Those who have served in the army know how difficult it is for a left-handed person to shoot from an AK-74 assault rifle or an RPG-7V grenade launcher. A similar situation arises with the SVD sniper rifle, which was in service in the 80s of the XX century. Some opponents may argue that a person can be taught everything. Agree. You can teach. But it is impossible to retrain when conditioned and unconditioned reflexes that are “photographed” in our brain and tightly connected with our consciousness come into play. You can, of course, ideally achieve 80 percent efficiency. But you can't get closer to the ideal. And the sniper is too responsible person, and the word "may" does not suit him.
The task of creating a special weapon for those with an active left hand was successfully solved by the chief designer of Kel-tec CNC Industries, George Kellgren, having created an outstanding example of small arms - the Kel-tec RFB self-loading rifle.
Creating SUB-16
Being a Swede by birth, D. Kellgren moved to work in the North American States, where he was invited by his employer. His first job in this company was the serial production of the SUB-16 compact carbine in the bullpup version for the NATO 5, 56 mm cartridge. A feature of this type of weapon, which was presented as a “weapon of counteraction to the attacker,” was the frontal extraction of the fired ammunition, using a special window located in the forend of the rifle above the barrel. But the US Congress intervened, and after the ratification of the Assault Weapons Act in 1994, the demand for the product plummeted, and the program for the production of these weapons was closed. However, in 2003, Kel-tec received an order for the design and manufacture of prototypes of a self-loading sniper rifle chambered for a special cartridge of the same caliber, which should combine two incompatible things - a long barrel and a bullpup layout /
Creation of Kel-tec RFB
In 2005, a similar order was received for a rifle chambered for 7.62 x 51 NATO, the project was named SRT-8, but the next year it was renamed the RFB project. This abbreviation literally means - forward throw rifle, bullpapp. The development of the product was simultaneously carried out in three versions, which differed in the length of the barrel. Their lengths were 18, 24 and 32 inches and the prototypes of the rifle were called, respectively, sniper, hunting and combat rifles. The names of the modifications clearly defined the purpose of each type of weapon. But at the final stage, the names were changed to "target", "sports" and "carbine" according to the length of the barrel. In such names, this type of weapon was presented at the ShotShow world arms exhibition, which was taking place at that time in America, and in 2008 the mass production of this weapon began. The advertisement for the release of this weapon was appropriate.
Features of the Kel-tec RFB rifle
The design advantages of the product include small dimensions and weight, which are surprisingly combined with the length of the barrel part, due to which the ballistics has become better and the firing range has reached high rates. The linear dimensions of the rifle have become smaller due to the applied layout not only of parts and mechanisms, but also of automation. When making small arms in the bullpup style, there is one serious drawback: spent cartridges are extracted next to the face of the shooting person, but in this rifle this gap is filled with an original design solution - the cartridge case is thrown forward after the shot, in the direction of the bullet, through a special hole located above the barrel part inside the forend. Similar options for extracting sleeves exist in the FN F2000 (Belgium) 5.56 mm and A-91M machines made in Russia.
Action of rifle mechanisms
The self-loading rifle Kel-tec RFB uses an automatic system using exhaust gases when firing, with a low stroke of the gas piston and a manual gas regulator. The gas piston, located in the supra-barrel block, transmits the force to the elongated frame of the bolt mechanism, which is made in a U-shaped section and covers the rifle barrel from the upper and side parts. In the same gripping position there is a U-shaped channel of the mechanism for removing the sleeves located above it. In the aft part, under the bolt frame, there is the bolt itself. The barrel bore is locked by tilting the rear of the bolt mechanism downward, while the bolt itself directly engages with the sidewalls of the barrel shank. On the lateral sides of the bolt, two extractor hooks are structurally made, swinging vertically. With the forward movement of the bolt part, special protrusions in the barrel box release extractors, which hold the shot cartridge and push the sleeve into the channel for the sleeve outlet. At the final stage of the movement of the bolt part, the ejectors are lowered to a lower level and cling to the cartridge flange, which is directed by the bolt into the barrel part. A special spring does not allow the sleeves already in the channel of the sleeve to fall into the barrel box. Extraction of the sleeves outside the weapon occurs under the force of ejection of subsequent sleeves or under the action of gravity if the weapon is lowered to the lower position. You can get into the sleeve channel only during incomplete disassembly of the product with the shutter mechanism removed.
The performance characteristics of RFB Carbine / RFB Sporter / RFB Target
Caliber, mm 7, 62 x 51
Without a standard sight
Product length, mm 661/813/1016
Barrel length, mm 457/610/813
Weight without equipment, kg 3.67 / 3.95 / 5.1
Bullet speed at the initial moment, m / s 762
The number of cartridges in the clip - 10, 20
Firing range to kill, m 600
Despite the fact that this rifle is convenient for shooting left-handed shooters, a shooter with a normal, right-handed stop can also adapt to shooting from this rifle. Probably, this is the additional convenience of the weapon in the bullpup layout.
