Kommando LDP

     Notes: The story of the Kommando LDP begins in Rhodesia, and a small submachinegun dubbed the “Rhuzi.”  The Rhuzi was based on the VZ-25.  The design seems to have disappeared after the Rhodesian Revolution, but reappeared in semiautomatic form as the Kommando LDP.  The LDP stands for LaCoste Engineering (the manufacturer), DuPless (the designer), and Ponter (the financier).  However, many owners of the pistol insisted that the “LDP” stands for “Land’s Defense Pistol.”

     The LDP is, depending on how you look at it, a very large pistol or a submachinegun that has no automatic fire provision.  It looks very much like the VZ-25, but smaller.  The LDP is a mess, a weapon that jams often and sometimes fires automatic bursts instead of the semiautomatic fire it is supposed to produce.  (An automatic fire burst recoil is provided below for this problem; the weapon has a 1 in 10 chance to produce a burst instead of semiautomatic, rolled by the GM.)  The LDP has a submachinegun-style folding wire stock.

Republic Arms RAP

     Notes:  The RAP (Republic Arms Pistol, for its manufacturer, the Republic Arms Company) was designed in the late 1990s in response to a South African Police request for a new compact, concealable pistol.  The RAP-401 was first designed for these needs, with the RAP-440 being manufactured later.  The two RAP pistols were also later sold on the civilian and export markets. 

     The RAP pistols appear to have been heavily-influenced by the Astra A-75 in their design, and they look rather similar to the A-75.  They use an almost unmodified Browning action based on short recoil.  Construction is almost entirely of steel; therefore, despite the small dimensions, the RAP pistols are relatively heavy.  The RAP pistols are, however, known for reliability and the weight helps keep felt recoil and muzzle jump down.  There are several passive safeties including a hammer safety, a firing pin safety, and a mechanism to prevent firing if dropped; in addition, the RAP pistols have a slide-mounted safety which also functions as a decocker and their double-action mechanism.  Sights are fixed and low-profile, and use aiming surfaces painted in high-contrast white (while the rest of the pistol is dull black).  They use lightweight single-stack magazines, which also allow for easy use by those with small hands.  Barrel length is a mere 3.5 inches.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The RAP-401 is very rare in the Twilight 2000 timeline; the RAP-440 does not exist.

Truvelo ADP Mk II

     Notes:  This was originally a pistol made by a company named Aserma.  This is an update of the earlier ADP (Automatic Defense Pistol); it has been redesigned from the earlier model based on user responses.  It is a medium pistol with a composite frame, and is generally similar to a Glock.  For import to the US post-ban, there is a 10-round magazine available; otherwise, the ADP Mk II in 9mm Parabellum takes a 15-round magazine.  In 1997, the predecessor of Truvelo, RDI, introduced a version in .40 Smith & Wesson, it is slightly larger and very slightly heavier than the 9mm Parabellum version.  After Truvelo took over the company in 1998, they introduced versions in .380 ACP and a new proprietary caliber, .45 ADP; they also changed the specifications on the other calibers to make them easier to manufacture and sell, and renamed them the ADP-380, ADP-9, ADP-40, and ADP-45.  Truvelo, in effect, turned the ADP Mk II into a compact pistol.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: These weapons do not exist outside of South Africa.

TZ-99

     Notes:  This is a standard-format large-frame pistol.  The main point that Tressitu used to sell the weapon was its “self-cleaning” feature – dirt is supposedly expelled with the round.  This did not work so well in reality and it is basically just another pistol. 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This weapon does not exist.

Vektor CP Series 

     Notes: The Vektor CP is a weapon with smooth contours designed for easy drawing.  It is made of black polymer and with a black matte or nickel slide, with an ergonomic grip.  The CP features a manual safety in front of the trigger guard, and a trigger safety.  Adjustable sights are optional.  The CP-1 is in 9mm Parabellum, while the CP-2 is in .40 Smith & Wesson. 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This weapon exists only in small numbers.

     Merc 2000 Notes: This is a very popular weapon with civilians worldwide.

