear of the gun and a fairly long trigger linkage to get the gun to go bang. The wooden handguard was eliminated and its place was a wood vertical foregrip. Another vertical grip was used for the dominant hand to fire the weapon. It appears that the charging handle was also moved to the right side of the gun and positioned right above the trigger.

The right-side charging handle makes sense. In the 1940s, the Army assumed everyone was right-handed. A left-side charging handle would have the shooter’s support hand coming back and hitting them in the face to operate the rifle.

The sights were moved as needed and appeared to be folding sights, although it’s somewhat difficult to say for sure. There are no existing Cook Automatic Rifles to examine and inspect. WO Cook used an 18-inch barrel rather than a 24-inch barrel. The Colt Monitor also utilized an 18-inch barrel. The total overall length of the Cook Automatic Rifle was 30 inches. Almost a foot and a half was trimmed from the BAR, and ultimately, a 30-inch rifle is shorter than an M4 with the stock extended.

One of the biggest differences is the gun’s operation. Instead of being an open bolt gun, it was converted to a closed bolt. The closed bolt design provides a more reliable and accurate option. It doesn’t cool as fast and is more complicated, but ultimately, it is a good alternative option. In tasks like ambushes, the superior reliability of the closed bolt system allows the CAR to fire the first shot reliably.

What Happened to the Cook Automatic Rifle Cook wanted the U.S. Government to give his gun a proper trial, but the Army wasn’t interested. This actually upset Cook enough that he contacted Congress, but they deferred to the Army. There is a rumor I can’t confirm that Cook ended up leaving the Army after his design was denied.

Would the CAR have made much of a difference? Even if trialed and adopted, it’s unlikely that it would have made a big difference in Korea. By Vietnam, the BAR was serving in very small numbers, and the goal was to replace the BAR (and other weapons) with the M14. It’s unlikely the weapon would have served for very long.

https://www.peterfiner.com/artworks/item/2266

From modernfirearms:

The VM-2000 large caliber sniper / anti-materiel rifle was developed by the Russian KBP -‘Instrument Design Bureau’, a private enterprise and a main section of the Tula works. KBP develop weapons and weapon systems for the Russian Army. The VM-2000 project came about during the early 2000’s. It was designed for official requirements issued under the codename “Breaker” (Взломщик).

For undisclosed reasons, the manufacturer decided to abandon this rifle in favor of the self-loading 12.7mm OSV-96 rifle, developed by the same organization and for the same requirements. Only a very few prototypes of the VM-2000 rifle were actually produced, for testing in 2002.