One of the hottest topics on the internet for the past eleven months or so has been the new Masada assault rifle by Magpul. I checked out the Masada at last January’s SHOT Show in Orlando, and for a prototype it looked positively awesome. Here’s a picture I took after speaking with the folks at the Magpul booth for a while:

In the words of a Magpul rep at the show, the Masada integrates

Our ideas of what a fighting carbine should be.

Here’s a poster that they were handing out at the show detailing the features of the weapon:

The reason I bring the Masada up today is that The Firearm Blog has a great interview with Drake Clark from Magpul about their new rifle. It is not to be missed.

Among the many highlights is this little nugget:

We do have a functioning 6.8 SPC prototype that we have got up and running recently. Other calibers that we plan on doing are 5.45×39mm (AK-74), 6.5mm Grendel and 7.62×39mm.

Masadas in 6.8 SPC and 6.5 Grendel (pick your 6mm poison) and the AK rounds? Bring ‘em on.

A civilian version is planned for 2008, with a price estimate of $1400.

Clark explains how the little Magpul company tried at the last minute to be included in the big Army sandstorm test but failed to join in on the fun. Honestly, with the rifle still in the middle of development, it’s probably just as well. A poor showing could have done a lot of harm. In the meantime, Murdoc is available for any test firing. (As a tester, folks, not a target…)

I’m looking forward to checking it out again at next February’s SHOT Show and learning how things have progressed in the past year. Meanwhile, go check out Steve Johnson’s excellent post at The Firearm Blog.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 23rd, 2007 at 1:20 pm and is filed under Military, Rifles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.