SELKIRK COMMANDO CARBINE
Authorised for sale and distribution by Royal Britannian Armaments Export, a public limited company
Cartridge:7mm Britannian, S variant (default export round)
Rate of fire:820 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity:320 m/s
Effective Range:280m
Magazine capacity:30 rounds
Weight: 2.8kg (unloaded), 3.2 kg (loaded)
Length:27 inches
Barrel Length:18 inches
Price:2,000 NSD
Throughout the history of the Britannian armed forces, clandestine operations have been conducted in close coordination with more conventional military operations. Whether the mission in question involves sabotaging an enemy installation, stealing intelligence documents or neutralising a high-profile target, 'silence' has been the watchword of the teams undertaking these missions. However, the Britannian armed forces lacked a truly 'stealthy' weapon-while traditionally weapons that use subsonic rounds are easy to suppress, they can still produce a fair amount of noise.
As such, the Britannian army began looking for a suitable weapon to adopt as a special forces rifle. Initially several foreign designs were tested, however, the Ministry of Defence was not satisfied with any of them and began advocating a special forces rifle based off the existing Marks-Enfield assault rifle, a weapon produced by the Royal Britannian Arms Manufacturing Co. It was in this manner that the idea of the Selkirk commando carbine was born.
However, the Ministry of Defence drew up a very tight set of criteria that had to be met-namely, that the commando weapon keep the Marks-Enfield's cartridge, the 7mm Britannian, while retaining stealth capabilities. The 7mm Britannian cartridge was designed to demonstrate ballistic performance equal to that of a full powered rifle round and yet exhibit as little recoil and blast as possible, so that it was controllable during rapid or automatic fire. A shorter cartridge producing lower recoil also enabled the weapon to be shorter and lighter, and hence easier to use. A 140gr 7mm round carried 2,687J of muzzle energy at 760m/s, ballistics that far surpassed even the earlier 7.7mm rounds that had been in service with the Britannian army. The lighter cartridge's combination of hitting power, relatively low recoil and adaptability made it an immediate choice for adoption by the BEF.
However, one glaring problem came into view in regards to using the 7mm cartridge in the Selkirk-and that was the fact that the round was not subsonic. The loud sonic crack associated with supersonic cartridges would greatly inhibit the stealth qualities of the weapon-and as such, the designers set about producing a heavier variant of the 7mm Britannian cartridge. Weighing in at a whopping 300gr, the new cartridge-termed the 7mm, S-variant-possessed around 1,010J of energy and a muzzle velocity of 320m/s, while remaining subsonic-and therefore more easily silenced.
The weapon makes use of the same gas-operated, rotating bolt action that was designed for the Marks-Enfield. During a 60,000 round firing test in simulated 'extreme desert conditions', the Selkirk suffered only 140 stoppages in total.
This improved reliability can be credited to differences in the Selkirk's operating system when stacked up against other assault rifles. A good example of this is the fact that a thin gas tube runs almost the entire length of the barrel in most modern rifle designs. When the weapon is fired, the gases travel back down the tube, into the chamber and push the bolt back to eject the empty shell casing and chamber a new round-in other words, a conventional gas-operated system. The Selkirk's gas system, by contrast, is connected to a mechanical operating rod, which pushes back the bolt to eject the casing and chamber the new round each time the weapon is fired-meaning no carbon residue is constantly being blown back into the chamber, reducing the need to clean the weapon as often. The Selkirk also has a much tighter seal between the bolt and the ejection port, which drastically cuts down on the amount of debris that can blow into the weapon when the ejection port’s dust cover is open.
The materials used to build the Selkirk are almost entirely plastic composites, in order to save weight in the rifle-much like in its larger cousin, the Marks-Enfield. Much of the cost and weight savings are from the weapon's electronic sight. Both the tritium-illuminated sight and the aimpoint that come with the rifle are capable of more than just aiming assistance, incorporating infrared lasers and pointers which can be activated as needed by a pressure switch. This gives the stock Selkirk rifle-which was designed for compatibility with a Land Warrior-type system-the ability to be compared with contemporary rifles which have been fitted with a host of electronic add-ons, while still remaining lighter, more manoeuvrable, and less conspicuous.
Of course, the most important part of the design was its integral suppressor. As opposed to adopting a conventional style of suppressor-modern suppressors are typically based around a series of small chambers which allow the expanding gases exiting the barrel to expand in progressively greater increments-the designers opted for a less tested style of suppression. The integral silencer on the Selkirk is based around the concept of frequency shifting. The expanding gases that enter the silencer on the Selkirk are channelled into a series of tiny machined holes, which produce a 'dog whistle'-like effect, shifting the frequency into ultrasound and beyond the range of human hearing. The few gases which actually exit the barrel are neither highly visible nor audible. The sound produced by the firing of the Selkirk is akin to that produced by the older Hennison commando rifle.
Being a bullpup weapon, the short, compact size of the carbine does not inhibit its barrel length, allowing for a comparatively long range when stacked up against other silenced weapons.
The Selkirk commando carbine is available for export at two thousand NSD apiece. DPRs go for 20,000,000 NSD. However, the RBAE advises purchasing rifles individually, as the very nature of this weapon's silencer means that in order for maximum stealth to be achieved, the suppressor must be "tuned" for a specific cartridge/barrel length combination. This in itself makes mass producing such a weapon quite difficult-although the Selkirk was designed to be manufactured in relatively small quantities-and, within the special forces, issued only for missions critical enough to make such strenuous efforts truly worthwhile.
Authorised for sale and distribution by Royal Britannian Armaments Export, a public limited company
Cartridge:7mm Britannian, S variant (default export round)
Rate of fire:820 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity:320 m/s
Effective Range:280m
Magazine capacity:30 rounds
Weight: 2.8kg (unloaded), 3.2 kg (loaded)
Length:27 inches
Barrel Length:18 inches
Price:2,000 NSD
Throughout the history of the Britannian armed forces, clandestine operations have been conducted in close coordination with more conventional military operations. Whether the mission in question involves sabotaging an enemy installation, stealing intelligence documents or neutralising a high-profile target, 'silence' has been the watchword of the teams undertaking these missions. However, the Britannian armed forces lacked a truly 'stealthy' weapon-while traditionally weapons that use subsonic rounds are easy to suppress, they can still produce a fair amount of noise.
As such, the Britannian army began looking for a suitable weapon to adopt as a special forces rifle. Initially several foreign designs were tested, however, the Ministry of Defence was not satisfied with any of them and began advocating a special forces rifle based off the existing Marks-Enfield assault rifle, a weapon produced by the Royal Britannian Arms Manufacturing Co. It was in this manner that the idea of the Selkirk commando carbine was born.
However, the Ministry of Defence drew up a very tight set of criteria that had to be met-namely, that the commando weapon keep the Marks-Enfield's cartridge, the 7mm Britannian, while retaining stealth capabilities. The 7mm Britannian cartridge was designed to demonstrate ballistic performance equal to that of a full powered rifle round and yet exhibit as little recoil and blast as possible, so that it was controllable during rapid or automatic fire. A shorter cartridge producing lower recoil also enabled the weapon to be shorter and lighter, and hence easier to use. A 140gr 7mm round carried 2,687J of muzzle energy at 760m/s, ballistics that far surpassed even the earlier 7.7mm rounds that had been in service with the Britannian army. The lighter cartridge's combination of hitting power, relatively low recoil and adaptability made it an immediate choice for adoption by the BEF.
However, one glaring problem came into view in regards to using the 7mm cartridge in the Selkirk-and that was the fact that the round was not subsonic. The loud sonic crack associated with supersonic cartridges would greatly inhibit the stealth qualities of the weapon-and as such, the designers set about producing a heavier variant of the 7mm Britannian cartridge. Weighing in at a whopping 300gr, the new cartridge-termed the 7mm, S-variant-possessed around 1,010J of energy and a muzzle velocity of 320m/s, while remaining subsonic-and therefore more easily silenced.
The weapon makes use of the same gas-operated, rotating bolt action that was designed for the Marks-Enfield. During a 60,000 round firing test in simulated 'extreme desert conditions', the Selkirk suffered only 140 stoppages in total.
This improved reliability can be credited to differences in the Selkirk's operating system when stacked up against other assault rifles. A good example of this is the fact that a thin gas tube runs almost the entire length of the barrel in most modern rifle designs. When the weapon is fired, the gases travel back down the tube, into the chamber and push the bolt back to eject the empty shell casing and chamber a new round-in other words, a conventional gas-operated system. The Selkirk's gas system, by contrast, is connected to a mechanical operating rod, which pushes back the bolt to eject the casing and chamber the new round each time the weapon is fired-meaning no carbon residue is constantly being blown back into the chamber, reducing the need to clean the weapon as often. The Selkirk also has a much tighter seal between the bolt and the ejection port, which drastically cuts down on the amount of debris that can blow into the weapon when the ejection port’s dust cover is open.
The materials used to build the Selkirk are almost entirely plastic composites, in order to save weight in the rifle-much like in its larger cousin, the Marks-Enfield. Much of the cost and weight savings are from the weapon's electronic sight. Both the tritium-illuminated sight and the aimpoint that come with the rifle are capable of more than just aiming assistance, incorporating infrared lasers and pointers which can be activated as needed by a pressure switch. This gives the stock Selkirk rifle-which was designed for compatibility with a Land Warrior-type system-the ability to be compared with contemporary rifles which have been fitted with a host of electronic add-ons, while still remaining lighter, more manoeuvrable, and less conspicuous.
Of course, the most important part of the design was its integral suppressor. As opposed to adopting a conventional style of suppressor-modern suppressors are typically based around a series of small chambers which allow the expanding gases exiting the barrel to expand in progressively greater increments-the designers opted for a less tested style of suppression. The integral silencer on the Selkirk is based around the concept of frequency shifting. The expanding gases that enter the silencer on the Selkirk are channelled into a series of tiny machined holes, which produce a 'dog whistle'-like effect, shifting the frequency into ultrasound and beyond the range of human hearing. The few gases which actually exit the barrel are neither highly visible nor audible. The sound produced by the firing of the Selkirk is akin to that produced by the older Hennison commando rifle.
Being a bullpup weapon, the short, compact size of the carbine does not inhibit its barrel length, allowing for a comparatively long range when stacked up against other silenced weapons.
The Selkirk commando carbine is available for export at two thousand NSD apiece. DPRs go for 20,000,000 NSD. However, the RBAE advises purchasing rifles individually, as the very nature of this weapon's silencer means that in order for maximum stealth to be achieved, the suppressor must be "tuned" for a specific cartridge/barrel length combination. This in itself makes mass producing such a weapon quite difficult-although the Selkirk was designed to be manufactured in relatively small quantities-and, within the special forces, issued only for missions critical enough to make such strenuous efforts truly worthwhile.