Someone asked about AR rifle effective ranges...

[Godfather]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...103-0070401-7210235?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
I was reading a book called "Shooter" about Jack Coughlin, a Marine sniper who was in Mogadishu and then Iraq. In one part, he was look for a vantage point to reach a certain bunker, and he saw a Marine on an overpass firing single shots. He ran up and saw an excellent field of fire. As he was setting up, he noted that the Marine was firing an M16-A4, which has optics on it.

http://www.blow-gun.com/storefront/graphics/00000001/m16a4.jpg

When he quickly asked the Marine for range and windage, he was told 800 yards. "I'm not doing too well," the Marine said, "I've only killed three so far." "At 800 yards? I'd say your doing fine" was Coughlin's reply.

So, with the right guy, a .223 AR can have very decent range.

 

[Tejas Gunwerks]

It wasn't the AR16M4 it was the Marine. Marines are taught marksmanship.

Semper Fi.

 

[Godfather]

Well, that was extremely obvious. I've never seen anyone shoot like a Marine. I saw R. Lee Ermy pass the sniper test easy.

 

[roo_ster]

Man vs Equipment
Number one factor. Training will tell out. I really wish the US Army would shamelessly plagiarize the USMC's rifle instruction manual. I had to get to my unit before I put enough rounds down range to become what I thought was minimally proficient. The (small) number of rounds sent downrange in Basic & AIT was criminal.

M16A4 RIFLE vs M4(A1) CARBINE
5.56mm in the M16A4 is going to generate more velocity than the M4, give somewhat better downrange performance WRT energy & bullet drop.

Optics
I was really knocked over at what was possible to hit with iron sights afer shooting the M1 & M14. The M1's looooong sight radius made the idea of 500m hits much more plausible. Taken to the other extreme, the M4's sight radius is pretty dinky.

Optics negate the sight radius advantage of the M14 & M1. If one is fortunate enough to have a mil-dot scope or a reticle with several horizontal pieces for longer-distance shooting, so much the better.