PGM's Last Argument
Usually small weapons companies actually have nothing to catch on the arms market, since all the places under the sun have long been occupied. All major government orders go to the titans of the arms world, who appeared a long time ago and are not going to give up their places to anyone else. However, there are exceptions to the rules, and not only small-scale production of weapons becomes the main source of income for small arms companies. Most often this can be observed with sniper weapons, which, although it requires high quality production, but is not always large-scale. Especially when it comes to high-precision models, which the same army and police do not need so much, and a small arms company can quite cope with providing such rifles even to a relatively large army. Larger companies when creating such weapons usually try to create weapons not only for domestic consumption, but also for export. There are a lot of examples of the army or the police turning to small arms companies for sniper weapons, and one of them is the case with the Ultima Ratio rifle (the Last argument), which was then produced by the still small and little-known company PGM.
At the end of the 80 of the last century, both the army and the French police felt a great lack of precise weapons under the patron 7,62х51. In principle, the French lacked such weapons altogether, but since this ammunition was the most common, it was decided to start with it, especially since it covered most of the tasks that usually lie before a sniper. To eliminate this gap, it was decided to start cooperation with the company PGM, which had just completed the development of the necessary type of weapon and began to actually produce this rifle. Having tested the weapons, it was decided to put this rifle into service with the army and police as soon as possible, which was done, in turn, allowing PGM to evolve and become world-famous, and even “tweak” new types of weapons, among which are and CWS. But about this weapon in other articles.
What is this weapon. In fact, the PGM Ultima Ratio rifle is the simplest model, based on a longitudinally sliding bolt locking the barrel bore when rotated three stops. It feeds weapons from a detachable magazine with a capacity of 5 or 10 cartridges. The barrel of the weapon has a non-chromed bore, it is also noteworthy that there are fins on the outer side of the barrel for better cooling, although it seems that the design of the weapon does not imply a rapid rate of firing. The barrel of the rifle is free-hanging, fixed only on the receiver and does not apply to other elements of the weapon. The barrel is fastened using 4 bolts that pass through the receiver, entering the notch under the barrel chamber, which allows not only to securely fix the barrel, but also relatively quickly remove and install it with just one key. The rifle butt is fixed, it has the ability to be adjusted according to the height of the cheek support, as well as along its length. The weapon has folding bipods that are adjustable in height and can also be equipped with an additional “leg” under the rifle butt. The weapon does not have its own open aiming devices, which can be attributed to minuses, since if the telescopic sight is damaged, the rifle will be absolutely useless. The mount for the optical sight is relatively short, mounted on the receiver on top.
Another interesting point is that, despite the not the most powerful ammunition, the barrel of the weapon is equipped with a fairly large muzzle brake-recoil compensator, instead of a weak flame arrester. This has made it possible to significantly reduce the recoil when shooting, which is already quite tolerable, and in combination with the shock-absorbing butt butt plate, make it really comfortable for the shooter.
Despite the rather wide use of light alloys in weapons, it was not so easy, mainly due to the heavy barrel. So the weight of the rifle equals 7,39 kilograms with a length of 1158 millimeters. The length of the barrel is 600 millimeters. A remarkable point is that the manufacturer turned out to be too honest, indicating in the effective range of the weapon the distance of 800 meters. Due to this, this rifle usually loses in "theoretical" comparisons with more common and well-known samples, although in practice it shows exactly the same results as the best samples for the cartridge 7,62 x51.
A little later, two more versions of the weapon “The Last Cause” appeared, after which the main model received a prefix to the name “Intervention”. Later versions of the rifle received the names Commando I and Commando II. These samples differed in shorter compared to the original barrel, as well as folding butt. The fins for cooling disappeared from the barrel of the weapon. Separately, DTK were reworked, which required shorter gun barrels. Option Commando I rifle is a sample with a barrel length of 550 millimeters, weight 6,26 kilogram and length 1108 and 823 millimeter with a folded and folded butt, respectively. Rifle with the designation Commando II is an even more compact sample. Has a barrel length equal to 470 millimeters, weight 6,12 kilogram and length 1028 and 743 millimeter with buttress folded and folded.
