Lone Wolf Distributors will show a new pistol caliber carbine at the SHOT Show in January 2018. The new AlphaWolf Pistol Caliber Carbine (PCC) appears to be different from the existing G9 carbine platform the company currently offers.
According to the company, the new gun was specifically designed to provide excellent accuracy and superior reliability. Not surprisingly, Lone Wolf Distributors states the guns will feed from Glock magazines.
Although the new rifles appear to be AR-pattern guns, they will use a short stroke gas piston system instead of a straight blowback design. According to a press release issued by Flint River Armory, the system used in this rifle uses the same rotating bolt and piston system as that company uses in its own guns. However, the system has been updated to feed from Glock magazines.
While blowback guns tend to be reliable, they generally require more weight to counteract the rearward force of the bolt carrier group during the firing process. This can also result in more felt recoil. A short stroke piston system tends to be heavier than a direct gas impingement system, but is likely lighter and better balanced than a blowback system. Felt recoil should be reduced somewhat.
Lone Wolf Distributors states that the AlphaWolf pistol caliber carbine will be chambered for both the 9mm and .45 ACP cartridges.
The company states the upper and lower will be machined 6061-T6 aluminum and matched to a 16″ barrel made of 4140 CrMo steel (aka chromoly or chrome-moly.) A pistol version of the gun will have a 10″ CrMo steel barrel. Both the carbine and pistol versions will be equipped with M-LOK compatible handguards.
These guns will be side chargers with the handle accessible on the left side of the gun. It does reciprocate.
Controls will be similar to those of an AR-15. The buffer tube and buttstock will be AR compatible.
I’m looking forward to seeing this new gun. However, I do have a few questions. For example, I’d like to know if the fire control groups are AR compatible. I suspect the answer is yes, but I would like to confirm that.
No word yet on a target price or shipping date of these guns.
As a side note, Flint River Armory states it is no longer making its own rifle – the CSA45 PCC. Instead, the company is now exclusively producing the AlphaWolf PCC for Lone Wolf Distributors.
