1976, McQueen of Albuquerque, New Mexico showed a special submachine gun developed by himself to the US military for testing. This is a melee weapon that can be held with one hand. Compared with the traditional submachine gun, its appearance is full of personality, and it has a name derived from its appearance, which is "American rattlesnake submachine gun".
The "Rattlesnake" submachine gun is very similar to the "spray gun" that model enthusiasts will use in appearance. The grip is located in front of the bolt, similar to an unsupported rifle. Inside the cylindrical shell are a bolt assembly and a buffer device. There is no extra gunstock at the back of the case, only a rotatable shoulder pad, and the angle of the shoulder pad can be adjusted.
A major feature of the "Diamondback" submachine gun is that the rear gearbox can rotate: when the shooter holds the grip, the rear gearbox and the magazine slot above can rotate 360 degrees, making it easy and comfortable for both left-handed and right-handed shooters to operate. The submachine gun was originally designed for single shot, but later it was improved to single shot and continuous shot, but the trigger stroke was controlled without reducer.
The early "rattlesnake" submachine gun not only had no insurance mechanism, but even no mechanical sight. How to aim? The method is very strange: directly use the cylindrical precursor to "shoot" the target-in fact, this weapon was designed for ultra-close and fast fire coverage from the beginning. At that time, McQueen submitted two "rattlesnake" submachine guns with diameters of 9 mm and 0.45 inch respectively.
The test results show that the shooting performance of the two submachine guns is very good, the ultra-close shooting is very accurate, the gun body bounce is very small, it is very easy to control, and even can be used with one hand. Although the test results were surprisingly satisfactory, and special forces personnel and others showed great interest in it, there was no more. The official has neither made any substantive statement on them nor asked for improvement. In short, it is nothing.
Perhaps it is because of the great difference of "Sidewinder" submachine guns, and its own settings lead to limited application in actual combat.
Time is up 1979. 165438+1On October 4th, a group of terrorists broke into the U.S. embassy in Iran and hijacked 52 staff members in the embassy to force the U.S. government to agree to extradite the former Iranian king Pahlavi who had previously lived in exile in the United States. While rejecting the demands of terrorists, the United States formulated "Operation Eagle Claw" in an attempt to send Delta Special Forces to carry out hostage rescue operations.
On April 24th, 1980, Operation Eagle Claw suffered a series of accidents and suffered heavy losses. At the same time, with the exposure of Operation Eagle Claw, the Iranian side dispersed the hostages, which eventually led to the complete failure of the US rescue plan. These hostages were released by Iran only after Reagan became president of the United States and the relationship between the United States and Iran eased.
Of course, the result of "Operation Eagle Claw" is actually beside the point, but at the beginning of the formulation of "Operation Eagle Claw" plan, the rattlesnake submachine gun, which was silent for three years, once again entered everyone's field of vision because of this opportunity. At that time, it was planned to parachute Delta Special Forces to the top of the embassy by helicopter, and then carry out a surprise attack. In this case, the team members need to be equipped with a rapid-fire individual light weapon that can be controlled by one hand during the helicopter rope descent, so the military immediately began to choose related weapons.
Then someone remembered McQueen and his "rattlesnake" submachine gun. Subsequently, McQueen was asked by an "unknown phone call" to hand over his submachine gun and related accessories to the designated authorities the next morning. It is said that McQueen only responded with "you demons!" .
McQueen has applied for a patent for the "Sidewinder" submachine gun, so even if the US government wants to requisition it, it has to go through the process. To this end, McQueen immediately called the US Patent Office to inquire about the situation, but the people in the Patent Office told him that the call was from the White House and it was definitely a special need, so the relevant procedures and procedures were free. After receiving this reply, mcqueen provided the military with two sample guns EX-003 and EX-005 of the Sidewinder submachine gun.
