:-)
Posted on 10/23/2002 2:39:06 PM PDT by SlickWillard
The Marine Corps chose a new infantry rifle, and it’s not the short assault rifle with which the Army equipped soldiers in the Afghan campaigns.
Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va., announced last week it would buy 65,463 of the M-16A4 service rifles for infantry Marines between now and 2007.
The new rifle resembles the M-16A2 service rifle in use now but allows for add-on parts as emerging technology warrants.
After head-to-head comparison tests, the Marines rejected the M-4, the shorter rifle the Army issued to soldiers fighting in Afghanistan.
“The ground board chose the M-16A4 over the M-4 because it had a lesser frequency of malfunctions,” said Marine Corps officials from Headquarters Marine Corps in a prepared statement. “The initial units will be fielded to Ground Combat Elements.”
The M-4 received sharp criticism from soldiers who fought the Taliban in Afghanistan earlier this year in Operation Anaconda and Mountain Lion. Some soldiers complained bullets used in the rifle lacked stopping power, according to a survey Army officials conducted. They also noted that heat shields in the hand guards often rattled, prompting soldiers to remove them, only to burn their hands from overheating hand guards.
Marine support units will continue to use the M-16A2 rifles.
The old rifles were nearing the end of their life cycles and needed replacement, according to the Marine Corps statement. But Corps officials also wanted to be able to integrate attachments Marines could need for different missions, such as flashlights, laser sights and a rail system for interchangeable sights and scopes.
In a head-to-head performance comparison between the M-16A4 and the M-4, a shorter carbine version with a collapsible stock, Marine officials found few similarities.
“Both weapons have flat-top receivers with the 1913 Military Standard rails for mounting optics, as well as forward rail hand guards,” said Marine Capt. John Douglas, project officer for Marine Corps Systems Command.
The new rifle can handle standard rifle sights plus night vision options and scopes. The rifle also can be fitted with a vertical forward handgrip.
But that’s where comparisons end. The M-4 is 10 inches shorter and one pound lighter than the current M-16A2.
Marine officials found some deficiencies in the M-4. In tests and surveys conducted last July at Camp Lejeune, N.C., most Marines preferred the M-4 over the longer M-16A4 for most combat situations, but the M-4 had more malfunctions, they said. The comparisons were based on Infantry Training Standards and reviewed by Marine Corps Operational Test and Evaluation Activity.
“Though the number was very low for each weapon, the M-4 was found to have three times the number of weapons malfunctions as the M-16A4,” the statement read. There was no significant difference in accuracy between the two rifles.
Several Marine units already use the M-4, including Force Reconnaissance platoons, Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security teams and Military Police Special Response teams. Those units will continue to use the M-4, and the Marines still may purchase more in the future after corrections are made to reduce malfunctions, said the Marine Corps statement.
Somehow I doubt that the soldiers nailed the problem down to the "bullets". I think they probably said "The Rifle lacked stopping power".
AGREED... But I do have to tell you, the FN manufactured M249s and M240s that are now being issued beat the heck out of the M60s (we called them pigs) we had in my earlier days.
Granted, a belt fed functioning 60% of the time was better than none at all - But hearing an uninterrupted M249 sing tenor while the constantly firing M240 sings bass is a real sweet song.
Stay armed,
Raven6
That's one thing we can agree on ;-)
Yes... Kind of hard to maintain a "low ready" without letting Mr. Badguy know your coming around the corner a few seconds before you get there.
"...going to MP5s"
Good tool for room clearing and executive protection - bad tool for issue in most other situations.
Stay armed,
Raven6
When they worked they worked very very well. Sometimes they would go on strike until they were thoroughly massaged by an amorer.
Two weeks ago I was running some Air Force personnel through the basic AFQC down in Georgia - using a "borrowed" Army range. The Army was there too - FTXs, qualifying, etc. We were using a 25 meter range, standard Army issue with concrete block walls on the ends, dirt/sand backstop. I didn't walk around the end to see what the Army was up to, but in the middle of all the Air Force qualifying, they opened up with a big .50. Someone walked up to me after the AF scoring was completed and asked me "what was so funny?" I replied that I wasn't sure what they were talking about... They then told me that when the M2 cranked up a big smile came across my face - I guess I just enjoy hearing that big round fire.
After we finished with the Air Force personnel, I stepped around the corner and watched the Army qualify a few guys. The last man up was using someone else's barrel and had evidently drawn just a bit too much ammo. I knew what he was going to do, when he turned around and smiled at everybody - You guessed it - he made her glow. There is something just RIGHT about a man sitting there with a leg on either side of that big machine gun, blazing away. He had planned pretty well - he and his buddy cleared out, weapon and all, before the C.O. showed up. The old man had heard the "mad minute on a broken watch" and had come to investigate it himself. I just had to laugh. No one could say a word to me at all. But the old man was highly pi$$ed. Being an adjunct instructor (read: civilian) that is contracted to instruct is a world better than having to answer to an angry C.O. when your a lower grade officer or an enlisted man. I can't say I miss that at all.
Got to hit the sack and get up a O dark-thirty...
Stay armed,
Raven6
...works for the Beltway Sniper...
Q6-God, protect that sight well - it is not the most durable piece of equipment ever issued. It is great to have with your PVS-14 behind it - but if you can lay hands on an ACOG Reflex (assuming here that you're not already issued one) do it (by whatever means required - just don't get busted for it.)
I'm purposefully not asking you any questions about your future and possible deployments... Don't want to know. But based upon feedback I'm getting from some of our guys returning from "Southwest Asia, Part II", I strongly urge you to seek one out. I do T&E work on various sights and optics for police departments that hire my company in to teach M4 Armorer/Operator, so I've tested a few. The Aimpoint can suffer "reticle washout" under extremely bright conditions - as can the original ACOG Reflex. Thus the ACOG Reflex II was born - no 4 MOA red dot, but a 12.5 MOA amber triangle that works better all around.
Got to hit the sack. O dark-thirty coming up quick...
Stay armed,
Raven6
Yep. Put me down for that, too. And I'll take a few LAAWs, a couple of claymores, some of those, and um, a couple of those.... Man, I'm like a kid in a candy shop when it comes to this stuff.
Semper fidelis,
LH
Can't tell from the picture but it only took a couple of years in 'nam for them to figure out it was a good idea to add it to the M-16. I doubt they would drop it now.
Yep, it's not the bullet it's the tumble.
Amen! And the M14 wasn't bad either!
Good to have access to people who know what they are talking about.
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