Ares Shrike 5.56

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Shrike 5.56
Place of origin Flag of the United States United States
Specifications
Weight 3.4 kg (7.5 lb)
Length 711–1016 mm (28–40 in)

Depends on barrel option
Barrel length 330–508 mm (13–20 in)

406 mm (16 in) standard
Cartridge 5.56x45mm NATO
Action Gas-operated, short-stroke tappet
Rate of fire 625–1,000 rounds/min
Effective range —
Feed system M27 (M249) ammunition belt

Various STANAG Magazines.

The Ares Defense Shrike 5.56 is an air cooled, dual-feed weapon that fires the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge. The Shrike 5.56 can be supplied as a complete weapon, or as a low-risk upper receiver “performance upgrade kit” to existing M16-type service rifles and carbines.

[edit] Overview

The Shrike 5.56 has gas-piston operation, a quick-change barrel with fixed headspace and MIL-STD-1913 rail interface for the mounting of accessories. It is select-fire for both semi-automatic and full-automatic engagement of point and area targets and it shares a significant part commonality with both the US M16A4 Rifle and US M4A1 Carbine. It can fire from standard 30-round M16 magazines, 100-round Beta C-Mag drum magazines, and M27-linked SAW ammunition from 100-round “soft-pouch” and 200-round hard plastic SAW ammunition containers. At 7.5lbs complete weapon weight, the Shrike 5.56 is the lightest rifle caliber belt-fed machine gun in the world.[citation needed]

[edit] Civilian Use

The manufacturer accepted a limited number of refundable deposits from civilian customers interested in purchasing the Shrike 5.56. While the product has seen production delays and revisions, the products that have been delivered are reportedly of high quality and performance by those who own them. While some customers are patient to wait for delivery, others seek a refund which Ares Defense Systems provides. The original Shrike pre-order price was $2,495 but Shrikes can sometimes be found on the second hand market priced between $8,000 - $10,000 for a single upper receiver assembly.[citation needed]

[edit] Variants

The Shrike production model has recently emerged from development. There exist some notable differences between the current model and the older prototypes.

EXP-1: the initial proof-of-concept prototype. It features a modified M249 handguard, a unique firing mechanism and a quick-detach barrel latch derived from the Stoner 63.

EXP-2: this improved prototype featured a new Picatinny rail handguard, an improved firing mechanism using some M16 components, and a new barrel latch similar to that of the M60 machine gun.

03A: the production model. It has a compact side-mounted gas system different from the previous prototypes, and its firing mechanism is also significantly modified. It has a circular handguard. The barrel latch and some other components are similar to the EXP-1.

ARES-16SPW receiver: this receiver was designed by Ares specifically for the Shrike system. It is identical to the mil-spec M16 receiver, except its magazine well is cut away to save space. Shrikes mounted on this receiver can only use M249 box magazines with linked ammo, but they have a smaller vertical profile.

This production variant can be fitted with multiple Picatinny rails. These enable it to mount various commercial scopes, flashlights, lasers, and even secondary underbarrel weapons such as grenade launchers and shotguns.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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