What Is A Bullpup?

The term Bullpup describes a gun with the magazine and the action located behind the trigger. Bullpups have a shorter stock than a conventional rifle but the same length barrel. This gives all the advantages of a regular rifle including the accuracy and velocity – with the added benefit of a lighter gun with more maneuverability.

The original idea for a bullpup was patented in 1901 in England as the Thorneycroft carbine. It was seven and a half inches shorter and weighed ten percent less than the standard Lee-Enfield rifle, which was the standard issue weapon of the British army at that time. Sadly under test conditions it was found unsuitable due to inefficiency and far too much recoil.

It wasn’t until the late 1960s that the Austrian company Steyr-Daimler-Puch developed the first successful bullpup. This model was first used by the Austrian army in 1978 and is known as the StG 77. It has been in continuous production since then and is the standard small arm of the Austrian armed forces and many other armed forces across the world, including the UK, Australia, China, Israel, India, plus many national police units as well.

The main benefit of the bullpup is how much shorter the overall length of the weapon is without losing any barrel length. This means there is no loss of shot velocity or accuracy, but allows for use in much tighter spaces than rifles with the same barrel length.

The bullpup can also be carried easier and is of course easier to hide. In many cases the reduction in stock length also equates to a lighter weight than a rifle with the same barrel length.

There is also the argument that as it’s an overall shorter weapon, the bullpup can reach the shoulder quicker making the users reaction time shorter. Plus the shorter design means it is generally held closer to the body, which leads to less fatigue. It can also be fired from inside a vehicle, which can be very handy when hunting on cold, wet days.

Due to the design of the bullpup, the shooters’ face is much nearer to the action, which can cause issues with noise. It is also claimed that due to the necessary trigger linkage, bullpups tend to have less accurate triggers. Another criticism is that Bullpups are awkward for left-handed shooters, because the side lever is in their way. With that being said, the above points might have been true in the old days, and for military grade weapons – but all modern bullpup air rifles now have very accurate triggers, ambidextrous stocks, no recoil, and due to PCP technology are also pretty much silent.

Bullpup guns are trusted by many military powers throughout the world because they are lighter, shorter, easier to carry, and easy to use in tight spaces. With the added advantage of no loss in accuracy or velocity. When you buy a Bullpup air rifle, you are getting all of the aforementioned benefits as well as a gun that truly stands head and shoulders above anything else on the market.