Kbs Wz. 1996 Beryl (Picatinny Rails Attached)
The Kbs Wz. 1996 Beryl is a Polish rifle chambered in 5.56 x 45 mm NATO, and was designed and manufactured in the Lucznik Arms Factory, Radom. It is one of Poland's standard issue rifles and is intended to replace the 5.45x39mm Kbs Wz. 1988 Tantal in service.
Development[]
In 1995, the Polish Armed Forces sought to develop a 5.56mm assault rifle to replace the existing Tantal. By December 1995, 11 prototypes had been produced. In 1997 the weapon was evaluated and accepted into service as the 5.56mm karabinek szturmowy wz. 1996.
Design[]
The Beryl's design and operating system resemble that of the Tantal, and the main differences are the result of chambering the slightly larger 5.56mm cartridge. It's barrel can mount a flash suppressor unlike the earlier Tantal. In addition, the suppressor can be used to fire rifle grenades. It is also tapered at the fore end to hold a bayonet.
The tubular metal stock found on wz. 96a/b is folding and has a recoil pad on its end. There is also a telescoping, non-folding stock found on wz. 96c variants that also have a recoil pad on its end.
The handguard is angled to enhance the supporting hand's grip. It has a pair of notches which enable the mounting of the Wz. 1974 rifle grenade launcher.
Latest versions of the Beryl, the wz. 96c, were available with picatinny optic mounts, picatinny quad-rail handguards, and a telescoping stock that lost its ability to side-fold like previous generations. These were commonly outfitted with various EOTech sights, vertical and angled foregrips, and occasionally lights and lasers. This variant also saw the adoption of a more modern sling, opposed to the wz. 96a/b variants that were commonly seen with older, Soviet era style slings.
A carbine variant of the Beryl exists and is known as the Mini-Beryl. This variant is a based on the Onyks, which like the Tantal, was a 5.45x39 variant.
Users[]
-Poland (The Kbs Wz. 1996 Beryl is one of Poland's standard issue rifles)
Service[]
It has seen action in Poland's deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia / Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Lithuania.