Ensio Firearms KAR-21: Modifications For The Production Version

It turns out that designing a rifle from scratch is hard. Very hard. Which is why most manufacturers don't bother and just make variations on well-established designs like the AR-15, AK, FN FAL or similar.
Ensio Firearms of Finland decided to break the mold and design their own .308 Win / .223 Rem multi-caliber rifle from scratch. In 2021 we looked at the pre-production version, but it had issues. How were they fixed? What modifications did they have to make? Does this give insight into actually how hard it is to design rifles from scratch?
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[@apple_with_a_human_butt]

I love how Käräjämies, the friggin designer of the gun, is just sitting there all quiet and mostly out of the shot :D

[@Diabolos1]

"Now for full disclosure I have Eugene of ArmaLite next to me who will explain things to me and I will then jumpcut and recommunicate that. So..."

[@TheOz91]

With the increasing amount of AR15ification (ey-arr-fifteenification) of the worlds rifles (Sako is making the M23 for the Finns and Swedes, Beretta unveiled the NARP, etc.) it's refreshing to see a different pattern of rifle coming to the market.

[@Shadow0fd3ath24]

this is just a ACR/MSBS/XCR/MCX/Bren2/SCAR copycat though too which is the next generation of the "ACR-ification"

[@skepticalbadger]

Yarp.

[@george2113]

The long duration of the AR group has encouraged problem areas to be refined, the modular quality encouraged small improvement and specialization. The separate upper permits piston designs for intense users

[@johndaniels1197]

And when those "intense users" either need the rifle to be light, as accurate as possible, or both, inevitably they always go back to the original pseudo-DI internal piston design.

[@george2113]

@@johndaniels1197 all designs are trade-offs.

[@mholway72]

KAR-21 was a lot of fun to shoot both at Finnish Brutality 2023, and at the range. Hats off to Ensio for developing something new...looking forward to owning one!

[@ensiofirearms]

Thank you for explaining technical aspects of KAR-21 and firearms in general to your followers. Keep up the good work!

[@jauhoprinsessa]

3:57 has to be kinda cool topic to talk about this if you ever meet someone with KAR-21 😎

[@aljole683]

Loving this content. Not selling, not pushing, just explaining. Excellent. I live in the town where Uintah Precision makes bolt action uppers to pin onto AR lowers. They had similar issues with making “not” AR stuff fit an AR world. The thing they struggled with was hammer follow, some AR triggers would stay cocked, some wouldn’t.

[@keithplymale2374]

Looks fantastic. In engineering it's often something unexpected like that causing the issue. Soon as I win a lottery I'll get one when they get in the USA.

[@petesheppard1709]

Wow! One would think that the locking of the bolt would ensure that it was exactly perpendicular to the bore, then that the barrel itself would ensure consistent bullet flight, but there's no arguing with the results...GREAT detective work!

[@mikethomas5510]

Bloke in his element enjoying himself. Not BOtR unless something goes wrong.(It's the wrong rifle Gromit)

[@MPC_2117]

Blink 3 times if drunk Ziga is waiting to pounce on other side of table

[@finnishrifleman7873]

Thanks for very nerdy video, more this kind of stuff please! It´s a cool gun, balances well what I had chance to play with it in Finnish Brutality. In 223 is kind of a heavier side compared to AR´s but in 308 it feels great gun. Might get one someday. But if possible, I´d like to have a folding stock. Would be relatively easy to do in a design like that. And adding 6.5 CM for the caliber list would be nice extra. I think this rifle makes more sence in 308/6.5 CM combo than a 308/223.

[@thebeardprevails5246]

If that could be put together with an 18.6"+ barrel, there'd be a market for it in Canada as well for sure.

[@ndenise3460]

Until the liberals ban it, leaving everyone to pay for it

[@Kesssuli]

My understanding .223 is offered only in 16 inch barrel. . 308 is offerered in 16 or 20 inch barrel.

