NationStates Jolt Archive


Export Design - MRA-38 Series Assault Rifle

Russkya
04-02-2007, 00:47
OOC: Right, before I launch into the description of this weapon, I want to make a few things perfectly clear.
One, Doomingsland doesn't care. You'll see why when you read the "Ammunition" section.
Two, sales are authorized through AMI on my behalf.
Three, the weapon would resemble a SIG-550 or SIG-551 with the cocking handle assembly of a G3A3 assault rifle, also seen on the MP-5 series submachinegun.
Four, if you want this, you're buying it through Aequatian Military Industries (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=414464)

(Individual Weapon)
"Pechatilin" MRA-38D Assault Rifle

The Pechatilin Military Rifle, Assault, Model 38D, and Model 38E (MRA-38D, MRA-38E) were developed for the Empire of Elloris by the Russkyan Military Supplemental Manufacturing Corporation and Kala River Armouries. Informed that the basic design requirements were "A selective fire assault weapon capable of semiautomatic and regulated burst, capable of fitting at least one proprietary optic and an underbarrel grenade launcher, with all other design considerations being left to the design team," the delighted design teams of both the RMSMC and the KRA immediately set to work.

The end result of this is the MRA-38D "Pechatilin" and the MRA-38E "Pechatisha" weapons, a number of optics and other attachments, an underbarrel grenade launcher, a new cartridge, and a number of well pleased RMSMC and Kala River Armouries engineers and technicians in the North-end Pub and Grill in Nizhniy Magnitosibersk.

Given recent Russkyan-Aequatian cooperation and good relations, it was decided that Aequatian Military Industries (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=414464) would be authorized to sell the rifle and its domestic production rights (if so desired) on behalf of the RMSMC and KRA.

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The Basics
While the MRA-38D is a full sized assault rifle optimized for Infantry use, the MRA-38E is a carbine optimized for vehicle crew and some Special Operations unit use. Both weapons feature similar design along conventional lines, and benefit from a number of ergonomic features.
Elements common to both designs are as follows:
- A trigger guard sufficiently wide to accomodate gloved fingers to allow easy weapon operation in arctic conditions or while wearing full Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical protective equipment.
- Two-stage safety-catch. The first stage locks the firing pin in position, which prevents the weapon from firing if the trigger is pulled or if the weapon is dropped, while still leaving the operator able to cycle the bolt and properly unload the rifle. The second stage locks both the firing pin while physically blocking it from any chambered ammunition, and also locks the bolt, preventing the weapon from being cycled via pulling on the charging handle.
- A trigger pressure of 2.0 kilograms.
- Highly durable polymer furniture in black or olive drab green. Opaque or semi-transluscent magazines in black or olive drab, capable of being clipped together for quicker reloading. Magazines of a thirty round capacity.
- Trigger Group Modules for Safe, Semi-automatic, Three Round Burst, S-SA-Two Round Burst, S-SA-Five Round Burst, S-SA-Full Automatic, S-SA-3- Full Automatic, and Safe and Semi-automatic only.
- Three Attachment Point Forestock, easily replaced with RIS-rail equipped forestock.
- Side-folding (To the left) stock.
- Muzzle Brake of NATO-standard diameter, enabling the use of NATO-standard Rifle Grenades. The muzzle brake is designed to assist in the control of muzzle climb, even during regulated burst fire. All testing indicates that this is the case.
- Adjustable Gas Port, 6 Settings
- H&K Drum-type sights, graded for 100 to 500 meters.

The Action
Simplicity is often best, especially in weapons designed to withstand harsh environmental conditions and battle. A simple, effective, and reliable action is found on the MRA-38D and MRA-38E. A description of the firing process is included below:

The operator loads the rifle and takes hold of the folding charging handle. The charging handle is located in a tube above the barrel and is located and performs much like the H&K G3A3 rifle's charging handle. It does not reciprocate when fired. The operator pulls back on the charging handle, which brings the bolt carrier back against the return spring. Releasing the charging handle, both the charging handle and the bolt carrier travel forwards to their forward resting positions.
As the bolt carrier travels forward, it picks up a cartridge from the magazine well's feedway and carries it forward and up into the chamber. The three-lug bolt locks into position and the cocked firing pin is now appropriately aligned. The weapon is now ready to fire. When fired, the trigger is fully depressed, releasing the sear, which allows the firing pin to snap forward into the cartridge's primer.

