Rock River Arms' cut-down 5.56mm pistol

Rock River Arms has a new AR-style pistol that eliminates the venerable buffer tube. The result is a 5.56mm bullet launcher that's a compact 17.5 inches long.

The new Performance Piston System Pistol, PPS for short, features gas piston operation and a recoil spring located in the rail assembly just above the bolt carrier -- right where the charging handle on ARs is normally located. The PPS's charging handle is positioned behind the gas regulator at the end of the handguard.

The PPS has an eight-inch barrel and weighs in at five pounds. Rock River is working on a full-auto version, but for now the PPS is semiautomatic only. The new design should be available in May for $1,335.

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