- Guy trys to go medieval on cops.
1000 years of power in chainmail versus 20000 volts in Tasers. - Excuse me kitty, didn't see you there!
"Hey Bill, that Garfield is a hoot, isn't he?" - Fugitive Couple From Tenn. Nabbed in Ohio.
One-armed man still sought for questioning. - Tagged out by the hidden ball.
Always keep your eye on the ball. - N.Y. wants to tell you what to eat.
Obligatory Friday gun stuff!
From The High Road:
I figure I will chime in here since I have a vested interest in what happens with the program.
The XM-8 is dead. TACOM said thanks for playing but no thanks. It MAY be considered for the OICW program in the future. In other words, keep dreaming up cool stuff, when you get something we like, that works we will call you. As for the problems it had, overheating, melting plastic durring sustained fire (anyone who thinks that it is un-realistic to fire 6 mags in short order has not been overseas lately, and stopages. 50k rounds in a lab without failure is NOT 50k rounds in the hands of troops without failure). And the mag well did not fit the current issued mags, they were plastic mags like the G36 mags. Also, the rail system was not the same, H&K wanted to sell the Military a whole new set of "improved" (insert giggling here) mounts or adapter to convert our mounts to their rail system. Yeah, that was smart.
As for other calibers, why? Change the composition and weight of the round we are using. The are a great number of dead bad guys in Iraq and Afghanistan that were dispatched with the 77gr BHI ammo. They work quite well in both the M4A1 and M16A2. The new round slated to be issued to ARSOF units for the SCAR is the 77gr BHI round because of its preformance in combat. They are also looking at 80 and 100+gr rounds for general issue.
The 6.8 is DEAD. In initial testing it had a bad problem with case-head seperations in selectfire weapons. There are currently no requirements for TACOM or WARCOM to further develope these rounds. I dont know where the internet rumor that they would be adopted, or that these rounds were even remotely suitable for military weapons started, but they are not.
The SCAR is going to SOF units. At this time it is not clear if they will be mass fielded as just uppers with lowers to follow, or if they will be complete weapons.
For the new Army wide trails, they have been delayed to bring in the Marines who have expressed great interest in working with the Army on this project. Some of the initial applicants are known to be FN, Robinson for the XCR, H&K for the G-36 and Colt (poor bastards dont know when to quit either).
The M-249 has been a reliable weapon in the field with a bit of care. The new SOF MK-46 solves many of the M-249's short comings and has deleted that stupid mag well. There is also a 308 version that is also quite nice.
One final note. Most, nearly all of the combat related problems with the M series weapon in the latest conflict have been operator error. The common grunt that has these problems is either too stupid to read his PM magazine, too lazy to properly clean and maintain his weapon, or slept thru the classed given on how to care for his weapon in a desert environment. Taking Billy Joe from the southern part of the US and dropping him in the desert and using the same methods of lube and care is a great way to get him killed. I was responsible for maintaining over 700 rifles and pistols while in country. There were new fixes that came out like the extractor spring doughnut and new lube (neither of which made a huge difference but added confidence in the weapon system), but our guys cleaned them regularly, used proper lubrication (and amount of lube) and replaced springs and rings as needed. Not once did we get a report of a weapon failing someone in combat, and believe me if it happened I would have gotten all kinds of traffic about it.
The M4 is a fine weapon. Are there better ones out there and can an even better one be developed? You bet! But until then with the proper cleaning and care the weapon will not fail you in combat.
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