KAC PDW

     Notes: The Knight’s Armament Corporation (KAC) is primarily known for its add-on accessories for existing small arms, particularly the AR-15/M-16/M-4 series (the M-4 SOPMOD Kit is largely based on KAC components).  However, KAC has in the past few years entered into its own small arms production.  Some of KAC’s small arms are already serving with the US military, such as the Mk 11 Mod 0 Sniper Rifle (a modified SR-25), and a further modified version of the Mk 11 Mod 0, the M-110 Sniper Rifle.  They have also begun to produce a new line of greatly-improved versions of the AR-15/M-16/M-4 series. Perhaps the most interesting of their weapons, however, is the KAC PDW concept.  Though the KAC PDW has just entered limited initial production, and wasn’t officially revealed until the 2006 SHOT Show in what was called a prototype form, KAC has been officially working on their PDW since early 2005 and possibly much earlier.  Designed in response to a request by a US government agency called the Technical Support Working Group, rumors abound of field and combat testing by US military and government agencies (none confirmed by KAC or the US government).  The KAC PDW is another one of those weapons that skirts the line between submachinegun and short-barreled assault rifle.

     The KAC PDW is based on KAC’s entry into the US military’s SCAR program (which was not approved by the US military).  The KAC PDW is therefore loosely based on the M-16/M-4 design, primarily in the external design of the lower receiver and its control layout.  The fire selector switch is virtually identical to that of the M-16/M-4, but is ambidextrous; the external bolt latch and the magazine release button are slightly different in design from the M-16/M-4, but still in roughly the same place as an M-16 or M-4.  The shape of the lower receiver is also very similar to the M-16/M-4. The pistol grip shape is also similar to the M-16/M-4, though the design itself is different.  These features make it easier to train troops already familiar with the use of the M-16/M-4 to use the KAC PDW.  The upper receiver, however, is a totally different animal, bearing no resemblance to the M-16/M-4; it has sort of an octagonal cross-section, with an oversized ejection port mounted high on the upper receiver, a row of seven cooling holes near the end of the upper receiver, and total of four MIL-STD-1913 rails – a full-length rail atop the receiver, a rail extending from the end of the receiver to the magazine well underneath the barrel, and two short rails on either side below the cooling holes.  At the other end of the upper receiver is a skeletonized stock that folds to the left side.

     The KAC PDW is gas-piston-operated, firing from a closed bolt and using a rotating bolt design.  The gas piston system uses a pair of short-stroke pistons above and on either side of the bolt carrier group, with the recoil spring in between the pistons.  The bolt is similar in design to that found in the AK-47.  The entire bolt group, with recoil spring, is semi-captive and uses a separate frame from the bolt carrier group; when the KAC PDW is disassembled, the bolt group and recoil spring are removed as one unit, like that of most Kalashnikov rifles.  Presently, KAC’s site shows the fire selector as allowing for safe, semiautomatic, and automatic fire, but earlier KAC literature showed a fire selector allowing for safe, semiautomatic, 3-round burst, and automatic fire.  (KAC currently has no plans to produce a civilian version of their PDW.)  Barrels come in 7.5 and 10-inches (an 8-inch barrel was shown on KAC’s site late last year, but KAC’s site is now showing a 7.5-inch barrel instead of an 8-inch barrel) and are almost bull-barreled in profile, with a unique dimpled design that reduces weight without compromising strength.  The barrel is tipped with an interesting-looking muzzle brake based on an old Gene Stoner design (which he based on a muzzle brake that was tested, but not used, on the Nazi’s FG-42); the brake appears to have over twenty narrow slots around top and sides, but each of those slots actually have lots small holes in them though which muzzle gasses are vented.  The brake also contains a baffle that is used to reduce felt recoil.  This design is rather difficult to manufacture, but very effectively cuts down barrel climb and felt recoil and suppresses muzzle flash.  The muzzle brake can also be replaced with a compact suppressor designed by KAC for use with its PDW.

