What would you like to see as the standard issue weapon for our services?

[desert]

And, What do you think will be the next issue?

Caliber, Manufacturer, Model?

In how many years will we see this change take place?

It was reported in some media that a version of the HK G36 and then the FN FNC was considered for SOCUM. (Edit: FNC includes FN SCAR series, AUG A2/A3 includes AUG ACR, etc.))

I don’t see our government openly adopting the AK

I also don’t see the SIG550 series becoming issue anytime soon but it’s a nice thought.

 

[Evil Monkey]

nothing wrong with the m16 family.

 

[rocinante]

whatever was that german gun they torture tested on weaponology.

 

[gcrookston]

My brother and my son have both carried the M16 family of weapons in combat (A2s and M4s). Both have found them absolutely successful. Each preaches proper maintenance. My 30+ years of civilian experience finds these and the 5.56 round with high marks.

I support the idea of the M14 as a DMR.

But I also like the 550 for it's straightforward operating system and accuracy.

The 416 upgrade, if it proves less expensive than the 550, would be a rational next step in the evolution of the M16, replacing the gas impingement with operating rod... if the cost were the same or more than the 550, I would opt for the Sig which already incorporates this system.

 

[Bear2000]

Why not an M16 in a new caliber, maybe 6mm?

 

[R.W.Dale]

Let me see? I'm pretty certain 99.9856% of the time when you pull the trigger on an M-16 BULLETS come out the end..... So please explain to me why do we need a different rifle.

Rifle technology today is like steam power or piston driven aircraft. It's a perfected technology where being superseded by something totally different will be the only way to improve things.

 

[1911 guy]

I don't see a change coming anytime soon. What I'd like to see is the same rifle in a larger caliber, a 6mm or so. A bit heavier bullet would retain velocity and trajectory over a longer range. The expanded use of optics would make this a useable option for the average infantry.

 

[HorseSoldier]

I voted for the M16/M4, which I think is the best option until technology does something really new, plus "other" since there's no entry for the SCAR.

 

[brian923]

with the new technology in the new projectiles being made, say 77 grn SMK's
there is really no need to get bigger bullets. the 6x45 based on the .223 necked up, was the origonal chambering for the M249 (saw) but it was quickly converted to the 5.56 nato due to the fact of the possibility of loading the wrong ammo into the wrong weapon system. i love the 6x45, so much im waiting for some moola to build one, but there is nothing the .223 (5.56) can do that the 6x45 can do also.

 

[Acheron]

I voted to keep the M16 until something better comes along. I did this because the M16 is already issued and troops are already familiar with it. Trying to change out a weapons system during a conflict is just asking for a disaster.

But I feel that when something better comes along, we should be all over it like nobody's business.

 

[GunTech]

Use the search function. This topic has been covered in detail several times in the last month.

 

[HorseSoldier]

the 6x45 based on the .223 necked up, was the origonal chambering for the M249 (saw) but it was quickly converted to the 5.56 nato due to the fact of the possibility of loading the wrong ammo into the wrong weapon system.

Risk of trying to chamber the wrong ammo is pretty low. Case heads are the same, but 6mm SAW is too long to fit into an AR magazine/magwell. Since it won't load into AR mags, presumably a 6mm SAW would not have had a magazine feed option like the M249.

The logistics of having two seperate calibers all the way down at the fire team level, however, was deemed to be more trouble than the 6mm round's better ballistics were worth. Especially with the switch to 62 grain, semi-AP, ammo from the 55 grain M193.

 

[Shawnee]

Dell laptops.

 

[Slamfire]

Hey, what about the AR-180? I handled an Original, it was an improvement on the AR-15. You could put on a folding stock, so it would be even more compact than a M4, and Stoner had kept the good features of AR15, and designed out the faults.

 

[Chipperman]

M16 standard, M14 for Designated Marksman.

The sidearm is a bigger issue in my mind than the rifle.

 

[jlbraun]

If we ever get involved in a conventional war again, I think that the shortcomings of the M16 will come into play.

Low-intensity warfare where there's lots of downtime to clean your weapon means the M16 series works OK. On a conventional battlefield where there's no downtime for weeks, the M16 will have a problem.

 

[HorseSoldier]

Low-intensity warfare where there's lots of downtime to clean your weapon means the M16 series works OK. On a conventional battlefield where there's no downtime for weeks, the M16 will have a problem.

Five minutes a day to wipe/brush off your bolt carrier and bolt isn't hard to find under either scenario. M16s and M4s seem to have run well as long as they got minimal care during Gulf War 1 and the invasion of Iraq. Only when troops completely neglect them (a la 507th Maintenance Co) do you see problems.

Weapons cleaning during conventional operations is something that we've been training to do as long as I've been in the military (obviously it's less of a priority just right now, since we're mostly not doing what would be considered conventional operations). The procedures for such are pretty simple -- no more than X% of weapons down for maintenance/cleaning at any one time, rifles up whenever your MGs and crew served are down and disassembled, etc.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

There is no test that reliably duplicates combat conditions. Every weapon we've ever adopted had some "surprises" that only cropped up in actual combat. Adopting a new rifle is a high-risk matter -- who knows what flaws will be suddenly revealed under fire?

Now, adopting a new rifle that fires the same cartridge doesn't make sense. How can some untested design possibly compare with a 45-year veteran like the M16?

The M16 is the most thoroughly combat-tested rifle we've ever fielded. While the early M16A1s were miserable junk (ask me how I know) the current M16A2 and A4 and M4s are light years ahead of what we were issued in the mid-60s in Viet Nam.

We know the M16. There are battalion commanders and sergeants-major serving in Iraq who were not born when the M16 was first fielded. The skills and lore the Army has accumulated, the accessories, the spare parts, the lessons learned and absorbed all make the M16 dramatically more reliable in combat than any brand-new, whiz-bang super-gun.

 

[woodybrighton]

pushing bit of lead at bad guys has'nt really changed in 3O years or more
so unless something really radical comes along just buy new ones whenthe old wear out

 

[Joe Demko]

Until something really remarkable comes along, we might as well stay with the M-16 series. Switching to something else in the same caliber that would be exceptionally pointless. Every rifle the US has ever issued has had its own peculiarities, problems, and drawbacks. Every rifle every army has ever issued has had peculiarities, problems, and drawbacks. The idea that we'll replace the M-16 with some other rifle that uses the same basic technology and suddenly be problem free seems like wishful thinking to me. What would actually happen is that we'd exchange known problems with known solutions for new problems and solutions we'd need to work out on the fly.

 

[fineredmist]

Let me think about this, does Glock make a rifle?

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Amen!

 

[Dallee]

Other. Let's issue the Garand again!

 

[desert]

Quote:

Today 10:00 AM
fineredmist Let me think about this, does Glock make a rifle?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, sort of. Austrian.

Is the Steyr AUG close enough? Other than that I'd say HKG36. Both have the same weapons designer who worked for Steyr then moved to work for HK taking the designs with him IIRC.

 

[desert]

Quote:

Today 12:46 AM
Evil Monkey

nothing wrong with the m16 family.
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That's what they said about the M60, so I thought I'd ask.