Vietnam Defence 2024: The Most Unusual Guns of the Expo
The Firearm Blog recently covered new rifles, pistols, machine guns, and sniper rifles showcased at the Vietnam Defence Expo 2024. Clearly, in the last 10 years, Vietnam's small arms industry made a huge leap forward, manufacturing everything from pistols to anti-materiel sniper rifles.
Let’s take a look at the anti-material bullpup rifle at the exhibition. TFB first wrote about it in 2017, when production allegedly began at the Z111 factory. At the time, the exact designation was unknown; now, we know the rifle is called SBT12M1.
The SBT12M1 is chambered for 12.7x108, which is the Russian counterpart of the .50 BMG. Its overall design is based on the Russian KSVK, developed by the Kovrov factory, but with some changes such as a different bolt handle and a cross bolt safety near the trigger guard.
Another new and very unusual rifle is the SHMT-M1. It is an amphibious rifle chambered in 5.56x45 based on a domestically produced version of Galil ACE.
“SHMT” is the abbreviation for “Súng Hai Môi Trường” (Dual-Environment Rifle), which indicates that the weapon can function underwater. According to a source close to the Vietnamese Army, the first batch of those rifles is currently being tested by Vietnamese Navy combat divers.
Unlike other Vietnam-made versions of this rifle, this one has a classic Galil ACE ambidextrous fire selector and the Galil ACE receiver (without the lightning cuts). Moreover, the receiver cover has holes and cuts to allow water to escape the action more easily as the bolt carrier moves during underwater engagement. The weapon also has a magazine release button, similar to the AR-15/M4. It was reported that a special 5.56x45 cartridge was developed for this rifle for underwater shooting.
The last interesting weapon I want to highlight is a submachinegun called SN7P. It is a reverse-engineered version of the Russian “Bizon” SMG, that was developed and produced before the more conventional “Vityaz” became the most prolific 9mm AK variant.
The design of the helical magazine as well as the sheet steel handguard, are identical to the “Bizon”, but there are also some differences: stock, charging handle, and lack of threads on the muzzle. Also, SN7P uses the 7.62x25 Tokarev cartridge rather than the 9x18 of the “Bizon”.
The author would like to thank Nguyễn Tăng Thế Thiên, Vũ Đông Hải, and Hoàng Minh Trí for the photos and their help with the article
Vladimir Onokoy is a small arms subject matter expert and firearms instructor. Over the years he worked in 20 different countries as a security contractor, armorer, field analyst, product manager, and consultant. His articles were published in the Recoil magazine, Small Arms Review, Small Arms Defence Journal, Overt Defense and Silah Report. He also worked as the historical consultant for movies and weapon history books, namely "Vickers Guide: Kalashnikov" series, "Small Arms of WW2: Soviet Union" and the 3rd edition of "AK-47: The Grim Reaper". Email: machaksilver at gmail dot com
More by Vladimir Onokoy
Comments
Join the conversation
The 7.62x25 Tokarev is still widely used in some areas, but since Russia has abandoned this cartridge, there is a lack of new firearms on the international market that can use it. (I have heard that there are a few new Chinese-made 7.62x25 Tokarev pistols being marketed for the Pakistani market)
I think there is a market for a poor man's MP5 chambered in 7.62x25 Tokarev. But it’s hard to say how much money can be made by developing new guns for this market.
Trong ảnh chụp chú thích SN7P là súng ngắn?
Vietnamese SHMTs has a very interesting history of development