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Science & Technology
M4A1 Carbine Upgrades
2015-07-12
[Motley Fool] For more than a decade, standard-issue M4 and M4A1 carbines used by infantry in the U.S. Army had been manufactured by just one company -- Colt Defense. A competing bid that significantly undercut Colt's sales price shifted the M4's manufacture to Freedom Group subsidiary Remington Arms in 2011 -- but still kept the weapon under an American brand name.

Two years later, Remington was itself underbid by a foreign operator, Belgium's FN Herstal, which offered to build the M4A1 for the U.S. Army at the low, low price of just $642 per gun -- nearly half what Colt had been charging just a few years before.

And don't look now but the tectonic plates are about to shift again.

Introducing the M4A1+

Earlier this month, the Army Times updated readers on the progress of a new Army program to upgrade the M4A1. The Army intends the M4A1 to replace the venerable M16 as a soldier's standard-issue long gun, and as long as they're doing that, the generals figure why not make the M4A1 better?
Posted by:Besoeker

#8  I found a piston, same ammo as the M240. Fires grenades as well !
Posted by: Besoeker   2015-07-12 17:07  

#7  There was a reason for "burst". I guess the new configuration presumes the guys will be sitting behind sand bags next to half-ton ammo lockers.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey   2015-07-12 15:55  

#6  Specs call for a "single-stage trigger, free of creep, with consistent trigger pull weight" of 4-5 pounds. It should work on both semiautomatic and automatic settings.

Better cleaning tools, but no mention of a piston for cleaner, cooler operation. Odd.
Posted by: Skidmark   2015-07-12 15:55  

#5  As of a couple of years ago the M14 was still in use in AFG, at least with some Ranger Battalions and possibly others. Both sniper variants and standard issue wood stock, brown fiberglass fore arm. Saw them displayed in an change of command MRAP inventory.
Posted by: Besoeker   2015-07-12 12:10  

#4  Darth. I was in when the 14 was being phased out. Seems the weapon of choice is the one whose use is best in the current unpleasantness, whatever it is, without regard to other possibilities. For example, during the Cold War, the NATO troops were armed with the M16. Stupid. Knew an Infantry platoon leader in WW II whose group encountered Germans in the open. Shot them all dead and, for a moment afterwards, leaves were falling on the GIs. The Germans all had full auto weapons and absolutely slaughtered the tree branches above the Americans who were using the Garand.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey   2015-07-12 11:10  

#3  The re-vamp of the M4 includes a heavier barrel, ambidextrous safety controls and conversion from three-round burst to fully automatic.

More info here
Posted by: frozen al   2015-07-12 10:59  

#2  I have used both the M16A2 and the M4 and I like the M4. For MOUT (house to house)and getting in and out of vehicles under fire the M4 is far better. The short barrel allows you to move through windows, doors, corners, etc. than a full sized rifle.

However, if you are trying to hit anything much past 200-250 meters the full rifle is still better. So for full open field fighting the M16A2 is still more accurate and hits harder at those ranges.

Unlike the M1 carbine, the M4 uses the same size round as the M16A2 so at short ranges the punch is the same. The longer rifle allows for a more complete burn of the powder so there is a much higher muzzle velocity, thus the longer accuracy and harder punch at long ranges.
Posted by: DarthVader   2015-07-12 10:34  

#1  "best carbine in the world" Carbines are for guys whose job is something else than shooting their personal weapon at the enemy.
The Marines tried an entire division with M1 carbines in the Pacific. Dropped that.
Range. Hitting power. Sacrificed to allow more rounds to be fired in the general direction of the enemy, many falling short. Maybe each squad will have to have two designated marksmen.
Full auto. Basic load 209 rounds. Somebody check the "coffee" in that office.
11B10 71542
Posted by: Richard Aubrey   2015-07-12 06:57  

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