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Originally Posted by The Reaper
You know, I think the Army already tried this, and wound up with the OICW/XM28 fiasco.
The longest serving rifle in US Army history is now the M-16, going over 40 years.
The HK416 is a good weapon, from the Germans. Some SOF units have them. The SCAR, built by FN (Belgian rehash of the FNC), is also a good weapon, and is being adopted by SOF. The Swiss SIG 552 is a nice rifle as well. Maybe we need a nationally owned and subsidized weapons company of our own, and to stop frivolous lawsuits against legitimate firearms manufacturers, or to somehow protect them from misguided individuals and municipalities. The government arsenals are mostly closed, and civilian firearms companies lose money at a prodigious rate, in the last major country I am aware of that allows significant private firearms ownership. Maybe if there was a potential market for a couple of million privately owned assault rifles, we would have some development and manufacturing capability right here at home.
The US was once at the forefront of small arms development, and John M. Browning was probably the finest designer of all times. Garand, Stoner, Thompson, et al were all great designers. Sad to see how far we have fallen.
As I have repeatedly stated, many of the M-16/M-4 series' problems are based upon the failure of the Army to maintain round counts, to rebuild weapons when required, and to trash them after their service life is exhausted. I was issued a full-auto AR-15 upon my arrival on my first team in 1985. That must have been a 20 year old rifle, at least.
Furthermore, we use 20 year old mags, without training the soldiers to clean or maintain the weapons properly, and then we blame the design of the weapon. Again, a good M-4, with the right mags and ammo, should be able to fire 5,000 rounds reliably without cleaning, IF NECESSARY. I have seen troops focus way too hard on cleaning parts of the weapon that are not prone to dirt induced failure, and fail to clean or lube the parts that needed it. How many rifles have you seen with loose retaining pins from excessive removal and installation of the steel pins in an aluminum receiver, in order to chase a speck of lint or dirt? I would wager that more military weapons are damaged by improper cleaning and blank fire than by live fire.
I have shot the M-4 a lot, and the HK416 a bit, and given a choice, would take the 416, but would not complain if issued a good M-4. I have not shot the POF extensively, but do not believe that they are capable of building the million or so weapons that would be required in a complete conversion. I have attempted to contact them before a couple of times, but they never replied. I have not shot the Colt or DSA piston systems at all.
IMHO, we should be looking for the next generation of weapons right now, and there should be fair and open competition among all makers, without the specs being written to exclude any one design. In the event of a tie, home team gets the advantage. The weapon must be ergonomically friendly, reliable, accurate, durable, reasonably priced, and easy to clean and operate under all conditions. Maybe we should let Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov run it?
Just my .02, YMMV.
TR
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