SAKO, Finland -since the early 1960’s a high quality sporting arms manufacturer has been deeply involved in developing and producing the basic weapon for the Finnish soldier, the 762 RK 62 assault rifle. A joint effort of the Finnish Defense Forces (FDF) and Sako over several years brought a new product improved model to daylight very recently, and this rifle was officially adopted as the 762 RK 95 TP.

After the initial order by FDF (worth some 16 Million USD) for the new M95 and spare parts, no follow up orders have been planned, nor does there seem to be any funding for future orders. Sako delivered the last assault rifles to the FDF during 1997 and after that the production line will be closed. This in turn means that the production knowledge will eventually disappear and after only a few years it would be difficult to start producing again. Is Finnish assault rifle production “finished” for good?

Sako; arms factory production from a military viewpoint

The commercialization of the Civil Guard Supreme Staff Gunworks in Helsinki city, the capital of Finland, on 1 April 1921 was the starting point for the 76 year old company that we know today as SAKO. Suojeluskuntain Ase- ja Konepaja Osakeyhti” (Civil Guard Gun- and Machiningworks Ltd) was formed on 1 June 1927 from the previous Civil Guard Supreme Staff Gunworks. After that re-organization the plant was moved from Helsinki to Riihimãki city. The Civilguard was a militarily led volunteer organization apart from, but co-working with the FDF. The organization was abolished in 1945 after the last Finnish wars.

During the 1930’s there were several large projects in both construction and maintenance of small arms. The main departments included machining, cartridge, barrel, and woodwork shops. One of the more important products by SAKO at the time was the 7.62 M28-30 bolt action rifle, a greatly improved Mosin-Nagant clone produced until 1941. Production exceeded 70,000 units. It is worth noting that this is the very same model that was used in the 1937 World Shooting Championships in Helsinki.

During the early fifties much of the effort went into servicing material after the war as well as to regaining the civilian markets. The FDF started planning the next generation of infantry weapon and asked both SAKO and Valmet (formerly VKT), a state owned company, to produce prototypes. After some experimentation, the Valmet M58 assault rifle in caliber 7.62x39mm was accepted as a test-bed for future trials. FDF requested offers from both Valmet and SAKO for a prototype batch consisting of 200 rifles. Valmet won the contract and delivered 200 units of 762 RK 60 assault rifles for field trials in late 1960. Based on the information gathered from those trials, specifications for the M62 were written down and prototype rifles produced. Special cold-hammered barrels were ordered from SAKO for the new test models.

In 1962 the FDF accepted the 762 RK 62 as the new standard infantry rifle and both Valmet and SAKO were contracted to produce it. The SAKO series started from serial number 200,001, and the very first production rifle by Valmet, serial number 100,001, was placed in the Military Museum collection. Some small changes in the basic model were made over the years but the model designation remained.

From 1987 on Valmet and SAKO fused into a single company (SAKO-VALMET) with Nokia and Valmet as 50/50 stockholders. Later, after several organizational shifts in state ownership, the SAKO name remained for the gun and cartridge producing, privately owned company located in the cities of Riihimãki and Jyvãskylã. The FDF has ordered assault rifles from SAKO on a regular basis until now.

Now it seems that from 1998 onward, there is no more funding available!

Sako is the biggest hunting- and sporting rifle producer in Europe and the biggest USA exporter in the trade. This, however will never compensate for the loss of military small arms production.

What happened to the government orders?

The funding for the FDF is directed from the annual state budget through the Ministry of Defense. The Finnish defense budget is approximately 1.8 Billion USD, which is some 4.6% of the total state budget. The FDF uses this funding so that around 0.6 Billion USD is used to procure new material.

In 1996 some 16 Million USD were placed in a contract with SAKO for the new M95 assault rifle. No follow-up orders from the FDF led to a lay off of some of the workers on the assault rifle line, with more to go in early 1997. From a top of over 450 workers working with the assault rifle, the force is now down to a hundred , and production is facing a grim future.

The “ghost in the curtains” often referred to here is the Finnish Defense Force Hornet (F/A18) aircraft procurement from the USA, which depleted most of the funds reserved for other weapons purchases. During the same period the FDF purchased large amounts of cheap Chinese assault rifles and former DDR used Russian assault rifles to be placed in stock for the use of all others in units that are not the best equipped troops of the war time FDF. These cheaper weapons were for use instead of the older SMG and rifles these forces had. The total war-time force of the FDF is some 500,000 soldiers.

