[Prodigal Son]

Yep, clamp both of them down in a machine rest

Ok, that's just what I need in a combat weapon- a big clamp and worktable to clamp it to. I say that playfully, but that's the whole point. These guys are in combat- not a turkey shooting contest. Their weapons have to serve them in a wide variety of situations. YOu can't go clamping your personal weapon down to a tripod every time. One reason the 50 is deadly out to 1800+ meters is because of that tripod and T and E mechanism. But the 50 is a crew served weapon and weighs a ton (figuratively). A tripod for a personal weapon like the M16 makes it useless.

[CGTRWK]

Entirely right, of course. And you've tangentially summed up the problem with the M4 pretty well - combat weapons do have to serve in a wide variety of situations, and the short and handy M4 with its foot and a smidge sight radius is every bit as useless as long range as your M16 on a tripod would be for going house to house.

I remain convinced that short barrel and all, putting a scope on the M4 would go most of the way towards matching the M16 at a distance.