[@thebeardprevails5246]

@@Kesssuli Beauty. Canada loves Finnish rifles and these look like an excellent candidate for our market.

[@Kesssuli]

@@thebeardprevails5246 If i understood right when you guys had those assault rifle bans finnish valmets werent included on that list. I wont deny this looks cool. Bit expensive but im still keeping this at possible candinate when looking for .308 variant for semi-auto.

[@george2113]

Will the current government of Canada stay in power or something else rise?

[@XoravaX]

Ah, so the accuracy issue was functionally the same two group issue as is in early Kalashnikov type rifles, mostly fixed in them by changing the shape of the underside of the bolt carrier.

[@spondulixtanstaafl7887]

Nice content, Firearm development is ever so fascinating. Thanks

[@LittleRabbit1138]

First of all... TENTACLE MONSTER! this needs context...maybe.... Second, this looks like a really cool design and concept

[@ArhainHainar]

Not often you get to see real iteration in anything

[@markjmaxwell9819]

I like the KAR-21 rifle the design changes are well thought out and have rectified any issues obviously. The piston rings on the gas piston are a great idea with a few advantages such as better gas sealing a little more clearance between the piston and bore for better reliability and less heat transfer past the rings. It's not every day a totally new rifle design comes along I'm sure a telescoping folding stock can also be designed and fitted which will give the rifle two buttstock options and add to the practical modularity of the rifle. A thumbs up from me with the monolithic upper allowing for an increase in accuracy and strength because of the zero flex nature of a one piece design with the overall heavy duty nature of the rifle allowing the .308 round to be used successfully even though the recoil is considerable. If the 3.7KG weight for the gun is the maximum in both 308 and 223 configuration then it covers all the bases with the calibre conversion system from .308 to .223 the icing on the cake. As a reference point the H&K 417 with the same length barrel weighs over 4KG from the factory. A very well thought out rifle with a bright future ahead with some really innovative features. If they can get the rifle to run full-automatic in both NATO military calibres and run reliably they will have a winner. Military contacts are also a possibility if enough successful testing is done with the manufacturing perfected and the price reasonable. And congratulations to Finland for having joined NATO it means new service rifles will be needed fairly soon in NATO calibres and this rifle fit's the criteria nicely. It's nice to see something that works extremely well and is not based on the AR-15 rifle as was mentioned in the video. I can understand why the English dude was so proud of his contribution considering they have lost the art of small arms design with no serious contributions since the nineteen fifties. The rifle definitely gets my stamp of approval and could end up the Patria AMV of rifles. 😎🇦🇺👍

[@cheesenoodles8316]

Cool, nice technical update.

[@Kesssuli]

Pretty sure Ensio would be more than happy to supply those in states. But taking account how those are priced around 3800 e in Finland. Shipment, documentation and proofing will make a sure that even in states those will be damn expensive. Definelty not something which could became anything but niche product but isnt that pretty much a deal with rare european made guns in states. Someone is getting it and doing fun shit at range and then there are multiple guys wanting that same rare piece.

[@BlokeontheRange]

It's in the process of being arranged. There's no proofing in the US though, but they have to be proofed in Finland anyway.

[@Kesssuli]

@@BlokeontheRange I forgot guns doesnt need to be proofed in states. Everything what comes to state side to here needs to be cip proofed. And im pretty sure that if you want to sell gun in europe it had to have cip proof markings.

[@BlokeontheRange]

Only in CIP states. So not Switzerland, Norway or Sweden for instance.

[@Kesssuli]

@@BlokeontheRange Then i apologise my lack of proper knowledge about that subject. I kind of assumed that to be more global thing in europe. Like always so many variants about how things work in different countries. It is hard to keep track.

[@percy24770]

B&T's mbt stock would be a nice addition to the rifle. If ensio releases a 7.62x39 conversion kit, it has to come with a kar16 style magwell. The design is so much better than the various ak mag fed ar. Wish them all the best so that I can buy one in 20 years time.

[@apuuvah]

If I have to march towards east, can I have one of these, please.