The best equipped brigades are already stocked with domestic assault rifles, so it seems there is no need for any further purchases. At least this is a political view of these matters in many circles. This erroneous impression is probably about to lead to a situation where the assault rifle production know-how slowly evaporates from Finnish industry.

The staff of Sako are hopeful however. If the Parliament would awaken to the problem and direct funds for continued production and procurement of domestically produced weapons, there might be a solution. A previous (13 March 1997) State Cabinet Defense Political Report regarding development of the Finnish national defense during FY 1998-2007 did not directly secure any hopes for continued funding of the assault rifle. The debate is ongoing.

Some light has been shed very recently (in early 1998) on a possible budget for small scale, up-keep production of the Finnish assault rifle. It has yet to materialize.

Patria Industries Ltd. is a recently formed company including five of the major Finnish defense materiel related factories; Vihtavuori, Lapua, Sisu Defense, Vammas and Finnavitec. The key issue, apart from export, is state ownership to secure FDF needs so SAKO seems to be outside of this procurement. Would there be any sense in purchasing the assault rifle construction line from SAKO and putting it into the new defense industry company to save the Finnish assault rifle?

The latest assault rifle- 762 RK 95 TP

The FDF assault rifle 762 RK 62 with its milled receiver will serve well for many decades to come. It is a reliable and well-made weapon.

This previous model is robust, accurate and well liked by the soldiers using it. The caliber (7.62 x 39 mm) is well suited for use in Finnish conditions. Small cosmetic adjustments have been made over the years to the basic assault rifle model but a real FDF demand for a new improved model materialized in 1988 based on research during ’86-87. The first SAKO prototypes of 1988 and 1990 included drastic changes to the rather loud selector lever of the Kalashnikov-type weapons. The selector lever was placed to the left side of the receiver to be operated with the thumb, and the right side had only a spring assisted cover plate, instead of the old version, to facilitate charging handle movement and to prevent debris from entering the receiver.

For some logistic reason the FDF could not accept this special improvement to the design so an M92/62 hybrid was constructed for troop field testing purposes. This model was operated similarly to the M62 and had more interchangeable parts than the previous prototypes. Sadly, it also had the standard selector.

After some small final adjustments the production model was ordered, and was designated the 762 RK 95 TP by the FDF.

The most important new features of the M95 are;

Folding stock.

A very positively locking design folding to the right of the receiver. Stock profile resembles the Galil but the locking is different. The upper tube of the stock has an area for maintenance accessories.

Receiver profile and cover assembly.

The milled receiver profile is such that it supports the magazine better than the M62 receiver did. The receiver cover is connected to the receiver in the standard Kalashnikov way but is also secured with a cross bolt through the upper rear of the
frame.

Charging handle angle.

The handle is placed at an upward angle (around 45 degrees) to facilitate left hand loading. This angle is not as much as that of the Galil.

Gas system valve.

The two position (open-closed) valve, is placed under the front sight on the right side. The actuation lever is well sized and the closed position is when the lever is pointing up (position marked with a “K” and arrow). The lever is then in view of the operator. The valve can be of use in different rifle grenade applications or when the need for the non-retracting bolt carrier is called for- when firing a suppressed rifle.

Muzzle brake.

This totally new model offers reduced recoil impulse of the rifle, well quenched muzzle flame and is dimensioned for the newest types of rifle grenades. It requires a newly designed blank firing attachment. The FDF uses wood-bulleted blank ammunition for training purposes.

An accessory suppressor which quick attaches to the muzzle brake is produced by another Finnish company.

Sighting systems.

The rear sight has an L-shaped foldable peep sight with 150m and 300m settings. In the middle position the use of the dusk sight is possible. The dusk sight is an open sight with a tritium gas self-illuminating dot.

The elevation and horizontal adjustments are made to the front sight using an accessory tool. The front sight also has a fold up dusk sight that has a self illuminating dot. The front sight has protecting ears which clearly curve forming a circular opening, open at the top.

To facilitate use of optical or optronic sighting devices there is an accessory mounting rail that attaches with two screws to the left side of the receiver.

As a complete weapon the M95 is definitively an improved version of the older M62 with several other smaller improvements than those described above. The quality of workmanship is easily seen on any detail.

