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Belt fed AR?

3K views 14 replies 10 participants last post by  2ndAmendican 
#1 ·
Has anyone here built a belt-fed AR15 upper? (even in calibers other than 5.56) If so, would you mind sharing some info?

Thanks
 
#2 ·
#5 ·
Dang, that Valkyrie looks mean!!!
 
#6 ·
hehe! the belt fed ar-15/m-16 looks mean as hell--

i often wondered why the DOD didn't develop something like that into a SAW type weapon.

and it would be cheap to build compared to what the DOD is buying.

i wonder?? does it eject through the mag port or out the ejection port?
 
#10 ·
Hi Bill,

So this is going to wander around a bit. But I have to tell the whole story so that everyone will understand what went into this design.

Back in the day (1989-1991) an associate of mine did a lot of work in this regard. His answer was not terribly revolutionary, but the weapon operator could use either belt feed, or Magazine feed; which was unique at that time.

He perfected his design, mostly by trial and error much like John Browning did, and by 1991; he demonstrated his baby to the Marine Corps. They were suitably impressed. They requested 10 units for initial trials, and he built those forthwith. 2 days before delivery, the State of Kalifornia raided his shop. You can fill in the blanks for yourself. In his defense, he was fully licensed, and was operating completely within the law. The State had completely screwed the pooch on the raid. But, since they are the State, and cannot tolerate their supremacy being challenged, they raided again three days later but also had search warrants for the employee's vehicles and homes. One had marijuana "residue" in his vehicle. And that, was the end of that.

The 10 trial units were allowed to be delivered to the Marine Corps., who found the design to "hold great promise". But since the State of Kalifornia had leveled charges against the employee and the business, nothing ever came of it.

I fired examples of this weapon, and would sell my wife and my children to own one. It possessed every blessing you could want. The most important design elements were:

1. Replaceable barrels. 18" were the standard length.
2. Double roller (Think HK, but with two rollers on each side of the bolt carrier) interrupted recoil operation. This was really unique because full disengagement did not occur until the projectile was nearly exiting the muzzle.
3. Cyclic rate was 725-785 rounds per minute.
4. Really controllable in operation. The weapon was light, about 13.5lb but it tended to bury itself into your shoulder as opposed to radical muzzle climb. Very similar to an MG42 in operation. Very heavy barrel profile, about 1.15in at the receiver end of the weapon, and stepping down toward the muzzle in three increments to .775in.
5. Operator configurable to fire from either an open bolt, or a closed bolt.

Very simply put, the biggest issue with this design was the shitty ammo links, they used to hand sort them into a usable pile, and a reject pile. They even created some sizing tools to speed up the process.

At 400 meters, I could reliably perforate any target like you would at a carnival game where you shoot out the red star...At 600 meters, the impacts would wander around in a predictable way. Think M-60.

The last time I fired one of these, I put 750 rounds downrange with only enough time to change the 125 round linked belts. No failures. But I personally think the barrel was toast after that. It was early evening, and the barrel was glowing a dull red for the last 6 inches of the barrel.

My buddy eventually beat off all of the charges, but it sank him. He BK'd in 1993 and moved to Arizona.

My retelling of this does no justice to the absolute perfection of this design. Sadly, it is just another example of how the Gov. tends to crush innovation and the free exercise of our rights. My buddy passed away in 1997. I spread his ashes from an airplane over Anacapa Island off the coast of Ventura, Ca. as he had asked for in his will on his birthday in 1998.

A little bit of background on my buddy.

He enlisted n the Marine Corps in 1961, I was not even an itch at that time.

He participated in numerous deployments undertaken by the Marine Corps. in the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and "other" locations. Some you you Marines will understand. Four tours in Vietnam, three were voluntary.

Also served in Lebanon, was captured, and spent 16 weeks in captivity until he was able to kill his captors and escape. He was nearly killed by his own Marines because they did not believe that he was who he was until he pulled off the clothes he was wearing to reveal his skin color. I am certain that there are some Marines out there who have heard this story.

He served until 1985, retired as a Master Gunnery Sergent (I think, E-9 specifically).

I am not going to name my Buddy. He would not approve. He always preferred to be known as a Marine. He was all of that. In my heart, I believe that he is the NCOIC of the Marine Guard at the Gates of Heaven.

Thank God for our Marines.
Remained a Marine until his dying day.

A superbly disciplined individual, and one of the most Honorable Men I have ever known.


I hope that helps some.
 
#11 ·
There was a belt fed mode for the original AR 10 rifle. If you watch the promotional [video=youtube;vnQTOzR5AS0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnQTOzR5AS0"]Armalite video[/video] at the very end they show it firing with belts and then they open the action take out the belt close it and return to magazine fire, If it was possible with the AR10 then it shouldn't be hard to scale it down for the 15 system.
Bellson I'm sorry to hear your friend was screwed by the Cali. government. Sounds like he had a great design and you were lucky to have gotten to test it.
 
#13 ·
I'd have loved to hauled one of those round in Nam rather that the m-60 I carried. 1/3 the weight, even though a lesser caliber, I'd be willing to bet it would lay down a case of "Whoop Ass" in a hurry though! Very cool, DAMN YOU GUYS, ya got me thinking again, your influences are going to make me broke yet!!!!! I feel the NEED for one now!!! Damn it, Damn it!!!! I didn't see any prices, but as much fun as it looks, I'll bet it's substancial!!!
 
#15 ·
Damn Bellson, that's one helluva story. He sounds like a special kind of guy that you were lucky to know. I'm a former Marine myself, and I wouldn't even put myself in the same ballpark as your buddy, much less the same game. It's a shame that things went down the way they did. Leave it to the govt to f*ck up good, decent, hard working people's lives.

Did he hand down his designs, or patent them, or do anything with them, so that they aren't lost to history???
 
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