FAMAS

The FAMAS (French: Fusil d'Assaut de la Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne, Assault Rifle by St-Étienne Arms Factory), is an assault rifle firing the 5.56 x 45mm NATO cartridge from a 25-round or 30-round box magazine. It is the standard-issue weapon for the French military and the Next-Generation Special Forces. Its distinctive shape has earned it the affectionate nickname Le Clairon ("Trumpet") among troops.

Information
The FAMAS is of the bullpup configuration, meaning that the action and magazine are located behind the grip instead of in front of it. This means that the FAMAS can be of shorter overall length (comparable to a carbine) despite its 488mm barrel, allowing for a compact yet accurate firearm. The downside is that the FAMAS cannot be shot from the left shoulder without modification (by changing the extractor claw from left to right) and reloading may prove to be awkward at times.

The FAMAS variant used by the French military is the F1, while the Genome Army use the G1; an intermediate model that retained the original 25-round magazines while introducing the full handguard. Eventually, the G1 became the G2; an export model able to accept NATO standard STANAG magazines used by the M16 and other NATO firearms.

History
During the Shadow Moses Incident, the FAMAS was the standard assault rifle of the Sons of Big Boss. Liquid later utilized a FAMAS during the Jeep chase in the Supply Route nearing the end of the mission.

Metal Gear Solid
The FAMAS first appears in the original Metal Gear Solid, in which it is used by the enemy soldiers. The FAMAS is not normally used by any U.S. special forces, since their standard issue weapon is usually the M4A1. The FAMAS was most likely chosen for the game due to the its blocky design being easier to render with the PlayStation engine, much like the SOCOM. The M4 has a more cylinder-based design, which would have been difficult to make with a 32-bit 3D graphic system.

A FAMAS rifle can be located in the Armory of the tank hangar after the player procures the Lv.2 card key from Kenneth Baker. While it is slightly less powerful per-shot than the SOCOM, its rapid rate of fire makes it an effective weapon against multiple enemy soldiers and against Psycho Mantis. It is the only fully-automatic weapon in the game, though its use is restricted due to the noise it creates. In the 2003 GameCube remake, The Twin Snakes, the FAMAS is equipped with a laser sight for added precision.

Later appearances
"A 5.56mm caliber assault rifle. The first model was adopted by the French army in 1978. The chamber is situated behind the grip in bullpup style, giving the rifle a short total length comparable to a carbine model despite its 500mm barrel. This shape has earned the FAMAS the nickname "Trumpet.""

- Weapon description from Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

Besides its appearance in Metal Gear Solid/The Twin Snakes, the FAMAS is only later seen in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus. At one point, it was to have been included in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty: early trailers show Snake firing a FAMAS aboard the tanker USS Discovery. It is not known why it was omitted, or why Metal Gear Solid 4's expansive weapon list did not include it; however, given the stringent quality control placed on Japanese miniature company Tamiya by GIAT, over their model of the LeClerc, it is possible that the manufacturer declined to allow it to be in any further games. On the other hand, with MGS4's CQC inclusion, the bullpup configuration would make it unable to perform SMG/rifle CQC, since the ammo mag clip would go through the player.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid
 * Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
 * Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

Notes and references
FAMAS