Free Army 5.56mm Challenge Rifle Standardization Project (FARSP)

"*Please note that this document is not related to AccuTech Precision Holdings, this is simply a hosted article for the Free Army to distribute. Thank you for your understanding."-AccuTech PR Division. The Free Army Rifle Standardization Project, or FARSP for short, was the United Provinces of The Free's challenge issued to worldwide manufacturers of Assault Rifles to design or submit a new rifle that fired the 5.56mm NATO cartridge to replace the ageing Vz. 78 rifle in full service. In total, five rifles were selected for the trial to be considered. Initially, the homegrown CBRa4 was to be considered, but the cost of $6,500 per unit and the need for an increased number of production facilities made the rifle too expensive to mass produce 45,000 copies. Thus, the government of the UPoTF took to the world stage to select up to six rifles to consider in a competition, drawing inspiration from the United States Government's Individual Carbine Program.

Origins
In 1979, the Vz. 78 rifle was introduced to the new country, the UPoTF and its military shortly after the former dictatorship government was toppled. The Vz. 78 was returned to the new country's military after the war. ridiculed by the soldiers of the Free Army for having awkward ergonomics and cheap parts from being manufactured in low-cost conditions, the rifle was put through several variants and revisions by the new democracy. Still, rushed engineering in the military meant that the rifle's revisions were only marginally better than the previous one. In 2016, the soldier's gripes were still not solved, and the rifle (which had garnered a multitude of witty nicknames) was reaching the end of its service life. Pieces were falling off, barrels were rusting and the stocks were wobbling. The rifles have been taken out of service, melted down and 500 remaining rifles were handed over to AccuTech Precision for international export to developing countries.

Competitors
On the night of October 5th, the final submissions shipped in to the UPoTF and the Free Army transported them to Justfield AFB for testing. The five rifles (including spares) were:

Competition History
Testing was to begin on the afternoon of October 2nd, at AFB Justfield outside of Justfield, UPoTF. However, one late applicant was accepted and the trial was postponed to the 5th instead. On the 5th of October, at 14:00 EST, the rifles were put through their paces in a series of challenges. Each station used elite soldiers and fresh rifles for each challenge. The 5.56mm NATO ammunition was also imported from Aquitayne specially for this challenge.

The first round consisted of a standard 500m targeting test, to see how efficient each rifles was on dialing in on each target and to also see how wide the bullet spread was in centimeters on the target. Each rifle was issued a 4X ACOG optic for this challenge. The rifles were all capable of hitting targets repeatedly at 500m equally like expected, but each rifle was different in terms of bullet spread. the M2008 with it's maximum range of almost 1km, advanced barrel rifling, and other attribute performed remarkably here. Shorter barreled rifles provided more dispersion, which is a negative attribute. The prime example would be the AR Scorpion and Fortgeschritten.

The second round consisted of a special jamming test. Each rifle was filled with different materials such as sand, dirt, mud, small stones, water, ice and even gum. Rifles with different tolerances perform differently as expected.

The third round consisted of a meltdown test, we first fired 6,000 rounds with minimal pause out of a worn in Vz. 78 to see how many jams would occur. The poorly made rifle jammed 37 times, with more modern designs jamming less than expected. This was a perhaps the most important round. "It is more important to have a rifle that'll shoot than to have one that'll hit perfect groups." noted PFC Jarred Weathers of the 1st Platoon Rangers during the third trial.

The fourth round consisted of field stripping speed, the complex rifles such as the M2008 were slower than simple, configurable ones like the AR Scorpion and Assault-1.

The final trial consisted of a test to see the durability of each rifle, they were driven over by Jeeps, they were thrown against walls, they were dropped off the top of AFB Justfield's fighter jet hangers and they were thrown against walls and other various objects. Durable rifles were more important than accurate rifles here. A fragile rifle is never a practical option in the battlefield. Sturdiness was what the military is after in this test. Overall, rifles with metal construction such as the M2008 performed admirably here.

Bonus points were given at the end of the competition for familiarity and to see how the soldiers like each rifle. Polls were conducted on the feel of each rifle to every soldier stationed at Justfield AFB, and the nearby Fort Providence. AR-15 Pattern rifles were popular among soldiers of the Free Navy because of the limited-issue CBRa4. There rifles included the Scorpion, E7-5N and TAC56. However, the Assault-1 faired the best due to the incredibly simplistic controls.

Throughout all of the rounds, it was noticed that the Assault-1 provided a decent middle ground to all of the rifles included in the test, while the AR Scorpion was best suited to close situations, the M2008 was best suited to longer ranges and durability over the cost of added weight. The E7-5N provided a lightweight design with familiar controls and layout, which made it a favourite to hold among the troops. The AR Fort provided the least recoil and the TAC56 was the cheapest way to mass-import rifles to our country

Results
"All rifles were given scores out of 3 for each test, while the approval rating was out of five to reflect the five star scores given."

Final results:
 * 1st: Model 2008,
 * 2nd: E7-5N,
 * 3rd: AR Scorpion, Assault-1,
 * 5th: AR Fort,
 * 6th: TAC56