The Multi-shot Accessory Underbarrel Launcher, or MAUL, is a
combat shotgun
A combat shotgun is a shotgun issued by militaries for warfare. The earliest shotguns specifically designed for combat were the trench guns or trench shotguns issued in World War I. While limited in range, the multiple projectiles typically us ...
designed by defunct
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
-based company
Metal Storm
Metal Storm Limited was a research and development company based in Brisbane, Australia, that specialized in electronically initiated superposed load weapons technology and owned the proprietary rights to the electronic ballistics technolog ...
.
Design
The MAUL is a shotgun based on Metal Storm's electronically initiated superposed-load technology. In this concept multiple projectiles, in this case of
12-gauge bore, are loaded nose to tail in a single gun barrel with propellant packed between them. Each projectile is ignited sequentially using an electrically fired primer: the electrical charge is provided by a battery.
The weapon fires once per trigger pull: while in effect this is
semi-automatic, in strict terms it is not as no energy from firing is used to automate any part of the weapon's operating cycle. Designed to be used as either a standalone weapon or an underslung module of a
combat rifle such as
M4 or
M16[
] via the use of
Picatinny rail
The Picatinny rail ( or ), or Pic rail for short, also known as a MIL-STD-1913 rail, 1913 rail or STANAG 2324 rail (cancelled), is a military standard rail interface system that provides a mounting platform for firearm accessories. It was o ...
, it can also be used in a standalone configuration through the addition of a pistol grip, folding stock or both.
The central module is made of carbon fiber, while the barrels are steel.
The resulting weapon weighs less than ,.
In its underslung configuration, it was boresight-aligned to the host gun's sighting system.
It was intended to fire a range of loads; buckshot, slug,
Door breaching
Door breaching is a process used by military, police, or emergency services to force open closed or locked doors. A wide range of methods are available depending on the door's opening direction (inward or outward), construction materials, etc., ...
slugs, and several kinds of less-lethal loads including
blunt-force,
electro-muscular incapacitation and
frangible
A material is said to be frangible if through deformation it tends to break up into fragments, rather than deforming elastically and retaining its cohesion as a single object. Common crackers are examples of frangible materials, while fresh bre ...
nose chemical and marker munitions.
Loads were intended to be provided in their own munition tubes, with the operator switching tubes to change ammunition type.
Metal Storm reported the first shoulder-firing of the MAUL during tests on 24 April 2009 at its test facilities in Chantilly, Virginia.
Contracts
*: , Metal Storm signed a contract with the Correctional Services Minister Tony Aimo to supply 500 standalone MAULs and 10,000 less-lethal barrels for use by correctional services officers.
, this contract was awaiting ratification from the PNG government.
See also
*
Knight's Armament Company Masterkey
The Masterkey is a door breaching shotgun system manufactured by Knight's Armament Company.
The Masterkey project was initiated during the 1980s to provide assault rifles with a potent built-in door breaching tool. Individual soldiers were oft ...
- an originator for the underslung shotgun concept
*
M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System
The M26-MASS (Modular Accessory Shotgun System) is a shotgun configured as an underbarrel ancillary weapon attachment mounted onto the handguard of a service rifle, usually the M16 rifle, M16/M4 carbine, M4 family of Military of the United States, ...
- comparable underslung shotgun adopted by the US Army
References
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
Trial and research firearms of Australia
Shotguns
Australian inventions