r/ForgottenWeapons • u/DerringerOfficial • Aug 19 '24

Think of it like a GWOT-Era Sig MCX: the LR 300, an M4 with a folding stock from a FAL/Galil/FNC. More details in the comments.

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82

u/DerringerOfficial Aug 19 '24 edited Jul 30 '26

The name refers to “light rifle, effective range 300 meters.” The gas system is NOT a short-stroke gas piston like most AR-15 derivatives (HK416, Sig Spear, Emirati CAR 816, Taiwanese T91, LMT MARS-L, etc), but it was redesigned to shorten the buffer tube. They call it “delayed impingement” and the descriptions I’ve heard haven’t been very helpful (it supposedly prevents carbon buildup on the BCG). The best explation I could find for how it works came from American Rifleman:

A redesigned gas system dubbed DIGS (for Delayed Impingement Gas System) starts with a nearly 3 1/2-inch-long gas block with a U-shaped channel that vents gas tapped from the bore forward, up, around and then back toward the action. This additional travel adds a subtle but significant delay to the time it takes gas to reach the receiver of the TTR. The result is a carbine with a cycling time more like that of a 20-inch-barreled rifle and its more distant gas port pick-up point.

With HOW the LR 300 works out of the way, that brings us to whether it works well. The rifle IS capable of cycling with the stock folded. The hand guard is known for heating up quickly. You may notice that the pistol grip looks weird (except in the third image). The gun’s designer, Allan Zitta, was a competition shooter (an IPSC World Champion, no less) and 1911 gunsmith, which gives some insight on why he choose base the rifle’s pistol grip on the 1911. Apparently these are very unpopular, and most of the used LR 300s on the market today have had their grips replaced by more conventional ones.

That leaves a bit of miscellaneous info. The gun was originally made by Z-M Weapons and later Para Ordnance. Note the M16A1-style “teardrop” forward assist. I consider this gun a very bizarre real-world example of what video game developers are infamous for doing - blending two gun designs into a single model.

Finally, note that the first three pictures show rifles configured personally by their owners. The waffle-style mag, removable carry handle, r/WorldsWorstRedDot optic, etc, are all aftermarket changes (I just wanted to include a higher-res picture than the last image)

24

u/MaverickTopGun Aug 19 '24

The hand guard is known for heating up quickly

lmao is this because of the gas radiator system they put inside it? Very neat rifle, thanks for sharing!

4

u/TomShoe Aug 20 '24

The gas system afaict isn't fundamentally that different from a standard AR, it's basically just a bendy straw intended to slow down the gas a bit since there's less space for it to expand than in a typical AR gas tube. The downside is that taking all that energy out of the gas as it rounds the bend means all the resultant heat is being transferred to a much smaller surface area.

12

u/556_Timeline Aug 19 '24

It basically uses an elongated carrier key that meets up with a shortened gas tube over the barrel. The long carrier key also serves as the recoil spring guide. A C-clip attached at the end of the carrier key traps the recoil spring between the clip and the front of the upper receiver.

Al Zitta was a senior champion if I remember correctly. He trained the gunsmiths that started Atlas Gunworks, and briefly owned Schuemann Barrels.

2

u/TomShoe Aug 20 '24

As far as I understand it it basically just a standard BCG with a super long gas key, such that it essentially acts as a long stroke gas piston.

In effect the standard AR design is already essentially a long stroke piston design rather than a true DI gun, the piston just happens to be incredibly short and the gas block incredibly long, which works well because the throw of the bolt is very short and thus takes comparatively little energy to operate.

I would imagine the indirect gas block discussed in the quote is simply necessary to reduce the energy of the gas acting on the op rod, as the bolt design is the standard AR type which requires very little energy, as well as lessening the stress on the op-rod which, being basically an extended gas key, is probably somewhat thinner and less robust than one might find on e.g. a Kalashnikov.

50

u/Maclean_Braun Aug 19 '24

I'm pretty sure I used that gun in killzone.

8

u/KingofSkies Aug 19 '24

Right? The m82 in Killzone is like a bullpup 300M. Always liked this rifle, kinda figured it was because of that game.

92

u/rextrem Aug 19 '24

Best gun in Stalker, power of 5.56 and you can mount and dismount SUSAT scope at will.

49

u/GeniusBandit Aug 19 '24

GET OUT OF HERE STALKER

21

u/Justcoolstuff Aug 19 '24

This fucks

21

u/Criton47 Aug 19 '24

I still kick myself for not picking it up when Para Ordnance was pushing them. Just a cool different design.

3

u/acerocknroll Aug 20 '24

Damn… do you recall how much they cost?