     Ambidextrous sling swivels are provided; three sets are used to virtually any sling or sling system to be used.  Removable flip-up sights are provided; the standard rear iron sight is adjustable for elevation, while the front is adjustable for windage.  The KAC PDW, however, is primarily meant to be used with CQB-type optical sights mounted on the top MIL-STD-1913 rail. The upper receiver, lower receiver, and the stock are built from aircraft-quality 7075T6 aluminum alloy, with operating parts and the barrel being made of steel and non-metallic parts (such as the pistol grip) of polymer.

     The original KAC PDW experiments used a 6x30mm round, but this was quickly increased to a 6x35mm round with greater power.  The case is based on the .221 Fireball case, while the bullet is based on the .243 Winchester.  Current KAC PDW magazines use two-piece aluminum-alloy bodies with ribs for an easier grip, but KAC’s plans to change to translucent polymer magazines in the future.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The KAC PDW does not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

*If the KAC PDW has the current safe/semiautomatic/automatic trigger group, subtract $120 from the price.

KF-AMP

     Notes: This is an assault pistol designed for counterterrorist forces, SRT teams, and other troops that need to fight in close-quarters environments.  It did see some use in that role, particularly by police SRT units in the US and Mexico, but also turned up quite often in the hands of terrorists, gang members, and organized crime figures, particularly the bodyguards of crime family heads.  It is available in three calibers, with and without a foregrip, and magazines ranging from small to huge were designed for use with the weapon.  The muzzle is threaded for use with a suppressor.  The KF-59-AMP and KF-54-AMP have a foregrip and use longer barrels, while the others do not. 

LaFrance M-16K 0.45

     Notes: Based on the standard M-16K, the 0.45 M-16K is heavier and has a longer barrel to deal with the higher recoil and lesser accuracy of the .45ACP round.  The 0.45 M-16K was designed for special operations, and can fire the .45HLR and .45XHLR rounds.  A four-pronged flash suppresser eliminates muzzle flash even when firing high-performance ammunition. 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: A surprising amount of US, NATO, and South Korean troops, especially special operations, used this weapon. 

M-3/M-3A1/OSS M-3 “Grease Gun”

     Notes: This weapon was meant to rival the British Sten for cheap and quick manufacture and ease of use.  It is built simply out of a set of large steel stampings, and has very few component parts.  Production started in 1942, and by the time production stopped, over 650,000 of them had been built in the US and overseas.  Despite the fact that it is often seen in films about World War 2, the M-3 (in its M-3A1 iteration) saw more action in Korea and Vietnam. They were used by the US as late as the 1980s (issued to some vehicle crews), and are still in use by many countries around the world.  The OSS M-3 was used by special operations forces into the 1990s. It should be noted that US troops did not actually like the M-3, despite the numbers in which it was issued; they did not like the slow rate of fire (only 350-400 rpm), feeling that it did not provide enough firepower, and they thought it was just plain ugly.  Due to the shorter barrel, it was also less accurate than its counterpart, the M-1 Thompson (apparently not thinking that submachineguns aren’t meant for long-range shooting). 

     The first model was the M-3; this was replaced by the M-3A1, built using simplified manufacturing methods and incorporating a number of improvements for users.  Barrel length was 8 inches. The rear sight is a simple aperture sight calibrated for 100 meters, and the front sight is a simple metal protrusion at the front of the receiver; sight radius is very short. Ears for the rear sight received ears on the M-3A1 version after reports of easily damaged rear sights. The simple wire stock could be completely removed and used as a cleaning rod. The stock was designed so that when extended, it gave a length of pull similar to that of the M-1 Carbine. The sling issued with the M-3 was the same as used on the M-1 Carbine. The manual safety of the M-3 was unique in its simplicity; it consisted of a metal tab attached to the ejection port cover, which engaged when the ejection port cover is closed.  (The M-3 cannot be fired with a closed ejection port cover.) The OSS M-3 was a silenced variant for special operations; only about 1000 of these were built; and their quietness was questionable.  Some of the M-3s and M-3A1s were made with flash suppressors, but most weren’t. The issue magazines of World War 2 and the Korean War proved to be very difficult to load, particularly as one approached the full point; M-3A1s were usually issued with a special magazine loading tool, though not often enough to satisfy the troops using it.  This tool clipped onto the inside of the wire stock when not in use.

