Bullpup

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (February 2008)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

For the air to surface missile, see AGM-12 Bullpup

Bullpup designs like the QBZ-95 have the magazine behind the trigger mechanism. This allows a longer barrel length and increased accuracy without increasing the overall weapon length.

Traditional rifle designs like the M4 Carbine have the magazine in front of the trigger mechanism.

Bullpup is a firearm configuration in which the action and magazine are located behind the trigger. This increases the barrel length relative to the overall weapon length, permitting shorter weapons for the same barrel length, saving weight and increasing maneuverability. It alternatively allows for longer barrels on weapons of the same length, improving muzzle velocity. Higher muzzle velocities result in flatter trajectories, a longer effective range, and, in some cases, increased lethality.

1 Etymology
2 History
3 Usage
4 Criticism
5 References
6 See also

[edit] Etymology

A bullpup literally means the puppy of a bulldog^[1], where a bulldog can mean a large-calibre gun^[1], and the 'puppy' of it would be a more compact version. In this context bullpup refers to a gun design that is compact yet powerful. This etymology could however, be false, the true etymology being slang.

[edit] History

The Steyr AUG is one of the most successful bullpup rifles

The concept was first used in bolt action rifles such as the Thorneycroft carbine of 1901, and is known to have been applied to semi-automatic firearms in 1918 (6.5 mm French Faucon-Meunier semi-automatic rifle developed by Lt. Col. Armand-Frédéric Faucon), then in 1936 a bullpup pistol was patented by the Frenchman Henri Delacre. A 7.62 mm caliber experimental assault rifle was developed by Korovin in the Soviet Union in 1945. The United Kingdom had been considering the idea of a bullpup service rifle since 1944. Two designs, the EM-1 and the EM-2 were developed by the British as a replacement for separate pistol, submachine gun and rifle. The choice of bullpup design was a necessity to retain accuracy while reducing overall length. The EM-2 was adopted by the UK in 1951 as the world's first (limited) service bullpup rifle but was promptly displaced by the adoption of the 7.62 mm (0.308 in) N.A.T.O. cartridge.

[edit] Usage

An SA80 field stripped.

Bullpups began to become mainstream military weapons in the late 1970s with the introduction of the Steyr AUG and FAMAS in Austria and France, respectively (the AUG later became the standard issue military rifle for several other countries). In 1985 Britain followed suit with the introduction of the SA80. Today, bullpups are common in modern military arsenals, and make up a large minority of military small arms. Recently Israel, Singapore, Iran, and China have all adopted locally-designed and produced bullpup rifles. The 2001 introduced FN Herstal F2000 was recently adopted by Slovenia as its standard service rifle and is also used by some special forces units around the world. New bullpup rifles actually outnumber new conventional-layout military rifles designed and introduced in the last several years. Some cite the increasingly urban nature of warfare as a reason for their increased popularity, their short length being useful in tight quarters.

[edit] Criticism

Bullpup weapons have been the subject of some debate and criticism.

Criticism	Counter Criticism
Mechanisms typically eject casings to the side. This means that a conventional bullpup design can only be fired from one side of the body, or the casings will hit the operator in the face. This restricts the abilities of left-handed shooters, and forces a shooter firing to the right around a corner to expose more of his body (a particular danger in urban warfare). While some bullpups can have the ejection port switch sides during disassembly, this is not feasible during a combat situation.	The ability to shoot left-handed is often deemed less important than greater accuracy and smaller size. Otherwise, some bullpup designs address this issue by allowing the side of ejection to be switched during disassembly (e.g. the FAMAS, Tavor and Steyr AUG), while others, like the FN F2000, A-91, and the Kel-Tec RFB Rifle, eject forward, providing complete tactical flexibility, even when shooting around corners. Still others, like the FN P90, achieve similar flexibility by ejecting downward.
Bullpups tend to have a heavy and sluggish trigger pull, due to the long flexible rod or similar system required to span the distance between the trigger and the firing mechanism.	This is fairly minor compared with gains in accuracy and compactness. Furthermore, some bullpups, such as the SAR-21 and the Tavor, use a stiff sliding plate to overcome this.
A bullpup weapon's centre of balance is to the rear or directly above the trigger hand, rather than between the user's hands as with traditionally orientated rifles. This is often labelled harder to carry and uncomfortable, with possibly greater muzzle climb.	The farther backwards centre of balance encourages more weight to be placed on the shoulder, taking some of the strain off the hands, and increasing the steadiness of the weapon. It also allows for faster aiming, due to the principle of moments.
Bullpups are often cited as having awkward magazine changes due to the more closed arm position required to insert the magazine.	Positioning the magazine slot between the shoulder and the firing hand means that more of the forces from weight and insertion of the magazine are placed on the shoulder. This puts less strain on the arm not inserting the magazine. The more closed position of the magazine and smaller weapon makes changing the magazine in small spaces (such as a vehicle) easier. In modern warfare, this is becoming ever more important.
Farther back magazines and closer muzzles cause difficulties over viewing the magazine and the amount of ammo it holds, reduced reach in bayonet fighting, and closer muzzle blast.	If these problems were really deemed serious enough, gun manufacturers would be striving to make guns as long as possible. The farther back magazine is a minor issue that is easily overcome with training and the problems are insignificant compared to the greater accuracy and compactness it achieves. A closer muzzle blast and reduced bayonet reach can easily be fixed by using a longer barrel (with the added advantage of greater accuracy), but the rarity of bayonet fighting and the awkwardness of greater length make this as unattractive as having the greater length of traditionally laid-out weapons.