New Military Rifle?

Marksmen

When will the US military start issuing a new battle rifle that will replace the M16 and its variants? And which rifle will it be? I see lots of countries changing to Heckler and Koch G36.

He Dog

It seems to me unlikely that we would not go with something American made.

kingjoey

There's been a project in the works for years, just can't get the price low enough yet.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/military/1998/9/army_wonder_weapon/print.phtml

Shootist3006

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ElMuertoMonkey

Yeah, the OICW... the "Army's new Wonder Weapon."

As in, "Wonder why they call it a weapon?"

rldowns3

Before too long you're gonna have to have an electronics degree to be able to field strip and clean your rifle.

SlappyDappy

It doesnt matter if its american made rifle considering other countries make much better weapons than us. FN also has the contract for our m16's and they are in Belgium, Beretta for our sidearms and they are an italian company. It doesnt matter WHERE the rifles are manufactured be it in the US or another country. If we adopted the G36 chances are they would move production here just so people wouldnt cry about them not being made in the US.

The m16 is near death and needs to be replaced. The OICW is not even being considered for a replacement because of its cost but is being considered for a support role, like having one in each squad so to speak.

Marksmen

I say just upgrade the M16, ex. new gas system, folding stock, new look, etc. kinda like the HK G3. Isnt the G36 just a upgraded version in a new caliber and look? im probably wrong but you get the idea.

SlappyDappy

No same caliber and totally different gun. Vents all the gas inside the forearm and not inside the reciever like the m16 does.

Txs

If they don't want to replace the service rifle, why not field a belt fed LMG or SAW version that fires just the 20mm? Even at a cost of $25-$30 a round it seems like it would be worth it in this role.

offeror

There already seems to be a significant amount of conversion to M4s, and then we have the HK G36 and the Sig 552 series. Seemingly shorter is better. As for the round itself, as we do more and more real war fighting, the rumors of unhappiness with the .223 round are rising again -- and note the heavier reliance on 3-round bursts; I doubt that is only for saving ammo vs. full auto -- it also makes possible the use of measured bursts instead of semi-auto. Kalashnikov was probably right. His round was better for the purpose, and the 5.45 in the AK-74 was a mistake.


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