     The Chinese made their own copies of the M-3A1 after World War 2.  The first copy, the Type 36, was virtually identical to the M-3A1, including the caliber.  The second copy, the Type 37, was also virtually identical, except for its chambering.  The Type 37 was fed from a copy of the British Sten submachinegun magazine.

     In the early 2000s, Valkyrie Arms began manufacturing a semiautomatic version of the M-3A1, called the SA/M-3A1.  Most of the SA/M-3A1 is almost identical in appearance and construction (though using modern methods) to a standard M-3A1; however, to comply with US laws, the SA/M-3A1 has a 16-inch barrel, essentially making it a carbine rather than a submachinegun.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This was still a common weapon in the world, even among US units, where they equipped National Guard vehicle crews and some rear area units.  Refurbished examples were supplied to CivGov and MilGov militia units alike.

M-42

     Notes:  The M-42 was designed by High Standard, and built by the United Defense division of Marlin Firearms.  It was first chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge with the hopes of sales to the US military, but the Army and Marines declined.  Marlin then changed the caliber to 9mm Parabellum and sold 15,000 of them to the OSS and the portions of the Dutch Army stationed in the Dutch East Indies, as well as local militia levied by the Dutch during World War 2.  The M-42 was basically a victim of bad timing; it was a reliable, and robust weapon (if a bit overly complicated), but it arrived on the scene just after the Thompson was approved for use and the military gave a verdict of “no requirement” to Marlin.

Marshall Arms PDW

     Notes: This weapon was designed for use by troops requiring a lightweight, compact weapon, like helicopter pilots, vehicle crewmen, and bodyguards.  The interest in such PDW’s (Personal Defense Weapons) has grown in recent years, particularly with the conflicts in the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Chechnya, where pilots got shot down and were essentially defenseless compared to the enemy troops hunting them until aided by rescuing troops.  The Marshall Arms PDW is one of the designs being tested for such a role.  It is essentially a large machine pistol (or a small submachinegun), small enough to be easily carried and pointed (like a pistol), but producing a large volume of fire (like a submachinegun).  The magazine is located longitudinally on top of the receiver to further decrease the size of the weapon while allowing a decent magazine capacity.  The Marshall Arms PDW now fires 9mm Parabellum ammunition, but variants are being contemplated that fire 5.7mm FN and 4.6mm HK PDW ammunition, and statistics for these possible variants are presented below.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This weapon does not exist.

MK Arms MK-760

     Notes: In its base form, the MK-760 is a close copy of the Smith & Wesson 76 submachinegun.  The MK-760 was produced because the SEALs and police departments were faced with the fact that Smith & Wesson had discontinued the S&W Model 76 and they still needed spare parts and, on occasion, whole weapons.  The MK-760 was also sold to civilians in the days before the Gun Owner’s Protection Acts of 1986.  Semiautomatic and pistol versions of this weapon were also produced; the semiautomatic version was basically the same weapon without the full-auto provision, while the pistol version was simply the same weapon without the folding stock. 

     After the Gun Owner’s Protection Acts, MK switched gears in its production of the civilian version, making the MK-760 into a semiautomatic carbine with a 16-inch barrel.  It was well-known (especially to the BATF) that this new version of the MK-760 could easily be modified to fire fully automatic; therefore, another redesign was made, making it virtually impossible for the new MK-760 carbine to be converted to full-auto.