Firing the cartridge produces expanding gas - which propels the bullet down the barrel, needless to say - and a recoil impulse. This impulse unlocks the bolt and begins the bolt carrier on its backwards journey, but lacks the force to bring it all the way back against the resistance of the return spring. This recoil impulse continues backwards and is eventually felt by the weapon's operator, but by this time the round has already left the barrel. A portion of the expanding gas is captured by the gas tube, which is then used to operate the bolt rammer mechanism. This forces the bolt carrier all the way back against the spring. On this backwards trip, the extractor claws flick the round out through the open ejection port and prepare to accept a fresh cartridge. The return spring, uncompressing itself, brings the bolt carrier back forwards, also returning the rammer mechanism to its "ready" position, and the rifle is once again ready to fire.

Should the trigger remain depressed with the fire selector set to Burst or Full Automatic, the weapon will continue the above cycle until the magazine is depleted, the burst completes, or the weapon suffers some kind of mechanical failure.
The mechanical bolt-rammer mechanism is located above the barrel, behind the gas tube and between it and the bolt carrier. It absorbs the force of the gas and mechanically pushes the bolt carrier backwards, which prevents powder residue and other fouling from dirtying the action and reducing the reliability of the weapon. The bolt rammer mechanism is easily removed and easily field-cleaned, requiring only a wiping down with a damp cloth, although of course more detailed cleaning should be conducted as the weapon is maintained in armoury, on base, or so on so forth.

The gas port can be closed (Setting 1) or opened fully (Setting 6). When closed, the weapon is capable of firing rifle grenades. Typically the gas port is set to Setting 3, but as the weapon becomes dirty from extensive firing or environmental conditions, increasing the setting will allow the gas tube to siphon more gas, enabling it to use greater force to operate a fouled action and thus increasing reliability. During laboratory and field tests, the weapon failed when extensively dirtied (submerged in mud completely with bolt closed, submerged in dirty water with bolt open) after eight thousand (8000) rounds, and when fired from a clean state, relying only on powder fouling to dirty the action and various mechanisms, the weapon remained functional for fifteen thousand (15,000) rounds.

Attachments and Fittings
The bayonet lug is located on the left side of the barrel with its attachment fittings, enabling the use of an underbarrel grenade launcher while the bayonet is fitted. This is normally impossible on other weapons. The underbarrel grenade launcher is the Type 04E (T-04E), accepting all NATO type 40mm grenades, with a maximum effective range of some 400-450 meters. Much in the same fashion as the SIG-550 rifle, the standard three-attachment-point forestock is equipped with an integral bipod, which does not interfere with the underbarrel grenade launcher when folded or unfolded.

An "optics rail" on the upper side of the reciever can accept a number of attachments, and the reciever walls are strengthened suitably for tapping, should one wish to utilize side-rail optics. The optics provided with MRA-38D and MRA-38E are:
- COSA-1: Combat Optic System Attachment Mk. I, with a reticule similar to Canadian/Dutch C-79A1/C-79A2 "ELCAN" and 3.5x magnification capability. A tritrium illuminated center reticule section eases firing at night.
- CQRS: Close Quarters Reflex Sight, similar to the Russian "Kobra" optic. No magnification, automatically adjusting illuminated reticule in both red, green, and black (non-illuminated) colours.
- DMCO-II: Designated Marksman's Combat Optic Mk. II, an 8x magnification optic with a PSO-type reticule for ranging and target engagement. Reticule can be optionally illuminated for night firing.
- IR/VS-LCCRS: Infra-Red / Visible-Spectrum Laser Close-Combat Reflex System, fitted to forestock. When toggled for infrared operation, the beam can be easily seen through Night Optical Devices / Night Vision Goggles, thus enabling quick targetting and engagement even while wearing typically awkward night vision equipment.

