AR-2

AR-2
AR-2 rifle
Type	Assault rifle
Place of origin	Empire of Exponent
Service history
In service	1984-Present
Used by	Arabona Blackhelm Confederacy Cadenza Terre Azure Jafala Bungussi Kwalawi Polarus Cote d'Cuivre Colchester Landing Serretes Earent
Production history
Designed	1981
Manufacturer	Sancte Christi Government Arsenal
Produced	1984-Present
No. built	12,000,000+
Specifications
Weight	3.95
Length	1,000 mm stock extended / 745 mm stock folded
Barrel length	452 mm
Cartridge	7.62x39mm
Action	Gas-operated, rotating bolt
Rate of fire	750 rounds/min
Muzzle velocity	880 m/s
Effective firing range	300-500 m
Feed system	30-round detachable box magazine

The AR-2 is an assault rifle designed for use with the military of the Empire of Exponent. Entering service during the 1980's, the AR-2 has been put to use by armed forces across Astyria, and is one of the most commonly used firearms in the region.

Development

The AR-2 project started in the early 1980s to replace the aging Sancte Christi rifle. The prototype was completed in 1981, but production didn't start until 1984, and continued until the collapse of the empire in 1996. The rifle features include a folding buttstock and tritium sights for aiming in low light conditions, uses 30 round magazines, and like it's predecessor has a dual trigger group that enables semi-automatic and fully automatic fire. The severe economic hardships suffered by the Empire of Exponent almost meant that the rifle project had to be cancelled, but the military forged ahead, and produced a successful piece both for their own use as well as for export. After the empire collapsed, production of the AR-2 halted for several years as the nation tried to pull itself together. By the time the Blackhelm Confederacy asserted itself as hegemon over Hesperidisea, the AR-2 had been mostly replaced by the Confederacy's newer AR-3 model. Production of the AR-2 still takes place, however, for both export and for the civilian market, as well as the tribal militia and several Town Guard units in the Confederacy itself.

Design details

Operating mechanism

The AR-2 rifles are selective fire weapons operated by a gas-driven piston system with no regulator. The weapon is locked with a rotating bolt with two locking lugs that lock into recesses milled into the receiver.

When fired, a portion of the propellant gases are evacuated into the gas cylinder through a port, drilled at a 30° angle in the barrel, and a channel in the gas block. The high-pressure gases drive the piston rod (which is attached to the bolt carrier) rearward. During this rearward movement, a cam slot machined into the bolt carrier engages a cam pin on the bolt and rotates the bolt, unlocking the action. The arrangement of parts on the bolt carrier assembly provides for a degree of free travel, allowing gas pressure in the barrel to drop to a safe level before unlocking. To the immediate rear of the chrome-plated piston head is a notched ring which provides a reduced bearing surface and alleviates excess gas build-up. As the bolt carrier travels back, it compresses the return spring guided in a hollowed section of the bolt carrier and the return energy contained in the spring drives the moving assembly back forward, stripping a new round from the magazine and locking the action. The cocking handle is attached to the bolt carrier on the right side of the receiver and reciprocates with each shot; the handle is bent upwards allowing for operation with the left hand while the shooting hand remains on the pistol grip.

The ejection of spent cases from the AR-2 is sometimes a violent action. Cases can be dented by the ejector and be thrown several feet away from the rifle in some cases, depending on position.

Features

The AR-2 is hammer-fired and has a trigger mechanism patterned after the trigger used in the older Sancte Crucis AR-1. The rifle's fire selector switch has three positions: S-A-R. Pushing it to the rear position "R", for "repetition", provides semi-automatic fire. Pushing it to the middle position "A" produces fully automatic fire. Pushing the lever fully forward to "S" will activate the safety.

The weapon is fitted with a high-impact plastic handguard and pistol grip and a side-folding (folds to the right side) tubular steel skeleton stock. The rifle can be used with a sound suppressor. The weapon features a bottle opener in the front handguard and wire cutter built into the bipod. The bottle opener feature was included to prevent damage to magazines being used to open bottles, due to the large Town Guard components of the former Imperial and current Confederate militaries. Use of magazines to open bottles was a common source of magazine lip damage with Treadwell submachine guns. Wire cutters were included to reduce the time necessary for Imperial troops to cut down wire fences common to rural areas in the Backlands.

Feeding

The AR-2 is fed from a curved, steel magazine with a 30-round capacity and can also be used to launch rifle grenades. The magazine is inserted front end first in a similar manner to the AK family. An additional 50 round magazine is also available, although some users have complained this makes the weapon too heavy and unwieldy because of its extra length.

Sights

The L-shaped rear sight has two apertures preset for firing at 0–300 m and 300–500 m respectively (the rear sight can only be adjusted for elevation). The front post is fully adjustable for both windage and elevation zero and is enclosed in a protective hood. Low-light flip-up front blade and rear sight elements have three self-luminous tritium capsules (betalights) which are calibrated for 100 m when deployed. When the rear night sight is flipped up for use, the rear aperture sights must be placed in an offset position intermediate between the two apertures. Certain variants have a receiver-mounted dovetail adapter that is used to mount various optical sights.

Accessories

Included with the rifle are a detachable bipod, bayonet, sling, cleaning kit and a magazine loader.