Although the "Sidewinder" submachine gun was not actually used in the end, the US military conducted research and related tests on it for more than half a year, and successively developed 20 models (including McQueen's own model), numbered from EX-00 1 to EX-020.
EX-00 1: The magazine of "German MP38 submachine gun" was used to fire 9 mm caliber Balabelen pistol, but later the magazine of "British Stern submachine gun" was used because of its slow loading speed and high failure rate. EX-00 1 adopts American M 16 series automatic rifle grips, which has a good sense of operation. For shooters who are familiar with M 16 series automatic rifles, it feels good and can be used quickly.
EX-002:0.45 inch colt pistol fired without safety. The magazine of "American M3/M3A 1 submachine gun" is used, and the function of repeating fire is added. By controlling the trigger stroke, the switching between single shot and continuous shot is realized.
EX-003: An Alternative Weapon for Operation Eagle Claw. Since EX-003, mechanical sights have been added, that is, simple sheet sights and reversible photo doors, and loom-type guide rails have been set on the chassis, and optical sights have been installed, which suddenly became avant-garde. The most amazing thing is that there are different caliber gun heads at both ends of the bolt, one end is 0.45 inch caliber and the other end is 9 mm caliber. That is to say, bullets with different calibers can be fired as long as the bolt machine with the required caliber is installed and then the matching barrel, magazine adapter and magazine are used. On the basis of continuous firing, three shots were added, and the firing mode was selected by the quick machine at the back end of the trigger.
The trigger holder is movable, and its front end is buckled on the shell and can be turned backwards, so the trigger can be controlled freely even if gloves are worn. The crescent-shaped shoulder rest has increased its length to meet the greater demand.
Ex-004: 9 mm caliber, using double-row single-entry Stern submachine gun magazine. The mechanical sight is cancelled, and only the optical sight of Weaver guide rail is kept. The emissivity can be adjusted. The automatic circulation speed of the bolt can be controlled by installing the counterweight: the firing rate of the submachine gun is 1050 rounds/min without counterweight, 900 rounds/min with one counterweight and 750 rounds/min with two counterweights. The telescopic stock can be used as a through rod to clean the bore after removal.
EX-005~EX-0 17: basically formed, with little structural change. Its basic features include: when the handle is held vertically, the back shell (including magazine slot) can rotate 360 degrees; The braided guide rail is installed on the top of the shell, which can increase the optical sight; There are two shooting positions. When shooting with one hand, you can use the shoulder rest to control the weapon at the elbow. After opening the telescopic support, you can shoot at the shoulder like a traditional submachine gun. In the case of no insurance, switch between single launch and continuous launch by controlling the trigger stroke (cancel the function of three launches). EX-0 18: new insurance institutions.
EX-0 19: A handle device similar to M 16 series automatic rifles is added to the Weaver guide rail of the upper case, and a reversible sight and camera door are arranged in the handle. The connection mode of crescent shoulder rest and gun rest is improved, from the previous two parallel rods to cylindrical tubes, and the connection is more firm.
EX-020: On the basis of previous work, the following improvements have been made: the handle of the gun is designed separately from the bolt, so that the handle of the gun does not reciprocate with the bolt when shooting, which reduces the potential harm to the body; Improve insurance institutions; The structural design is improved, and the assembly of the whole gun is improved, which is beneficial to rapid disassembly and assembly; Switch to "Israel Jane Pride submachine gun" magazine; Re-switch to the design of "double-caliber nose", but unlike EX-003, the front and rear noses are 9mm.
The purpose of doing this is not for universal caliber, but for using one bolt as two in special circumstances such as untimely supply. Once there is a problem with the machine head at one end, just remove it and turn around, which reduces the maintenance times of bolts and prolongs the service life.
Finally, the "rattlesnake" submachine gun stopped at EX-020. It is said that the military has secretly made a batch, but it has not been officially adopted. However, the concept of "Sidewinder" submachine gun's shape layout, "double-headed" design and ultra-close combat is still commendable.