Meet The USAF AR Style Survival Gun – the GAU-5A

June 14, 2023  
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While in the skies above, pilots in modern military aircraft often have no shortage of weapons literally at their fingertips, but a pilot who finds himself on the ground behind enemy lines is worse than a bird with clipped wings. During the First and Second World Wars, the best a pilot could have in the way of a personal defense weapon or survival gun was a sidearm. Later, during the early stages of the Cold War, the United States Air Force relied on what were some rather odd survival rifles. Let’s take a look at the various survival rifles over the years, leading up to the AR 5 and the GAU-5A.

Survival Guns Over the Years

M4 Survival Rifle

These included the M4 Survival Rifle, a .22 caliber bolt-action rifle that was developed by Harrington & Richardson from their commercial M265 sporting rifle. It featured a sheet metal frame with a telescoping wire buttstock. It was, simply put, “better than nothing,” but it was mainly intended as a survival gun to allow a downed aircrew to forage wild game for food rather than to deal with a hostile enemy.

M4 Survival Rifle - WWII.

Developed after World War II for downed aircrews, the M4 Survival Rifle was better than nothing. But it wouldn’t be a pilot’s first choice when facing an enemy soldier! (Photo: Creative Commons/Public Domain)

M6 Air Crew Survival Weapon

The M6 Air Crew Survival Weapon was another weapon that was developed by the Ithaca Gun Company and the Springfield Armory as rifle/shotgun designed for pilots who flew over the Arctic and other uninhabited areas. Again, this aircrew survival rifle was more for foraging than defending, which prompted the Air Force to explore other options.

M6 Survival Rifle - USAF survival kit.

Developed by the Air Material Command after World War II, the M6 Aircrew Survival Weapon was designed to fit into the standard USAF survival kit. It was issued to pilots flying over the Arctic and other uninhabited regions. (Photo: Creative Commons/Public Domain)

AR 5 and AR 7 Explorer

From that came the AR 5, a bolt action takedown rifle that was still chambered for the .22 Hornet cartridge, and that led to the ArmaLite AR 7 Explorer, a semi-automatic firearm in .22 Long Rifle caliber that was developed by Eugene Stoner. Introduced in 1959 it is still in use today as an aircrew as well as civilian survival gun. While a generally reliable firearm – so much so that it has been adopted around the world, including by the Israeli Air Force — the AR 7 was lacking in stopping power.

AR-5A survival rifle

ArmaLite AR 5 is a lightweight bolt-action takedown rifle chambered for the .22 Hornet cartridge. The USAF adopted it as the MA-1 aircrew survival gun. (Photo: USAF)

AR-7 with magazines

The AR 7, or Armalite Rifle 7, was designed by American firearms designer Eugene Stoner, who is most associated with the development of the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle that was adopted by the US military as the M16. The civilian AR 7’s intended markets today are backpackers and other recreational users as a takedown utility rifle. (Photo: Creative Commons/Public Domain)

GAU-5/A

Hence the United States Air Force turned to another of Stoner’s designs – namely the AR-15 platform that was adopted by the U.S. military as the M-16. The Air Force had been the first branch of the service to adopt the AR-15. They soon decided to adopt a carbine version with a 10.5-inch barrel and 4-inch flash hider. The Air Force, unlike the Army or Marines, had no naming convention for small arms and simply put the weapon in its aircraft gun category. Thus was born the GAU-5/A. It became the standard issue weapon for Security Police dog handlers and other specialized personnel. GA was meant to denote an automatic gun while U was for “unit” hence: “Gun, Automatic, Unit.”

It gets confusing that the U.S. Army adopted a nearly identical version of the weapon, which Colt –then the sole maker of the CAR-15 line of military firearms – called the XM177E1. Both versions select fire with semi- and full-automatic fire modes, and each was officially classified by Colt as submachine guns. This was despite the fact that these still were chambered in the .223 Remington cartridge rather than a pistol cartridge that is typically used in submachine guns.

XM177-style rifles have recently seen a resurgence as carry-handle carbines and “retro rifles” become increasingly popular.

USAF GAU-5A

The original Air Force version of the CAR-15 Submachine Gun without the forward assist. (Photo: Springfield Armory/Public Domain)

GUU-5/P

The Air Force’s GAU-5 was updated as the GUU-5/P, which featured a longer 14.5-inch barrel with a 1-in-12 twist. Otherwise, the firearm kept the modular design that had made the CAR-15s popular with the military.

GUU-5P survival gun

The GAU-5 was upgraded to the GUU-5P for use as an anti-personnel weapon. (Photo: USAF/Public Domain)

Model 608 CAR-15 Survival Rifle

During the Vietnam War, the Air Force also developed the Model 608 CAR-15 Survival Rifle, which was meant for use by downed aircrews. This model, which resembled the Colt Commando, also featured a 10-inch barrel. Its modular design allowed it to be broken down into two subassemblies and stowed in a seat pack.