Differences
MRA-38E is the carbine variant of the full length MRA-38D. -38E is equipped with a threaded muzzle, which enables the easy removal of the muzzle brake and the attachment of a variety of suppressors. The bolt carrier is also lightened to allow for lower impulse subsonic ammunition to fire reliably, however this means that the force of firing a rifle grenade could potentially result in pin breakage, thus it is advised not to fire rifle grenades from the MRA-38E. The shorter barrel also results in a shorter maximum effective range and slightly less accurate fire at range, as well as a larger muzzle flash should a suppressor not be fitted. The carbine, due to the lighter bolt carrier and assembly and a concious design decision, also has a higher rate of fire than the assault rifle.

The Ammunition
Given the Ellorian desire to utilize a rifle with Semiautomatic and Regulated Burst features, it was decided by Kala River Armouries and the RMSMC Ammunition Division that such action indicated the desire of a round on the larger end of the intermediate rifle cartridge scale. Or at the very least, it would be unwise to take advantage of that chance.
As thus, the 7.5x50mm round was developed. The casing, loaded with RMG/RPC-383 powder, is necked to accept the 7.5 round with a weight of 10.5g. A muzzle velocity of 955 meters per second was achieved with the abovelisted propellant, the original choice of RMG/RPC-325 could only force the round to only slightly exceed the velocities of the 7.62x39mm M47 cartridge fired from an AKM rifle.

The effective maximum range of the ammunition, fired from the MRA-38D rifle, is eight hundred meters for an area target and six hundred meters for a point target, although much depends on the shooter. The MRA-38D is not however, a marksman's or sniper weapon, and thus it is unlikely to score accurate point target hits at any range beyond five hundred meters due to a combination of shooter and weapon limitation. The maximum range of the 7.5x50mm round is 2.3 kilometers.

Effects on impact of the target are severe. The round provides sufficient force that armoured targets almost invariably suffer at least one broken rib and internal damage, should their ballistic protection defeat the projectile. Armour piercing rounds seem capable of easily penetrating Type III body armours and are often capable of piercing Level IV armours at ranges of less than 350 meters. Against unarmoured targets, the sheer mass of the round often de-limbs humans and creates severe damage should it strike the torso, easily smashing through bone. Effects with ammunition other than full metal jacket rounds are more than sufficiently lethal.

A number of bullet types were developed for the new 7.5x50mm ammunition, to include Full Metal Jacket (FMJ), Jacketed Hollow Point (JHP), Semi-Jacketed Soft Nose (SJSN), Armour Piercing Pointed Steel Core (APPSC. Penetration of Level III at 500 meters.), standard Armour Piercing (AP), and Semi-Jacketed Exposed Steel Core (SJESC). All ammunition types are also available in tracer.
One new round was converted for the MRA-38D and MRA-38E from the Russkyan standard arsenal. This round is inspired by a specialized round utilized by the Doomingslandi TDX .40 Caliber Standard Issue Sidearm's 10x23mm Bottleneck cartridge. It is referred to as Armour Piercing Fragmenting Jacket, or APFJ.
APFJ ammunition consists of a pointed tungsten alloy nose and core section which is surrounded by a blended metal jacket. Should the round impact a protective vest or another object that cannot be penetrated cleanly by the entire round, the nose and core section carry on, often penetrating the obstacle with ease. The initial tests of APFJ ammunition indicate Level IV armour is penetrated easily under three hundred meters by 7.5x50mm APFJ rounds. After penetration, the nose and core tumble, producing a wound that is difficult for medical personnel to treat and difficult for Mother Nature to heal. However, the real advantage of APFJ is seen when engaging unarmoured or lightly armoured targets. In this case the round expands and fragments as the bullet penetrates into the body, producing a very large wound tract and the hardened nose and core tumble amidst the expanding blended metal jacket.

