Lachsen SG56

The Lachsen SG56 (Surokov Gewehr 1956) is an assault rifle of Calderan origin designed by Sakartvelosian gun designer Oleg Surokov who defected to Austro-Caldera from Soviet Yoshilandia after seeking a non-state profession with Calderan gun manufacturer Lachsen. Widely considered the most famous Calderan rifle in history, most media depictions of Calderan soldiers are seen with these rifles. The SG56 is also the most exported rifle in Calderan history, with millions of rifles being sold to other countries, the majority of which for civilian use. In 2019, the Calderan Armed Forces announced that they'd be replacing the SG56 with the C19, but replacement has been slow.

History
From the creation of the Calderan Armed Forces in 1934 until 1956, Austro-Caldera did not have a formal rifle, and many soldiers were given a variety of rifles typically from Daxia or Hendalarsk. A major issue with all these different rifles is a difference in calibers which made logistics very difficult. During the war, it was near impossible to efficiently organize who receives what firearms and ammunition, so the military was more focused on ensuring that everyone received equipment rather than a good kind of equipment.

After the war's end, the military reorganized how it divided equipment, but it still didn't standardize equipment until the 1950s. A program enlisting the top 3 Calderan firearms manufacturers (Tauk, Keun, and Lachsen) to create a new standard rifle and caliber was created. Tauk organized a committee to design a new rifle, Keun tried to introduce old rifle designs, and Lachsen researched the best firearms designers in the world, which culminated in them contacting Oleg Surokov, who was a Sakartvelosian gun designer working for the Soviet Yoshilandian government. Oleg Surokov organized his own committee with Lachsen engineers, and began working on what Surokov believed would become a legendary rifle. Over the course of 4 years, Surokov's design of rifle outperformed every competing rifle in every category, except in accuracy. The committee would attempt to rectify this issue, but would inevitably be unable to, so the SG56 was adopted as it was in 1956.

Operating mechanism
The charging handle is located on the left side of the gun and is part of a two piece assembly that consists of the handle itself and a bolt catch, which pulls the bolt back and allows the breech to be opened. Magazines for the SG56 feature a lip which hold the bolt open if the magazine is empty, but also pushes the bolt catch out of the way and thus chambers a round immediately as a full magazine is inserted. After ignition of the cartridge primer and propellant, rapidly expanding propellant gases are diverted into the gas cylinder above the barrel through a vent near the muzzle. The build-up of gases inside the gas cylinder drives the long-stroke piston and bolt catch rearward and a cam guide machined into the underside of the bolt carrier along with an ejector spur on the bolt catch rail guide, pushing the bolt rearward to chamber another round or lock open. The moving assembly has about 5 mm of free travel which creates a delay between the initial recoil impulse of the piston and the chambering sequence, allowing gas pressures to drop to a safe level before the seal between the chamber and the bolt is broken.

Barrel
Unique to the SG56 from other rifles around the time is the chrome-lined bore which helps corrosion resistance and helps facilitate the cleaning of the barrel. The barrel comes equipped with a muzzle brake which expels excess gasses to help stability. The muzzle brake can be removed for a blank firing adapter to be added, which were once used to launch grenades, but they now serve as ceremonial tools.

Sights
Unable to accept any form of optical sight, the SG56 is limited to its shrouded post sight which is meant to allow target acquisition in bright, foggy, or otherwise dirty environments.

Accessories
Throughout its life, Lachsen has released many accessories for the rifle for civilian use, including a rubber stock recoil dampener, grip tape, and bayonets. The Calderan military has never ordered accessories outside of trials for adoption.

8mm Calderan cartridge
Exceedingly powerful with equally high recoil, 8mm Calderan is the first every standard caliber adopted by the military, and thus it was seen that it should be able to take down most targets with a couple of shots. The downfall of its power comes at its inaccuracy and recoil, making soldiers miss shots and followup shots.

The SG56's chambering in the 8mm Calderan cartridge was a choice made by Lachsen as a whole in order to make the rifle seem more appealing to leaders in the military worried about using weak non-Calderan cartridges. Oleg Surokov considered this decision to be a mistake, citing the high power of the round as an issue that makes the rifle inaccurate, but Lachsen contested, resulting in the rifle being 8mm Calderan despite designer's worries.

Magazines
The SG56 is usually accompanied with steel reinforced 30 round magazines, which are incredibly heavy and bulky. Soldiers are estimated to only be able to bring 3 to 4 into the field with them due to weight restrictions, so in the 1990s Lachsen produced plastic 20 round magazines which allowed soldiers to carry double the magazines and approximately 1.5 times the ammunition. The Calderan Armed Forces never adopted these magazines, but they became a popular seller for civilian hunters.

SG56 H
The SG56's biggest downfall is inaccuracy, which only gets worse when firing in full auto. In 1974, Lachsen attempted to produce a version of the rifle that somewhat fixed the issue. Dubbed the SG56 H for heavy barrel, the new rifle is nearly identical to the old one but has a lead barrel, lacking the chrome lining, and the weight of the rifle has increased from 3.4 kilograms to 3.8 kilograms.

The SG56 H never gained serious popularity, as most users of the SG56 were confused what the SG56 H even was. The Calderan Armed Forces never adopted it, and as a result, the SG56 H is incredibly rare with only 582 produced models.

Upgrade Kit
For soldiers or civilian users of the SG56 seeking a desperate way to modernize their old rifle, in 2015, Lachsen released a kit of parts which allowed soldiers to attach clamp mounts to the SG56 which allows the usage of optical sights, laser sights, lights, vertical fore grips as well as a new muzzle which slightly increased stability. No rifles are sold with this kit of parts already equipped, but many are sold together.

Users

 * Austro-Caldera

States with limited recognition

 * Bavogia

Former Users

 * Volkspartei Defense

Non-state Users

 * Volin militia
 * Steelport militia
 * Little Caldera Police