[[File:|thumb|300px|A Heckler & Koch P2A1]]
H&K P2A1 | |
---|---|
Type | Flare pistol |
Place of origin | Germany |
Production history | |
Designed | 1974 |
Manufacturer | Heckler & Koch |
Produced | 1974-present |
Specifications | |
Mass | 0.52 kg |
Length | 200 mm |
Barrel length | 155 mm |
Width | 38 mm |
Height | 145 mm |
Effective firing range |
|
Feed system | single-shot, break action |
The HK P2A1 is a single-shot, break action flare pistol designed for signaling and illumination purposes.
It can fire either 25 mm or 26.5 mm flares, or smoke cartridges. Adapters are available to use commercial 12-gauge flares available at sporting goods stores.
The body of the pistol is mostly polymer composite, with the barrel and breech being made of steel. The P2A1 has a life expectancy of about 1500 shots of full power flares.
The P2A1 is called the "SigPi" in the Bundeswehr, standing for "Signalpistole" or signal handgun.
A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala, bengalo in several European countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures in civilian and military applications. Flares may be ground pyrotechnics, projectile pyrotechnics, or parachute-suspended to provide maximum illumination time over a large area. Projectile pyrotechnics may be dropped from aircraft, fired from rocket or artillery, or deployed by flare guns or handheld percussive tubes.
Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating such things as fireworks, safety matches, oxygen candles, explosive bolts and other fasteners, parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, quarrying, and demolition. This trade relies upon self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions to make heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound. The name comes from the Greek words pyr ("fire") and tekhnikos.
A semi-automatic pistol is a handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridges in its chamber after every shot fired. Only one round of ammunition is fired each time the trigger is pulled, as the pistol's fire control group disconnects the trigger mechanism from the firing pin/striker until the trigger has been released and reset.
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The Remington XP-100 is a bolt-action pistol produced by Remington Arms from 1963 to 1998. The XP-100 was one of the first handguns designed for long-range shooting, and introduced the .221 Fireball and 6×45mm. The XP-100 was noted for its accuracy and is still viewed as competitive today in the sport of handgun varminting, which it helped create, as well as in metallic silhouette shooting.
The Smith & Wesson M&P is a polymer-framed, short recoil operated, locked breech semi-automatic pistol introduced in the summer of 2005 by the American company Smith & Wesson. It uses a Browning-type locking system. While targeted at law enforcement agencies, the M&P is also widely available on the commercial market.
The KRISS Vector is a series of weapons based upon the parent submachine gun design developed by the American company KRISS USA, formerly Transformational Defense Industries (TDI). They use an unconventional delayed blowback system combined with in-line design to reduce perceived recoil and muzzle climb, invented by French engineer Renaud Kerbrat.
Glock is a brand of polymer-framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H.
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