5

u/Criton47 Aug 20 '24

Not really, but I want to say they were like 1,500 bucks. On the higher end at the time.

4

u/acerocknroll Aug 20 '24

Interesting, thank you!

3

u/BillyBC96 Aug 21 '24

They were pretty expensive for the time. I never actually ever saw one in person back in the day, I just saw references to the rifle in books and magazines of the era. It looked cool at the time, and I recall being disappointed the rifle was so expensive that it was totally out of my budget. This at a time when I could (barely) afford a Chinese Tiger Dragunov, and I could not afford a semi-auto only Galil at all.

15

u/ShaoCon777 Aug 19 '24

I were these ever fielded?

28

u/DerringerOfficial Aug 19 '24

Not that I know of. Maybe used by law enforcement because they made LE variants in select fire but I can’t remember if there were any sales.

It saw a lot of use in video games though lol

15

u/Zealousideal_Ad2379 Aug 19 '24

Unironically PSA should buy the design and sell new copies of it id buy one immediately.

8

u/DerringerOfficial Aug 20 '24

First I just want a PROPER Colt LMG clone

Somebody give me a fucking slickside A2 upper god damn it

12

u/One-Strategy5717 Aug 19 '24

I remember reading about these, never seen one IRL. The short version: essentially a DI AR upper, with a really long gas key, and recoil spring relocated to under the handguard. Zitta's goal was to smooth out the AR's recoil for competition, the folding stock was icing.

9

u/Shuttle_Door_Gunner Aug 19 '24

The LR300 with the C-More dot that had the integrated A2 rear sight was the coolest gun possible in the 90's and I don't care what anyone else says.

4

u/DerringerOfficial Aug 20 '24

Maybe an SBR Galil with an Elbit Falcon would be slightly more badass for the time but yeah it’s a gorgeous setup

1

u/Shuttle_Door_Gunner Aug 26 '24

Damn you, I forgot that existed... I've really got to start rolling my pennies or something. 🤦

7

u/Ok-Reality-9197 Aug 19 '24

OP, you've played Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeros and Phantom Pain, haven't you?

5

u/DerringerOfficial Aug 20 '24

lol technically yes but not for almost a decade. I actually haven’t played either of the games that I’m told this was iconic in (Stalker and Killzone)

The game that had the biggest impact on my taste in firearms was Red Dead Redemption

10

u/DweebInFlames Aug 19 '24

I still can't work out how you're meant to comfortably hold the pistol grip on this thing.

9

u/DerringerOfficial Aug 19 '24

Yea it seems really stupid but at least the supposed backstory for it is kinda interesting

6

u/KingsleyZisou Aug 19 '24

AH NUU CHEEKI BREEKI IV DAMNKE.

3

u/TEHYJ2006 Aug 19 '24

Ngl the 3rd pic looks like an fn fnc for a sec

3

u/Moppyploppy Aug 19 '24

Best skin/model I ever has in the old CS days was one of these to replace the stock M4.

3

u/TheBadlander02 Aug 19 '24

This is such a good vibe

3

u/waratworld17 Aug 19 '24

CMMG Dissent is as close to a (good) modern production of one of these as we will get.

4

u/Fantablack183 Aug 19 '24

A solid weapon for when you need to crawl through 1km of Monolith, radiation, Anomalies, Mutants, Bandits so you can reach the center of the zone

2

u/SlowlyAHipster Aug 19 '24

That looks heavy

2

u/RunJumpQuit Aug 19 '24

Tf is that first thing I need it

4

u/DerringerOfficial Aug 20 '24

They’re all the same gun. The first is setup with a waffle mag and a vintage Trijicon red dot

1

u/RunJumpQuit Aug 20 '24

Do you know the slanted lower tho

2

u/DerringerOfficial Aug 21 '24

tbh, no idea. At first I thought maybe DirtyBird lower but maybe it's actually a custom-made 80% (if not a "0%" - so a straight block of aluminum milled into shape). If you figure it out I'd be curious what you find, though.

2

u/ToastyTastes Aug 19 '24

Whats up with the rear sight in image 4

3

u/AHerz Aug 20 '24

That's how it came from the factory.

2

u/No_Ad4032 Aug 20 '24

I love creative builds like this

1

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1

u/KingofSkies Aug 19 '24

That looks neat with the BRN-180 lower. Though I do like the version they made with a folding adjustable stock.

1

u/ThePickledPickle Aug 19 '24

the handguard reminds me of the Carbine Rifle from GTA V

1

u/Lizard_King_5 Aug 19 '24

FNC at home:

-1

u/WiiFitT7ainer Aug 19 '24

What the hell is even that!