XM-8: New U.S. Service Rifle?

Modern Firearms and Ammunition website ^ | unknown | Unknown

[Centurion2000]

I did everything to the gas system and the barrel support in order to stabilize the barrel and I still haven't had any luck.

Can you tell me more as to why the barrel is so poorly made to have a different land measurement?

I'm not sure why it is like that but it appears to have been a purpose design. I've had friends with minis that couldn't hit jack with them past 200 yards. Get your calipers out .... it's pretty weird.

They have since ditched the minis and gone to AK's ... cheaper ammo; same accuracy. I changed out to a 30-06 bolt action.

[Centurion2000]

BTW .... found a new kewl toy to think about getting

12" barrel 50 Alaskan SBR .... 4200 ft-pounds :)

[Long Cut]

I don't mind the geegaws so much, as long as you can yank them off and toss them to the nearest ditch WHEN they crap out on you. Then, you go to iron sights and continue mission. However, the base rifle itself should be absolutely the most reliable, accurate, and robust weapon possible.

That means, to me, cutting out anything making it too complex or crazy. All the very finest guns have one thing in common...elegant simplicity.

[Long Cut]

THAT is cool, man! Staight out of that old Steve McQueen bounty hunter TV show (whose name escapes me completely...).

How's it shoot, and how many rounds does it hold?

[Centurion2000]

I believe that it holds four in the tube and one in the chamber. They are marketing it as the ultimate anti-bear pistol. Of course they have a tactical one as well for doorbusting. It kicks like a mule but it will kill anything in front of it.

wildwestguns.com

[yarddog]

I liked the old Steve Mcqueen series and thought that gun was neat. It was chambered in something like 44-40 and would shoot about a dozen times from that short magazine.

The only problem was Steve's cartridge belt was filled with what looked like 30-40 Krag or even longer cartridges. I don't think that short mag would have held more than one of those. Even the .44-4- would have been only three or so, a really impractical design.

[Freepers Son]

I'd like one too. I hope they let the AWB pass away quietly.
(I want some beta c mags for my AR)

[TEXASPROUD]

They sent a couple of thousand of these over to Afghanistan for in-depth testing. I believe they are switch barrel as well, they can shoot either 7.62x39 or 5.45x39

[Long Cut]

Heh. It was TV, man. It was supposed to LOOK good, not actually work! They have special effects that handle that. You're right about the cartridges on the belt, though. I recall reading that they deliberately used the larger ones there, for "visual impact".

[Centurion2000]

Don't really remember the TV series ... I do remember him making that movie "The Hunter" ... the TV series was "Wanted: Dead or Alive"

The above gun though ... neat, but a godawful cannon. :)

[Darksheare]

I'm in, I'd have loved to have had something like it back when I was in uniform.

[Long Cut]

I'm presuming that those of us who make our purchases as civilians will NEVER see one of these in our local gun shop, even as a semiauto-only?

[Long Cut]

I just want to be able to own a decent semiauto for a REASONABLE price. I'd really like it if it was at least a version of our most current service rifle.

If I was the President, I'd issue an executive order stating that NO gun laws or bans would ever apply to the current or past service rifles of the U.S. armed forces, for law-abiding citizens. Whatever is general issue to the grunts should at least be available to the citizen, in my opinion.

[NYFriend]

I always thought the peep sight was about the best sight system for a rifle that you could find. It's faster and more intuitive than open sights (once your trained on them, as opposed to looking at those stupid sight picture diagrams that make it look like your supposed to focus on the rear sight), and you might be able to knock them out of alignment, but not a easy as a scope, they don't break, they don't run out of batteries and they are good enough for the accuracy of any service rifle. They won't let you put three rounds through the same hole at 400 yards, but then again, no factory M16 can do that from a bench rest.

[NYFriend]

great point! The other fact is that at close range, where your round is traveling at 3000 fps, the 5.56 NATO round causes injuries that far exceed the types of tissue damage I've seen from .30 cal rifles. Just think about the damage a .308 or .30-06 does to a deer or other big game. Unless you hit heavy bone, you get a .30 cal hole going in and what, a .45 cal hole comming out? That's after the round travels 24 inches or maybe 48 inches through tissue.

On another note, using a modern rifle with a bayonet beats using the same rifle as a club, but they aren't as effective as when you effectively had a 6 foot pike, like with a musket, or that Japanese WWII bolt rifle (Type 38?). Just a comment.

[Shooter 2.5]

The AK. Another fun plinker.

That 50 Alaskan must be a handful.

[Shooter 2.5]

Steve McQueen starred in the TV series, "Wanted, Dead or Alive". The gunbelt had 45-70's in it because they admitted that it looked cool. The BATF found out about the shortened rifle so it turned out to be the most expense rifle in TV history.

"The Hunter" was based on the life of Pappy Thorson, a real life bounty hunter. At the timespan the movie was made, he lived across the street from James Doohan, Scotty from Star Trek. I believe Pappy is now deceased and the business is run by his wife.

[blackie]

Looks good, when they come out with a civilian version it will fit right in with my Ruger SS Ranch Mini-14 and my Mini-14 Bullpup with the 90 rd drum mag. :)

Be Well - Be Armed - Be Safe - Molon Labe!

[Shooter 2.5]

Have you ever tried to get a ten round group with either of those rifles at 100 yards from the bench?

[blackie]

I don't bench shoot.