Beretta recently unveiled the NARP, or New Assault Rifle Platform – and this new rifle has already been adopted by the Italian military with units beginning to equip it.
The Italian military’s previous rifle was Beretta’s ARX-160, which it had been using since 2008.
The ARX-160 was not an AR, but the NARP is influenced by the M16/M4 rifle family. It seems that the age of trying to advance past the AR is over for most military forces, and instead they’re now embracing the platform.
The advantages of NARP’s system
The NARP looks a lot like the M16 family, but internally it’s very different.
Rather than an internal-piston system – as the M16 does – it uses a short-stroke, gas-piston one. The short-stroke, gas-piston system has become the operating system of choice for modern rifles with nearly all new rifles that hit the market using it.
Why? Because the system works, and it works well. It’s a reliable operating system and it’s easy to integrate it in a rifle and seemingly easy to get it right.
The system also tends to work well with modern rifle designs and functions excellently with suppressors. Suppressors create gas blowback that is thrown rearward and into the face of the shooter. A short-stroke gas piston helps reduce that blowback.
The short-stroke, gas-piston system also work exceptionally well with short-barreled rifles. Since most short-barreled rifles are now fitted with suppressors in military use, the two combine well.
Short-stroke, gas-piston systems tend to keep the gun cooler and cleaner during extended firing sessions.
The NARP, specifically, vents gas at the block. The gas block is also adjustable to regulate how much gas enters the gun, allowing you to tune it for suppressors or adverse shooting conditions.
More than a gas system
The NARP utilizes an inventive proprietary bolt-carried design. Rather than having a cylindrical shape, it has a prismatic morphology, and the upper receiver has a rectangular cross-section to guide the bolt and prevent tilt. The bolt rides on internal rails for greater reliability.
The bolt carrier is purposefully somewhat heavy to regulate the rate of fire to around 700 rounds per minute.
The bolt face has seven locking lugs and twin spring-loaded plunger ejectors alongside an oversized claw extractor. The purpose of these ejectors and claw extractor is to ensure consistent and reliable extraction and ejection, especially when the rifle is suppressed.
The recoil assembly is self-contained meaning you don’t need a receiver extension and buffer that sit outside of the upper receiver. Further, the internal, self-contained recoil assembly allows for foldable and collapsible stocks.
The NARP can also use AR-style receiver extensions, which opens up many stock options.
The standard NARP uses an AR-type charging handle, but Beretta can produce a side-charging model upon request. The standard cartridge is 5.56, but 7.62×39, .300 Blackout, 6.5 Grendel, and more are also available for the rifle.
The outside of the NARP
The M16 family set the standard for good ergonomics on a fighting rifle. The NARP wisely copies them, making while making every control completely ambidextrous. Additionally, the controls are larger than the M16’s and textured for use with gloves.
The NARP uses an M-LOK handguard, which can be replaced quite easily. The receiver set splits in half – much like an M16 – for easy maintenance in both the field and the armory.
Beretta offers the NARP in several barrel-length options, giving users a choice of 11.5, 14.5, or 16.5 inches. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more options in the future.
Attaching optics, lights, lasers, and more to the NARP is incredibly simple thanks to the M-LOK handguard and optics rail.
Further, little features like a larger-than-normal magwell are nice touches; even the trigger is a two-stage match-style design rather than a crude military trigger.
The rifle is not a direct AR clone. Instead, it’s clear Beretta learned what worked with the ARX-160 and what didn’t and applied those lessons to the NARP.
Externally, the NARP doesn’t seem all that interesting, but when you break it down piece by piece, a unique rifle is revealed that just happened to be influenced by the AR family.
Beretta has been producing guns for centuries, and I have no doubt that the NARP will prove an outstanding rifle. (Although, the rifle’s name begs the question: will Beretta change its name in a decade?)
Feature Image: Troops wielding Beretta’s NARP. (Beretta)
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