Tag Archives: M4

Welcome (back), M16A4

Posted on by 2 comments

The humble original M16 was originally Armalite’s AR-15, and was first ordered for military service with a contract issued to Colt Firearms in May 1962 for the purchase of early Model 01 rifles to be used by Air Force Security Police.

Note, these guns had waffle-pattern 20-round mags, no forward assist, a thin 1:14 twist barrel, and the early three-prong flash hider.

Fast forward to the XM16E1, which became the M16A1 in 1967, and you started to come closer to the standard Army/Marine rifle used in Vietnam and throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. It used a forward assist and a 1:12 twist barrel.

By 1983, the M16A2 came about, it had a thicker barrel in front of the front sight, a modified flash suppressor (closed on bottom), a new polymer buttstock (lighter and stronger), faster barrel twist (from 1:12 to 1:7), and a spent case deflector for left-hand users. Considered downright vintage by the Army and Marines, the Navy still sports them these days.

M16A2- check
M9 in drop leg holster- check
Body armor- um, about that……

By 1998, the M16A4 was in play, primarily for the Marines, which had a removable carry handle, a Picatinny top rail to allow for optics, short rails on the handguard for accessories, and a 20-inch barrel with a 1:7 RH twist rate.

Note the size difference between the compact M4 Carbine, top, and the full-length M16A4 rifle, bottom. (Photos: Department of Defense)

Since the GWOT kicked off in 2002, the big shift over the years has been to move from the full-length M16 family to the more compact M4/M4A1 carbine, with its collapsible rear stock and stubby 14-inch barrel, leaving the increasingly old-school style rifle as something of a relic today. Heck, the Army for the past couple years has been very actively working on replacing their 5.56 NATO rifles and SAWs with a new 6.8mm weapon. 

Now jump to 2020, and the M16A4 is now apparently the Army’s designated rifle for Foreign Military Sales to equip overseas allies in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Nepal.

Colt and FN are competing in a contract to supply as much as $383 million smackers worth of M16A4s by 2025.

More in my column at Guns.com. 

Has Vortex cracked the combat optic of the future?

Posted on by One comment

Wisconsin-based Vortex Optics announced Monday they have entered into an agreement with the U.S. Army an agreement to deliver a possible component of the service’s Next Generation Squad Weapon.

The contract between the Pentagon and Vortex is an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreement, an award type traditionally used to fund innovative prototype procurement and development of forward-looking technology. As such, Vortex will provide production-ready prototypes for use in Soldier TouchPoint evaluations.

The optic at the center of the OTA is Vortex’s 1-8×30 Active Reticle Fire Control, which the veteran-owned company explains is “built around a revolutionary technology based on many years of internal research and development, along with multiple cooperative development efforts with the Army’s PM-Soldier Weapons group.”

The Active Reticle has reportedly been proven to increase hit percentage and decrease time to engage during Soldier TouchPoints in the past two years. In the case of a battery power loss, users still have an uncompromised 1-8x, direct-view optic and glass-etched reticle, which alone exceeds current optics.

And it looks pretty sweet.

More in my column at Guns.com. 

You too can play door gunner over the Nevada desert, no experience required

Posted on by Leave a comment

I just did, sheesh.

More details besides the video in my column at Guns.com 

Ever thought about a SCAR in 6.5 Creedmoor?

Posted on by Leave a comment

Last year, FN apparently trialed a version of their MK 20 SSR (sniper support rifle) in 6.5 Creedmoor as USSOCOM was flirting with the idea of fielding the new– and increasingly popular– round for future use. Not to let research go to waste, the company just announced they will start selling the commercial variant of the SSR, the FN SCAR 20S, in 6.5CM.

Boom.

More in my column at Guns.com. 

Le Glock Mle 2020

Posted on by Leave a comment

French trench raiders during the First World War, winter 1917 Bezange Forest, Lorraine, note the Ruby pistol.

The French military has flirted with modern semi-auto pistols for longer than most. During the Great War, thousands of Spanish-made Ruby and Star pistols augmented the country’s rather lackluster Modèle 1892 revolvers.

This cleared the way for the later FN 1922-inspired MAB Model D pistol and Charles Petter’s famous Mle. 1935, the latter design one that went on to morph into the Swiss SIG P210, arguably one of the best handguns of the 20th Century.

After WWII, the MAC Mle 1950, itself very P210-ish, was adopted and, coupled with the PAMAS G1, a domestically-made clone of the Beretta 92F, is still in service today.

The French MAC 50 PA modèle 1950 pistol

Now, 115 years after the Ruby was first ordered, the French defense ministry has placed an order for 75,000~ new Glocks.

The Glocks, reportedly a two-tone Gen 5 G17 MOS with a threaded barrel, suppressor-height night sight, and optics plate, will be delivered through 2022.