Perhaps the positive acceptance by the troops using these new rifles and pressure from those not yet issued it, will eventually lead to further funding, and further procurement of the 762 RK 95 TP by the FDF.

The first M95 production rifle, serial number 960,001, was presented by SAKO to the Military Museum in Helsinki. Perhaps they will have the good sense to request the absolutely last production rifle also.

Remaining products with military potential

What remains in production is the SAKO TRG series of sniping rifles. Two standard calibers and action sizes are produced; TRG-21 in 7.62 x 51 mm and TRG-41 in caliber 8.6 x 70 mm.

The rifle is of modern configuration in the 5 kg range, boasting rugged subassemblies and a plastic stock. The action is bedded in an aluminum bedding rail, which in turn functions as the fixing points for the two piece (front and rear) stock. The handguard part of the two piece stock has mounting rails for accessories. The buttstock part is fully adjustable for height, length and cant of butt plate. The trigger assembly is modular, removable and fully adjustable to shooter preferences.

The bolt has three locking lugs offering an opening angle of 60 degrees. The feed is from a detachable box magazine, 10 cartridges in 7.62 mm and five in 8.6 mm.

This rifle has received positive attention abroad and domestically, but the FDF has not bought it in quantities other than for sporting use.

There certainly would be a boost of sales potential if SAKO would place a bit more military attention on this TRG product. Just some fundamental things like applying hard chrome to the interior of the barrel and other necessary parts.

Perhaps resources are not available, or then again perhaps the SAKO leadership has become too “sportsman oriented” and is about to lose the military market by mistake. They would not be the first manufacturer to do this.

Be that as it may, this eventual assault rifle production loss will certainly be Finland’s loss.

For fifteen years there has been a formidable, South African-made tool on the market for police and military use. If the requirement is a weapon for close combat, entry missions, or supportive, close-range firepower, then there is one design that has been unsurpassed.

The revolving, close combat shotgun

A firearm loaded with multiple projectiles for each load could easily be considered a shotgun, especially if it has a bore without rifling. With the large variety of weapons available today we know that this is not the whole truth. But going back in time 400 years, considering the technology available to produce firearm barrels, the way of short distance warfare and the fact that the firearms were muzzle-loaded until only very recently, it is very easy to understand why shotguns were considered effective. Using the terms “shotgun” and blunderbus loosely one could say that these weapons have been used in combat applications for over 400 years.

The smooth-bored barrel was the very first type available in early firearms. It was noted that hit probability over a distance was higher if the muzzle-loaded weapon was charged with many projectiles while dispersion from a short-barreled blunderbus was fairly wide, pattern density was poor. The main advantage of a load of shot was the potential of wounding several opponents with a single pull of the trigger, giving time to perform rather a slow reload through the weapons muzzle.

The occasional need for quick reloading of early weapons led, in time, to variants of guns that incorporated manually rotated chambers. The simplest version was a rifle with several barrels attached around a central spindle in a cylindrical form. The gunner loaded each barrel from the muzzle with a shot load. After firing one barrel the gunner manually turned the next barrel in line with the firing mechanism, and could thus fire the next shot much faster. Weapons of this configuration were heavy and cumbersome. There was need to reduce weight for mobility.

A remarkable step in the evolution of the revolving shotgun was taken in the late 1830’s. With the advent of Samuel Colt’s revolving percussion rifle, a mechanism for automatically indexing the cylinder was introduced. The mechanical function was the same as we see in the revolver today. The ability to better understand metallurgy, produce weapons to exact tolerances and devise better tools for manufacture had increased since the early days of revolving firearms. The same advances had not been made in loads for the chambers of those weapons. The ignition system had improved from matchlock and flint to percussion caps, but basically all weapons were muzzle loaded, be it from the muzzle of the barrel, or the muzzle of the revolving cylinder.

The muzzle-loaded revolver has the potentially dangerous phenomenon of multiple chamber discharge present during firing. This could happen from hot powder gases escaping from the gap between the forcing cone of the barrel and the front of the cylinder. When it happened the gunner was likely to seriously injure his supporting hand.

As the accuracy of standard muzzle-loading rifles increased so did the distances in combat. The interest in the shotgun never grew to a larger scale in military applications. It was probably only the US Army that understood the advantage of the shotgun in close combat. The revolving shotgun, with its user un-friendly drawbacks of the time, was almost forgotten. The standard cased cartridge would change all that, in due course.

