New submachine gun could shake up the firearms world

Rockrivr1

NES Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2005
Messages
20,990
Likes
21,374
Location
South Central Mass
Feedback: 66 / 0 / 0
Very interesting design.

http://hamptonroads.com/node/343981


Posted to: Business

© October 12, 2007

Tom Maffin, senior gunsmith for Transformational Defense Industries Inc. demonstrates the company's revolutionary Kriss Super V 45 caliber submachine gun at a range on the Blackwater USA campus in Moyock, N.C.

(Stephen M. Katz photos | The Virginian-Pilot)


By Jon W. Glass
The Virginian-Pilot


MOYOCK, N.C.

His Ford Crown Victoria disabled by hostile fire, driver Tom Maffin scrambled from the car, crouched behind the hood and sprayed a target with automatic gunfire to cover for a passenger.

Maffin's weapon: a KRISS Super V .45-caliber submachine gun.

If you're military or law enforcement and haven't heard of it, chances are you soon will.

Maffin is senior gunsmith for Transformational Defense Industries Inc., a weapons technology firm that conducts its research and development from a Virginia Beach office park near Lynnhaven Mall.

Watch video of the KRISS Super V submachine gun.
By early next year, the Washington-based TDI plans to open a production facility in Virginia Beach to begin manufacturing the submachine gun for police and military use and a .45-caliber semi automatic carbine for the commercial shooting market.

Industry experts say the weapons are unlike any other now on the market and could shake up the firearms world.

What makes the weapons special, company and industry officials say, is a new patented operating system that substantially reduces recoil and muzzle climb when fired.

The recoil, or kick, of a conventional weapon is directed backward into a shooter's shoulder, causing the gun to rise off target. TDI's "Super V" bolt-and-slide mechanism directs the energy downward in front of the trigger.

Company tests indicate the mechanism reduces recoil by 40 to 60 percent and muzzle rise by about 95 percent over conventional gun operating systems.

At a Thursday demonstration for media at a Blackwater USA firing range in Moyock, officials said their system improves accuracy and reduces user fatigue. The submachine gun can be fired with one hand and remain on target.

"This is the future of weapons right here," said Andrew Finn, TDI's senior vice president.

TDI has worked with the Army and special operations forces to develop the technology. It uses Blackwater's facilities to field test the weapons.

Officials set up the disabled vehicle scenario to demonstrate the maneuverability and firepower of the .45-caliber submachine gun, which TDI says is ideal for close-quarter situations the police and military encounter in urban settings.

The gun, which weighs about 5 pounds unloaded and collapses to a length of 16 inches, can be easily carried in helicopters, Humvees and other vehicles, said Maffin, a retired Marine who began working at TDI's Virginia Beach operation about a year ago.

"Seeing this product for the first time in my interview, I was sold," Maffin said. "It's got the knockdown power a lot of guys want."

Members of the media at the Thursday event, heavy in such trade publications as Guns & Ammo and Small Arms Review magazines, were allowed to shoot the submachine gun and the carbine.

"The reduction in recoil is absolutely amazing," said Wendy Henry, who works in Pennsylvania for Women In Scope, a TV series that promotes women's awareness of firearms. "It's very easy to maintain your control over it."

Frank Borelli, a law enforcement and military consultant in Maryland, said the weapon is "going to rock the firearms industry." He has fired the TDI submachine gun but did not attend the event.

"What they're doing is very different," Borelli said.

Some industry experts question whether the company will make significant inroads with military and police, which have moved away from submachine guns - in part because their pistol-caliber rounds can't pierce body armor. The gun's price tag - now expected to retail in the $1,200-to-$1,300 range - also could chill sales.

Company officials said interest is high, noting that they worked with the Army's Picatinny armament research and development arsenal in New Jersey to develop the technology.

These guns are the first product that TDI, a five-year-old subsidiary of Switzerland-based Gamma Research and Technologies Holding SA, has brought to market.

Chuck Kushell, TDI's chief executive officer and director, said the Virginia Beach operation, dubbed Viking Works, will grow once production starts in January or February.



Prototypes of the KRISS Super V .45-caliber submachine gun and carbine are displayed at TDI’s production facility in Virginia Beach.


Currently, eight engineers, machinists and gunsmiths work in a 4,000-square-foot facility. Kushell said he expects to more than double the space and add 15 to 20 employees as the company ramps up over the next few months.

To reach the civilian market, the company developed the .45-caliber carbine. Plans call for marketing it primarily to shooting enthusiasts who would use it for competitions and target practice, but it also could be used for hunting.

"This is not going to be a gun for everyone," Kushell said.

Company officials said the Super V mechanism can be adapted to any caliber weapon. Work currently is under way on a 12-gauge shotgun. And the company has won an Army contract valued at a little over $1 million to develop a lighter-weight, more user-friendly .50-caliber machine gun, Kushell said.

Jon W. Glass, (757) 446-2318, [email protected]
 
This was announced quite a while ago (at least a few months)

Definitely an interesting design, let's see if the LE community is ready to accept a nontraditional design like this.
 
This was announced quite a while ago (at least a few months)

Definitely an interesting design, let's see if the LE community is ready to accept a nontraditional design like this.

October 12, 2007

Yup, either posted here or somewhere else I read, a cool design that's for sure. Darned the government for saying we can't buy new MGs
 
Just proof of how effective a good PR effort can be. This is old news, and the gun was shown at the 2007 Shot Show. As to the on handed full auto - I've seen the same trick with a nicely compensated M4.
 
I have shot the KRISS in both semi and full auto. While the design is revolutionary, I am not impressed with the results. The majority of muzzle rise and recoil is not generated from the reciprocating mass of the bolt. Therefore, changing the direction the bolt's movement will merely redirect the minimal amount of recoil that is generated by the bolt. The rest of the muzzle rise and rearward recoil (majority of the total) still exists.
 
I have a question or 2

Is it just me or does anyone else think that video was edited to make the Kriss look better(or HK look worse) than it is(or to make the shooter look better than he is)? I noticed when they fired the HK at the first steel target the target was clean and the round hit in the middle not knocking it over. Then the "one shot" with the Kriss hit at the top of the same target but the target had 5 or 6 more hits on it then when they fired "one shot" from the HK, it looks like they tried to knock it over a few times and failed to so they kept shooting until they did then edited the tape to make it look like they did it with "one shot" from the Kriss.[rolleyes][thinking][rolleyes]

Don't get me wrong the Kriss looks and fires great but I just hate the manipulation the media and manufactures of "revolutionary" new products do to try to make us think things are better than they are.

OK my rant is over. [smile]
 
Back
Top Bottom