LAPA FA 03

   The LAPA FA 03 assault rifle was developed by Nelmo Suzano in the late 1970 at his own founded company. The LAPA stands for Automatic Armaments Development Laboratory and the FA 03 stands for Fuzil de Assaulto Modelo 03, or Model 3 assault rifle. In the early 1980s this weapon was tested by Brazilian Army, however it was not adopted. Only few of these rifles were made in the mid 1980s. Some of them are still in service with special police forces of Brazil.

   The LAPA FA 03 is a gas operated, selective fire weapon with bullpup layout. It is chambered for the standard NATO 5.56 x 45 mm ammunition. This lightweight assault rifle has a plastic housing. Despite it's futuristic looks it is a fairly conventional weapon.

   Cocking handle is located under the carrying handle, so the weapon can be cocked using either hand. However there is only one spent case ejection port, so this assault rifle is not fully ambidextrous.

   This assault rifle has got no separate manual safety. The fire mode selector has three positions: semi-auto, full-auto and double-action. In the double-action mode this weapon can be carried safely with a loaded chamber. In this mode rifle is ready to fire, but requires long and heavy trigger pull, which could not happen accidentally. It is worth mentioning that such system is popular in semi-automatic pistols.

   The LAPA FA 03 is fed from the standard NATO (M16-type) magazines, holding 20 or 30 rounds. Rear sight of this assault rifle is built into the carrying handle. Some sources claim that it's effective range of fire is about 550 m.