Misc. Friday Ramblings

It's my Friday, and I'll cry if I want to.

• Pimp slapped.
  I used to study a form of Kenpo karate under sensei Jack Hogan that used pressure point techniques. They were quite effective. While sloppy in execution, what is done in the above video is a classic "knife hand" strike to the side of the neck.


• Gun Safety
  The four rules should be constantly flowing while firearms are being handled. Even the professionals need reminders sometimes.


• Compliance.
  And people complain about tasers. sheez.


• McDonald's to outsource drive-in operators.
  Is it a religious quandry for someone in India to take a double quarter pounder with cheese order?

Obligatory Friday gun pr0n!

Army opens competition for replacement of M-16, M-4

The Army will hold an open competition among arms makers to select a replacement for its M-16 rifles and M-4 carbines.
The March 4 pre-solicitation notice, posted on the Internet, means the Army’s XM-8 program will have to prove it can outperform the rest of the small-arms industry before soldiers carry it into battle.

Army weapons experts have been working on the Heckler & Koch-made XM-8 prototype as an unopposed replacement since late 2003. It was part of a longer-range effort to perfect an over-and-under style weapon, known as the Objective Individual Combat Weapon or XM-29, developed by Alliant Techsystems and Heckler & Koch.

The XM-29 fires special air-bursting projectiles and standard 5.56mm ammunition. But at 18 pounds, it’s still too heavy to meet requirements, so Army planners decided to perfect each of XM-29’s components separately, allowing soldiers to take advantage of new technology sooner.

The XM-8 is one of those components. It features a compact model for close quarters, a standard carbine and a designated marksman/squad automatic rifle model with a longer, heavier barrel and bipod legs for stability.

The March 4 “Pre-solicitation Notice for the Objective Individual Combat Weapon Increment I family of weapons,” invites small-arms makers to try and meet an Army requirement for a “non developmental family of weapons that are capable of firing U.S. standard M855 and M856” 5.56mm ammunition.

The family would consist of carbine, compact, designated marksman and light machinegun models.