Beryllium AR

Karabinek szturmowy wz. 1996 Beryl

Beryllium AR is a Polish 5.56mm assault rifle used by the majority of Polish Armed Forces. It is a 5.56mm NATO chambered modernisation of the Tantalum AR (5.45x39mm) which in turn was based on Soviet 7.62mm AKM assault rifle.
Beryllium AR is used by Polish Armed Forces in two main versions:

The 1996C version with fixed telescopic stock, upgraded Picatinny rail, new handguard, magazines and new fore grip. This version is sometimes called "the 2004 version" by soldiers.
The modernised Mini-Beryllium compact assault rifle (carbine), which had a smaller capacity (20 rounds) magazine developed for it. In Polish Armed Forces it is used by support personel, vehicle crews (e.g. Wolverine IFV crew) and as secondary weapon by squad grenadiers.

Mechanics & Inner Workings

The Beryllium’s design layout and system of operation are similar to those of the Tantalum rifle, and the principal differences, resulting primarily from using a different cartridge, include the following components: the barrel, receiver housing, buttstock, fore grip, muzzle device, sight system and magazine. With an adapter, it can use M16 NATO standard magazine.

The 457 mm-long barrel, has six right-hand grooves and a 228 mm (1:9 in) twist rate. The barrel’s external profile (from the breech to the front sight base) is identical to the Tantalum’s barrel, but the length from the foresight base has a visible tapered contour with a decreasing diameter towards the muzzle end, used to mount a flash suppressor.

The flash hider can be used to mount and launch rifle grenades. The flash hider has a slight taper at the front that supports a bayonet and a little further to the rear – six side ports arranged in pairs. These ports are placed asymmetrically around the circumference of the flash hider and stabilise the weapon during continuous fire. Internally the flash suppressor features threading at the muzzle used to screw-in a blank firing attachment. Located mid-length on the flash hider is a cut-out with a ring retainer spring that secures a rifle grenade to the barrel.

The receiver housing contains several modifications over the receiver of the Tantalum rifle. It uses a reinforced rear stock trunnion, adapted for the new shoulder stock and a top-mounted Picatinny rail for mounting optical sights.