Gunned Down, Part II

As we reported yesterday, the M-16 rifle may be fighting its final battle.

It's long been regarded as too fragile and jam-prone (as we may have seen during the Jessica Lynch incident, where quite a number of M-16s jammed in action). Now it's too bulky, too:

After nearly 40 years of battlefield service around the globe, the M-16 may be on its way out as the standard Army assault rifle because of flaws highlighted during the invasion and occupation of Iraq (news - web sites).

U.S. officers in Iraq say the M-16A2 — the latest incarnation of the 5.56 mm firearm — is quietly being phased out of front-line service because it has proven too bulky for use inside the Humvees and armored vehicles that have emerged as the principal mode of conducting patrols since the end of major fighting on May 1.

The replacement? A cut-down M-16.

The M-4 is essentially a shortened M-16A2, with a clipped barrel, partially retractable stock and a trigger mechanism modified to fire full-auto instead of three-shots bursts. It was first introduced as a personal defense weapon for clerks, drivers and other non-combat troops.

"Then it was adopted by the Special Forces and Rangers, mainly because of its shorter length," said Col. Kurt Fuller, a battalion commander in Iraq and an authority on firearms.

Fuller said studies showed that most of the combat in Iraq has been in urban environments and that 95 percent of all engagements have occurred at ranges shorter than 100 yards, where the M-4, at just over 30 inches long, works best.

Still, experience has shown the carbines also have deficiencies. The cut-down barrel results in lower bullet velocities, decreasing its range. It also tends to rapidly overheat and the firing system, which works under greater pressures created by the gases of detonating ammunition, puts more stress on moving parts, hurting its reliability.

Consequently, the M-4 is an unlikely candidate for the rearming of the U.S. Army. It is now viewed as an interim solution until the introduction of a more advanced design known as the Objective Individual Combat Weapon, or OICW.

"Great, a new weapon!"

Well, maybe not. Look at this thing. If you've never been a soldier, you might think it looks like something from "Aliens". You wouldn't be far off.

It weighs 68 pounds, loaded for action. That's nearly 10 times the weight of the M-16. This, after the military spent forty years trying to build a rifle lighter and handier than the old M-1/M-14 family of rifles, which were both wondeful rifles (I've shot both) and bulkier than your standard deer rifle.

It's not an idle point. Soldiers will have to lug this thing - and all its ammunition - along with their other gear (food, ammunition for their squad's machine gun, etc) into action - and the more tired they are when they get there, the less likely they are to be able to shoot accurately, no matter what kind of sight you pin on the top.

Or so I'm told. I've never been a soldier.

Kim Du Toit has, and he's the blogosphere's resident firearms maven. His opinions about the OICW start here, and if you were left in any doubt, continue here.

More on this later.

Posted by Mitch at November 25, 2003 05:21 AM