Tag Archives: 5.56

Beretta Showcases Titan Concept Rifle as NARP Takes Center Stage at L’Aquila

The storied gunmaker released its one-off Titan rifle this week as the Beretta NARP platform was featured at the head of Army celebrations in Italy.

The Titan is a semiautomatic sporting rifle using a short-stroke gas piston system and chambered in 6.5 Grendel. As such, it takes cues from the company’s select-fire NARP series carbine, which has been under development since 2018.

Using an enhanced two-stage trigger for a crisp, predictable break, the Titan is a bespoke release for sure, using a titanium upper receiver, a magnesium lower receiver, a carbon‑fiber stock and forend, and a forged‑carbon pistol grip.

The Titan is unlike anything Beretta has ever released as a rifle. (Photos: Beretta)

It incorporates magnesium, titanium, and carbon fiber in its construction.

The exclusive grey camo pattern applied to the receiver subtly incorporates the date 1526, the year of the earliest verified Beretta firearms contact.

The Titan is shown with Steiner optics, including an MPS enclosed micro red dot atop a M7Xi series 2.9-20×50 riflescope.

Its custom-fitted case is built with a carbon‑fiber shell and a refined Alcantara interior.

We profiled how the iconic Italian gunmaker produces such one-of-a-kind firearms via the company’s  Pietro Beretta Custom Atelier, where dreams come true.

With semi-auto NARPs in the form of the Titan at least conceptually in existence, a production model for the U.S. market seems very possible in the coming months.

NARP marches at the head of the parade

Released in 2023, the NARP has been a hit at arms expos worldwide, and we had a chance to go loud with one on Beretta’s range in Italy in 2024. Offered in 5.56 NATO, .300 BLK, and 6.5 Grendel, a large-action 7.62 variant is also under development.

We had a chance to fire the NARP on full-auto in 2024 and found it very controllable. The mag shown is for a Beretta 93R that we were also shooting that day. Sigh. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

Compare the 6.5 version of the NARP, the Praetorian, below, with the Titan in the first part of this post.

Beretta NARP Praetorian configuration 6.5 at Milol Paris

It has been short-listed for Project Grayburn, the replacement program for the British Army’s SA80 rifle, and earlier this month was seen in the hands of elite Italian Army units.

Folgore brigade paratroopers with the Beretta NARP at the 165th anniversary celebration of the Italian Army in L’Aquila in May 2026. (Photo: Italian Army)

Alpini mountain troops seen with the Beretta NARP in L’Aquila in May 2026. (Photo: Italian Army).

Beretta Defense Technologies confirmed to Jane’s Defense earlier this year that the Italian Army ordered 7,000 NARP rifles chambered in 5.56 NATO with 14.5-inch barrels.

It is believed the rifle will replace Beretta ARX-160s as part of the modernization plan of the Italian Armed Forces. Speaking of which, the same troops shown with the NARP this month were wearing the new Altimetrico F-based Mimetismo multi-terreno modello 2025 (Multi-terrain Camouflage Model 2025), camouflage pattern, which was developed by the Italian Army in collaboration with Beretta.

For comparison, check out the image below of Italian troops with the current Vegetato camo pattern and Beretta ARX-160s seen in Rome last week by Guns.com staff.

What were we doing in Italy? You will find out soon enough!

(Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

‘Father of the PDW’ Passes: Mack Gwinn Jr, Dies at 79

Florida-born Mack W. Gwinn, Jr., the son of a retired Army officer, joined the U.S. Army Special Forces in 1961 and served until 1972, a period that included seven deployments to Vietnam, earning several Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star in the process.

Then, on return stateside following the war, he developed the Bushmaster Arm Pistol. The concept, a pistol-sized gas piston firearm that used an intermediate round rather than a pistol caliber, could rightly be described as one of the first personal defense weapons and predated the initial crop of large format AR handguns such as the OA-93 by a generation.

Moving on from Bushmaster, Gwinn went on to take out several patents on magazines as well as design and develop concepts for numerous other firearms applications including the SSP-86 pistol (see the Magnum Research Lone Eagle), developed the QCB system that FN used for the modern M2HB/M3 .50 cal, and lots of other neat stuff.

Capt. Mack W. Gwinn, Jr. (U.S. Army, Ret.), 79, died on March 11, 2024, at the Maine Veterans’ Hospital in Togus.

Dat bayonet, doe

You have to admit the PEQ-15, bayonet and mono-pod forward grip combo on an old-school M16 with a steel mag warms your heart

SOUTHWEST ASIA (Sept. 17, 2015) U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Jonathan Ripoyla moves to his next firing position during a bi-lateral training exercise. Ripoyla is a rifleman with India Company, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The 15th MEU, embarked aboard the ships of the Essex Amphibious Ready Group, is a forward-deployed, flexible sea-based Marine air-ground task force capable of engaging with regional partners and maintaining regional security. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Jamean Berry/Released)

SOUTHWEST ASIA (Sept. 17, 2015) U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Jonathan Ripoyla moves to his next firing position during a bi-lateral training exercise. Ripoyla is a rifleman with India Company, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The 15th MEU, embarked aboard the ships of the Essex Amphibious Ready Group, is a forward-deployed, flexible sea-based Marine air-ground task force capable of engaging with regional partners and maintaining regional security. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Jamean Berry/Released)

Happy St. Paddy’s: Those ‘red-headed’ AR18 rifles

And here is a bonus in honor of all those who wore green to work today…

Ireland never really had that much of a firearms industry, but when you mention the AR18 across the pond, you should know that it was (almost) the most iconic rifle of “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland during the last part of the 20th century

female ira terrorist with AR180 ar-18 ar18 rifle

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