Between 1994 and 2004, there was a national “assault weapon” ban in place int he United States, along with some related importation restrictions on military-looking rifles. Most semiauto rifle importation continued by adjusting various cosmetic features to not fall under the provisions of the various rules, but at one point someone realized that hey, the law only covered semiautomatic rifles. So if the gas system were replaced by a manual pump action, a rifle would no longer be prohibited regardless of its other features! As so, in 2002, the Cugir factory complex in Romania produced the PAR-1 (in 7.62x39mm) and PAR-3 (in 5.56x45mm). About 2000 were imported by Century, where they were not particularly popular (because they are really pretty kludgy rifles) and no further importation was done (and the PAR-2 in 5.45x39mm was never brought in at all).
Note that this is not the only example of a semiauto rifle rebuilt as a pump action to avoid legal restrictions. A couple other examples I have previously covered include:
Vektor H5: https://youtu.be/xSyQyX-mglE
SIG 550 VRB: https://youtu.be/pPq1WweDIK0
Perhaps the Romanians should of gone with the Bolt Action rather than the Pump type.
In fact least-work approach would be to plug gas system, which would turn base weapon into straight-pull bolt-action.
Seeing this reminds me of the Universal Firearms Vulcan 44 Magnum pump gun built on a M1 Carbine. Love to see Ian do a video on that one. A true forgotten weapon.
These primarily leaned toward targeting California’s more stringent ‘Assault Weapon’ features ban which initiated in year 2000 derived from CA Senate Bill SB23. That may be the reason it did not use a flash-hider, even if not semi-auto and welded on, because there was a lot of misconception in the first few years of that legislation that flash-hiders were entirely illegal in California no matter on what they appeared (and there still is if you search the internet) – which they are not – they just can’t be installed on semi-automatic centerfire rifles with a detachable magazine.
When the PAR-3 came out, you didn’t see them up for sale in too many other states, but they were heavily marketed in California at some of the chain gun stores. I remember looking at one in a store and could not believe the abortion arising out of futility that it represented. While it was a creative alternative to keep availability flowing, it also serves as a pathetic symbol of the times.
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There have been a lot of pump action, lever action, and “non-pistol-gripped” rifle types based on the AR advertised in the gun rags over the last couple years. They are all extremely high priced. It causes me to wonder–is the semi-automatic AR market really that saturated? Or is the firearm industry preparing for or conditioning the public for big upcoming changes (i.e. California style semiautomatic gun restrictions) across the entire USA?
“(…)advertised in the gun rags(…)”
Now I am extremely confused. Are some U.S. dweller so enterpreneur-oriented to put advert at pieces of cloth used to clean fire-arms?
But the cloth special! It is made from the threads of endangered Kauaʻi cave wolf spiders, and the fabric is impregnated with scrotum cheese-oil from the Northern Atlantic Right Whale as a lubricant – nothing but the best for you firearms – and comes to you in a bespoke diamond, sapphire, and ruby encrusted locking case from the master craftsmen at Tiffany. You can find where to get it on page 74 of the latest ‘Robb Report’ .
You get what you pay for.
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My apologies; “gun rags” is American english slang for monthly gun magazine publications such as American Rifleman; Firearms News, Guns & Ammo, etc.
When you look at the ever increasing number of firearms background checks each month and the percentage of these representing first time buyers, I doubt the issue is market over saturation. What person, with a solid semi-auto platform, is going to waste money on a retrograde platform?
Companies are hedging their bets that something wicked this way comes. They want to have enough lead time to develop good products to get around possible future restrictions.
At one point, Ishapore SMLEs were banned as ‘assault rifles.’ Converted to 7.62 NATO, they held 12 rounds instead of 10.
It has a great external resemblance to the Belgian FN Herstal FN FAL (Fusil Automatique Léger) rifle or the British Royal Small Arms Factory L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle (L1A1 SLR) … but it is a different rifle ….
What about the Remington 7615, 870 converted to 556 for police use ???
FJC
Wait, his name is spelled with a K
FJK
Funny I was thinking of this the other day “Pump action AR’s” & I am British; but in regards, after the semi auto U.S market sells out by December a fast waltz etc. I ended up, thinking the best idea was a “Winchester” aye, style; lever action on the handguard – Which would directly impinge on the AR bolt carrier, albeit after some delay… Actioning it eh. But if you cmmg style cut the bolt lugs angled / so to speak, well you might be able to get round (LEGAL RESTRICTIONS) Ha, future America… Anyway, with a pump or lever action system… This is; lever, but lets say it wants to open – Thus recoil, your hand with the lever will if you let it open. Thats it, the lever is connected to the carrier in the position on the old gas tube vent lark. Lever action’ish. Quicker than…
Return… Well the normal spring.
Rear of lever going away from you; towards muzzle… Cam thing which induces “To cock” rearwards movement, but with… Well if designed thus, reckon quicker than a pump.
