Posted on 10/29/2010 10:52:03 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Calling it “the biggest overhaul of service rifles in nearly 50 years,” the Army soon will send soldiers to Afghanistan with new M4A1 carbines.
Upgrades to the M4 include a more resilient barrel, ambidextrous controls and a full-automatic setting. Add better ammunition, and soldiers will have a more lethal weapon to fight insurgents, according to Program Executive Office Soldier, which introduced the improvements.
The new carbines are expected to be integrated into the force starting next year.
Soldiers in Afghanistan expressed enthusiasm about the improvements, especially the ability to shoot on fully automatic.
“That would be sweet. You could definitely get more lead downrange,” said Sgt. Aaron Billington of the 10th Mountain Division at Kandahar Air Field.
Billington, 26, of Syracuse, N.Y. — who is on his first deployment to Afghanistan, but also served in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad in 2004 — wasn’t even worried about the extra 5 ounces of weight that comes with the more resilient barrel. The new barrel was needed to sustain the higher rate of fire when the weapon is used in fully automatic mode.
(Excerpt) Read more at stripes.com ...
Full auto fire is a waste of ammunition, plus it overheats the weapon to the point of malfunction. The army needs to teach fire discipline like the Marines. The army does a lot of spray and pray.
I agree
A US Special Forces soldier armed with a M4A1 Carbine, fitted with an underslung M203 40mm grenade launcher, aimed with a M68 Close Combat Optic red dot sight. This M4A1 also has a AN-PEQ2 and a torch fitted to the Rail Interface System (RIS). US DoD photo
Thank you for the photo. It looks like a very nice rifle.
Quite a few of our frontline troops are not on their first deployment to a combat zone so let's let them make the call.
Wonder what the status is of the piston upgrades or is that even in the works? Yeah, silly question.
If I were going into Afghanistan, I’d want a longer barrel and 7.62
I agree.
Stitch fire.
Yup
There’s a very big problem wih that.
We are getting picked of due to our low caliber rifle.
"... Soldiers in Afghanistan expressed enthusiasm about the improvements, especially the ability to shoot on fully automatic.
“That would be sweet. You could definitely get more lead downrange,” said Sgt. Aaron Billington of the 10th Mountain Division at Kandahar Air Field.
... against:
Adding full-automatic fire mode to the M4 is a huge mistake, said Staff Sgt. Lincoln Dockery, a combat engineer stationed in Bamberg.
"The whole purpose of having riflemen is to accurately engage the enemy,” Dockery said. “With full auto, soldiers will stop aiming and just point, shoot and hope, like the enemy does.”
I don't know what the Army is teaching their elite 10th Mountain Division troops, but it seems like the combat engineers are the ones who know what they're talking about, at least in this case.
Semper Fi.
If I were going into Afghanistan, I’d want to be in an F/A-18.
I'll take my 30-378 for those thousand yard shots, but I'd prefer the smaller calibers for close up.
Absolutely...ans its been ingrained for 40+ years.
As far as I can tell from the other side of the world, Afghanistan isn’t a “carbine” war like Iraq could be called. Rifles with a high-powered cartridge accurate over an extended range seem more useful.
Armchair opinion but nevertheless, an M-14 derivative with a lighter stock strikes me as more in line with the sort of combat we see in this theater.
The SCAR-H would seem to be a better choice, though.
My dad, who is a Marine Vietnam combat vet with one ground tour, pointed out that there *are* times when you just want to keep the other guy’s head down and without FA it’s quite a lot harder to do that.
You’re right - how much ammo do you want to hump over that terrain? I thought the general movement was away from full-auto fire.
{expletive} - how nose-heavy is that beast anyway?
The M4 carbine is a family of firearms tracing its lineage back to earlier carbine versions of the M16, all based on the original AR-15 designed by Eugene Stoner and made by ArmaLite. It is a shorter and lighter version of the M16A2 assault rifle, with 80% parts commonality
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