Posted on 07/23/2009 11:08:09 AM PDT by re_tail20
(MILITARY TIMES) As of July 1, the Army has taken control of the design rights to the M4 carbine from its sole maker, Colt Defense LLC. M4Translation: With an uncertain budget looming, the service is free to give other gun companies a crack at a carbine contract.
The transition of ownership of the M4 technical data package marks the end of an era and Colt’s exclusive status as the only manufacturer of the M4 for the U.S. military for the past 15 years.
In late November, Army senior leadership announced the service’s intent to open a competition for a new carbine this fall in preparation for the June 30 expiration date of Colt’s hold on the M4 licensing agreement.
The Army is slated to finish fielding the last of its 473,000 M4 requirement some time next year.
(Excerpt) Read more at federaljack.com ...
They’re coming up with a new shotgun, too. Something about full-auto and multi-ammo.
Full auto 12 ga, I don’t know about that one... A model 12 doesn’t have a disconnector, just pull the trigger, hold and pump, and if you choose you can fire it as fast as you want, but WOW does it hurt. Even as a young whipper-snapper it was brutal.
I would think semi-auto would be enough, if the recoil got softened.
Multi-ammo is an old concept of how you sequence load and intercepting the loading process. But after a while, you just use OO and call it good.
Perhaps, but government contracts are all about cost.
The prices are FIXED, so any increased cost comes 100% out of profit.
Like I said, you’d better have the right structure to afford those additional costs, especially over smaller, follow-on contracts.
There’s much more to it than just contracting any old AR manufacturer.
Bushmaster, Armalite, Magpul, LaRue, ect could fit the bill, and for cheaper than Colt.
“could” fit the bill? Maybe.
They don’t NOW.
That means they’ll have to tool up to meet the MILSPEC requirements.
Some steps and features might be cheap, but other things they don’t do, like MP the barrel and other QC testing, are expensive to set up.
And don’t confuse what you pay for a civvy AR for what the military pays for an M-4 or an M-16.
Not even close.
Colt gets $1200+ for their civvy stuff because people want to pay it.
Don’t confuse that with the true cost.
If Colt is making M-4 carbines for $400 a copy, then the others better be able to, as well.
Do the military allow ppl to pick their own weapons? If not, they should imho. Give each soldier X amount of $$ and let them buy their own weapons. Then find out which is more popular, then go with that as standard
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