Magpul Masada

   The Masada assault rifle was developed by Magpul Industries, a US company, as a private venture. Initially this new weapon was intended to enhance the features of the M16 rifle. It is worth mentioning that in 2006 a project based on the M16 has been abandoned and Magpul Industries restarted it from scratch. Prototypes were revealed in 2007. The new rifle was named after the Siege of Masada. In 2008 it's production was taken over by Bushmaster.

   It is a gas operated, selective fire weapon with a modular design. The Magpul Masada has several features of other recent designs, such as the M16 and FN SCAR. This multi-caliber weapon is available chambered in 5.56 x 45 mm standard NATO ammunition or 7.62 x 39 mm Soviet ammunition. It allows to fire the enemy ammunition with the alternate barrel and lower receiver, what is very important for operations behind the enemy lines. This weapon is also available with three barrel lengths. It can be easily converted from a standard assault rifle into carbine or dedicated marksman rifle without any tools. It can also be configured for handguard, stock type and trigger unit setup. The key idea of the Masada's modular system, that it will provide a wide variety of configurations within the matter of minutes in field conditions. All parts are easily stripped for cleaning.

   The Masada has ambidextrous controls. An ambidextrous safety / fire mode selector is located over the pistol grip. A charging handle can be installed on either side of the receiver and do not reciprocates, when the weapon is fired. Magazine release button is also ambidextrous. Spent case ejection port is located on the right side of the receiver, however it has case deflector, which propels the cases away from left-handed shoters.

   This assault rifle is fed from detachable 30-round magazines. It accepts the M16 and other NATO magazines. The Masada is also compatible with high capacity drum magazines. When chambered for 7.62-mm ammunition the Magpul Masada is compatible with the standard AK-47 magazines.

   This weapon has a full-length Picatinny-type rail system for mounting optics. It can be fitted with detachable iron sights or various optics or night vision sights.

   The Magpul Masada has a side-folding removable modular stock, which is adjustable for length and has adjustable cheek. This rifle can be fired with a folded stock. There are two more types of buttstocks, used on the Masada. These are carbine and marksman rifle stocks.

   This assault rifle is available with a modular handguard with rails, which accepts a variety of add-on accessories, such as vertical grips, laser pointers, tactical flashlights and so on. There is provision to mount a 40-mm underbarrel grenade launcher. The Magpul Masada is also compatible with a sound suppressor.

Variants

   Bushmaster ACR is an updated version of the Magpul Masada. In 2008 Bushmaster took over production, development and sales of the Masada. Bushmaster made some design changes to this rifle to meet the emerging requirements of the US Military. The Masada name was dropped from the product and this weapon became known as the Bushmaster ACR. The official name of this rifle for military use is the Remington ACR.