the bolt-release button: it is no longer loca-
ted in front of the trigger guard but behind
the magwell. At rst glance that seems
odd, but after the rst magazine change
it proves ergonomic and natural — when
inserting a magazine you simply push the
magazine home and press the bolt-release
with your thumb to send the bolt forward.
As pictures show, a suppressor can be
tted to the 10.5" barrel version — in the
demo this was a Rotex IIA, which ts in
-
side the short Handguard. It should also
t under the longer Handguard on the 16"
version, which would make for a very tidy
package — a bull-pup carbine with a sup
-
pressed barrel and a long Handguard that
practically covers the can.
The 16" conversion can also be applied
to 7.62x39 GROT; the photos show this.
I don't yet know how a 30-round banana
magazine for 7.62×39 will behave be
-
cause I've found those mags unpleasant
and impractical and bought only 20-roun-
ders. There could be a conflict between
a heavily curved 30-round 7.62 magazine
and the pistol grip due to the magazine's
pronounced forward curve.
What's Next?
Next we wait for conversions for a 14.5"
barrel and other barrel lengths that have
been whispered about, and of course co-
nversions for those barrels. Buying an
initial conversion for one barrel length me-
ans that adding other barrel lengths later
should require only purchasing the different
Handguard — all other elements are com-
patible regardless of which barrel is tted.
The ideal product would be a single box
containing every module shown in the
photos — all available modules and barrels
in one kit, covered by one purchase au
-
thorization. That's feasible in practice; the
question is whether the manufacturer will
want to offer such a set and at what price.
18
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