The Armat M41A is a 10mm pulse-action air-cooled automatic assault rifle, which over the last eight years has become the basic rifle of the US colonial Marine Corps and the US Army. The standard service variant has an over-and-under configuration incorporating a PN 30mm pump-action grenade launcher.

Lightweight and rugged, the M41 is constructed largely from ultra-light alloy precision metal stampings. The outer casing is made from titanium aluminide alloy and many internal parts are molded from high-impact, temperature resistant plastics. Layout is conventional, and a spring loaded retractable stock allows the rifle to be used either in carbine format (with stock retraced) or as a rifle, with the "inline" stock extended for greater stability during automatic fire from the shoulder. Sighting is made down a groove in the carrying handle, with an adjustable tangent leaf backsight positioned in the rear slot. It has the option of mounting a rifle-sight of some kind.

The rounds and clip

The M41A fires the standard US M309 10mm x24 round. This ammunition comprises a 210 grain (13.6 gram) projectile embedded within a rectangular caseless propellant block of Nitramine 50. The propellant content is small but highly efficient, generating muzzle velocities on the order of 840 meters per second. The round is steel jacketed and explosive tipped, with impact fusing which is preset during manufacture. The round is designed to penetrate the armor, exploding just after impact ti inflict lethal internal damage. The standard M41 clip will hold up to 99 M309 rounds in a "U" bend conveyor, which feeds the rounds mechanically into the rotating mechanism. However, in practice the clips are only filled to 95% capacity in order to reduce the auto loaders tendency to jam.

MY OPINION: There is no way in hell the magazines showed in the film could EVER hold 99 rounds. 99x10mm is 99cm or just about 1m. They could be in a "K" bend conveyor for all I care, they could NEVER fit in there...

Options and Workings

The M41 uses electronic pulse action to fire, controlled directly from the trigger. The internal mechanism, including the rotating breech, is mounted on freefloating rails within a carbon-fiber jacket. From the thumb selector, the weapon can be set to selective, four-round burst or fully automatic fire, the latter allowing a rate of fire up to the weapon's cyclic rate of 900rpm. A manual cocking handle is situated in the upper receiver allows the operator to clear the breech in the event of stoppage, or to check the chamber prior to stowage.

A LED display situated just below the receiver indicates the ammo remaining in the clip. The display can be dimmed for night operations. Power is provided by a lithium battery located in the carrying handle. The battery is good for 10.000 rounds and can be recharged either from a rifle rack or a portable power clip.

The Underslung Grenade Launcher

The underslung 30mm grenade launcher comprises a barrel, breech and a four round internal magazine which is charged by handloading individual grenade cartridges in to the mechanism. A pump action is used to load rounds into the breech and cock the firing mechanism. Once loaded, the launcher is primed to fire from a trigger positioned just in front of the magazine housing, which is used as a handgrip when firing a grenade.