28M Stürmpuska

The 28M is a Valisfolk bullpup assault rifle designed by Kárely Kocsy in the 1520s. It is also known by its commercial designation: the UMF (Üniversáli Militérfüsil - "Universal Military Rifle"). It was officially adopted by the Valisfolk Military in 1528, replacing the 10M Battle Rifle and remains the country's service rifle. At the time it was adopted for the armed forces, it was one of the first succesfull bullpup designs for an assault rifle and was considered revolutionary.

History

Development of the 28M assault rifle began in 1521 during the Winter War as the designers at the Stérá Royal Military Manufactory began looking for a replacement for the 10M Battle Rifle that used an intermediate cartridge instead of a full-power rifle round. While the 8x45mm rifle cartridge had been developped by 1503, it had not been adopted by the Royal Army as they instead continued to use the 8x56mm full-power rifle round with the adoption of the 10M. In order to fulfill the requirement for a lightweight assault rifle to replace the heavier battle rifle that wouldn't sacrifice a significant amount of stopping power or accuracy, the designers in Stérá submitted several designs for the new weapon. In the end, Kárely Kocsy's revolutionary design was selected and work on the first prototype began in 1522. By 1526, the design was finalised and it was revealed to the public.

While the design was pushed by the R&D section of the Hofmilitérrát, the prototype was received negatively by many officers and, when the designed was publically revealed, politicians. Its bullpup design was disliked by some, who prefered the traditional design of the 10M, while some criticised the use of plastics for many components. Plus, many were skeptical about the performance of the 5x45mm round. Finally, others were simply against the replacement of the 10M, believing it was too early to replace it and that it would be an expensive process. Nonetheless, the rifle was officially adopted in 1528 as the service rifle of Valisfold and the 10M Battle Rifle was pulled out of service by 1535. Despite the initial resistance, the rifle became well-loved by the troops and ignited foreign interest on bullpup designs and its unorthodox, almost-futuristic design became a contrasting symbol to the usually-traditionalist country and conservative military.

Variants

• 28M: Initial version introduced in 1528.
• 28/32M: Improved version indroduced in 1532. Remains the standard version in the Valisfolk Military.
• 28/47M: Similar to the 28/32M with the scope replaced by a railing system. Introduced in 1547.

Users

• Template:Country data Valiszfoldek Flag.png Váliszföldek