Technical data
FAMAS G2
Caliber 5.56mm NATO (.223rem)
Action Delayed blowback
Overall length 757 mm
Barrel length 488 mm
Weight 3.8 kg with empty magazine
Magazine capacity 25 rounds (proprietary) 30 rounds (STANAG)
Muzzle velocity 960 m/s 925 m/s
Rate of fire 1000-1100 rounds per minute
Effective range 450 meters
FAMAS stands for Fusil d'Assaut de la Manufacture d'Armes de
St-Etienne (Assault Rifle by St-Etienne Arms Factory - a member of
the French govt. owned GIAT Industries concern). Development of
this rifle began in 1967, under the leadership of the Paul Tellie,
a French arms designer. This new rifle was intended to replace in
service the MAS Mle.49/56 semi-automatic rifles, MAT-49 submachine
guns and some MAC Mle.1929 light machine guns. First FAMAS
prototype had been built in 1971. French military began to test
this rifle in 1972-73, but, in the meantime, France adopted a
Swiss-designed SIG SG-540 5.56mm assault rifle as an intermediate
solution. FAMAS rifle was adopted by the French in 1978 and since
then became a standard French Army shoulder fired small arm, known
among the French soldiers as "Le Clairon" (the bulge). According to
the Janes Infantry Weapons 2000, the total number of FAMAS F1
rifles built is estimated at 400 000, and the production of the F1
variant is now completed. It is still used by the French army, and
was exported in small numbers to some countries like the Senegal or
United Arab Emirates. Since then, the GIAT Industries developed an
improved version of the F1, known as the G1. This rifle featured an
enlarged trigger guard, that covered a whole hand, and a slightly
improved plastic handguards. G1 was an intermediate design, and was
consequently replaced by the latest production model, the FAMAS G2,
which appeared circa 1994. This rifle has the G1-style enlarged
trigger guard but can accept only STANAG type (M16-compatible)
magazines. It was adopted and purchased by the French Navy in the
1995, with the French Army soon following the suit, and also
offered for export. At the present time the slightly upgraded FAMAS
G2 rifle is used as a platform for the future FELIN system (a
French counterpart to the US "Land Warrior" programme), which
incorporates a various electronic sights and sensors, connected to
the soldier carried equipment, like the helmet mounted displays,
ballistic and tactical computers etc. GIAT also now offers some
variations of the basic FAMAS G2 rifle, such as "Submachine gun"
with shortened receiver and barrel of 320 mm long, "Commando" with
the standard receiver and the 405 mm barrel, and the "Sniper", with
longer and heavier 620 mm barrel and an integral scope mount
instead of the carrying handle.
The FAMAS rifles seen some action during the operation "Desert
Storm" in Kuwait in 1991, as well as in some peace-keeping
operations in the mid and late 1990s, and proved itself as a
reliable and trustworthy weapons.
Technical description
The FAMAS assault rifles are built using the bullpup layout, with
the magazine housing behind the pistol grip and trigger. The gun is
built around the compact receiver, which is enclosed in the plastic
housing. FAMAS is one of the relatively rare systems that uses a
lever delayed blowback action, borrowed from the French AAT-52
machine gun, but originally invented by the Hungarian designer Paul
de Kiraly prior to the Second World War, and improved by the Paul
Tellie for the FAMAS rifle. This system consists of the two-part
bolt (breech block) with the delay lever interposed between the
light forward part (the bolt itself), which has a bolt face and the
provisions for extractor mountings, and the heavier rear part (the
bolt carrier). The lever is pivotally mounted on the front part of
the breech block (bolt), with its lower legs resting against the
cross pin in the receiver and the upper legs resting against the
face on the bolt carrier (assuming that the bolt group is in its
forward position). Gun is fired from the closed bolt. When
cartridge is ignited and fired, the gas pressure against the
cartridge base pushes the cartridge case back in the fluted
chamber, against the bolt face. The bolt begin to move back under
the pressure, but at initial stages of the movement, when the
pressure is still high, the delay lever transforms the short
movement of the bolt into the longer movement of the heavier bolt
carrier, thus delaying the opening of the bolt. As soon as the
pressure in the chamber is dropped down to reasonable level, the
lever is completely withdrawn from the contact with the cross pin,
and from this moment on both bolt and its carrier begin to move
back with the same speed, compressing the return spring and
extracting and ejecting the spent case. The bolt face has extractor
mounting points on both sides, so user can mount the extractor claw
on the left or the right side of the bolt, which will result in the
left-side or right-side extraction of the spent cartridge cases
through the ejection ports on both sides of the gun. One of the
ejection ports, which is not used at the moment, is always covered
with detachable cheek piece, which can be installed on either side
of the gun, as required. This allows to solve the problem of the
left-hand use, which is essential for most bullpup rifles. The
charging handle is located above the receiver, under the carrying
handle, is shaped like trigger and completely ambidextrous. The
charging handle does not reciprocate when gun is fired.
The firing mechanism unit is contained in the detachable plastic
housing just behind the magazine port. The unit is linked to the
trigger by the long trigger rod, and the safety / fire selector is
located within the triggerguard, just ahead of the trigger. The
selector has 3 positions for safe, single shots, and automatic
fire. Additional three-rounds bursts module is built into the
firing mechanism housing, with the additional selector under the
housing, behind the magazine, that allows for the unlimited full
automatic fire or 3 rounds burst modes to be selected (when the
main selector is in the full auto mode).
The sighting system of the FAMAS consists of the blade front and
the diopter rear sight, adjustable for range and with two flip-up
apertures, for good visibility and low light conditions. Both
sights are mounted on the pillars, that are in turn mounted on the
receiver, and concealed by the large plastic carrying handle. The
carrying handle has the provisions for mounting a Weaver or
Picatinny-style sight bases. A special receivers also available
with the integral sights base instead of the carrying handle.
The standard FAMAS barrel is 488 mm long and has a NATO-standard
22mm diameter flash hider, which also is used to launch rifle
grenades from the muzzle. Current FAMAS barrels are rifled with 1:9
twist (1 turn in 228 mm, right hand), so both older M193 and newer
5.56mm NATO / SS109 / M855 ammunition can be fired with good
results. Another interesting fact about FAMAS barrels is that it
has only 3 groves (while most other rifles have 4 to 6 grooves).
The "Commando" variant has the shorter barrel which cannot be used
to launch grenades. Both standard and the Commando versions can be
fitted with the 40mm M203 underbarrel grenade launcher, if
required. Every FAMAS rifle (except for the shortest "Submachine
gun" version) can be fitted with folding, non-adjustable
lightweight bipods that can be folded along the gun body when not
in use. On most rifles these bipods are fitted as a standard. Every
FAMAS rifle is equipped with the carrying sling and with detachable
bayonet.
