From the "poops where it eats" crowd, we learn that Spec Ops has gone against the grain and ordered the HK416 gas-piston upper for their M4 carbines.
The Army has gone on record as stating they won't purchase the conversion for regular troops. Not because it doesn't work better or increase reliability. Nope. They don't want to buy it because they're holding out for the next generation of issue weapons that fire airburst rounds.
The futuristic XM29 and XM8 didn't make the cut. I wonder how long they will hold out before M4 stoppages wake them up to the reality that is the HK416?
I understand the HK416 isn't cheap. It's also a German idea, but damnit, so was the Mauser 93, which was product-improved into the Springfield 1903, lest we forget.
If the GSA bean counters are so adament, let our defense contractors use the HK416 as a starting point for a homegrown gas-piston upper, change the design by at least 10% to avoid patent problems, and call it our own. Then get it to the guys in the sandbox who need it.
2 comments:
Hmmmph....
We have a far better design, and have had for years. The military already turned it down, even though is was Stoner's answer to all the M-16 issues.
The AR-180 (Now the AR-180b and far superior) is a great design. Simple, robust, reliable, and accurate. Cheap to build and dirt easy to maintain.
The AR-180b uses M-16 fire control and magazines, with a simple piston driven action that has HK style recoil springs along the bolt. No POINGING great bouncy toy spring in the stock.
The AR-180b could be built in large numbers for half the price the govt pays for the current junk it buys.
I sold my Colt AR platform a week after it jammed up tight and had to be torn down to clear it.
Spec-ops troops have a vested interest in a 100% reliable weapon, with their operational parameters and limitations. A standard ODA is twelve men, if I recall correctly, usually operating deep in hostile territory. The SOP to "break contact" requires a volume of fire outside the design limits of the M4. It is a nice carbine, but a poor light machine gun. Direct gas impingement systems and sustained full auto fire do not go well together.
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