MKEK MPT (Milli Piyade Tufegi)

Assault Rifle / Battle Rifle / Assault Carbine

Turkiye | 2014

"The MKEK MPT Assault Rifle was selected to replace the existing stock of foreign-born HK G3 and HK33 assault weapons in Turkish military service."

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 08/16/2018 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

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The nation of Turkey has made great recent strides in modernizing its land, sea, and air forces. Perhaps more importantly, its blossoming military industry has made more indigenous products a viable solution to oncoming defense needs producing far less reliance on foreign parties in the West and elsewhere. Design work on a new assault rifle was begun in 2009 and spanned into 2014 before adoption of the MPT was had. The weapon was adopted to replace an outgoing stock of foreign weapons - mainly German-made 1960s-era HK G3 Battle Rifles and HK33 Assault Rifles. MKEK of Turkey is responsible for the new local design which was introduced through a first-batch of 200 rifles in 2014. The general intent is to supplant the German guns over a ten-year span and initially involved two distinct production models - the MPT-56 (chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO) and the MPT-76 (chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO). Design of the weapon is attributed to Kalekalip.

Externally, the MPT follows conventional design wisdom concerning assault weapons. The stock is of lightweight plastic and adjustable. The pistol grip and trigger unit are integrated into the lower receiver section as is the magazine well. Controls are within reach of the primary hand while the secondary hand supports the frontal section of the rifle at the perforated handguard. As a gas-operated weapon, the gas cylinder is sat over the barrel while being shrouded by the handguard. The forward sight is fitted at the end of this section while the barrel continues on and is capped by a slotted flash suppressor. The rear sight is fixed at the rear of the upper receiver section. As is common with all modern assault weapons, the MPT feature several sections of Picatinny rail for installation of accessories like scopes, laser aimers, vertical foregrip, and tactical flashlights. Rails are present over the receiver, at the sides of the handguard, and under the handguard. The 20-round count magazine is curved in STANAG fashion and translucent to allow the operator to instantly read available shots.

It is noteworthy that Turkey became one of the notable operators of the American M16 (M16A1, M16A2, and M16A4 variants) assault rifle and certain design features of that weapon are apparent in the Turkish MPT.

The MPT is a NATO compliant weapon and therefore the base design appears in two distinct chamberings - 5.56mm and 7.62mm. The smaller 5.56mm cartridge is the standard assault rifle ammunition while the 7.62mm cartridge will be featured in the Battle Rifle form. The "Battle Rifle" emerged from Cold War terminology signifying a service rifle chambered to fire a full-power rifle cartridge - namely the 7.62x51mm. This term is used to differentiate Battle Rifles from intermediate-power assault rifle products in today's gun world.

Early testing with prototypes found many issues which forced an entire rewrite of the weapon and this began to center the project on the Battle Rifle version. Further testing revealed that subjects preferred the MPT-76 variant for the 7.62mm cartridge's greater performance at range and it appears that this variant will succeed the HK G3 line in Turkish Army service - leaving the fate of the MPT-56 yet to be decided.

As with other modern assault guns entering military service, the MPT-76 will become a family of automatic weapons to include the base MPT-76 Battle Rifle with 16" barrel length, the MPT-76 Carbine form with 12" barrel length, and the MPT-76 DMR (Designated Marksman Rifle) with precision-minded 20" barrel and ranged optics scope over the receiver (taking the place of the carrying handle).

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Physical
The physical qualities of the MKEK MPT (Milli Piyade Tufegi). Information presented is strictly for general reference and should not be misconstrued as useful for hardware restoration or operation.

920 mm
36.22 in
O/A Length

410 mm
16.14 in
Barrel Length

7.05 lb
3.20 kg
Weight

Gas-Operated; Rotating Bolt; Select-Fire
Action

5.56x45mm NATO; 7.62x51mm NATO
Caliber(s)

20-Round Detachable Box Magazine
Feed

Iron; Optional Optics
Sights

Performance
Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the MKEK MPT (Milli Piyade Tufegi). Information presented is strictly for general reference and should not be misconstrued as useful for hardware restoration or operation.

1,970 ft
600.5 m | 656.7 yds
Max.Eff.Range

650
Rounds-Per-Minute
Rate-of-Fire

2,600 ft/sec
792 m/sec
Muzzle Velocity

Variants
Notable series variants as part of the MKEK MPT (Milli Piyade Tufegi) Assault Rifle / Battle Rifle / Assault Carbine family line.

MPT ("Milli Piyade Tufegi")- Base Product Designation

MPT-56 - Chambered for the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge; assault rifle role.

MPT-76 - Chambered for the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge; battle rifle role; 16" barrel length.

MPT-76 DMR - Designated Marksman Rifle model with 20" barrel length and optics set over the receiver.

MPT-76 CAR - Assault carbine model with 12" barrel length

Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the MKEK MPT (Milli Piyade Tufegi). Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national small arms listing.

Contractor(s): MKEK (Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation) - Turkey

[ Turkey ]

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Image of the MKEK MPT (Milli Piyade Tufegi)

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Design Qualities
Some designs are single-minded in their approach while others offer a more versatile solution to requirements.

AUTOMATIC FUNCTION

ASSAULT RIFLE

ACCURACY/PRECISION

Recognition
Some designs stand the test of time while others are doomed to never advance beyond the drawing board; let history be their judge.

Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft

Going Further...
The MKEK MPT (Milli Piyade Tufegi) Assault Rifle / Battle Rifle / Assault Carbine appears in the following collections:

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