SAR-40

The SAR-40, officially designated the '''Standard Assault Rifle, Mk. 1, Model 1940''' is a stamped steel selective-fire developed in Urcea by Francis Fino. It was the first to enter full use in the Royal and Imperial Army. It employed a, the first in Urcean service. The SAR-40 and its later iterations were used by Urcean forces for nearly five decades and were exported globally for use in many countries aligned with Urcea during the Occidental Cold War and The Deluge, and the weapon remains in use in some NSTA countries. Several civilian semi-automatic versions have also been produced by a wide number of manufacturers, and it remains a popular sporting rifle in Urcea as of the 2020s.

The decision to adopt a smaller caliber rifle was a highly controversial one at the time and drew significant domestic and allied criticism. Urcea's allies, especially Burgundie, opted to retain the standard use battle rifle with various new weapons throughout the 1940s. Units of the Royal and Imperial Army took to the rifle immediately, praising its firepower and reliability. The rifle was heavily used by the Royal and Imperial Army in the last eight years of the Great War. The SAR-40 and several modified versions of it would remain the standard issue infantry rifle in Urcea until 2008, and it still remains in use in some nations in Crona. The rifle returned to use in the Royal and Imperial Army during the Final War of the Deluge for reserve units, camp guards, and other auxiliary units.

Background
The beginning of the Second Great War exposed a significant lack of firepower in the Royal and Imperial Army, as Urcean and allied soldiers primarily using SR-9C bolt action rifles were commonly outgunned by Caphirian supplied soldiers of the Deric Republic using semi-automatic rifles. While the Royal and Imperial Army managed to win victories due to its often superior numbers, its soldiers were clearly not equipped for the inevitable battles in Urlazio and Sarpedon. Field testimonies and studies conducted by the Army also indicated that its rifles - commonly sighted out to 2000 meters - were designed for engagements at ranges that were not actually taking place. Most engagements were at relatively close range, where heavier, longer bolt action rifles and carbines performed especially poorly. The Army began to adopt Lansing-Mitchell rifles in 1936, the third year of the war, but although it was semi-automatic it still used far larger rounds than necessary.

In late 1936, the Royal and Imperial Army began theorizing and development of a number of s, lighter cartridges with enough stopping power to be practical for the type of combat seen during the War. In addition to a new infantry rifle, the Army sought to streamline its logistics by replacing the submachine guns currently in use with a similar weapon using the intermediate cartridges. A series of contests began in 1938 and 1939, but few viable options emerged.

Fino Development
Design work on the SAR-40 began in 1938, as arms designer Francis Fino's own service early in the Second Great War imparted valuable lessons regarding infantry firepower in closer quarters than military designers had initially intended. After several prototypes, Fino eventually arrived on a fully functional model in early 1939. That year, the PR1FD (Prototype Rifle 1, Fino Design) was presented for official military trials. The PR1FD was originally separated into a semi-automatic version and a fully automatic version (intended to serve as a submachine gun) which were otherwise indistinguishable; these weapons were originally going to be adopted as the SR-39 and SMP-39. The Royal and Imperial Army officially selected the PR1FD and ordered tens of thousands of semi-automatic and automatic versions, but production issues lead to the creation of a single select-fire version in September 1939. This version excelled in all live fire tests and was well liked in limited field tests; it was subsequently adopted as the SAR-40, a new designation, with SAR initially meaning "automatic rifle" before being reclassified as "assault rifle" in 1945.

Service
In 1940, the fixed-stock version with selective fire was introduced into active service with selected units of the Royal and Imperial Army, becoming the standard infantry rifle. The rifle served as the standard issue service weapon from then until 1987, when it was replaced by the SAR-87. The SAR-40 was appreciated by military historians and soldiers alike, who praised the innovative nature, relative ease of use, and firepower the weapon afforded the Urcean infantry of the late Second Great War and Occidental Cold War. The weapon saw a second term of service as a weapon, being reactivated in 2023 for support troops, allied militias, military police and other auxiliary units during the Final War of the Deluge. Though decommissioned again in 2025, it remains in service with many nations aligned with Urcea.

Impact and legacy
As the first widely adopted assault rifle, the SAR-40 left a profound legacy on the development of firearms. Due to the amount of units manufactured and distributed globally during the Occidental Cold War, the weapon became an enduring symbol of the Cold War era as well as a symbol of armed support for organicism.