[Pan_Yan]

Photo by Lance Cpl. Tyler Main
This M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle, along with 83 others, was delivered last Friday to Marine Corps Base Hawaii, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment armorers. Since then, M27 IAR gunners and armorers have received training on operating and maintaining the weapon system from Marine Corps Systems Command and gun makers Heckler and Koch.

[Pan_Yan]

Ping. I saw you put up the last couple of threads about this.

[TLI]

"between it and the standard H&K 416 was a slightly heavier barrel profile compared to the standard M4-style barrel with its grenade launcher cutouts. It has a bayonet lug attached to the barrel which is something I have not seen before in H&K 416 marketing material. "

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010/06/07/m27-infantry-automatic-rifle/

[CrazyIvan]

I've been a big FN FAL type fan for years. Have an L1A1 that
I built back it was cheap to do so, and love it. The more
the AR gets improved, the more it's design emulates the FN.
Before the flaming starts, I have an AR also and realize
that this is comparing apples to oranges somewhat.

[M1911A1]

Well, well. A magazine fed squad automatic weapon in the same caliber as the service rifle.

Sure have come a long way since WWII and the BAR.

[BenLurkin]

If they have a spare SAW they don’t want - I’d be glad to give one a good home.

[Bastiat_Fan]

I’m actually on the qualifying range with a bunch of the guys from 1/3 right now, some of whome are firing the IAR. I haven’t gotten a chance to take a real close look at one yet, but it seems kind of like a modified M16A4 with the Burst selector replaced by an auto switch. They say it’s still a pain in the ass to clean, but they haven’t really had any issues with jamming. I think for any sort of urban operations it would probably be far superior to the SAW. And folks, weight is a huge consideration in this. When you’re carrying that much gear, it’s 110 degrees out, and you’ve got your flak jacket and kevlar on, any lessening of weight is a godsend.

As for the round size, there is still the 249 out there to put out 7.62. This rifle would have probably been great for Iraq. We’ll see how it does in Afghanistan though.