[@herknorth8691]

Very nice. Moar gats is moar better.

[@ShortT-RexLikeArms]

I assume that this design shares the AK anti pre-engagement feature? If that is the case then what's being use to cause the first rotation needed for the bolt to lock? Like how in newer AK a bump rivet is used.

[@BlokeontheRange]

Not sure it does, I'll take a look next time I get the opportunity.

[@ensiofirearms]

You have a really good point. You must know much more about firearms mechanics than average person. Anti pre-engagement feature has been implemented little bit differently in KAR-21 than AK because of small angle of rotation of the bolt. Best wishes - designer.

[@steveclancy6474]

Ian, what happened to your hair? Nice vid.

[@HAACKER45]

Couple things, personally I would change or at least offer as an optional part 1: Folding stock, doesnt make a whole lot of sense to not have that feature with a design like this. 2: Fold away charging handle, having a big easy to grab handle is nice , but as I have encountered with rifles like my X95, they are easy to bump and catch on gear. 3: possibly some QD points built into the receiver, or if it comes with an mlok qd socket that would be nice, but that big stock plate in the back would be a nice spot to have a couple QD sockets on either side. I know the stock has QD sockets, but again, with a rifle that should have a folding stock in my personal preference I would rather have the QD sockets on the receiver.

[@slinginleaddownrange223]

Looks like pws was studying someone else's homework

[@Sir_Godz]

what happened to porn stash bloke?

[@BlokeontheRange]

Children: "That doesn't look like dad!" Though now I know if I ever need a costume, I can do a mean Gene Takovic / Saul Goodman!

[@petrimakela5978]

I'm still heartbroken to see it go

[@kenadams2124]

Great Job you have done here. Any Chance for German Sportschützen to enjoy this awesome Product?

[@BlokeontheRange]

Hopefully

[@george2113]

Will the gas plug come out after carbon fouling

[@BlokeontheRange]

Should do. Might require a little persuasion though if it's really baked-on.

[@peterconnan5631]

Would love to know how that last problem was identified...

[@JackTagar]

You forgot AR18 at the beginning (short stroke gas piston, rotating bolt riding on a rail)

[@BlokeontheRange]

I was meaning receiver rails rather than rods if I remember correctly

[@MerihemXx]

It's like the Colt LE-901 MARC in concept. The way it can be readily converted from 5.56 to 7.62 with just a couple parts.

[@cedhome7945]

You have to ask yourself what the end game is when so many similar products already exist. Is this better because it's lighter stronger more accurate cheaper etc ...best way to test this is hand a few to a bunch of new recruits and see if they survive. I am not against new products and I hope this does well. What does the hive mind think of the new knights armament for the new British rangers ?

[@kanrakucheese]

5.56/7.62x51 is the main design goal, but have they explored anything like 7.62x39 or 5.45 (even as a distant "would be nice to be possible")? I presume .300 blk is doable, just not worth mentioning due to how converting from 5.56 is possible on most platforms.

[@BlokeontheRange]

5.45 doesn't make much sense, but yes, they are looking at doing other calibres which fit in the platform (6.5 CM on the big end for instance).

[@petrimakela5978]

​@@BlokeontheRangeI would like to see some around .338 cartridge for that. Or the 8.6BLK specifically

[@jackmatthews939]

The Charging handle location will screw with the tacticool gear.

[@BlokeontheRange]

You can put it on the other side too :)

[@jackmatthews939]

@@BlokeontheRange Needs a FAL style charging handle - even the Americans have now finally seen the light :) Otherwise it looks great, trust the Finns to make a cool rifle.

[@ccfmfg]

If the Stock can't be folded them you can buy better guns.

[@F1lmtwit]

Can you show us on the doll where the garbage level PSA AR touched you? 8-)

[@johnqpublic2718]

There's always at least one pdf file in the comments

[@user-xq4lp6ho1i]

Lol. I would also like to know. Maybe I just need a better adult. 😢