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Army announces carbine competition details
Black Rifle.net ^ | Jan. 31, 2011 | Lance M. Bacon

Posted on 04/05/2011 8:02:14 AM PDT by re_tail20

The Army has outlined the competition that will select the best new carbine — and one that ultimately will face off against the improved M4A1 in a battle to become your next weapon.

The overall schedule of competition, testing, production and fielding is approximately three years to first unit equipped.

A draft solicitation to industry released Monday morning said the down-select will occur in three phases covering two years. The Army will host an industry day in March or April to solicit feedback and answer specific industry questions. The final solicitation will go out in May, and competitors typically have a couple of months to present their submissions.

The weapons will then square off in what officials have described as “extreme and extensive” tests expected to last 12 to 18 months. The Army will fire more than 2 million rounds to produce piles of data. Weapons will be tested to their destruction point and to determine whether they maintain accuracy throughout their life cycle — something the military has not tested before. A weapon typically loses accuracy as it ages.

No caliber restriction has been placed on a new design. It will be at least a 500-meter weapon and have a higher incapacitation percentage. It can have a gas or piston system. Interchangeable barrel sizes and calibers are not required, but many early contenders such as the FNH SCAR and Colt CM901 already incorporate this capability.

(Excerpt) Read more at black-rifle.net ...


TOPICS: Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: armycarbine; banglist
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1 posted on 04/05/2011 8:02:18 AM PDT by re_tail20
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To: re_tail20

6.8mm SPC all the way baby!


2 posted on 04/05/2011 8:04:16 AM PDT by Perdogg (What Would Aqua Buddha do?)
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To: re_tail20

I wanna introduce you to a personal friend of mine. This is an M41A pulse rifle. Ten millimeter with over-and-under thirty millimeter pump action grenade launcher.

3 posted on 04/05/2011 8:08:49 AM PDT by edpc (Tagline under construction: Your American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars at work.)
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To: edpc

I love the smell of enemy/terrorists’ destruction in the morning :-)


4 posted on 04/05/2011 8:10:19 AM PDT by Trajan88 (www.bullittclub.com)
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To: re_tail20

“It will be at least a 500-meter weapon and have a higher incapacitation percentage’

Which rules out the standard 5.56 caliber.


5 posted on 04/05/2011 8:12:30 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: re_tail20

I hope they go back to .308 rather than the .223 poodle-shooter round. The “more rounds for less weight” argument made sense before battle robots. Let Big Dog or his descendants carry the ammo, and let the infantryman or soldier do the shooting.


6 posted on 04/05/2011 8:12:38 AM PDT by backwoods-engineer (Any politician who holds that the state accords rights is an oathbreaker and an "enemy... domestic.")
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To: Perdogg

6.5 Grendel is superior in every way.


7 posted on 04/05/2011 8:18:54 AM PDT by Durus (You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality. Ayn Rand)
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To: re_tail20

Rock River LAR-8 Elite Operator in 7.62 x 51 NATO. One bad mother soon to join the arsenal of Darth Vader!


8 posted on 04/05/2011 8:20:08 AM PDT by DarthVader (That which supports Barack Hussein Obama must be sterilized and there are NO exceptions!)
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To: backwoods-engineer

Add lard lube and I am soooooo there!


9 posted on 04/05/2011 8:20:42 AM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 803 of our national holiday from reality. - That 3 AM phone call? Voicemail...)
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To: Perdogg

Well, according to the article “No caliber restriction has been placed on a new design. It will be at least a 500-meter weapon and have a higher incapacitation percentage”

That rules out 5.56 and the brass still thinks that 7.62 is too heavy ... so something in the 6 - 7 range is likely to be the choice.

I personally favor 7 x 51 (7-08 Remington) but the 6.8 SPC would do just fine.


10 posted on 04/05/2011 8:24:06 AM PDT by taxcontrol
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To: backwoods-engineer
Army special-ops and some Rangers are getting the 7.62NATO SCAR-H. Eventually it may be available to regular units. The 5.56 SCAR-L variant has been effectively canceled since it didn't offer enough improvement over the M-4.
11 posted on 04/05/2011 8:27:24 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 ("It is only when we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything" -- Fight Club)
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To: PapaBear3625
7.62 SCAR-H deployed in Afghanistan
12 posted on 04/05/2011 8:29:52 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 ("It is only when we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything" -- Fight Club)
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To: PapaBear3625

An excellent weapon. Well made, reliable and powerful. No suprise to me.


13 posted on 04/05/2011 8:30:45 AM PDT by DarthVader (That which supports Barack Hussein Obama must be sterilized and there are NO exceptions!)
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To: re_tail20


14 posted on 04/05/2011 8:30:56 AM PDT by Daffynition (DBKP ~ Death By 1000 Papercuts)
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To: re_tail20

I’ll believe it when I see it. The military keeps studying alternatives to the M-4 and then cancels the programs after spending millions.


15 posted on 04/05/2011 8:31:51 AM PDT by mbynack (Retired USAF SMSgt)
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To: Durus

I know the 6.5 projectile works better than paper ballistics would suggest in the 6.5X55 rifle. The Grendel should be an excellent round.


16 posted on 04/05/2011 8:37:01 AM PDT by MileHi ( "It's coming down to patriots vs the politicians." - ovrtaxt)
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To: re_tail20
Using standard m4 uppers and lowers, add an 18" barrel with a full length gas system in 6.5 Grendel, Nickel-Boron bolt, ambi safety, magpul type bolt release, ambi mag release, ambi charging handle, UBR stock, flash suppressor/can combo, and add Optics to taste. This combination is going to be more accurate than all the piston rifles that will be presented, as well as being every bit as reliable. Old Mags will be reusable with modification. Round count is 25 as opposed to 30 in a standard mag.

Not only would this option be financially prudent it would also be the best battle rifle fielded by anyone anywhere. Which I think should be the point.

17 posted on 04/05/2011 8:40:03 AM PDT by Durus (You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality. Ayn Rand)
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To: re_tail20

I heard the democrat leadership organized a committee to compete for the Army contract. The design committee, it was said, was given UNprecedented freedom to think. They received only one directive from party bosses that cannot be ignored: The barrel must be U-shaped.


18 posted on 04/05/2011 8:47:16 AM PDT by MurrietaMadman
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To: MurrietaMadman

Ehhh,, at one time when the army was interested in killing the enemy the standard was 30-06 and .45acp. I imagine a carbine design with 30-06 as a round could be effective at the specified ranges and strangely enough they have a crap load of it in surplus inventory.


19 posted on 04/05/2011 9:04:54 AM PDT by TheGarbone
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To: TheGarbone

Yuo can’t go wrong with any of the Holy Trinity:

FN-FAL
M14
HK93

Honorable mention - M1 Garand.

I’m a FAL and Garand rifleman. Even at my age and condition, I can still shoot in the low to nid 240s on the AQT. Good enough to knock a blue helmet or a turban off an enemy head at 500 yards.


20 posted on 04/05/2011 9:14:16 AM PDT by Noumenon ("How do we know when the Government is like that guy with the van and the handcuffs?" --Henry Bowman)
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