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GAU-5A

In recent years the Air Force has again considered the benefits of a modular takedown weapon. This has included the GAU-5A. The new version is a modified M-4 carbine, the same type that is currently used by the U.S. Army and United States Marine Corps, as well as Air Force security personnel. This version is a modified “takedown”. It can break into two major pieces for storage within an aircraft that includes the ACES II ejection seat.

GAU-5A survival gun

These new versions were designed by the Air Force Gunsmith Shop, which was first formed in 1958 to repair and refurbish small arms for the Air Force. The crafty Airmen at the Gunsmith Shop have made numerous modifications to the M4. One modification was replacing the standard 14.5-inch barrel with a 12.5-inch to reduce the overall length. This was done in part to ensure that it can fit in the aforementioned ejection seat. That is no ordinary barrel but rather the specialized Cry Havoc Tactical Quick Release Barrel (QRB) kit, which allows the gun to neatly break into two pieces.

Survival rifle: The GAU-5A weighs under seven pounds can be put together in 30 seconds.

The GAU-5A weighs just under seven pounds and can be put together in about 30 seconds. (Photo: USAF)

The weapon weighs less than seven pounds and can be put together in just about 30 seconds. That might still be more time than most pilots would like to spend on the ground in hostile territory. Still, it will give those flyers some much-appreciated firepower.

Unlike the original survival weapons that were primarily only good for foraging, the GAU-5A fires the high-velocity 5.56mm round so it can take down large game. More importantly, it can take down any enemy soldier who finds a pilot with the unfortunate luck of being shot down.

To date, the Air Force’s Gunsmith Shop has built and shipped out some 2,700 of the new weapons. The cost to develop the system was around $2.6 million. So, the GAU-5A price tag is less than $1,000 or what a reasonably decent civilian AR-15 would cost.

This article originally aired in May 2020.

 

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Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu

About the Author

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based freelance writer who regularly covers firearms related topics and military history. As a reporter, his work has appeared in dozens of magazines, newspapers, and websites. Among those are Homeland Security Today, Armchair General, Military Heritage, The Mag Life, Newsweek, The Federalist, AmmoLand, Breach-Bang-Clear, Newsweek, RECOILweb, Wired, and many (many) others. He has collected military small arms and military helmets most of his life, and just recently navigated his first NFA transfer to buy his first machine gun. He is co-author of the book A Gallery of Military Headdress, which was published in February 2019. It is his third book on the topic of military hats and helmets.

7 Comments

  1. oldgandy

    Nice article. Filled in some knowledge gaps for me. Being a long time owner of .22 LR, .22 WMR, and three .22 Hornet single shot rifles and one Hornet pistol, I am looking forward to buying a Hornet bolt action rifle. They each have their purpose, and none of them are meant for big game hunting, but they are fun to shoot!

  2. Frank Vazquez

    Sometimes people are just freaking dumb. In all the years that American pilots have been flying in wars, you’d think they’d have been able to design and build a short and light rifle with decent firepower.

    If I was going to equip aircraft with firearms, I’d consider giving each pilot a pistol and maybe two carbine length M-16/M-4/AR-15 in case they do have to fight. But I’d also test the pilots shooting abilities (This would be for their personal benefit) and offer them a few choices.

    Some may feel light and compact is ideal (.22, 9mm) while others may think more power such as the 5.56 or .308 would be preferable and some might want a rifle with power and a bit more range.

    I’d say let them choose since they’re the ones who might be running for their lives. It’s better than guessing what factors or features would best suit them.

  3. Chuck

    I don’t understand why the .22 WMR would be an improvement over the .22 Hornet. The WMR is rimfire whereas the Hornet is center fire and reloadable. I haven’t consulted any tables to determine the bullet weight/muzzle velocity of both cartridges but just off the tope of my head it seems to me there isn’t that much difference. While I have never in my 70 years of shooting had a misfire in the tens of thousands of .22 rounds I have sent downrange in those 70 years from reports, others have had more misfires from rimfire ammo than center fire ammo. I cannot comment as to the validity of those reports. Considering the millions of .22LR ammo fired each year, the number of misfires reported due to ammo failure seems to me to not even be a tick on an analysis graph.

    • Russ

      *You’re right, a choice per mission, would be ideal.
      I’m thinking about the balance in ammo, between effective and max carry.
      Also platforms with minimal recoil to stay on target.
      So a Kriss Vector in 10mm, and/or P-90, with a FiveseveN Pistol.
      But you do “understand”; the military picks the cheapest bid to equip, and arm our Soldiers, no choices, or most effective, and never the best.

      • Russ

        I’m not able to delete or edit my comment that was made in reply to Frank Vazquez, not Chuck…….so there it sits confusedly retarded.

        Why they put the reply tab at the top of the comment is beyond me.

  4. Mike

    The 22 hornet version was the ar5 and it was bolt action not semi auto.

  5. GomeznSA

    Nice article – BTW – I’ve emailed Henry several times suggesting that they make an AR# chambered in .22WMR – surely if they could make one in .22Hornet it could be done. Plus it would resolve (to some extent) the power issue. Maybe posting it here will get them moving 😉

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