Posted on 11/02/2015 8:26:38 PM PST by BlackFemaleArmyColonel
U.S. Marines are largely supportive of their commandant's decision to drop the M16 rifle for the M4 carbine as the standard infantry weapon.
The U.S. Marine Corps will officially recognize the M4 carbine as the standard weapon for infantry personnel beginning in September 2016, following the approval by Commandant Gen. Robert Neller. The move has been welcomed with optimism from infantry. Sgt. Jonathan Ferriera, a mortarman with 1st Battalion 8th Marines who used the M4 during his deployment in Afghanistan says "it's about time."
"The M4 holds every quality that the M16 does: everything an M16 can do, the M4 does better," Ferriera told the Military Times.
Ferriera went on to add that the only advantage he saw with the M16 is the rifle's superior firing range capability, with the M16 having an effective range of 600 yards compared to 545 yards for the M4. However, the superior mobility of the smaller-sized M4 makes up for the difference, Ferriera says.
Military analysts point to a number of reasons for the switch. The M16 is considered a legacy weapon for the Marines, equipped with technology from the Cold War era. Task and Purpose reports the M16's fixed stock and 20-inch barrel no longer have a place in the modern warfare. By contrast, the M4's retractable stock allows for adjustable length, allowing for the warfighter to adjust the weapon to their body type.
Other features such as the M16's three-round burst have been deemed irrelevant and wasteful. The M16A4 will still be issued to non-infantry units and used for training purposes.
(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
We did.
I’m pretty sure that the M4 has the 3 rd burst, not full auto like the 16.
except shoot as fast, as far, and as accurately.
“I thought the Marines had sniper units like the Army.”
They do. But snipers aren’t organic to a rifle platoon. And even when they are, a sniper or two is no substitute for the rifle fire of a squad or platoon.
The recent Hollywood movies have done a real disservice to what reality is.
Saying the Marine rifleman can get by on an inadequate rifle because they have a few snipers in the corps, is like saying the Army really doesn’t need infantry today because they have Special Forces.
It just doesn’t work that way.
“pretty sure that the M4 has the 3 rd burst, not full auto like the 16.”
USMC M-16s went 3 round burst in the 80s with A2
0331 supports the m4 role in sustained suppressive fire
Thanks. I stand corrected. So the M4 is no different than the AR 15 with a collapsible stock?
M4 is a lighter, shorter, collapsed stock version. But just google “M4 problems”. It doesn’t handle heat very well, and that leads to many more failures.
In tests it has about 3 times the failure rate of a full size AR-15.
That makes no sense. It's full automatic that's wasteful. You can burn up all the ammo you can carry in a couple of minutes on rock-and-roll.
Publicly the Marines are going to say whatever they think their Brass wants to hear. To do otherwise would be a career ender.
I agree with that. The enthusiasm is just no there.
Sans full auto and the magazine, the M1 was probably the best battle rifle ever made.
I’m a Chris Kyle fan. I bought his book and have the T-shirt from his org that I wear when I go to gun shows. My uncle taught me sniping. I have a 22-250 Savage varmint rifle. I go to eastern Washington and hunt prairie dogs. My longest shot was a bit over 600 yards. I’ve read lots of books on sniping from WW1 through Iraq. I think they’re the real backbone of the military in that snipers have the back of the troops on the front line.
“0331 supports the m4 role in sustained suppressive fire”
0311 and 21 doesn’t. It has three times the failure rate of a standard weight A3, and it is way more prone to overheat. The Battle of Wanat is a fine example. Numerous overheated M4s failed.
I thought it was rich that a 0341 was explaining that the M4 can do anything a 16 can.
If I was carrying a mortar, id want the lightest thing extant too.
Its even what a mortarman needs. But grunts don’t.
I read Chris Kyle’s book. I never believe what Hollyweird does in its movies, to me it’s just entertainment. Pity that some people think it’s real stuff. I enjoy going to the gun range and I also go to eastern Washington to hunt prairie dogs. My longest shot was a bit over 600yds which is nothing to a Marine who normally shoots further. But then, you don’t know prairie dogs.
Ping
Totally love(d) my M4, until my stupid nephew dropped it off his boat into the ocean. In spite of that indecent, I’ll still let him borrow a gun, every now and again.
Does the piston AR compensate for these failures?
Quite a bit of velocity lost there. It will be most evident in the difference in terminal ballistics at shorter ranges.
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