New military rifle lighter, more powerful

NBC13 ^ | 09-29-2010 | Staff

[Sudetenland]

Answer my own question: Civilian SCARFirm list price of $2700. Wish I had the money.

[Joe Brower]

[Vaquero]

yup....I know those clips....stripper clips...they go back to the original mausers.

IMHO, the M-14 and guns like AR-10s and FN FAL are what are needed in the sandbox....

not the 5.56 varmint gun...

[philman_36]

Initially, the rifles will be made in Belgium, says Bailey, until a domestic manufacturing plant can be brought on line to produce them. Components will be made at FNH's plant in Columbia, S.C., he says.

Well that's a relief!
I would hate to see us without such a plant if, like in WWII, Belgium was over run by a foreign nation.

[Chode]

for long range sure... i like this for up close and personal

[PapaBear3625]

Unfortunately, that short barrel is going to seriously rob the cartridge of its power. You can only burn powder so fast, alot of the burn is going to happen as flash beyond the muzzle.

You can make ammo with faster-burning powder, intermediate between rifle and pistol powder.

[elcid1970]

I qualified with the M-14 in 1969. Great rifle!

Fired the M-16 a year later. Yuk!

Went to Vietnam the year after that and flew UH-1H’s. Carried my trusty S&W .38 Model 15.

Fast forward forty years... I still qualify with the M16A2 (not a bad rifle), later this year with the M4 (warrant officers have a very long shelf life).

Just bought my second M-14 lookalike. Looking forward to a secure retirement.

;^)

[dagogo redux]

A .308 by FNH - didn’t we turn one of those down last time? The rest of the free world certainly didn’t. :)

I’ve got an M1A, a PRT-91 (HK G3), and an FAL - I’ll take the Belgians any day! (and a .308 over the .223 any day as well).

[TYVets]

I hope the weapons works out as planned

If they don't work out South Korea has a big bunch of M-1's that are for sale.

There doesn't seem to be a civilian market for them in the US.(/s)

[ops33]

Do you know why the round is rated at 30.06? I know it is a 30 calibre round but what does the .06 mean?

Thanks.

[gundog]

The 5.56mm is proving less effective in the open country of Afghanistan than it did in the jungle in SE Asia...

The difference between a 14.5 inch and a 20 inch barrel.

[gundog]

The year 1906...last time it was modified. Round uf -03 was 220 grain RN, I believe.

[airborne]

It has three interchangeable barrels. It will be able to fire two different caliber bullets.

This is from the link above.

Three interchangeable barrels!?!

Oh yeah. I gotta get me one of these babies!!!

[SampleMan]

You can make ammo with faster-burning powder, intermediate between rifle and pistol powder.

And why don't they always do that? Because burning all of the powder in a 7.62x51 cartridge in 14" would do two things:

1. Increase pressures to the point that you would need a 14 pound receiver to handle it.

2. Burn up the barrel in about 300 rounds.

That's why they don't pack cartridges full of C4.

[airborne]

EXCELLENT LINK!

[SampleMan]

20” is already very short in my book. I very much doubt that any tactical advantage of losing 7” of barrel makes up for the expense and logistics tree of having that option. And with any gas operated gun, barrel length changes affect operation. Yes ports can be changed, but that is a compromise, not an optimization.

[Mmogamer]

May be a dumb question, why not make our own version of an ak-47? It’s obviously been proven to be good under adverse conditions and stuff...just asking.

[Sender]

The Kalashnikov action could be used to produce a really space-age carbine, even with a plastic or aluminum receiver. They aren’t as accurate because of the loose tolerances and simple, massive parts (which is what makes them so reliable in the sand). I doubt if we will ever see the US adopt a Soviet weapon design just because it would be politically unthinkable. If you look at recent pics and vids from Iraq, you can see several of our soldiers are carrying AKs over there, so they must like them.

[proudofthesouth]

Looks like fun!

[Chode]

absolutely... 8^)