Reising M-50/M-55

     Notes: The Reising was introduced in 1939, and was meant to be a direct competitor to the M-1 Thompson in the police and military market.  Production stopped in 1943 as large amounts of M-1 Thompsons and M-3s became available.  Harrington & Richardson put the Reising back into production in 1950 for police and some foreign sales, but production was never high, and production stopped again in 1957.  During this second period of production, the M-55 folding-stock version was not built. Virtues touted by Harrington & Richardson, the actual manufacturers of the Reising, included the much lighter weight of the Reising and less complicated mechanism.  The real-world price of the Reising was also much less than the Thompson.  Most sales went to police departments who found that in World War 2 there was a dearth of available submachineguns.  Unfortunately, the US Marines also field-tested the Reising in the Pacific – where its intolerance to dirt and subsequent jamming at the wrong moment led Marines to ditch them at the first opportunity, and the Marines quickly took the Reising out of their inventory.  The Parkerized finish used was also not very weather resistant, and the Marines encountered rapid rusting issues with the Reising. Though Reising and Harrington & Richardson worked diligently and quickly to address the problems with the Reising, the Reising was never a reliable weapon in combat environments. Other countries who used the Reising included Britain, French Foreign Legionnaires in Indochina, and Russia.  All of these countries bought only limited quantities of the Reising, and quickly discovered the same thing about the Reising the US Marines did, subsequently dropping them.  Though 114,000 Reisings were manufactured, many were trashed, though some lived out their lives in police armories first.  Today, the Reising is a collectors’ item, and found only in the hands of collectors or in museums.

     The standard Reising used a 14-inch barrel, and early commercial models included a foregrip.  In both cases, the barrel was tipped with a multi-baffle muzzle brake that was quite effective, and is finned through a third of its length (half the length on the early version).  The Reising was primarily manufactured in .45 ACP, but Harrington & Richardson decided to offer the Reising in the competition that resulted in the M-1 Carbine; for this purpose, the Reising was rechambered for .30 Carbine.  Though only a few prototypes were built in this caliber, I have included it below as a point of interest.  This version was also offered to the British, who did not bite.  This .30 Carbine-chambered version was based on the M-50, and a folding-stock version was never made. Versions sold to civilians were essentially short-barreled rifles and fired semiautomatically only.  Most Reisings had fixed sights, but late production commercial (civilian) versions had a front sight adjustable for windage.  Stocks are hardwood, and the Reising uses a pistol grip wrist instead of a full pistol grip on the full stocked version.  On the folding-stock M-55, the stock is wire and a poorly-shaped pistol grip is used.  The fore-end has finger grooves. Civilian and police versions use a Parkerized blue finish, while military Reisings were finished in gray/green Parkerization.  The stock of the military model has several reinforcing screws in it, and the wood used is denser than on the civilian and police models.  Military and police models also have sling swivels, while civilian versions do not.  Folding-stock versions were never sold to civilians.  The Reisings magazine release was a lever on the rear of the magazine well which could be pushed or pulled to release the magazine.

Ruger MP-9

     Notes: This weapon is a joint venture between Ruger of the US and the Israeli designer Uziel Gal (developer of the Uzi, Galil, and Negev).  It has been tested by US special operations forces and acquired by some South American countries.  It is basically an updated Uzi, based on an Uziel Gal design known as the Model 2201, which was an an unsold design for an Uzi firing from a closed bolt.  The weapon is made largely of Zytel reinforced plastic. 

     Twilight/Merc 2000 Notes: As Notes, but in the Twilight 2000 World, the MP-9 has been issued to troops levied late in the war and to militia units of MilGov.

Saco M-683

     Notes: This weapon was designed specifically to be easy to use, maintain, and manufacture. Manufacturing the M-683 mostly takes a few steel stampings and plastic castings, and the plastic castings could be easily replaced by more steel stampings (though this increases the weight of the weapon).

     Twilight 2000 Notes: Though it had little success before the Twilight War, the ease of manufacture caused CivGov to ask Saco to manufacture the weapon for its armed forces and militia in its surviving facilities in Maine starting about a month after the November Nuclear Strikes.   

     Merc 2000 Notes: This is mostly a collectors’ weapon.