Besides the Austrian polymer pistols, the French are also going FN when it comes to a rifle to replace their venerable FR F2 (itself a souped-up MAS1936).

Sniper overwatch by a 3e RPIMa marksman with a French FR-F2, Rwanda, 1993. These rifles will be upgraded to SCAR H PRs in the coming years. 

More in my column at Guns.com.

Poking around at Daniel Defense

Posted on by Leave a comment

So a spent some time at Daniel Defense in Georgia recently, filming an episode of Select Fire. Marty Daniel has an interesting story, with the basis of his company starting because his golf game sucked.

They made their first rifle in 2009 and now, just a decade later, are cranking out 40,000 a year. Talk about growth.

Next Generation Squad Weapons abound

Posted on by Leave a comment

Groovy and very sci-fi looking new guns competing in the U.S. Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapons program were shown to the public last week.

Intended to replace the current standard M4 Carbine and M249 SAW light machine gun, the new NGSW contenders — which use 6.8mm (.277-caliber) hybrid ammunition with an EPR bullet– were on hand at the largest land warfare conference and tradeshow in North America: the Association of United States Army annual meeting (AUSA 2019) last week in Washington DC.

General Dynamics Ordnance & Tactical Systems, which is working with True Velocity and Beretta, showed off their new RM277 NGSW platform, a bullpup with lots of modularity.

Notably, the gun uses True Velocity’s 6.8mm composite-cased cartridge, which has a “drastic reduction in cartridge weight and enhanced accuracy.”

Other contenders include a team made up of Textron, which has subcontracted with ammo maker Winchester-Olin and firearms maker Heckler & Koch, while Sig Sauer is going it alone.

In the below, BG Dave Hodne, Director SL CFT, and BG Potts, PEO Soldier, talk about soldier lethality and how the NGSW fits into the equation, below.

That’s a lot of oily M4s

Posted on by Leave a comment

So I told you guys that I spent some time in the Palmetto State last month filming at FN with Guns.com. Want to see how the tour went? I think you will find the M240 and M4 production lines interesting. Do you know FN makes roughly 500 M4s every single day?

After they’re test fired, they’re disassembled, cleaned, then reassembled and given a 101-point inspection. Then, they’re literally dipped in preservation oil and packaged 50 rifles to a large wooden crate.

Some poor Joe or Devil is going to have to clean that off one day…

Anyways, check out the full video below.

Behind the scenes: U.S. Army’s Small Arms Repair Facility Anniston Army Depot

Posted on by Leave a comment

A behind the scenes look at the U.S. Army’s Small Arms Repair Facility at Anniston Army Depot.

Here, Army experts with the U.S. Army Materiel Command bring small caliber weapons to fully mission capable status, from disassembly, repair, modification, to target accuracy testing. The full overhaul resets US Army equipment and generates readiness. They cover M249 SAWs, conversion of M2 BHMGs to the improved M2A1, M4s, et. al. They show off a Frigidaire-made M2 as well as an example by Kelsey Hayes Wheels

I am kinda disappointed that the M-4 standards for accuracy are 5-inches at 100 meters, seems a bit loose. But meh. Also, they should have mic’d old boy, as its hard to hear him (sorry).

Still, between CMP and Anniston Army Depot, there is probably no better pool of U.S. small arms gunsmiths in any town its size in the world.

As noted by DLA:

“The depot’s Small Arms Repair Facility is the primary Small Arms Rebuild Center for the Department of Defense.

Here, employees overhaul, repair and upgrade small caliber weapons from the M9 pistol to the M2 50-caliber machine gun, grenade launchers, mortars and much more.

The men and women who work in the depot’s Small Arms Repair Facility are able to refurbish many parts, bringing them back to like-new condition.

For example, as much as 60 percent of a M2 weapon can be refurbished and reused as the artisans upgrade it to a M2A1 machine gun. ”

That rack tho:

Atomic age Shermans in downtown Motown

Posted on by Leave a comment

While the concept of a platoon of main battle tanks rattling down a major metro street these days sounds foreign outside of Third World coups, in Korean War-era Detroit, it was just another parade.

It should be noted Chrysler’s Detroit Tank Arsenal built over 15,000 M4s during the war, in no less than eight variants, or about a third of the entire Sherman production line.

sherman-tanks-detriot-july-28-1951-detroits-250th-birthday-festival

View of tanks on Woodward Ave. during the parade celebrating the 250th Birthday Festival of Detroit. Large American flag is draped on office building; spectators stand on sidewalks. Stamped on back: “Don Cooper, advertising & illustrative photography, 8619 Grand River, Detroit 6, Michigan. Detroit, 1701-1951, 250th Birthday Festival, official committee.” Handwritten on back: “Views of the big parade, July 28, 1951, Detroit’s 250th Birthday Festival.” Courtesy of the Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library

« Older Entries Recent Entries »