Armalite AR-5/MA-1

     Country of Origin: US

     Found in: USAF requirement for a new aircrew survival rifle

     Notes: In 1955, the Air Force was still searching for a better survival rifle to equip aircrews who had to bail out.  The Air Force heard of someone named Eugene Stoner, "who could do wonderful things with light rifle designs."  The Armalite company designation was the AR-5; the Air Force designation for the then-prototype rifle was the MA-1.

     The AR-5 had a number of features that would turn up again in later designs.  The entire weapon could be stripped and put into a compartment in the stock; the result was watertight and would float.  Even if it were thrown into the water fully assembled, the stock would cause the end to bob to the surface. (Sound familiar?)  It was a bolt-action locking breech weapon.  The stock was fiberglass, and most of the rest was made of aluminum alloy, including the barrel.  On the second prototype, Armalite put a small button compass on the toe of the stock.  No 2 was the only AR-5 that had this feature.  The barrel had a stainless steel liner and was 9 inches long.  The stock could be removed from the rifle, and the AR-5 used as a long-barreled pistol.  The .22 Hornet, though an unusual choice for military use, was compact, powerful for its size, could take down small game or a perhaps even a man, and even make a bear think twice.

     12 prototypes were built, and it seemed that the reviews from the Air Force were good.  Production could start at any time.  Then word came from the top -- there were already enough M-4 (not to be confused with the M-4 Carbine) and M-6 survival rifles in the inventory, and the Pentagon didn't want to spend a bunch more money for new survival rifles, even if the AR-5 was superior to the M-4 and M-6.  The Air Force, Navy, and Marine pilots didn't like the whole idea of a survival rifle in the first place -- it took a lot of room in their bail-out pack that would be better used carrying survival food or water.  The AR-5 went the way of the dodo, but most of its features surfaced again in the AR-7.

*The bulk listed here is fully assembled/pieces disassembled and in stock. It cannot be fired in its disassembled state.

Barsness-Sisk Remington 700BDL

     Country of Origin: US

     Found In: Wildcat action of a Remington 700 BDL    

     Notes: John Barsness and Charlie Sisk used a Remington 700BDL action with a 24-inch barrel to hand-make a rifle firing a new wildcat cartridge they were working on, the 9.3mm Barsness-Sisk.  Essentially a 9.3x62mm Mauser bullet in a .350 Remington Case, the 9.3mm Barsness-Sisk offers a flat trajectory and good hitting power at long distances.  For now, the project is a one-off.

Carl Stolzer 2-Bore Rifle

     Country of Origin: US

     Found in: A Limited-Production Weapon by Carl Stolzer and his mad imagination.

     Notes: This massive rifle was at first designed by custom gunsmith Carl Stolzer as a whim; soon, however, several select buyers expressed an interest in it.  It is essentially a wooden-stocked rifle, with a Monte Carlo comb, a checkered pistol grip wrist, and a checkered fore-end.  It has a color-case hardened finish receiver, and a rust blued upper receiver, trigger guard, hammer, and barrel.  The receiver is engraved in a pattern of broad acanthus leaves. The stock is of sugar maple, finished in oil and wax, with the aforementioned checkering very fine at 20 lpi. The rear sight is a folding leaf on a quarter-rib; the front sight is a silver bead on a ramp. Rick Straker, the first customer of the rifle, is a lefty, so the action is designed for left-handed shooters, but Mr Stolzer intends to make the weapon for certain exclusive buyers and will make it in a right-hand version.  The rifle is, at it’s base, a premium single-shot rifle.
     OK, so it is a standard single-shot rifle so far, right?  That’s where the similarity ends.  The rifle is chambered for 2-Bore (33.68mm) ammunition, which is also custom made by handloaders working for Carl Stolzer.  The round fires a lead round ball; the entire round weighs almost half a kilogram. The 2-Bore Rifle is designed for blackpowder, and is not stressed for modern propellants.  The barrel is 28 inches, and has a rather lazy twist for its rifling, perfect for stabilizing balls or short conical bullets.  There is no muzzle brake or flash suppressor; the muzzle is bare. Stolzer’s 2-Bore includes a Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad and three mercury recoil reducers.  Recoil is a slow (but not gentle) push instead of a sudden sharp kick.

     Note that the cost below is for Twilight 2000.  The real cost could probably buy you a new luxury car.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: These rifles are not available in the Twilight 2000 timeline.  Pity.

*Damage against vehicles is 3/3/2/1.

