At an MSRP of $2,600 USD, this Roller Delayed, Pistol Caliber Carbine (PCC) is obviously a rich man’s gun.
But the DIY folks are in luck – the upper receiver will fit several AR-9 lower receivers that take Glock magazines to cut the cost for the upper receiver alone to an estimated $1,800.00 USD.
You can learn more about this really smooth shooting 9mm PCC at their website, here:
The reason for the high cost is no whim of elitism. The machining of all the fine parts of a Roller Delayed action is high because the manufacturing process takes many steps that weed out everything that doesn’t fit exacting tolerances. All that procedural quality control checking takes up further time and expert care.
That’s the nature of the production of mechanically delayed firearm actions from advanced steel alloys. Quality is never cheap.
That’s why an HK MP-5 is similarly high priced, as another embodiment of a Roller Delayed 9mm firearm.
To keep costs reasonable, the straight blow-back action has come back into favor for military and law enforcement customers. That’s why HK has regressed to blow-back to regain those sales.
The HK UMP9 is the lower cost, blow-back action SMG alternative to their very expensive MP-5. The problem with a blow-back action is how it achieves the critical delay by using a heavy bolt and huge recoil spring.
The mass and resistance of both those parts creates the delay. It’s a low cost and very reliable system that has been with us since the early 1900s.
The downside to the blow-back system is, there’s a large mass of reciprocating force that makes the firearm difficult to control beyond a quick burst of three shots, at most.
The Roller Delayed action uses a small, light weight bolt and recoil spring that eliminated most of the jarring effect of reciprocation. It shoots much smoother and is much more controllable.
But to achieve those desirable shooting characteristics, it costs a lot more to produce the fine parts of a Roller Delayed action.
And anyone who has ever had an MP-5 in a rough environment has learned, fouling and corrosion can be brutal on the finely crafted roller elements.
But wouldn’t it be great to have the controllability of a Roller Delayed action with the low cost, simple dependability of a blow-back action, for the best of both worlds?
That’s where my VF-9 Gas Delayed action comes in. It’s as simple and reliable as a blow-back – with the smooth shooting and light weight characteristics of a Roller Delayed action.
The simplest imaginable geometry of a few low tolerance parts make it very inexpensive to manufacture as a complete stamped steep embodiment under wartime conditions, or milled channels and drilled blocks of aluminum and steel for commercial production.
At the heart of the system, is where the only high tolerance parts are found – cheap, off-the-shelf AR-15 gas seals that can be replaced by anyone.
My innovative design just needs to make the transition from 3D computer drawings to the prototype stage.
It shouldn’t cost more than a standard, commercial M-4 carbine.