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19-565: The Beretta Mx4 Storm is the military version of the Cx4 Storm. It is capable of fully automatic fire, features a 12-inch barrel, and is most commonly seen with a 30-round 9mm magazine that is compatible with Beretta 92 pistols. Both the Cx4 Storm and Mx4 Storm feature a Picatinny rail on top of the receiver for mounting modern optics, and a tri-rail adapter for mounting flashlights, laser sights, grips and other accessories. The firearm also has some ambidextrous features, such as being able to switch

38-640: A ban. Sales of the CX4 Storm increased in Canada following the shooting, and in 2011, Beretta introduced a non-restricted (19" barrel) variant of the Cx4, making it more accessible. On 1 May 2020 the Canadian government reclassified the Cx4 Storm (in all its variants) to be prohibited firearms. Picatinny rail The 1913 rail ( MIL-STD-1913 rail) is an American rail integration system designed by Richard Swan that provides

57-436: A great variety of accessories and attachments are now available and the rails are no longer confined to the rear upper surface ( receiver ) of long arms but are either fitted to or machine milled into the upper, side or lower surfaces of all manner of weapons from crossbows to pistols and long arms up to and including anti-materiel rifles . Because of their many uses, 1913 rails and accessories have replaced iron sights in

76-417: A magwell sleeve and the magazine release button (sold separately). In Canada, the Cx4 Storm was the primary weapon used in the 2006 Dawson College shooting . The restricted class firearm had been acquired legally, and a coroner's inquest into the shooting recommended that all semi-automatic rifles be banned in Canada. The Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act passed in 2015 did not include a provision for such

95-561: A mounting platform for firearm accessories. It forms part of the NATO standard STANAG 2324 rail . It was originally used for mounting of scopes atop the receivers of larger caliber rifles . Once established as United States Military Standard , its use expanded to also attaching other accessories, such as: iron sights , tactical lights , laser aiming modules , night vision devices , reflex sights , holographic sights , foregrips , bipods , slings and bayonets . An updated version of

114-572: A patent for the rail in 1995. Swan has visited civil court against Colt and Troy industries regarding patent infringement. The courts found that Troy had developed rifles with rail mounting systems nearly identical to the MIL-STD-1913 rail. A metric -upgraded version of the 1913 rail, the STANAG 4694 NATO Accessory Rail , was designed in conjunction with weapon manufacturers like Aimpoint , Beretta , Colt , FN Herstal and Heckler & Koch , and

133-467: Is a rail interface system standard for mounting accessory equipment such as telescopic sights , tactical lights , laser aiming modules , night vision devices , reflex sights , foregrips , bipods and bayonets to small arms such as rifles and pistols. STANAG 4694 was approved by the NATO Army Armaments Group (NAAG), Land Capability Group 1 Dismounted Soldier (LCG1-DS) in 2009. It

152-604: Is at times called the 'Picatinny Rail', in reference to the Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey . Picatinny Arsenal works as a contracting office for small arms design (they contracted engineers to work on the M4 ). Picatinny Arsenal requested Swan's help in developing the rail, but did not draft blueprints or request paperwork for a patent. That credit goes to ARMS Inc's Richard Swanson, who conducted Research and Development and achieved

171-409: The MIL-STD-1913 rail and the similar Weaver rail are the size and shapes of the slots. Whereas the earlier Weaver rail is modified from a low, wide dovetail rail and has rounded slots, the 1913 rail has a more pronounced angular section and square-bottomed slots. This means that an accessory designed for a Weaver rail will fit onto a MIL-STD-1913 rail whereas the opposite might not be possible (unless

190-560: The Pentagon revealed plans to develop a NATO rail that provides electrical power to rail mounted accessories in the future. At least two proposals were presented: In 2012, the NATO Powered Rail working group selected the I-Rail design as the basis for further standardization. In 2015, STANAG 4740/AEP-90 "NATO Powered Accessory Rail" was ratified describing the rail. According to images on

209-590: The STANAG 4694 are: Another notable change is the recommendation that while in the Picatinny rail system the V-angles are used for the alignment and reference of the accessory, NATO recommends using the top surface instead. Initial NATO tests had shown that the Picatinny rail system did not provide good repeatability . Using the top surface as a reference and alignment of the grabbers provided excellent repeatability. In 2009,

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228-581: The Tworx website, the STANAG 4740 rail has the grabber sides of a normal NATO rail, but the top surface is hollowed out by two lines of metal contacts. As of January 2023 , no copies of the STANAG is available on the Internet, but patents from Tworx indicate that it uses a communication mechanism derived from Ethernet . The basic mode is based on 10BASE2 , but higher-data-rate encodings for application such as video streaming may also be available. NATO rail design

247-430: The design of many firearms and are available as aftermarket add-on parts for most actions that do not have them integrated, and they are also on the undersides of semi-automatic pistol frames and grips. Their usefulness has led to them being used in paintball , gel blasters and airsoft . NATO Accessory Rail The NATO Accessory Rail ( NAR ), defined by NATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG) 4694,

266-458: The end of the rail and then locked in place. It is similar in concept to the earlier commercial Weaver rail mount used to mount telescopic sights , but is taller and has wider slots at regular intervals along the entire length. The MIL-STD-1913 locking slot width is 0.206 in (5.23 mm). The spacing of slot centres is 0.394 in (10.01 mm) and the slot depth is 0.118 in (3.00 mm). The only significant difference between

285-559: The fire selector, charging handle, ejection port and magazine release to the left side. The Cx4 Storm was developed to be used in conjunction with Beretta semi-automatic pistols so that a person can carry one type of magazine for two types of firearms. For example, the magazines for the Beretta 92FS chambered in 9mm can be used in a Cx4 also chambered in 9mm. Conversion between 92/96, 8000/8040/8045 "Cougar" 9×19mm Parabellum/ .40 S&W /.45, and Px4 Storm magazines requires changing two parts,

304-709: The rail is adopted as a NATO standard as the STANAG 4694 NATO Accessory Rail . Attempts to standardize the Weaver rail designs date back to the early 1980s from work by the A.R.M.S. company and Richard Swanson. Specifications for the M16A2E4 rifle and the M4E1 carbine received type classification generic in December 1994. These were the M16A2 and the M4 modified with new upper receivers where rails replaced hand guards. The MIL-STD-1913 rail

323-458: The slots in the Weaver rail are modified to have square bottoms). While some accessories are designed to fit on both Weaver and 1913 rails, most 1913 compatible devices will not fit on Weaver rails. From May 2012, most mounting rails are cut to MIL-STD-1913 standards. Many accessories can be secured to a rail with a single spring-loaded retaining pin. Designed to mount heavy sights of various kinds,

342-504: Was approved by the NATO Army Armaments Group (NAAG), Land Capability Group 1 Dismounted Soldier (LCG1-DS) on May 8, 2009. Many firearm manufacturers include a MIL-STD-1913 rail system from factory, such as the Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle . The rail consists of a strip undercut to form a "flattened T" with a hexagonal top cross-section , with cross slots interspersed with flats that allow accessories to be slid into place from

361-573: Was published in March 2011. The NATO Accessory Rail is backwards-compatible with the Draft STANAG 2324/MIL-STD 1913 Picatinny rail , which dates back to 3 February 1995, and was designed in conjunction with weapon specialists like Aimpoint , Beretta , Colt Firearms , FN Herstal and Heckler & Koch . According to the NATO Army Armaments Group the differences between the MIL-STD 1913 Picatinny rail and

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