Before WW II, there were some serious trials with the revolving shotgun concept. The most important product was a design by Charles J. Manville. The basic 12 gauge (18.5 mm) design incorporated previously untried features; one being a 24 chamber spring-assisted cylinder. By pressing the trigger the gun fired and rotated the next chamber in line with the barrel. The operator had only to release and press the trigger again for the next shot. The Manville shotgun had a front and rear pistol grip and no stock. When reloading the gun the rear (frame with the cam housing) was removed from the barrel and cylinder assembly, thus exposing all the chambers for loading.

The main materials used to construct this weapon were steel and aluminum. The barrel was of steel, and the aluminum cylinder had chamber inserts of steel. Further development of this weapon occurred in 25 mm and 37 mm for police departments to use in riot control. The Manville Corporation discontinued the production and development of its family of weapons in early 1940, concentrating its effort on other products.

The Manville design has been marketed to the law enforcement and military since the middle of 1980 by Hawk Engineering Inc. as the twelve cartridge 37 mm or 40 mm MM-1 version. It has never been reintroduced as a shotgun.

By the end of 1970 another American revolving shotgun was being introduced. This weapon is known as the 18.5 x 70 mm Pancor Jackhammer. The concept has been developed by John Anderson, and it has advanced the revolver principle even further. The ten-chamber, revolving cylinder is factory pre-packed with loaded cartridge. For reloading the complete cylinder (with the cartridge cases) is removed, and an unfired cylinder is replaced. The weapon incorporates an extensive use of plastic materials, combined with steel. The development of the weapon and its ammunition started in 1978, and continued for almost a decade, but only prototype production has been achieved. The current status is unknown to this writer.

In early 1983 a South-African product was introduced to the weapons market, a robust revolving chamber shotgun of a design that has proven to be hard to beat.

FIRST THE STRIKER

A South-African company (called Armsel and based in Johannesburg) started producing the 18.5 x 70 mm STRIKER combat shotgun in 1983. In the country of origin this weapon has since been marketed by Aserma Manufacturing as part of Reutech Defense Industries (RDI). The Striker shotgun and grenade launching derivatives have also been further designed and made in the USA by Penn Arms.

The Striker was an innovation by Hilton Walker and Hans Kornberger, two South-African gun designers. Mr. Kornberger moved to the USA in late 1980 and established the marketing company for American sales.

The original Striker design incorporates some remarkable features that have refined many of the original ideas from the Manville guns.

The standard model of the Striker has a front and rear pistol grip, a folding stock and a collimating dot sight. The sight is also a South-African product called the Armson O.E.G. (Occluded Eye Gunsight).

To fire the Striker the shotgun is held by its grips. The safety is removed by pressing the cross bolt to the left. When the trigger is pressed the revolver drum moves slightly clockwise to align the cartridge primer with the firing pin. Further pressure against a force of approximately 6 kg at the end retracts the hammer and lets it fall in the manner of a standard double action revolver. When the trigger is released for the second shot the revolver drum is indexed to almost present the next cartridge in line with the firing pin. The next pull of trigger again moves the drum so that the primer is inline with the firing pin and this cycle continues for a maximum of twelve shots. To empty the chambers of cases, the safety is placed on, and the hinged cover at the loading port is opened. By fully pulling on the ejector rod, (which is on the right side of the barrel) each cartridge case may be individually ejected in turn.

Apart from the cross-bolt safety which only restricts trigger movement, there are two other major safeties. The important one operates by keeping the chamber (primer) out of line with the firing pin until the trigger is pulled. The third safety feature is the fact that a relatively heavy trigger pull retracts the hammer, to eventually allowing it to fall on the floating firing pin. The weapon is safe to carry fully loaded, even if the cross-bolt safety has not been applied. Only a deliberate pull of the trigger will fire the Striker shotgun.

The total length of this basic model is 500 mm with the stock in the folded position and 780 mm with it extended. The barrel is 300 mm and cylinder bored.

If necessary (under the emotional stimulation of armed conflict) it is possible to fire all twelve cartridges in five seconds. The recoil is evenly distributed trough both grips and butt of the stock. This, combined with the weight of the weapon, reduces felt recoil to a great extent.

THE PROTECTA MODIFICATION

The basic Striker construction has been improved with slight changes and a variety of features. In 1991 a new version of the combat shotgun was introduced by Aserma Mfg. as the PROTECTA. Externally and technically very much like the Striker but with drastic changes in both chamber indexing and cartridge case ejection. The South African designers of the new features were Hilton Walker and Pat Farquharson.

