MC51

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FR-Ordnance MC-51
Type	Carbine
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	Early 1990s
Used by	Allegedly Special Air Service, Special Boat Service and various Hong Kong security forces (Royal Hong Kong Police, Royal Hong Kong Customs, Special Duties Unit, etc.)
Production history
Designer	Bill Fleming
Designed	Early 1980s
Manufacturer	FR Ordnance, Imperial Defence Services Ltd.
Produced	Late 1980s
Variants	STANDARD variant (collapsing stock/S-E-F trigger group) TACTICAL variant (Fixed stock/3-rounds burst capability) SBS variant (Integral sound suppressor)
Specifications
Weight	4.4 Kilograms
Length	625 Millimetres
Barrel length	230 Millimetres

Cartridge	7.62x51mm NATO
Action	roller-delayed blowback, selective fire
Rate of fire	Around 600 round/min
Muzzle velocity	690 m/s
Effective range	250/300 m
Maximum range	Around 500 m
Feed system	20-rounds box magazine

The FR Ordnance MC51 was a compromise between an assault rifle and a submachine gun. It was developed in the mid-1980s by American gunsmith Bill Fleming for the British firearms manufacturer FR Ordnance. The weapon was based on Heckler & Koch's G3 battle rifle. Contrary to the popular belief, the MC51 was not manufactured nor developed by Heckler & Koch, although the 51 in its name comes from H&K old numbering system (the first 5 indicated a select-fire SMG, while the 1 indicates its chambering for the 7.62 mm NATO round).

1 Known Users
2 Design
3 Variants
4 Manufacture
5 External links

[edit] Known Users

MC51 was allegedly manufactured for the British SAS and SBS, who required a compact but powerful weapon, for situations in which the stopping power and armor piercing capabilities of 9x19mm Parabellum round were inadequate. Only 50 weapons were produced, and all were reportedly shipped to the UK special forces. Most of them were replaced in a few years by HK53.

The MC51 was also said to be used by the Joint Anti-Smuggling Task Force (Joint British Army, RN, RHKP, RHKAAF/GFS and HK Custom unit) and Special Duties Unit (RHKP) in Hong Kong during the early 90s, to combat extra large size armoured smuggling speedboats.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Design

Basically, MC51 was a shortened version of the G3A4, using the same 7.62x51mm round. It was very similar to H&K MP5 in design, but had a longer G3-type receiver. MC51 used a 20-round 7.62 NATO-magazine. It used the G3A4 collapsing stock and an S-E-F triggergroup.

[edit] Variants

MC51 was produced in three variants:

Standard variant, described above.
SBS variant, which had either a fixed or collapsing stock and an integral suppressor, similar to the one in H&K MP5SD.
Tactical variant, with fixed stock and a 3-round burst capability.

[edit] Manufacture

MC51 was not a successful weapon. Extensive checks and maintenance were required almost every time after the gun was fired. The heavy recoil and pronounced muzzle blast of the 7.62x51mm round was vicious in the short weapon, making the gun very hard to control in full automatic fire.

The MC51 has been discontinued from production, and there are no official records of it ever being used by any other organisation than British SAS and SBS.

Another UK-based company called Imperial Defence Services Ltd. absorbed FR Ordnance and continues to market the MC51 standard variant. In addition, a weapon similar to the MC51 called the M41 Offizier is produced by Schwaben Arms GmbH of Germany.