SerLea ACE 

     An unusual double-barreled 9mmP submachinegun, the SerLea was featured in the action movie “Direct Hit.”  A Lebanese immigrant to the US who was a gunsmith and veteran of Beirut street battles developed it.  The SerLea was designed to provide a high-burst-rate weapon for street fighting.  The weapon features twin barrels, twin magazines, and twin bolts, with a synchronizing mechanism to turn the weapon into a single high-rate-of-fire submachinegun.  The Los Angeles police department showed interest in the design, but by 1997 the weapon remained primarily in specialized gun collectors’ hands.  The weapon may fired one barrel at a time only if one magazine is inserted. 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: Other than the two that the LAPD has, and isolated original copies in civilian hands, some 30 or so of these weapons were used by US special operations forces.  In addition, some 4 dozen or so were made during the war and passed out to friends of the designer.

     Merc 2000 Notes: Only 4 of these weapons exist, two in the hands of the LAPD SWAT unit.

Smith & Wesson M-76

     Notes:  This weapon was designed in 1966 for service in Vietnam.  Though the US had a quantity of Carl Gustav M-45 Submachineguns, the Navy SEALS and River Rats wanted some too, and Sweden’s neutrality with regards to the Vietnam War meant that they would sell no more to the US.  Smith & Wesson was therefore contracted to produce a US copy of the M-45, which was the M-76.  Production ramped up in 1967, but by then, the Navy was no longer interested in such a weapon.  Only a few thousand were manufactured, and most of them were bought by police, mercenaries, or collectors.  The M-76 is an almost exact copy of the M-45, and is basically an unremarkable weapon. Alert fans of B-movie science fiction may recognize the M-76 as the weapon used by Charleton Heston in the post-apocalyptic movie, The Omega Man.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: Due the ease with which the M-76 can be manufactured, it was produced by CivGov for its troops after the November Nuclear Strikes.

TDI Kriss Super V

     The Kriss Super V (and that’s V as in “vee,” not the Roman numeral for five), is a new submachinegun, still partially in development (though it is already being marketed and has some small sales), with an innovative operation.  Though the mechanism of the Kriss is at its heart delayed blowback, it uses a patented recoil-reduction system called the Kriss Super V System (KSVS) which is similar (in concept, but not in design) to the Blowback Shifted Pulse System of the Nikonov AN-94 assault rifle.  The KSVS system is, however, quite different in actual operation.

     The Kriss Super V took about 5 years to design and produce the first prototypes, and was done with the help of the US Army.  TDI supplied the expertise and manufacturing facilities, and the Army literally poured millions of dollars into the project.  The goal was to produce a lightweight submachinegun in .45 ACP (TDI intends to convert the Kriss to other calibers in the future; the action is quite adaptable to a large amount of pistol and rifle rounds.) that has recoil far less than would be expected from such a .45 ACP weapon.  TDI, the Picatinny Arsenal, and ARDEC began with the bolt carrier group.  They produced a bolt so light that is actually weighed only 1/5^th the weight of the M-1911A1’s slide and operating mechanism.  This lightweight bolt greatly increased the cyclic rate of fire (also one of the goals), yet decreased the recoil forces.  It should be noted that TDI plans to open a US manufacturing facility in Virginia in mid-2010.

     KSVS takes it from there.  A further amount of the recoil forces is also absorbed by the slider mass of the bolt mechanism, and this stops a portion of the recoil forces from going into the buffer, recoil spring, and the frame of the Kriss itself.  Though the Kriss looks like it has a huge magazine well, most of this area of the Kriss is not part of the magazine well – much of the rest of the recoil forces of the Kriss are directed downwards into this area, and therefore downward away from the shoulder of the shooter.  This part of the mechanism also supplies the energy necessary to operate the feed mechanism.  A straight-line configuration completes the stability of the Kriss.  The result is a weapon that, though it has a complicated mechanism, is an almost totally rock-solid platform with little barrel climb and recoil forces.  Good shooters of the Kriss Super V can, at close range, easily put two or more rounds through a single hole in targets, almost appearing as if a tight-pattern duplex round had hit the target.  (Readers who are fans of the television show CSI:NY will remember that this ability of the Kriss Super V figured greatly in the 3rd season finale.) The charging handle is folding, and when pulled out, the chamber can be checked to see whether a round is in it. Controls are easy to find and ambidextrous.