LeMAG MAG-1

     Seen in: Weapon experiment done by Tim LeGendre in the late 1990s, with a few being built for himself and a few unnamed friends and (it is rumored) certain US Special Ops units.

     Country of Origin: US

     Notes: A custom modification by Tim LeGendre of the M-1 Carbine, the MAG-1 was produced in two calibers, first on a whim, then in limited numbers for US Special Operations forces and for big game hunters. The MAG-1 has all the balance and lightness of the original weapon, and has reputably very controllable recoil despite their greatly increased calibers. The stocks have been replaced with a synthetic stock, since the original wooden stocks crack under the pressure of the higher calibers.

LeMAG MAG-14

     Seen in: Weapon experiment done by Tim LeGendre in the late 1990s, with a few being built for himself and a few unnamed friends and (it is rumored) certain US Special Ops units.

     Country of Origin: US

     Notes: Another custom modification by Tim LeGendre, this time of the M-14, the MAG-14 is modified for the .338WM round. Again, the stock has been replaced with a synthetic one, and the sights have been replaced with new ones appropriate for the new caliber. The rifle is fed from a modified M-1 Garand clip or a modified BAR magazine.

LeMAG MAG-15

     Seen in: Weapon experiment done by Tim LeGendre in the late 1990s, with a few being built for himself and a few unnamed friends and (it is rumored) certain US Special Ops units.

     Country of Origin: US

     Notes: Another custom modification by Tim LeGendre, this time of the AR-15 in a custom caliber called .45 Professional. The new round has nearly the ballistics of the .338WM while reliably feeding into a modified AR-15. Though accuracy is not its strong suit, damaging potential is. The magazines are modified AR-15/M-16 magazines, but the 90MWG and 100-round C-Mags cannot be used with this weapon. It is notable that Eugene Stoner, inventor of the AR-15 series, insisted that this modification could not be accomplished.

Roger David Gun Tests Custom Rifle

     Notes: Noted gunsmith Roger David built this rifle out of what he considered the best parts and caliber for a hunting rifle with medium-long range.  The rifle was designed by various gunsmiths and writers at the magazine Gun Tests, and assembly and final finishing was done by Roger David’s custom shop in Sulfur, Louisiana. Gun Tests started with a Remington 700 short action made by Brownells, and mated this to a free-floating Shilen quality heavyweight 24-inch barrel designed specifically for .308 Winchester. The barrel has a cryogenic treatment and is cold-hammer forged. Roger David suggested a Jewell adjustable trigger pack, which allows a choice of low pull weight options without the danger of an accidental trigger pull due to a passive trigger block. The stock is an HS Precision stock with an adjustable cheek, LOP, and a recoil pad; the aluminum pillars were discarded in favor of a floating barrel.  The stock is black in color, and is synthetic, and has a semi-pistol grip. The action is dark matte blued, and the barrel is matte stainless finish (and is actually made of stainless steel).  Unusually, there is no Picatinny Rail atop the receiver; atop the receiver is drilling and tapping for several lengths of scope mounts.  Under the handguard is a short Picatinny Rail, primarily used for attachment of the lightweight Harris bipod that comes with the rifle.  The bipod is adjustable for height, cant (on both legs), and width.  The rifle also comes with a Pride-Fowler Rapid Reticle, which is both a 3-9x42 variable scope and has a 10x quick setting for quick shots.  The rifle can fire any sort of .308 ammunition, but functions best with 168-grain bullets.

Winchester .70-150

     Seen in: Weapon experiment done in 1888 at Winchester

     Country of Origin: US

     Notes: This design was based on the Winchester 1887 lever-action shotgun; the parent cases of the .70-150 Winchester round were brass 12-Gauge and 10-Gauge shotgun shells.  The Winchester .70-150 rifle was built as an experiment, using a .70-caliber 700 to 900-grain bullet and a case with 150 grains of propellant. Sources vary as to how many of these rifles were built; some say only one was made, up to a “small number” in other sources. Either way, they never entered serial production, and only one firing example is known today. Ammunition is similarly scarce; while it is possible that turned rounds were made in the 1950s, most ammunition for the .70-150 today has to be made from scratch. The barrel is nominally 20 inches, but only the last six inches of the barrel has rifling, for reasons I have not been able to ascertain. The recoil from firing this rifle is stout, and there is no recoil pad or other recoil-attenuating feature. This is not helped by the light weight of the weapon. The Winchester .70-150 remains the largest-caliber lever action rifle in existence (as far as anyone knows).