Despite the fact that the “Last argument” rifle is in its essence the simplest type of weapon, it stands out in particular among many others in that it gave a start in life to a small arms company that, without a government order, would remain, most likely, little known. Now PGM’s weapons are known not only in France, but throughout Europe, the company has also reached the US arms market, but there it’s still “fighting” without success - there is very high competition with local companies.
At the end of the 80 of the last century, both the army and the French police felt a great lack of precise weapons under the patron 7,62х51. In principle, the French lacked such weapons altogether, but since this ammunition was the most common, it was decided to start with it, especially since it covered most of the tasks that usually lie before a sniper. To eliminate this gap, it was decided to start cooperation with the company PGM, which had just completed the development of the necessary type of weapon and began to actually produce this rifle. Having tested the weapons, it was decided to put this rifle into service with the army and police as soon as possible, which was done, in turn, allowing PGM to evolve and become world-famous, and even “tweak” new types of weapons, among which are and CWS. But about this weapon in other articles.What is this weapon. In fact, the PGM Ultima Ratio rifle is the simplest model, based on a longitudinally sliding bolt locking the barrel bore when rotated three stops. It feeds weapons from a detachable magazine with a capacity of 5 or 10 cartridges. The barrel of the weapon has a non-chromed bore, it is also noteworthy that there are fins on the outer side of the barrel for better cooling, although it seems that the design of the weapon does not imply a rapid rate of firing. The barrel of the rifle is free-hanging, fixed only on the receiver and does not apply to other elements of the weapon. The barrel is fastened using 4 bolts that pass through the receiver, entering the notch under the barrel chamber, which allows not only to securely fix the barrel, but also relatively quickly remove and install it with just one key. The rifle butt is fixed, it has the ability to be adjusted according to the height of the cheek support, as well as along its length. The weapon has folding bipods that are adjustable in height and can also be equipped with an additional “leg” under the rifle butt. The weapon does not have its own open aiming devices, which can be attributed to minuses, since if the telescopic sight is damaged, the rifle will be absolutely useless. The mount for the optical sight is relatively short, mounted on the receiver on top.
Another interesting point is that, despite the not the most powerful ammunition, the barrel of the weapon is equipped with a fairly large muzzle brake-recoil compensator, instead of a weak flame arrester. This has made it possible to significantly reduce the recoil when shooting, which is already quite tolerable, and in combination with the shock-absorbing butt butt plate, make it really comfortable for the shooter.Despite the rather wide use of light alloys in weapons, it was not so easy, mainly due to the heavy barrel. So the weight of the rifle equals 7,39 kilograms with a length of 1158 millimeters. The length of the barrel is 600 millimeters. A remarkable point is that the manufacturer turned out to be too honest, indicating in the effective range of the weapon the distance of 800 meters. Due to this, this rifle usually loses in "theoretical" comparisons with more common and well-known samples, although in practice it shows exactly the same results as the best samples for the cartridge 7,62 x51.
A little later, two more versions of the weapon “The Last Cause” appeared, after which the main model received a prefix to the name “Intervention”. Later versions of the rifle received the names Commando I and Commando II. These samples differed in shorter compared to the original barrel, as well as folding butt. The fins for cooling disappeared from the barrel of the weapon. Separately, DTK were reworked, which required shorter gun barrels. Option Commando I rifle is a sample with a barrel length of 550 millimeters, weight 6,26 kilogram and length 1108 and 823 millimeter with a folded and folded butt, respectively. Rifle with the designation Commando II is an even more compact sample. Has a barrel length equal to 470 millimeters, weight 6,12 kilogram and length 1028 and 743 millimeter with buttress folded and folded.Despite the fact that the “Last argument” rifle is in its essence the simplest type of weapon, it stands out in particular among many others in that it gave a start in life to a small arms company that, without a government order, would remain, most likely, little known. Now PGM’s weapons are known not only in France, but throughout Europe, the company has also reached the US arms market, but there it’s still “fighting” without success - there is very high competition with local companies.
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