Bond Arms did exactly that; it’s called the LVRB and it accepts a standard AR-15 upper receiver. Being that is the case, it can accept just about any upper in any caliber available on tradition AR15s as the mag-well is adaptable/modular. It debuted at the 2023 SHOT show, and should be available soon. See the Bond Arms website for info or simple search for ‘Bond Arms Lever Action AR15’
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Mauser carcano, eh…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/6.5%C3%9752mm_Carcano#:~:text=Dubbed%20the%20humanitarian%20by%20members,the%20rifles%20were%20well%20constructed. Manlicker, Mouser… Lucky, eh.
You would though, 6.5mm big long elongated bullet… Ar’s though eh, with a tiny cheap chinese tiny red dot, from what I could see. Whats on though hand eh. Worlds best shot to clip, at 120 m with that sight.
“(…)Manlicker(…)”
What is this?
“(…)Mouser(…)”
Please explain immediately linkage between shown fire-arm and supplier of electronics elements https://mouser.com of that name
It’s a very rare K98; just like the 7.92×57mm version, but it was chambered in .22-Short; hence the name ‘Mouser’.
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“Mauser carcano(…)”
As you written 2nd word using only lowercase letter is clear show of disdain. Please explain clearly why you strongly despise Salvatore Carcano.
Several companies are marketing tacti-cool lever action rifles. Not sure how the sales are going. I feel these rifles are really bizarre and I have to ask “why do they exist?”.
I suppose a well designed lever action rifle provides more rounds per minute than a bolt action rifle, if a person can’t own a semi-auto rifle. But there is still a limited round capacity in a tubular, under the barrel magazine. Has anyone cooked up a box magazine fed lever action rifle?
It would be good for Ian to highlight all the current dodges for the various semi-auto bans.
To answer my own question, look here.
https://www.offgridweb.com/gear/new-bond-arms-lever-action-ar-15/
The article mentions a couple of other “tactical” lever action rifle projects. But it looks like the Bond Arms concept does the best job of closing the gap between lever action and semi auto.
Have I missed other initiatives in this direction?
If you are okay with using pistol cartridge, then possibly Tombstone MODERNIZED LEVER ACTION RIFLE https://pof-usa.com/firearm/tombstone-9mm/ it does contain XS Ghost Ring sights and muzzle brake.
“(…)anyone cooked up a box magazine fed lever action rifle?”
Winchester M1895 is both lever and box http://modernfirearms.net/en/military-rifles/bolt-action-rifles/u-s-a-bolt-action-rifles/winchester-m1895-eng/
An internal magazine with a 5 round capacity does not move the ball forward. less magazine capacity than a tubular magazine.
It moved the ball forward in the sense of accepting cartridges like .30-06 that weren’t conducive to tube mags.
There’s also the Winchester 88, BLR, and Henry has a model now that takes AR mags.
I looked at the Henry website and could not find a model that took AR mags. Got a link to info on it?
Bart,
I see what you mean. Henry’s website does show the “Long Ranger”, which uses (flush) box mags.
I remembered an AR mag version so I googled henry ar mag lever action, and found tons of articles about the “Supreme” (introduced this year at SHOT), but oddly Henry doesn’t seem to list it yet.
I will concede, from a historical standpoint, that the models you cite were an evolutionary step forward. But with a 4 or 5 round capacity, they were still practically limited to hunting use. The question involving the PAR is can a non semi-auto rifle use high capacity (30+ rounds) magazines and have the rate of fire sufficient for modern combat?
Do this search for videos of shooting the Bond Arms entry to this category. What the company is doing seems to have the best chance answering my question.
Well, they were designed for hunting use. OTOH, anything that uses a detachable mag can accept a larger mag (like the aftermarkets for the Rem pumps).
My answer to your question is that it mostly depends on the individual. The prewar British professional career infantry could score hits faster with Old Smelly than most people with a semi. Conversely, the vast majority will always shoot better moving only the fingertip no matter how mechanically accurate the manual repeater is. Likewise for mag changes.
Browning Lever Rifle (BLR) in .308, 30/06 and possibly other calibers
A bolt action with a return spring. Try that with anything inspired by a Paul Mauser action.
And I imagined one of those experimental British post war semi automatics when I saw the slide “handle”.
Terry:
Yes, the pump handle on this rifle does remind one of the EM2.
In the UK this particular rifle is of course banned. When semi-auto rifles were banned way back in 1988, pump action rifles were too. There was never any reasoning behind that, except the words “pump action” might have seemed scary to a civil servant.
Video for FlightLite lever action AR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuDCvSGCd5c
Video for Henry Supreme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WudGlIlqEk
Video for Bond Arms LVRB
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OVDEK47Gj4
So are these only good for folks who can’t get a semi-auto for hunting/self-protection or do they have capacity enough for some level of modern combat. Ian needs to test all of these.