[Long Cut]

I agree...I have the feeling that the OICW may turn out to be a boondoggle. For one thing, it's too heavy by about 15 pounds. For another, the unit costs about 20 grand a piece. And the fact that it is virtually useless if the electronics break down or the batteries run out are great mitigating factors in its introduction.

If it does go away, we'll still need a new rifle, and this one will be available.

[Long Cut]

I just learned in a story on awbansunset.com that, henceforth, CETME and G-3 rifles for sale in the U.S. can NO LONGER feature the muzzle brake. Apparently, those in the BATFE aviary have decided that this device can be used as a grenade launcher, because it is 22 mm in diameter, and this is the size of European rifle grenade launchers. They decided this without any testing of the unit to see if it would actually work.

I was wondering why the CETMEs and G-3s I was looking at online suddenly lost their brakes. They now look like MP-5s on steroids. Note: this does NOT affect rifles which are not semi-auto.

This nonsense is truly out of hand.

[Travis McGee]

I always believed the "two at once" introduction of the OICW was a huge mistake. Before there was an M-16/203, there wes an M-79 grenade launcher.

That's how we should approach the OICW. Build and field a "stand alone" 20mm range finding air bursting weapon. Put one in every platoon, then squad. After it's thoroughly debugged and proven, THEN possibly put a lighter version under a 5.56. Only then.