SAR-40
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The SAR-40, officially designated the Standard Assault Rifle, Mk. 1, Model 1940 is a selective-fire assault rifle developed in Urcea by Francis Fino. It was the first assault rifle to enter full use in the Royal and Imperial Army.
| SAR-40 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Assault rifle |
| Place of origin | Urcea |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1940-1987 2023-2025 (Limited) |
| Used by | Urcea |
| Wars |
|
| Production history | |
| Designer | Francis Fino |
| Designed | 1939 |
| Manufacturer | Fino Family Arms |
| Produced | 1940 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 8.05 pounds |
| Length | 36.2 inches |
| Barrel length | 15.4 inches |
|
| |
| Cartridge | .223 |
| Action | Roller-delayed blowback |
| Rate of fire | 520 rpm |
| Muzzle velocity | 610 m/s (2,000 ft/s) |
| Feed system | 30-round detachable box magazine |
| Sights | Iron sights |
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.
History
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 1939. That year, the PR1FD (Prototype Rifle 1, Fino Design) was presented for official military trials, and in 1940, the fixed-stock version was introduced into active service with selected units of the Royal and Imperial Army, replacing licensed versions of the Burgoignesc Lansing-Mitchell Fusil Patron as the standard infantry rifle. Prior to the adoption of the rifle, the Royal and Imperial Army had begun to conceptualize a new select-fire automatic rifle of some variety in 1937-38, but trials for such a weapon didn't begin until 1939. The rifle was adopted beginning in 1940, and it 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 Great War and Occidental Cold War.
Design
Usage
Users
Conflicts
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.