- For the air to surface missile, see AGM-12 Bullpup
Bullpup is a firearm configuration in which the action and magazine are located behind the trigger. A firearm is a Tool that projects either single or multiple Projectiles at high velocity through a controlled explosion In Firearms terminology an action is the system of operation used to load rounds and/or seal the Breech. A magazine is an Ammunition storage and feeding device within or attached to a repeating Firearm. This increases the barrel length relative to the overall weapon length, permitting shorter weapons for the same barrel length, saving weight and increasing maneuverability. For the fictional characters see Gunbarrel (Transformers. A gun barrel is the tube usually Metal, through which a controlled Explosion 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.
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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. A puppy or pup is a juvenile Dog, generally less than one year of age that has not reached sexual maturity The Bulldog, colloquially known as the British Bulldog or English Bulldog, is a medium-size breed of Dog that originated in England 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.
History
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. The AUG is an Austrian 556 mm Assault rifle, designed in the early 1970s by Steyr Mannlicher GmbH & Co KG (formerly Steyr-Daimler-Puch The term bolt action refers to a type of Firearm action in which the weapon's bolt is operated manually by the opening and closing of the breech with A semi-automatic, or self-loading Firearm is a gun that requires only a trigger pull for each round that is fired unlike a single-action 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. The Delacre Model 1936 was the world's first Bullpup submachine gun designed by Henri Delacre. A 7.62 mm caliber experimental assault rifle was developed by Korovin in the Soviet Union in 1945. There are many cartridges which use 762 mm caliber bullets The measurement equals 0 An assault rifle is a Selective fire Rifle or Carbine (not to be confused with a semi-automatic only replica firing Ammunition with muzzle The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The United Kingdom had been considering the idea of a bullpup service rifle since 1944. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located 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 EM-2, Also known as Rifle No9 Mk1 or "Janson rifle" was an experimental British Assault 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.
Usage
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). The AUG is an Austrian 556 mm Assault rifle, designed in the early 1970s by Steyr Mannlicher GmbH & Co KG (formerly Steyr-Daimler-Puch The FAMAS (Fusil d'Assaut de la Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne or "Saint-Étienne arms factory assault rifle" is a Bullpup Assault rifle designed In 1985 Britain followed suit with the introduction of the SA80. See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands The SA80 ( Small Arms for the 1980s) is a family of 556 mm small arms designed and produced (until 1988 by the Royal Small Arms Factory at 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. Fabrique Nationale de Herstal, more often abbreviated as Fabrique Nationale or simply FN, is a Belgian manufacturer of Firearms The official The F2000 is an individual 556 mm weapon system developed at the turn of the 21st century by the Belgian armament manufacturer Fabrique Nationale 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. Urban warfare is modern warfare conducted in Urban areas such as Towns and cities.
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. The FAMAS (Fusil d'Assaut de la Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne or "Saint-Étienne arms factory assault rifle" is a Bullpup Assault rifle designed The TAR 21 is an Israeli Bullpup Assault rifle chambered for 5 The AUG is an Austrian 556 mm Assault rifle, designed in the early 1970s by Steyr Mannlicher GmbH & Co KG (formerly Steyr-Daimler-Puch The F2000 is an individual 556 mm weapon system developed at the turn of the 21st century by the Belgian armament manufacturer Fabrique Nationale The A-91 is a Russian Bullpup configuration assault rifle developed by KBP The RFB (Rifle Forward-ejection Bullpup is a gas-operated Semi-automatic rifle with a tilting breechblock locking mechanism manufactured by Kel-Tec Industries 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. In Physics, the moment of force (often just moment, though there are other quantities of that name such as Moment of inertia) is a Pseudovector |
| 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. |
References
See also
The following is a partial list of Firearms designed in a Bullpup configuration Advanced IndividualDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic