New 2018 weapons: Tavor TS12 self-loading rifle
Appearance and ergonomics gun Tavor TS12
If we talk about appearance, the gun Tavor TS12 looks ... modern. However, talk about beauty is strictly subjective, but the fact that the appearance of the weapon allows him to play in more than one film is indisputable.
In ergonomics, there are both positive and negative points. First of all, you need to pay attention to the fact that this gun of the 12 caliber is made in the bullpup layout and it is self-loading. In order for the shooter not to experience discomfort when shooting from the left shoulder, the gun Tavor TS12 has the ability to switch sides to eject the spent case. Moreover, this switch requires not only time, but also incomplete disassembly of weapons. Many models from other manufacturers with a similar layout throw the cartridge case down, which does not complicate the design much, but makes the gun more convenient.
The cocking handle can be installed on the right and left side. This, in sum, with the side switching for ejection of spent cartridges, suggests that the weapon is adapted for both left-handers and right-handers. The fuse switch is made in the form of a button at the base of the handle to hold the holding hand under the thumb. Information about whether it is possible to "flip" yet.
Separately, it should be noted a block of three tubular stores under the barrel of the weapon. In each block, you can charge 5 12 / 70 cartridges of different type and by turning the block to choose the appropriate ammunition for the situation. In order to unblock a block of shops, it is necessary to press a key in front of the safety bracket, which will be very difficult for people with short fingers. In addition, the block stores will need to rotate the 120 degrees. In order to understand how convenient it is, you can try to take any cylindrical object as a handguard and try to turn it to the required angle in one motion.
Characteristics of the gun Tavor TS12
With a total length of 740 millimeters, the weapon has a barrel with a length of 470 millimeters. The mass of the Tavor TS12 rifle without ammunition is 3,5 kilogram. Power is supplied from three tubular stores, united in a rotary unit. The capacity of each 5 magazine of 12 / 70 or 4 cartridges of the 12 / 76 cartridge, that is, the total capacity of 15 (12) cartridges.
The design of the gun Tavor TS12
The Tavor TS12 self-loading rifle uses an automatic vapor system with locking the bore when turning the bolt. The weapons are powered from one of three tubular stores located under the barrel of the gun and combined into one unit.
Thanks to the use of the layout, the Tavor TS12 bulpap rifle has relatively small dimensions, and besides, as the cartridges are used up, changing the balance of the weapon is not critical due to the forward pistol grip. It is also worth noting as a positive point the location of the support for the shoulder on the same line with the axis of the trunk.
Safety devices are represented by a conventional button that only blocks the trigger, but not a percussion mechanism, which can hardly be attributed to the positive qualities of a weapon.
In general, the gun Tavor TS12 is not revolutionary, it uses well-developed and well-known solutions that have become a kind of "classic", the only interesting and not the most common points is the rotary block of tubular stores.
The manufacturer positions its weapons as universal for the civilian market, for law enforcement and for the army. Let us analyze in more detail how Tavor TS12 is suitable for various use cases.
So is it still an “assault” or hunting gun Tavor TS12?
Despite the fact that only one appearance of weapons can be quite logical and correct conclusion, we will try to consider the advantages of this gun in the context of civilian use. Lowering the entertaining (for which this weapon is quite suitable) and sport shooting, let us proceed immediately to the main civilian application - hunting.
No matter what anyone says, but for any adequate hunter, the weight and dimensions of the weapon are primarily important. Of course, if the hunt comes down to a simple foray into nature on a private vehicle, for any purpose other than the hunt itself, then all of this fades into the background, although the space occupied in the trunk, in this case, is also saved. It is unlikely that anyone will dispute that it is much easier to wade through the bushes with a compact weapon, and even if you only need to walk a couple of kilometers with your feet, the weight of the weapon also matters. There are some hunters who walk solely with their feet and not for one day, which means that you will need to carry at least a minimum of equipment, plus some food and water, every kilogram is considered a hunt.
First, let's deal with the dimensions of the weapon. The length of the gun is 740 millimeters, which is a very good indicator of compactness. However, you need to pay for compactness, even despite the use of the bullpup layout, the weapon does not have the longest barrel with a length of just 470 millimeters.
For clarity, you can compare it with a domestic model, in particular, with a Saiga 12K rifle with a folding butt, although in many ways such a comparison will be incorrect for several reasons, but many are familiar with this weapon. The length of the Saiga rifle 12K is equal to 910 millimeters (with the buttstock spread out) and 670 millimeters (with the buttstock folded), with the barrel length 430 millimeters. At first glance, the domestic product loses only along the length of the barrel, but there is one feature in the design of this gun that puts the weapon in an unsuitable position and in size. It is impossible to make a shot from Saiga 12K until the butt is decomposed, while Tavor TS12 does not require additional manipulations. Of course, you can recall the export version, in which you can shoot with a folded butt, but how reasonable is it?
As for the weight of the gun, then not everything is as bad as it may seem. Most of the weapon models in the bullpup layout seem rather heavy, but one should not forget that they don’t introduce anything new into the design, they even remove the butt, on the contrary, so that, despite the seeming "heavy weight," such a weapon cannot be much heavier than its counterparts in the classic layout. The mass of weapons without ammunition is 3,5 kilogram, which is a very average figure for modern self-loading rifles. The same Saiga 12K rifle has a similar mass.
The main feature of this weapon manufacturer notes the large capacity of stores with the ability to quickly change the type of ammunition. In particular, it says about 15 cartridges in stores + 1 cartridge in the barrel. It is the moment with the capacity of the stores that spoils the general impression about the weapon, since the manufacturer’s statement is true with only one small reservation. The total capacity of grenade shops equals 15 cartridges of 12 caliber only in the case of sleeves with a length of 70 millimeters. If cartridges with a millimeter 76 cartridge are used, then one cartridge should be taken from each magazine, that is, their total capacity will be 12 cartridges. Of course, this is also a very good result, but there is an unpleasant feeling that the manufacturer makes such reservations on one of the key features of its weapon, or rather, it only says about the 12 caliber, not to mention the length of the sleeve.
In addition, with such a capacity of stores, the rival Tavor TS12 has a competitor in the form of a KGS rifle produced from the 2011 year, which, with the same capacity of two sub-trunk stores and barrel length, is lighter and more compact. True, the gun from Kel-Tec has to be reloaded manually and in some situations it is only a plus, but more on that below.
In addition to the large capacity of the stores, the manufacturer claims a rapid change in the type of ammunition, which, according to marketers, will allow you to quickly select the appropriate cartridge for a particular beast. Of course, this statement is true, but in many countries it disagrees with the law. Of course, if suddenly a hunter was hunting ducks, and a bear flooded him from the reeds, and a flock of boars jumped out of the water in diving suits, then such a gun is simply irreplaceable. In extreme cases, you can play Russian roulette with the same bear with a 33,3% win rate, 0,1% will be given for the possibility of misfire. But seriously, the ability to quickly change the cartridge can really save lives, if the hunter doesn’t get lost, if he loaded, say, bullet cartridges in one of the stores, if he did not forget that the selected type of ammunition will be used only for the second shot or after the manual recharge and many more if. Otherwise, such a gun is ideal for a poacher. Well, if you play the situation with the same bear, a pack of wolves, a boar and so on, then there are wonderful “combines”, including the self-loading rifled part, including for serious cartridges, MT27-1 under 12х70 and 9Х53, for example if you choose from domestic.
From this we can conclude that the gun Tavor TS12 can be used for hunting and even has some advantages, in particular in size, but it is unlikely it will attract hunters. The weapon is certainly interesting, but a short barrel is a minus, and in general it is not customary to go hunting with a “blaster”, although this is subjective.
Let us now try to consider these weapons in the context of their use as combat and as a weapon for law enforcement agencies.
Back from the mass and size, the gun Tavor TS12 is a very good choice. Maneuvering in confined spaces with it is much easier than with similar weapons in the classic layout. In the context of the use of both military weapons, even such a parameter as the length of the barrel fades into the background if used at very short distances. And it would seem, here it is the ideal compact assault rifle, lightweight, the capacity of the stores is good and you can even choose the type of ammunition suitable for the situation, but this is not entirely true.
Let's try to figure out how easy it is to change the type of cartridge in this weapon. Let us omit the reasoning on how it is generally necessary to quickly change the type of cartridge and is it not easier to change the magazine with the desired type of ammunition instead of switching, we will start from the fact that such a possibility is needed, and it is implemented in the weapon. Let's say after several shots with one type of ammunition, it was necessary to change this type quickly. To do this, the shooter presses a key in the front of the safety bracket, which unlocks the block of tubular magazines and by turning the block selects the desired magazine with the desired type of cartridge. It seems to be a change of ammunition made and you can shoot further, but as always there is one “but” - a self-loading rifle, which means that after the last shot the cartridge from the previous store was loaded. Now the shooter has a choice: either to shoot again with the previous type of ammunition, or to reload the weapon manually. If you look at it all objectively, you can’t get rid of the feeling that the time spent to change the ammunition will not differ much from the time spent changing the store at the same Saiga 12 domestic gun with the same nuances.
A little higher was said about the rival rifle Tavor TS12, the KGS rifle. This gun also feeds from tubular stores under the barrel, only they are fixed and switching between them occurs when the lever is moved. This is a gun with manual reloading, which reduces its practical rate of fire, but it really can quickly change the type of cartridge, if it is so necessary, simply by switching the lever and reloading the gun, which will take less than a second.
If we talk about the capacity of the store. So, the total capacity of the 15 (12) ammunition, the gun is self-loading, but to shoot 15 (12) in a row will fail. After every fifth (fourth) shot, you will need to unlock the block of shops and turn it to 120 degrees, which in itself is not very convenient, and the gun also does not have a slide delay. That is, after each turn, it will be necessary to send a new cartridge manually or read the cartridges and turn the block of stores in advance. Back any other self-loading rifle with a detachable magazine, if not more convenient, then on a par with Tavor TS12 in this regard.
Separately, you need to say and sighting devices. This gun is deprived of them, which is already the norm for modern weapons. Both open and more complex sights are mounted on a long mounting bar above the barrel. On the one hand, it is convenient, the shooter uses what is convenient for him and there is nothing superfluous. On the other hand, in the case of installing, say, only a collimator sight, situations may arise when it fails and the weapon is left without aiming devices, unless the shooter has installed the open folding pillar and the front sight as well. If we consider the weapon as a gun for law enforcement agencies, it would not be superfluous to provide for the possibility of installing the same flashlight on the weapon, and it, in this case, can be attached only instead of aiming devices.
Total
As a result of all of the above, we can conclude that the gun Tavor TS12 gun with an interesting appearance, recognizable, but having a number of features that make it very controversial. If we consider it as a weapon for hunting, then it is quite acceptable, but in terms of dimensions it is generally perfect. But there is a chance to face jokes from other hunters, and the joke about UFO hunting will be the most harmless.
If we consider the gun Tavor TS12 as a military weapon, it becomes not entirely clear its advantages over other existing models of weapons. The implementation of the ammunition type change has its own characteristics, in which the replacement of a boxed magazine equipped with the necessary type of ammunition will, of course, be made more slowly, but not by much. If we talk about the rate of fire, then everything becomes very sad. After every fifth or fourth shot, you will need to rotate a block of stores, that is, you will have to rotate it twice. If you take the same Saiga 12 domestic rifle with magazines with a capacity of 8 rounds, you will need to change the magazine only once for the same 15 shots, which in time will be equal to the same turns of the stores. In addition, after the 15 shot at the Tavor TS12 rifle, at least one magazine will need to be equipped to continue firing. In a weapon with a box-shaped detachable magazine, the magazine is replaced and the gun is ready for shooting. In other words, according to its characteristics, the Tavor TS12 rifle is not much different from self-loading rifles with detachable magazines with a capacity of the same 5 cartridges, and if you need to make more 15 shots, then it also loses them.
Despite this, one can’t talk about the failure of not yet officially submitted weapons, story knows many cases when not the most successful, and sometimes frankly unsuccessful weapon models became massive and recognizable. People, unfortunately, are subject to the influence of advertising, several large-scale films with the participation of this gun, laudatory reviews on the Internet and Tavor TS12 will become a “gun of the XXI century” despite all its features. Yes, and if you look into it, the weapon doesn’t have any specific negative moments, it’s just that its not-so-usual construction doesn’t give it any obvious advantages over other long-standing guns.
And in the hands of the space marines will look harmonious.
- Mark Poddubny
- www.iwi.us
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