Army's soon to be new rifle "system" is friggen cool

[Jorgy]

The new U.S. Assault Rifle, the XM8, is a modular weapon that can be fitted with three different barrels (9", 12.5", 20".)

The 9" barrel is for a very compact weapon for tank crews or commandoes. With the nine inch barrel and the butt stock retracted, the weapon has an overall length of 21 inches.

The 12.5" barrel is the standard, for use with the assault rifle or, with the butt stock retracted, it serves as a carbine. The 20 inch barrel is thicker as well and used for the light machine-gun version. There is also a lighter 20 inch barrel for use by snipers.

The assault rifle can be equipped with the new M320 40mm grenade launcher

The U.S. Army is happy with the initial field testing of it's new M-8 (or XM-8) Assault Rifle. One of the major design features of the M-8 that makes it superior to the M-16 is the way it handles propellant gasses. The M-16 has these gasses going into the receiver, depositing layers of crud from propellant that did not completely burn. The M-8 keeps the propellant gasses out of the receiver and this reduces the cleaning time by about 70 percent. The troops appreciate this. More importantly, the reduced amount of crud in the receiver greatly increases reliability (far fewer rounds getting stuck.) In fact, the M-8 is designed to fire 15,000 rounds without cleaning or lubrication, even in a dirty (like a desert) environment. Troops are not allowed to let their weapons go like that, but this degree of reliability makes it less likely that rifles won't jam in a sandstorm or after getting dropped in the mud. The M-8 barrel and receiver is also of more sturdy construction, making it less likely that the user will get injured if there's something in the barrel when a round is fired. This is not unusual in combat. All you have to do is accidentally jam the barrel into the dirt while hitting the ground or otherwise avoiding enemy fire, and then have to return fire. On an M-16, this can often cause the rifle to, well, blow up in your face. This unfortunate event is much less likely with the M-8.

The M-8 comes with a battery powered sight that includes a red-dot, close-combat capability, plus infrared laser aimer and laser illuminator with a backup etched reticule. The sights on the M-8, similar to those which have been showing up on M-16s over the past decade, make it much easier to hit something. The M-8 is better designed for "ease of use" and support troops who don't handle their weapons frequently will find that they can more easily hit something with an M-8. Tests, using people who have not handled a rifle frequently, have demonstrated this.

Because the attachment points for rail mounted devices are built into the M-8, the sight can be factory zeroed. The M-16, because it has rail mounting hardware mounted on it, requires frequent re-zeroing in the field. This is a feature very much appreciated by the troops. The attachment points allow additional sighting devices to be quickly added to the weapon. A new 40mm, single shot grenade launcher (the M320) will be available for the M-8 and can be quickly installed by troops, without special tools. The M-8 is designed for easy left or right handed operation.

Testing will increase, as more M-8s are available, and the plan is that by early 2007, the first of over a million M-8s will begin distribution to all troops in active and reserve army units. One thing that may slow this down is the army research on the use of a new caliber (6.8mm). The new bullet has shown to have better accuracy and stopping power. While troops would be carrying less ammo with the larger round (25 rounds in the current 30 round magazine), they would require fewer shots to take down enemy troops. American troops today are much better trained in the use of their rifles than they were four decades ago. Automatic fire is not often used, with accurate, individual shots being the norm. The M-8 rifle, and possibly a new caliber, are a reflection of that.




Here is a link to a similar page, but it has some video of xm8 on full suto



http://www.hk-usa.com/pages/military...ines/xm8.html#

[Jorgy]

the different modular weapons

[8x8bull]

did john kerry vote against making these guns??[8D]

[Clint.]

Hehehe
Looks like an assault rifle to me...better ban that puppy!

Clint

[driftrider]

Looks like something out of Star Trek...

It also looks like the gun is made out of mostly plastic...far more even than the M-16A2. I wonder how well it'll stand up to the physical abuse troops in the field will give it, including but not limited to butt-stroking an enemy upside his sorry head.

