Vektor H5
Denel Land Systems (formerly Lyttelton Engineering Works) · Rifle · Discontinued · 1992
Also known as: H5, Vektor H5 Pump-Action
Overview
The Vektor H5 is a pump-action rifle chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO (.223 Remington), developed by Vektor (the small-arms division of South Africa's Denel) in the early 1990s as a civilian adaptation of the R4/R5 Galil-derived service rifles. Because semi-automatic rifle permits were difficult to obtain under South African law at the time while manually operated rifles were far less strictly regulated, Vektor deleted the gas system of the R4 and added a sliding forend pump mechanism to cycle the action by hand. It retained as many standard Galil parts as possible for economical manufacture, fed from the 35-round military magazine, and shipped with scope rails rather than iron sights. It was offered with a long sporting barrel as well as shorter barrels matching the R4 and R5, in both wood-furniture sporting and black tactical configurations.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 4000 g (141.1 oz) |
| Barrel Length | 340 mm (13.39") |
| Action Type | Pump Action |
| Firing Mechanism | Hammer Fired |
| Trigger Type | Single Action |
| Magazine Capacity | 35 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Detachable Box |
| Effective Range | 300 m (328 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Rifling Twist | 305 mm (12.01") |
| Number of Grooves | 6 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- 5.56x45mm NATO · primary · 5.56 NATO — also known as .223 Remington, 5.56mm NATO
Features
- Firing modes: Repeating
- Feed systems: Detachable Box Magazine
- Safety mechanisms: Manual Safety
- Features: Pump Action Forend, Scope Rails, Folding Stock Option, Thumbhole Stock Option, Galil Parts Commonality
Base model
Service history
Operators
- South African private security firms · adopted 1992
Production
Production years: 1992-2000
Production ceased around 2000 as the regulatory advantage of a manually operated rifle over a semi-automatic disappeared in South Africa.
Origin
Country of origin: South Africa
Designer: Vektor (Lyttelton Engineering Works)
Discontinued: 2000
Notes
Entered production in 1992. The H5 was popular with private security firms until the civilian market for it largely disappeared around 2000, when changes to South African gun law made semi-automatic permits easier to obtain. No iron sights were fitted; rifles were typically sold with an inexpensive 4x32 scope on the integral rail.
Background
The H5 exists purely because of a legal loophole: in 1990s South Africa a pump-action rifle was treated far more leniently than a semi-automatic, so Vektor turned its gas-operated R4 service rifle into a hand-cycled pump gun to put a Galil-pattern rifle into the hands of civilians and security guards who could not easily license the full-auto-derived original.