     The Kriss Super V is now being evaluated heavily by US SOCOM as a close assault weapon.  The cyclic rate of over 1000 rpm and the heavy .45 ACP round makes the Kriss Super V a valuable tool for this purpose.  There are unconfirmed rumors of combat testing as well as testing by several SRT-type police units in the US.  A semiautomatic civilian version is now being offered for sale (without the ability to make the civilian version into a selective fire version without major modifications).  In jurisdictions where it is legal, a short-barreled version can be bought and registered with the BATFE as a short-barreled rifle.

     Construction of most of the Kriss Super V is of a lightweight polymer shell surrounding an operating system that is largely composed of light, yet strong steel alloys.  The stock is an innovative folding fixed stock, with an adjustable length and height for the buttstock.  The butt itself has a thick recoil pad.  A simpler side-folding stock is also available. There is a foregrip ahead of the magazine well for added stability when firing; ahead of this is a finger guard. The foregrip is attached to a short-length of MIL-STD-1913 rail, and therefore other accessories can be easily accommodated. The pistol grip is hollow, forming a compartment for batteries or other small items.  The standard military barrel is 5.5 inches long, with no flash suppressor or muzzle brake at present.  A threaded barrel is offered to military and law-enforcement concerns for use with a silencer or other muzzle attachments.  The receiver is topped with a full-length MIL-STD-1913 rail for optics, and also has flip-up iron sights; the front of the receiver also has a well for a flashlight or a laser-aiming module.  The civilian carbine version (the CRB/SO) uses a 16-inch barrel surround by a barrel shroud to protect the barrel; the barrel shroud can be had in smooth and perforated versions.  The short-barreled civilian rifle, the SRB/SO, has a 5.5-inch barrel, but the threaded 5.5-inch barrel is not available to civilians.  (The SRB/SO is equivalent to the Military version for game purposes, except for its ability of automatic fire.)  Early prototypes were tested using 13-round Glock 21 magazines as an expedient, but 28 and 30-round magazines are now available.

     Some other versions of the Kriss were added to the line.  The Kriss Super-V SBR (Short-Barreled Rifle) is civilian-legal, provided the proper paperwork is done and appropriate taxes and fees are paid.  (I don’t know what the situation is outside of the US.) It is essentially a semiautomatic version of the military Kriss Super-V, with a 5.5-inch barrel and a folding stock.  There is a Picatinny Rail atop the receiver, and a shorter one below the handguard, to which a foregrip is normally attached, though it may also take other accessories.  The Kriss Super-V SBR is also a multi-caliber design, available in several chamberings.  They normally use Glock magazines, though in .45 ACP an extended magazine is available (which will, in fact, fit a Glock of the appropriate caliber that has a normal magazine capacity of at least 13 rounds).  The 9mm version can also use the special 33-round extended magazines used by the Glock 18. The Kriss Super-V SBR is equipped with a threaded barrel tip, which can mount a flash suppressor or muzzle brake or a suppressor or a simple cap (which acts as a target crown).  The stats below are for a thread cap, as this is the most common way civilians shoot them, and what is in the package when sold.  The SBR has flip-up BUIS attached to either end of the top Picatinny rail.

     The Kriss Super-V CBR (Carbine-Barreled Rifle) uses a 16-inch barrel, supported by a faux silencer that runs the entire exposed length of the barrel.  Its barrel is not tipped with threads, but otherwise it is the same as the SBR for game purposes.  The SDP (Special Duty Pistol) is essentially an SBR without a stock, making legally a pistol, but otherwise virtually identical to the SBR.