And Clint...there's no way it could be an assault weapon, it doesn't have a bayonette lug, silly boy! Oops, my bad...I guess it does have a dreaded pistol grip. And with that mean looking grenade launcher it might even be a weapon of mass destruction! OMG, Feinstein's gonna have a massive coronary when she sees this one (please?)!

Mike

[driftrider]

I like the one that the Marine Corps is working on...the Objective Individual Combat Weapon.

It's got a 5.56NATO (.223Rem) rifle on the bottom capable of semi-auto and 2 round burst (why 2 and not 3 I wonder?). The top barrel is a semi-automatic 20mm grenade launcher that fires 2-stage high-explosive airbursting munitions up to about 800m. The Marine has an advanced computerized optical sight and laser rangefinder, with which he sights and lases the target he wants to engage. This range data is fed to the grenade and its fuse is set. When fired the grenade airbursts at the selected range, greatly increasing its effectiveness on dug in or hidden targets. The grenade system also has a "window" mode that sets the grenades fuse to a slight delay to allow the grenade to penetrate a window or light structural material before detonating in the middle of the room behind. While it looks like it needs to trim a few pounds, I guarantee that this weapon will kick some serious butt when (if?) it's fielded.

If they try to run from this baby, they'll just die tired!





Mike

[Briman]

A rifle with a 9" barrel?[:@]
A bullpup?[:@]


Both rifles look like they would be pretty useless when fighting gets to arms length distance. Do the Marines currently teach everyone to shoot right handed regardless of ye dominance? If not, they will have to when they get the OICW.

Using the optical sights in rain and muddy conditions might be interesting also.

[driftrider]

The OICW has operating controls on both sides of the weapon, and the 20mm GL is user selectable for right or left side ejection (note the closed ejection port on th left side in the bottom picture). The 5.56mm rifle ejects out the right side, but far enough forward of the shooter to keep brass from hitting him in the face.

You are probably right about its usefulness in close combat.

And optical sights are nothing new to military rifles, the British service rifles have been equipped with optical sights as standard equipment for over 10 years.

And, just FYI, while the Corps doesn't actually teach Marines to shoot their rifles weak-handed, they do train us to carry the rifle weak-handed under certain circumstances. The best example is when patrolling when, for instance, a right handed Marine is on the right side of the formation (a staggered column of two). Normally a righty would carry his weapon at the alert with the muzzle pointed to his left and down. But when on the right side he'd switch to carrying left handed so the muzzle was pointed toward the outside of the formation. This is done both to prevent flagging your fellow Marines, and to allow the Marine to bring his rifle ot bear more quickly should the enemy ambush you on that side. Naturally the Marine would switch back to his dominant side when the opportunity presented itself, but in an ambush, your biggest concern initially is to put some volume of fire back on the enemy while you begin the appropriate ambush drill (depending on if it's a near or far ambush). Of course, if you happen to be unlucky enough to be in the enemy's kill zone, and they have half a clue how to plan and execute an ambush, then you'll probably be dead before you get a shot off anyway, so it really doesn't matter if you're right or left handed. Ain't war a bitch?!

Mike




Mike

[Briman]

Now that you mentioned it, I can now see the ejection port for grenades.

Q?

Can this thing be shot from a prone position? How about slung up?

[Coastie]

Made by Mattell, it's swell!!
Sorry sports fans, they both look like pieces of junk to me. I hated the M16 (still do) and barely tolerated the M14 (at first) although it did prove to be a superior weapon in the final analysis.
I truly believe if the Army and Marines went back to teaching and demanding basic marksmanship skills from all troops they would be much better served. High tech tools, regardless of what the manufacturer says, are high tech and high maintenance.
A sniper rifle with a 20" barrell? get serious, even the 6.8 MM (why not 7MM?) round, no matter the velocity is not a sniper rifle with a 20" barrell. Factory zeroed rifles? You can bet your backside troops are going to die because the Army wont let them actually zero their rifles because the spec sheet says they are zeroed at the factory and changing anything voids the warranty or some equally stupid thing. If these rifles are so great, I would like to see those in the pentagon now pushing for their acceptance to be the first to carry them in combat, right alongside the designers and CEO of the company trying to sell them.