Channeling the spirit of the Son Tay Raiders (VIDEO)

The Military Arms Channel goes in-depth with Troy Industry’s faithful semi-auto Vietnam send-up of an Air Force GAU-5/A/A rifle.

The Air Force’s slightly modded version of the XM117E2 Commando Carbine was used in the epic 1970 raid, known as Operation Ivory Coast, of the prisoner of war camp in Sơn Tây, North Vietnam. That hand-picked force of 56 U.S. Army Special Forces raiders were largely armed with the GAU-5/A/A.

Though the raid was a strategic failure as the Vietnamese had moved the prisoners due to flooding weeks before, the operation was considered a “tactical success.”

Troy’s clone is so close to the real thing it even comes with U.S. Government replicated markings, a period-correct canvas sling with para-cord attachments, a 4.5-inch flash suppressor with the “Grenade Ring” and is very handy at just 30-inches overall (with the stock collapsed) and a 6-pound weight.

There’s even the “auto” marking, though it isn’t due to the Hughes Amendment.

Maybe someday.

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