Army’s New B&T Sub Compact Weapon on hand at NRAAM

B&T USA had their new APC9K sub guns, recently chosen for a hard-fought U.S. Army contract, on display for the crowd at the NRA Annual Meetings in Indy.

The APC9K was chosen for a small run of guns, dubbed “Sub Compact Weapons,” to arm the military’s Personal Security Details. The contract, which saw as many as 13 gun makers express interest, required firearms, “capable of engaging threat personnel with a high volume of lethal and accurate fires at close range with minimal collateral damage.”

The final award, $2.5 million for 350 SCWs, with an option for up to 1,000 of the weapons, stressed that the winner needed to be as compact as possible.

The standard APC9 is a 9mm blowback action three-position select-fire SMG that fires from a closed bolt at a cyclic rate of 1,080 rounds-per-minute. The APC9K, with the final letter in the designation short for “kurz” or short, is a more compact version with a 5.4-inch barrel and 13.6-inch overall length with the stock fully collapsed.

Interestingly, B&T reps told Guns.com the APC9 series lower receiver can be configured for use with either B&T’s proprietary double-stack detachable magazines, Glock mags, or Sig Sauer P320 9mm magazines. It should be noted that the Army is currently moving to the M17 and M18 series of pistols, made by Sig, which is based on the P320.

The military originally courted designs from a literal A-to-Z in compact gun makers including Angstadt, Colt, CMMG, CZ, Heckler & Koch, Lewis Machine & Tool, Noveske, PTR, Quarter Circle, and Zenith Firearms before choosing B&T. The company, with Swiss roots, plans on a semi-auto version of the APC9K.

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