Basic Specifications:

DMA-38D:
Overall Length, Stock Unfolded / Stock Folded: 1000mm / 775mm
Barrel Length: 535mm
Magazine Capacity: 30 Rounds
Rate of Fire: 700 Rounds per Minute
Weight, Unloaded / Loaded: 4.25kg / 4.75kg

DMA-38E:
Overall Length, Stock Unfolded / Stock Folded: 850mm / 625mm
Barrel Length: 385mm
Magazine Capacity: 30 Rounds
Rate of Fire: 775 Rounds per Minute
Weight, Unloaded / Loaded: 3.25kg / 3.75kg

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Per unit cost [Rifle, ten (10) empty magazines, cleaning kit, storage case, multiple-lanaguge (English, German, French, Russian, Finnish, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese) operations manual] is 1,750 Universal Standard Dollars.
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Per unit cost with all available fittings is 3,550 Universal Standard Dollars.

Domestic Production Rights (Rifle and nessecaries only) [Weapon Schematics, Ammunition Schematics, Demonstration and Quality-Check example weapons and ammunition] are 550,000 Universal Standard Dollars.
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Domestic Production Rights (Rifle and all available fittings) available for 775,000 Universal Standard Dollars.

All sales through Aequatian Military Industries (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=414464). Accolades to RMSMC and KRA teams can be delivered via international courier.

Edit History:
1) Ammunition weight and velocity increase, cost adjustment. Consider all changes to be retroactive if you purchased this weapon before the change was made.
Izistan
04-02-2007, 01:05
[I like it. If I hadn't domestic designs of my own, I'd probably have tried to acquire some. Though I'd make a variant or re chamber the carbine to something like 9x50mm, but thats just me.]
Russkya
04-02-2007, 01:08
OOC: Yes, one of the things I failed to mention initially was that the weapon lends itself to being easily rechambered due to its fairly open design, which also lends itself to reliability. Your regards are much appreciated, Izistan.
Russkya
06-02-2007, 20:50
OOC: Glorified bump, yes. MAWS-22 to be released as a companion weapon soon.
Otagia
07-02-2007, 01:27
OOC: Looks pretty nice, but small nitpick: Your round probably isn't going to be penetrating Type IV body armor. Your round is about a thousand joules under par at the muzzle when compared to the .30 AP rounds Type IV is rated against (3116 compared to 4177). To get that kind of penetration, you'd need to either kick up the velocity to 990 m/s or the mass of the bullet to about 11.5 grams. Of course, I'm simplifying things a bit, but I personally wouldn't think you'd get that much more penetration out of a lighter, slower round than 7.62 NATO.

Other than that, nice gun.
Russkya
07-02-2007, 23:10
OOC:

Otagia, valid points. I didn't say that it could penetrate Type IV reliably, just that it often did at ranges under 300 meters. I believe this to be feasible - though I didn't crunch the numbers, so let's see what comes up. If nothing else, 'tis a quick fix. 7.5x50mm is in that strange zone I found myself in, needing to kick up the power slightly from intermediate chamberings (5.56x45mm, 7.62x39mm, 5.45x39mm, etc.) without going full-size to 7.62x51mm or 7.62x54R/x53mm. If nothing else I'll put in a more powerful propellant and a heavier grain round, which probably won't give Type IV reliable penetration but be better than what I have now, no?

Your compliments are much appreciated, given that this is just a quick for-export-only design I put together on a bit of a whim, actually. Surprised it turned out so well myself.
Russkya
08-03-2007, 04:46
OOC: Apologies for the double-post.

Notification, OOC: Ammunition weight was increased to 10.5g and muzzle velocity to 955m/s. This should improve weapon performance markedly without increasing recoil substantially or similar side-effects.
Vault 10
08-03-2007, 05:57
[ OOC: A side-effect would be increase in ammunition length. Remember, 7.62x51 pulls out only 800-820m/s with such bullet, 70% of that.

Although it could be improved in a high-performance rifle with high-quality ammunition, but - well, you know the quality's tail. ]
Russkya
08-03-2007, 19:43
OOC: Yeah, I'm well aware of ammunition dimension issues. What I have here is possible, although the original figures (7.5g at 850m/s or so) are more plausible, though they don't give you more reliable Level IV penetration. Given that was originally a secondary consideration, I'm not going to fret too much over the ammunition.