The Protecta modification had an substantial impact on some of the more central issues in this combat shotgun concept. Size and weight and general ergonomics of the basic Striker remained the same but there are four details which demand further attention.

1. Operation of the Weapon

The rotating chambers are indexed manually with the axial movement of the front grip. The front grip is pushed to the right until it stops, and is then returned to its original position until it stops and locks. The movement is 30 degrees. The shroud of the barrel also turns axially with the front grip and as the index arm assembly is connected to the shroud the movement is transferred. The front grip and shroud are held in their normal position with the help of an index locking detent and the force of its spring. When sufficient force is applied the lock is released, and the grip can be turned to the right. The index assembly also has a floating index pin, which in the earliest models was spring assisted. This index pin travels in a star shaped track in the front of the chamber drum assembly called the index plate.

The track forms a star with twelve outer and inner points. If we study one segment of the star track, which is the distance the index pin must travel for one indexing movement between chambers, it forms the letter “V”.

The left upper end of the V is the place where the index pin rests when the front grip is in its normal position. When the grip is turned the pin travels down along the track to the point of the V. The floor of the track goes from deep to shallow to get abruptly deep again at the point. The ledge formed by the sudden difference in depth prevents the floating indexing pin from retracting the same way.

When the front grip is returned to its normal position the index pin travels to the right upper end of the V. Again the floor of the track goes from deep to shallow until it deepens at the upper end, forming a ledge to prevent rearward movement. Now a complete indexing cycle has been made.

To the operator the indexing movement is very short, fast and positive. If one would attempt to fire the weapon with only half the movement made, there would be no effect, as the primer of the cartridge is totally out of line with the firing pin.

Indexing of the chambers can be done by either turning the front grip or by keeping the front grip stationary and turning the rear grip clockwise and back. The method used is up to the preference of the operator.

2. Safety Features

One safety feature was described above. The Protecta can not accidentally be fired out of battery, the indexing movement must be complete.

As opposed to the Striker the Protecta is indexed so that the primer comes directly in line with the firing pin. Thus a new feature has been included as is with most double action revolvers. Unless the trigger is deliberately pulled the hammer can not transfer its blow to the firing pin. There is a hammer block which is removed only after a full rearward pull of the trigger. The trigger pull is 6 kg (13.2 pounds) and the trigger is lockable with a cross bolt safety.

3. Reloading

This has been vastly improved since the Striker by the fact that the new system ejects empties during firing. To load, place the cross bolt in safe position and open the newly designed loading port cover. The cartridges are placed in each chamber by indexing the drum. Close the cover.

To fire, press the cross bolt safety to the left then pull the trigger. Index the following loaded chamber in line with the loading movement of the front grip. The loading port cover opens automatically, exposing the cartridge case head of the previous round. When the trigger’s pulled again the shot is fired, and part of the powder gas is bled from the chamber mouth and forcing cone. This expands into the chamber with the empty case, pushing it forcefully to the rear. When the case is completely clear of the chamber it collides with the rear wall of the ejection opening frame and is flung to the right. All cases are ejected automatically, except the last. The last case can be ejected manually with the ejector rod when preparing to reload the gun.

This system has speeded up the reloading cycle quite a bit, since the early, manually-ejected Striker version.

The powder gas assisted ejection directs some amounts of gas and debris in the direction of the operator. If the gun is fired from the left shoulder eye protection should be mandatory to prevent injury to the right eye.

4. Amount of parts for construction.

The change from the Striker spring assisted rotary motion to the manually indexed version of the Protecta system cut the amount of parts only slightly. The most important difference is in the drum of chambers that consist of 60% less parts than in the Striker version. Production cost is probably smaller also.

When a standard model is perfected it is time to produce models for special applications. The shotgun is a formidable and very practical close combat weapon for entry teams, if it is correctly sized to be operable indoors. RDI has answered that call.

THE BULLDOG

By the middle of 1992 the first suggestions of a special version of the Protecta were discussed. However, it was to take some time before the potential benefits of the proposed model were to materialize. By February of 1995 the matter was at hand again. By March the technical engineers at Aserma Mfg. had built the final version. This was definitely a tool for the entry team to us in a confined space. The ultra-compact shotgun was appropriately named “BULLDOG”.

