I’m Gen-X. We’re that crotchety group of people who grew up at the tail end of the Cold War. We survived Love, American Style, disco music, the start of the AIDS crisis, and some truly horrific car designs like the Mustang 2.
Shitty, and sometimes cool but incredibly weird design wasn’t limited to the car industry. The firearms industry saw a couple decades that were an explosion of (theoretically) good ideas and designs. The AR’s spot as the default rifle in the US was FAR from being cemented. The AR-18, G3, and other famous rifles were joined by the HAC-7 and Bushmaster Assault Rifle were all a part of the crazy designs coming out. My favorite of all was probably the Bushmstser Assault Pistol.
It was a weird time to be alive
The 1970s and 80s were an experimental time in the world of firearms design—a period when engineers and dreamers pushed boundaries, often blurring the line between innovation and impracticality. Born in the early 1970s, this compact weapon looked like something straight out of Star Wars, and for good reason—it was unlike anything else on the market.
The Bushmaster Armpistol was developed as a personal defense weapon for pilots and paratroopers, combining elements of a pistol and a carbine into one radical package. This, of course, is before PDW was a thing…well before. Its bullpup-style design, with the magazine and action located behind the trigger, gave it an incredibly short overall length for its 5.56mm caliber. In theory, it offered the firepower of a rifle in the footprint of a large pistol. Having owned one, however, it was clunky, awkward as hell to reload, and prone to reliability issues.
Cool, but did it work
Like many experimental designs of its era, the Armpistol’s innovation outpaced its practicality. In plain English, it had cool factor sure but it jammed a lot. Still, it was part of a creative wave that produced everything from folding subguns to space-age plastic rifles. The firearm industry was searching for the next leap forward—and while the Bushmaster Armpistol ultimately failed commercially, it left behind a fascinating legacy of imagination.
And here’s the thing: for all its quirks, the Bushmaster Armpistol is an absolute joy to shoot. There’s something charming about its sci-fi silhouette, the thump of its recoil, and the way it makes you feel like you’re holding a prop from Return of the Jedi. It’s clumsy, yes—but it’s also fun, futuristic, and undeniably cool. Trust me, once someone on the range sees you kant the design to the right or left, all eyes were on you.
The Bushmaster Armpistol reminds us that sometimes failure isn’t the end—it’s just proof that someone dared to dream differently. Speaking of dreaming differently, the amazing people over at Hydra Arms, a company owned by Matt Gwinn Jr., manufacture the BMP-23, carrying on the legacy of the crazy pistol and (weird IMO ARs) created. They are, of course at the time of this writing, $2,300. Still, as fun as they are to shoot and own, it’s very well worth it.
