06-17-2013, 08:30 PM
Re the February 5, 2013 Reply, by Tony Williams, shown below.
Tony, indeed! --- And, I mirrored your proposal in a letter I sent to Dr. Franco Gussalli-Beretta, Executive Vice President, Fabbrica D'Armi Pietro Beretta S.p.A., dated April 30, 2012:
"Dr. Gussalli-Beretta:
Upon the introduction of the highly-innovative Beretta ARX-160, at the 2011 SHOT Show --- and, later, welcome word that the Civilian Model would be available, 'months, not years,' ahead --- there was much anticipation among our shooting fraternity. A long-time bullpup enthusiast, I envisioned the ARX-160 as the basis for a state-of-the-art 21st Century bullpup rifle, particularly, with its forward-thinking ambi-ejection (reinstating Citizen-First-Class status to left-handed shooters) and super-quick-change barrel feature (hopefully, to include the highly-desirable 6.5mm Grendel chambering, for extended-range targets). Indeed, a review of comments on several websites, following the ARX-160's introduction, confirmed that this assessment was shared by others, as well. With great expectation (upon the expected availability of the Civilian Model), I had planned to remove the collapsible, folding buttstock (the resulting package satisfying the minimum legal overall length for a rifle) and fashion a forward fire-control unit (a bit of a challenge, to say the least).
Enter: the IWI Tavor TAR-21 bullpup rifle, Civilian Model, formally introduced at the 2012 SHOT show, with word that it will be available in the fall of 2012 --- along with the discouraging update that the Beretta ARX-160, Civilian Model, won't be available until sometime in 2013, at the earliest. The TAR-21 is a very capable, desirable bullpup rifle (one that I'm presently considering), though it still requires partial disassembly to change the breech bolt, for left-side ejection, and lacks a quick-change barrel feature. What to do.
In view of all the above, I submit that Beretta in this interim has an uncommon opportunity to dominate the fast-growing bullpup rifle market, by going the last yard with its planned Civilian ARX-160: drop the buttstock, add a buttplate, remove the rear portion of the Picatinny Rail and relocate the hand grip-trigger assembly, forward --- and, for those bullpup purists, among us, complement the ARX-160's list of innovative features, by incorporating a battery-powered electronically-actuated one-pull-one-shot trigger-sear assembly.
On behalf of bullpup enthusiasts, everywhere, your consideration is appreciated. Thank you."
NOTE: My proposal for including an electonically-actuated trigger-to-sear arrangement was for the Civilian Model, only.
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Tony, indeed! --- And, I mirrored your proposal in a letter I sent to Dr. Franco Gussalli-Beretta, Executive Vice President, Fabbrica D'Armi Pietro Beretta S.p.A., dated April 30, 2012:
"Dr. Gussalli-Beretta:
Upon the introduction of the highly-innovative Beretta ARX-160, at the 2011 SHOT Show --- and, later, welcome word that the Civilian Model would be available, 'months, not years,' ahead --- there was much anticipation among our shooting fraternity. A long-time bullpup enthusiast, I envisioned the ARX-160 as the basis for a state-of-the-art 21st Century bullpup rifle, particularly, with its forward-thinking ambi-ejection (reinstating Citizen-First-Class status to left-handed shooters) and super-quick-change barrel feature (hopefully, to include the highly-desirable 6.5mm Grendel chambering, for extended-range targets). Indeed, a review of comments on several websites, following the ARX-160's introduction, confirmed that this assessment was shared by others, as well. With great expectation (upon the expected availability of the Civilian Model), I had planned to remove the collapsible, folding buttstock (the resulting package satisfying the minimum legal overall length for a rifle) and fashion a forward fire-control unit (a bit of a challenge, to say the least).
Enter: the IWI Tavor TAR-21 bullpup rifle, Civilian Model, formally introduced at the 2012 SHOT show, with word that it will be available in the fall of 2012 --- along with the discouraging update that the Beretta ARX-160, Civilian Model, won't be available until sometime in 2013, at the earliest. The TAR-21 is a very capable, desirable bullpup rifle (one that I'm presently considering), though it still requires partial disassembly to change the breech bolt, for left-side ejection, and lacks a quick-change barrel feature. What to do.
In view of all the above, I submit that Beretta in this interim has an uncommon opportunity to dominate the fast-growing bullpup rifle market, by going the last yard with its planned Civilian ARX-160: drop the buttstock, add a buttplate, remove the rear portion of the Picatinny Rail and relocate the hand grip-trigger assembly, forward --- and, for those bullpup purists, among us, complement the ARX-160's list of innovative features, by incorporating a battery-powered electronically-actuated one-pull-one-shot trigger-sear assembly.
On behalf of bullpup enthusiasts, everywhere, your consideration is appreciated. Thank you."
NOTE: My proposal for including an electonically-actuated trigger-to-sear arrangement was for the Civilian Model, only.
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Tony Williams Wrote:Of course, if a long barrel is needed to extract the performance you want without going to a bigger and more powerful cartridge, then there's an obvious answer...work on a decent* bullpup design, and enjoy a 20 inch barrel in a gun the same overall length as an AR-15 with a 10-12 inch barrel.
*fully ambidextrous without having to dismantle and rebuild the gun, and with an adjustable stock length.