Beretta .223 CX-4 Bullpup.

[Daver_II]

So I just bought a NR 9mm Beretta cx-4 storm... And it got me thinking....
I Believe Beretta worked with Benelli to make the MR1 (RX-4)

But why not make up a CX-4 styled .223 bullpup that takes STANAG magazines?

I think that would be a pretty amazing firearm.

 

[Ebola]

I think they currently have their hands full with the beretta arx100.

 

[F22_RaptoR]

Without a good reliable way to make the gun ambi, not many people stay interested in Bullpups. The forward ejection systems are a good start, but at the same time make any malfunctions a nightmare to remedy. That funny UTS-15 shotgun is about the best way with the lift-up cover to get into it in case of a stoppage, but at the same time provides ZERO protection in case of OOB detonation or cook-off (not as big a deal for a semi-auto rifle for us civilians)

It's been tried many times but likely the bullpup design will stay in the back light or with boutique rifles until caseless ammo, directed energy or magnetic acceleration rifles are invented and/or fielded, and it makes sense to put the working mechanism in the stock.

 

[Daver_II]

Without a good reliable way to make the gun ambi, not many people stay interested in Bullpups. The forward ejection systems are a good start, but at the same time make any malfunctions a nightmare to remedy. That funny UTS-15 shotgun is about the best way with the lift-up cover to get into it in case of a stoppage, but at the same time provides ZERO protection in case of OOB detonation or cook-off (not as big a deal for a semi-auto rifle for us civilians)

It's been tried many times but likely the bullpup design will stay in the back light or with boutique rifles until caseless ammo, directed energy or magnetic acceleration rifles are invented and/or fielded, and it makes sense to put the working mechanism in the stock.

CX-4 is already completely ambi. and a very clever method as is... I dont think it would be such a stretch to apply that to a .223.
I guess the hard part would be finding space to put in a piston.

 

[sharpsway]

It would be nice to have a lightweight, NR rifle chambered in a rifle cartridge, but I'd prefer just a length rail instead of the plastic sights it comes stock with.

 

[F22_RaptoR]

CX-4 is already completely ambi. and a very clever method as is... I dont think it would be such a stretch to apply that to a .223.
I guess the hard part would be finding space to put in a piston.

The CX4 has the benefit that the magazine is in the grip so you don't eat spent brass. Look at the Tavor, it's ambidextrous too but you need to swap the bolt out to switch ejection sides. The way that the CX4 swaps ejection sides is fine for pistol cal cartridges but not for centrefire rifle. And you can't just swap sides at-will which is what a lot of major military contracts are wanting now. Even a lot of 3-gun competition, Rifle class IPSC competitions are setting up stages to give benefits for ambi use of your gun. I suppose for a range plinker or coyote type gun it would be fine for a full takedown type ejection side swap.

Not only that, but there are several other disadvantages when moving to a rifle length cartridge. A pistol cartridge is just a direct blowback, so you need maybe 2-2.5" of bolt travel. With a .223 rifle (including the bolt unlock) you need 3-4" of travel, as well as the fact that the magazine well would have to be moved further back which adds more length.

Add in that for a centrefire rifle round you're going to need a steel skeleton or trunnion with guide rails, a piston system, full length recoil spring, and the whole package for the CX4 is just far too small, it would grow in size by a great margin before you got all the stuff in there, and then you have yet another 2500 dollar bullpup that isn't any smaller or better balanced than what's already out there. I do like the concept of the bullpup rifle, but until or unless someone can take away the whole spent brass issue (like the FS2000 or the RFB, except more reliable) then it still has that hindrance.

The Type 97 is about the most compact bullpup centrefire rifle on the market (as far as being a trim gun) and it's already pretty obvious what it's disadvantages are; including the fact that it's righty-only.