Vektor SP

     Notes: The SP is a South African copy of the Beretta M-92.  It is smaller than an M-92 and has a smaller magazine capacity, but is easier to carry and draw due to smoother features and the less-exposed hammer.  The safety is ambidextrous, and the magazine release reversible for left-handed shooters.  Other differences include a tighter rifling twist, a firing pin safety, a light alloy frame, and a cold-forged 4.6-inch barrel.  Other than South Africa, the SP is license-produced in the Philippines.  Two calibers are available.

     The General Officers’ Model is identical to the standard SP1 and SP2, except for the smaller size and better manufacturing.  They were designed for South Africa's general officers, but are also used by field grade officers of countries who also used the standard SP series, as well as special operations personnel.  They are basically smaller versions of the SP1, except for the addition of recoil buffer which somewhat mitigates the extra recoil that would normally caused by the lower weight.  They are also general issue in the Philippine military, where they are license-produced.

     The SP1 Sport is a version designed for competition; it has a longer barrel, a three-port compensator attached to the muzzle, a combat-style sight, and ambidextrous controls.  The trigger action may be switched between single action and double action modes. The Ultra-Sport version is an even deeper dive into the competition pistol market, with the 5.8-inch barrel being equipped with a muzzle brake and an equipment rail under the duct cover (including an unusual scope mount that is similar to that on the AK series for form and function). When a scope is mounted, a cocking knob can be added to the side or rear of the slide.  The scope comes with the pistol for purposes of this entry, The SP-2 is a .40 caliber version.

     The SP-2 Competition Pistol is designed for ISPC Limited competition; it is at its core much like the Ultra Sport, but has less accouterments due to the Limited class in which it is intended to compete. The 5.8-inch barrel is polygonal rifled, the controls are enlarged for quicker manipulation, the frame is thickened to form a more secure scope mount, the beavertail and trigger guard are undercut, and the trigger is straight.

     Twilight/Merc 2000 Notes: The General Officers’ models were sought-after war trophies among South Africa’s enemies.

Vektor Z-88

     Notes: This is one of the pistols designed in South Africa during the arms embargo of the 1980s and early 1990s.  Though designed starting in 1985, production did not begin until early 1989.  It is based on the Beretta M-92, and was made to the requirements of the South African police forces (though originally conceived for SANDF use), just as the SP-1 and SP-2 series was made from the M-92 for the South African Defense Forces.  The design of the Z-88 is little changed from the M-92, except that the double-action mechanism is improved, the magazine release is reversible for left-handed shooters, and the sights have tritium inlays. 

Viper Manufacturing Mamba

     Notes: The Mamba, originally designed by Relay Products in Rhodesia, was to be produced by unspecified means to replace some of the worn out firearms in Rhodesian government and Army hands due arms embargoes.  The Rhodesian government lost that revolt (producing the country of Zimbabwe) and the design was acquired by Viper Manufacturing in South Africa. The design was later licensed for manufacturing in the US by Navy Arms, as Viper did not find any takers in South Africa or Africa in general, and Viper made sales only in small numbers to the Israeli Army. Navy Arms later made the Mamba in 7.65mm Mauser caliber. The Mamba is, however, not currently in production.

     The Mamba is notable for being made entirely of stainless steel, but otherwise is a conventional Browning design, with polymer grips. The Mamba has a conventional layout based on a Hi-Power, with a 5-inch barrel.  The standard design uses a 15-round magazine, but extended 20, 25, 30, and 40-round magazines were planned, with only a small amount of them actually being produced.  The Mamba is unusual for not having a decocker of any kind, only a slide stop.  The slide stop and magazine release are on the left side, but the manual safety is ambidextrous.

     Viper also made some limited fully automatic versions of the Mamba.  The machine pistol version was means for counterinsurgency work in Rhodesia, but the need went away before any could be issued.  Rumors say that some European countries and Israel got a few each for evaluation. It has a deliberately high rate of fire of 1800 rpm, but limited by a burst setting, producing relatively tight group.