     The Kriss Super V Gen 2 makes a number of changes to weapon requested by military and police users.  These changes range from minor mechanical and sight changes to the length of the barrel.  The formerly BUIS by Midwest Industries have been replaced by MagPul MBUS sights.  The pistol grip has been pulled in line with the barrel and pistol grip, to reduce felt recoil and barrel jump.  The barrel length has been increased to 6.5 inches, and is modified to allow it to be used with a wider variety of muzzle devices.  The colors for the finish may be Flat Dark Earth, OD Green, and Black, they are finished in Cerekote for the metal parts, and molded-in color for the polymer parts.  The Gen 2 is also available in a 9mm version.  Though the standard stock on a Super-V is the standard KRISS-type strut and buttplate w/pad assembly, the Gen 2 has as an option an M-4-type stock (without a butt pad).

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The Kriss Super V is not available in the Twillight 2000 timeline.

Viking

     Notes: Viking Systems Inc. is (or was; I have not been able to determine Viking’s status as of present) a company headed by well known firearms designer Dale Toler.  Perhaps its first military-type product was the Viking submachinegun (which also had the unofficial nickname of “Vixen”).  The Viking was designed to be a small and easily-concealable submachinegun for users ranging from bodyguards and protection details to military vehicle operators; it is, in fact, smaller than the Uzi at a mere 14.2 inches in length with the stock retracted and 22.8 inches with the stock extended.  Though some sales were reportedly made (to groups including the Secret Service, US Customs, some special operations units in various places in the world, and the Egyptian Presidential Guard), no official sales of the Viking have actually been made (as far as I have been able to find out).  The Egyptian Army in particular conducted grueling tests with the Viking, some of which went as far as putting the Viking in a mudhole and then firing a full magazine through it and dropping a cocked, locked, and loaded Viking from a height onto the ground!

     Though the design of the Viking submachinegun can hardly be called innovative; it uses a simple blowback operation, fires from an open bolt, and uses the telescoping bolt principle to reduce length, with a rather heavy bolt to reduce the cyclic rate.  Feed is from a magazine inserted into the pistol grip; the 36-round double-column box is intended to be the standard magazine, but 32 and 20-round magazines are also available.  (The 20-round magazine is optimal for concealment, as it fits flush with the bottom of the pistol grip.)  Construction is largely of heavy steel tubing, and the parts are made to be as seamless as possible.  The pistol grip is made from polycarbonate plastic, with a swing-down foregrip made from the same material (which doubles as a conventional handguard when in the upwards position.  The 8.5-inch barrel is normally tipped by a flash suppressor similar to that of the M-16A1, but the muzzle is threaded to allow a number of other muzzle attachments to used.  The selector switch (actually a slider) has fire, semi, and auto settings.  The magazine release is a bit peculiar; it is on the left side, and one can easily release the magazine by simply sweeping downwards with the left hand.  In addition to the safe selector setting, the Viking has several passive safeties, including a grip safety on the pistol grip.  Sights are elevation-adjustable flip-type aperture sights in the rear and a windage-adjustable post in the front, both with protective ears.  The top of the receiver has a mount which was purpose-designed for the Aimpoint laser aiming module, but can be used for other such sights or items like ACOG sights. 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The Viking saw wide issue in the Twilight 2000 timeline, most notably to the special ops units of various countries, USAF Security troops, and the Egyptian, Saudi, and Kuwaiti armies.

Weaver PKS-9 Ultralight

     Notes: As the name suggests, this weapon was designed to provide a lightweight firepower package; and it was a light weapon at the time of its design.  It is largely made of simple castings of aluminum alloy.  Though spent casings are ejected as with any other automatic firearm, the design does not actually use any part specifically designed for extraction; the casings are ejected as a by-product of movement of the bolt. 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The PKS-9 is easy to care for, making it popular with new civilian militia forces raised by MilGov, though Weaver was forced by the Mexican invasion to move its production facilities to northern California from Escondido to continue making them. 

     Merc 2000 Notes: This is mainly a collectors’ weapon.