Tag Archives: Army contract

Army Still Buying Aluminum M4 Mags…

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This week, D&H Industries of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin was awarded a big contract from the Army to supply it with M16 magazines.

The $9,999,990 firm-fixed-price contract came from bids solicited via the Internet with one received. The award, issued Wednesday via the Army Contracting Command located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, has a planned completion date of Aug. 29, 2029.

D&H, a metal stamping and fabrication company with a diverse portfolio in several sectors, dates back to 1937. Before 1997, it was known as LaBelle, and was one of the early magazine producers of M-16 magazines for the US Military and law enforcement agencies.

LaBelles are sought-after by collectors and folks in states with AWBs as, since they were typically made before 1997, are “pre-ban” in most cases

Their current line of mil-spec aluminum magazines, cage-coded Q4TQ4, are laser cut and Teflon coated and are often sold as OEM mags with many standard M4/AR-15 style platforms.

Although the Army is currently moving to field its Next Generation of Squad Weapons in a common new 6.8mm hybrid cartridge to replace the service’s 5.56 NATO small arms in coming years, the new guns will be going to close contact units such as infantry and special ops, leaving the rest of the Joes with legacy hardware. Thus, the M4 series will likely remain in use for generations, and the Soldier hasn’t yet been born that will load the last aluminum-bodied STANAG mag.

FN Keeps Raking in that Sweet, Sweet, Machine Gun Money

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FN had several advanced models on display at last month’s SHOT Show in Las Vegas.

Including an MK48, or Maximi, which blends the M249 SAW/Minimi program with a 7.62 NATO caliber.

Developed in conjunction with SOCOM, it only weighs 18 pounds. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

FN also had one of its new Evolys platforms on display, which offers either a 12-pound belt-fed machine gun in 5.56 NATO or a 14-pound model in 7.62 NATO.

I’ll take 10 for starters, please. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

It seems to be good money if you can get it. Speaking of which, the U.S. Army Contracting Command just awarded FN another $50 million contract for M240 Lima models.

Of note, the company set up its U.S. franchise in 1981 specifically to make M240s for Uncle Sam, and the line is still going strong 40 years later.

Army Publically Reaffirms Their Love of the M240

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The adage for the past couple of decades among Joes (skip this if you are sensitive as it may be NSFW) is that the 5056 NATO-caliber M249 SAW is like a high-maintenance first wife: you have to pamper and court her and maybe, just maybe, she will work out. The 7.62 NATO-chambered M240 on the other hand, is just a dirty whore: no matter what you do to her, she’ll keep on working through the night, rain or shine.

Thus endith the addage.

There may be some smoke to that, as, in my experience, I have never seen any but a factory fresh and over-lubed SAW run a full 200-round belt without a stoppage under field conditions whereas I have also seen some downright grungy and funky M240s chew through belt after belt. This may be why the Marines have largely dumped the SAW for the M27 IAR and the Army is looking to move on to the NGSW-AR to put the M249 in the rearview.

As further reinforcement to the M240 not going anywhere any time soon, Picatinny Arsenal just issued a five-year $92 million contract for more deliveries of that beautiful FN-made GPMG.

I got to see how the magic happens on FN’s 240 lines back in 2019, and these things are built like a tank.