Fal.
Posted on 11/23/2009 5:41:44 PM PST by re_tail20
The Army is considering a major redesign of the M4 aimed at making the weapon shoot cleaner and longer — at high rates of fire.
As the Army awaits Defense Department approval of a competition to find a new carbine, weapons officials have identified six fixes intended to address shortcomings in reliability, durability and handling of the Army’s inventory of more than 400,000 M4s.
Army weapons officials presented the proposed changes to Congress on Oct. 30. They are:
• Adding a heavier barrel for better performance during high rates of fire.
• Replacing the direct-impingement gas system with a piston gas system.
• Improving the trigger pull.
• Adding an improved rail system for increased strength.
• Adding ambidextrous controls.
• Adding a round counter to track the total number of bullets fired over the weapon’s lifetime.
The Army is considering upgrades to the M4 at the same time it is poised to begin a competition to replace the weapon, a variant of the Vietnam-era M16 family.
Senior leaders launched the effort to find a new weapon in November 2008, a year after the M4 finished in last place in an Army reliability test involving three other carbines. Then-Army Secretary Pete Geren directed the Army’s Infantry Center at Fort Benning, Ga., to update the carbine requirement.
(Excerpt) Read more at forums.officer.com ...
Great idea. Defund the next generation Air Force and defend the nation, up to 1,000 or 1,500 feet, with small arms. That will stop ‘em.
I’d venture to guess there are many more ground troops in harms way than zippersuits right now. 1 jet won’t be missed I’m sure, but a dozen infantrymen with 40 year old technology firearms will be.
Well newby, this is an age old argument on FR and we are plowing ground that even the worms have left because it’s been turned over so much.
Most of the mass is in the bolt. I don’t think you could tell any difference. I wonder if it might slow down the rate of fire a bit? Probably not enough to make any difference.
Runs a lot cooler and cleaner too, since you don’t have all that hot gas blowing back into the receiver.
“Newby” -Pulling Blog Rank on me? That’s a good one to fall back on, especially when you are losing an arguement.
Fal.
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