The overall appearance of the 18.5 x 70 mm BULLDOG combat shotgun is intimidating. The total length is 400 mm with a barrel length of 171 mm. The weapon has no collimating dot sight. It has no stock and is meant to be operated from a sling rest, either from the high forward position under the line of sight, or from a low close to body waist level, eyes on target. The loaded weight is 3.9 kg. (8.4 pounds)

The weapon is loaded with eleven cartridges. By sacrificing one cartridge as compared to the standard Protecta some gain has been achieved. The loading port cover is omitted from the Bulldog, making the loading faster yet simpler. The chambers are filled with the indexing method up to number eleven. The twelfth chamber remains empty at the loading port after the weapon is fully loaded with eleven cartridges. After the first eleven cartridges are fired one empty will remain in the drum This works as a marker case for the twelfth chamber. The weapon is loaded again, only now the empty case marker is at the loading port when the weapon is completely reloaded with the next eleven cartridges. The marker is the first to eject when firing is commenced. A new marker case remains after the cycle is repeated. Reloading is very quick with the Bulldog, and can even be performed in slow run if necessary. The ejection port frame is of great aid in placing cartridges.

Even if the barrel is only 171 mm long the weapon still retains the manual ejector rod. It is meant as an aid when unloading an unfired weapon, or in removing cartridges left in the drum. It can also be used to push out the last empty cartridge case depending on the model of the plastic case. The manual ejector pushes from the case mouth, not the inner floor of the case.

The ergonomic demands have been dealt with in this design as well. To facilitate the short barrel the front grip has to be placed more rearward than the standard model. Considering the 145 mm circumference of the chamber drum assembly, the position of the supporting hand would be very awkward if the grip pointed straight down. The Bulldog has a front grip placed at a 45 degree angle to the left to facilitate easier gripping and indexing of the drum. This of course makes it a weapon for right-handed users. It is not readily ambidextrous. For left-handers a point-down grip can be provided, as a point-right grip would place the supporting hand in the path of ejected cases.

The weapon is easily stripped for user maintenance. First make sure that the cylinder is unloaded. The tools needed for dismantling the Bulldog and Protecta are one 5 mm Allen key and a small screwdriver. By inserting the shaft of the Allen key in the hole of the fixing shaft head in the middle of the drum assembly it is screwed counter clockwise to release. The four Allen-head screws that fix the drum cover to the frame are removed. Remove the screw that connects the index arm to the barrel shroud with the screwdriver. Remove the index arm assembly. The complete drum assembly is removed by pulling it down and away from the frame. The cover plates are removed from the rear of the drum. The chamber drum is lifted out of its cover. The plastic rear grip with frame can be removed by loosening the Allen head screws that retain it. The dismantled weapon is easy to service. Assemble in reverse order.

While doing some extensive firing with the Bulldog at the shooting Range: I noticed the following: The shotgun is easy to point at ranges under 30 meters. The gun carries well when fully loaded with the sling across the body. Recoil movement is stronger than the Striker, so the 1 kg (2.2 pounds) reduction in weight carries a penalty. There is scarcely any lift of the muzzle during recoil. The movement is essentially a kick straight back, with slight clockwise torque. This is probably due to the front grip placement. When firing for extended periods the right hand upper knuckle gets sore because of the connection between the ejector opening frame and firing hand. The use of gloves helps to mitigate that.

On targets 10 m (11 yards) distant the shot spread is 300 to 500 mm depending on the type of cartridge. If there is a need to fire slugs accurately it is good to invest in an accessory dot sight and folding stock, and to fire with shoulder support.

The Bulldog ejects its empties very briskly. Cheaper brands of cartridges lose their spent primers in the process. The positive ejection lands the cartridge cases two meters to the right of the operator.

The operation of the indexing system takes some time to learn instinctively. This is especially so if one is very familiar with pump action or self-loading shotguns. In the beginning of familiarization with the Bulldog I repeatedly pulled the trigger twice on the same cartridge. When the indexing movement is accepted by the hands operating the gun, firing can be very fast, if and when necessary.

Reloading the empty weapon can also be a very quick operation, after initial training. As noted, this can be performed while moving on foot, either walking or in a slow run.

This South-African combat shotgun product has proven to be a sound design from the start. Since 1983 it has evolved to the model known as Bulldog in 1995. I am certain that the company producing this tool for entry teams will listen to potential customers in the future, and offer model variations for different applications.