I have come across a Belt Fed AR that is radically different from the dominant Fitelite Design made by Valkyrie Armament. The BRS-MOD-1.
The design differs dramatically from the Fitelite as it does not even have a hinging top cover.
MGI which I featured heavily in my last post was responsible for the marketing
Small Arms Review article on the BRS-MOD-1 (article contains many great images showcasing the internals and capability but there are too many to post here)
What is even more interesting (and this is pointed out in the article linked above) is that the BRS-MOD-1 is not a wholly original concept, in fact it dates back many decades to the time of Eugene Stoner himself. In the late 1980's/Early 1990's a man named Johnathan Arthur Ciener offered either pre-made conversions of belt fed AR uppers and conversion services for standard guns
SAR Article on the Ciener belt fed guns with again a great many images detailing the operating mechanism and modifications made to the gun.
As there is not a traditional pawl mechanism, the bolt carrier is responsible for actuating the belt feed. A similar mechanism is utilized in the BRS
The Valkyrie gun is merely an improvement of the Ciener which in itself is a modification of a prototype Belt Fed AR-10.
Video on the operation of the Ceiner gun
OSINT Researcher War Noir posted an interesting picture of a DP-27 LMG with either a Night vision or Thermal Optic and a reversed flash hider in use by Ukranian combatants
Next we have an interesting rifle that led me down a rabbit hole. An M1 Carbine chambered in .50
African Eliminator Action Express made by a man named Tim LeGendre (who apparently invented the .450 Bushmaster)
It turns out that Mr. LeGendre had a habit of converting guns to cartridges that they were not designed for.
This video goes over a Guns and Ammo article of Mr LeGendre's various conversions which include the above .50 AE conversion but also an M1 conversion in .45 Winchester Magnum and an M-14 in .338 Win Mag. I am unable to find an archive of the magazine issue itself so this video is all I can provide (If anyone has an archive of the issue the article is featured in, let me know and I will edit this post to include it). LeGendre claims to have made a notable amount of sales to Alaskan hunting guides and bush pilots and that his guns were in use with "several ultra elite military groups". Jeff Cooper praised the guns, saying that they "Outclassed all personal small arms in use by armies of the world today" (?)
The uploader of the video also has a habit of converting guns to cartridges they were no designed for, having converted both a Mosin Nagant and an AK to .44 Magnum
Pump Action Glock 17, the weight of the pump mechanism plus a suppressor with the Nielsen device removed ensures the slide doesn't budge, forward pressure on the pump when not actuating would add further insurance
A few days ago I watched a portion of the 2009 Michael Mann Film "Public Enemies" starring Johnny Depp
The Movie is based on the Life, Times and Crimes of John Dillinger and his gang. Both in the movie and in history Dillinger utilized a "Baby Machinegun" full auto conversion 1911 in .38 Super made by Texas based gunsmith Hyman S. Lehman.
In the face of ever increasing criminal utilization of full auto glocks, it really made me think, The more things change the more things stay the same
While this Glock was not seized from a criminal (It to my knowledge belongs to some geriatric whose blog I discovered while researching for this post that I cannot be assed to find again) I still think the point stands.
Lastly we have some patent drawings for a french "Arm Gun" that as far as anyone can tell never entered production. The Delacre Modele 1936