Congressional Aides Shoot the A4

W

Waitone

New member
Have things changed that much in two weeks?????

http://www.defensetech.org/
Hill Aides to Test M4 Alternatives

In a move that could ruffle the feathers of an Army command that views the Colt Defense-built M4 as the best carbine in the world, a select group of top senate staffers is gathering today to look at what could be the future of the military's standard assault rifle.

About 30 legislative aides have signed up to attend a July 11 demonstration at Marine Corps Base Quantico, just outside Washington, D.C., that will feature weapons from various manufacturers vying to end the reign of the M16 and M4 as the U.S. military's most fielded personal weapon.

The range day is intended to help familiarize key lawmakers with possible alternatives to the M16 and M4 once the exclusive contract with Colt Defense of West Hartford, Conn., ends in the summer of 2009, a senior senate aide told Defense Tech.

"When you re-compete the M4 it shouldn't just be for the same thing we've been building for the last 20 to 30 years," said the senior senate staffer who requested anonymity because the issue is so sensitive with the Army.

Over the past year the Army has taken fire from M4 critics who say there are better options available to troops, weapons that require less intensive maintenance and fire more lethal rounds. While the Army -- which is responsible for procuring small arms for all the services -- continues to stand by the M4 and M16, a small group of tenacious senators, including Oklahoma Republican James Coburn, have pressed the issue, forcing the service to subject the M4 to rigorous environmental tests and pushing for side-by-side competitions with several M4 alternatives.

"There's no urgent need to improve the M4, it's clearly working better than the M16," the senior senate aide said. "Our concern is that, urgent or not, we really ought to be improving it on par with technological improvements [and] not be wedded to an older weapon just because that's the way we've always been doing it."

While the aide declined to list all the companies participating in the demo, congressional and industry sources say the shoot will feature the standard 5.56mm M4 carbine, the FNH USA-build Mk-17 -- which fires a 7.62mm round -- and a modified "M4-style" rifle that fires a new 6.8mm special purpose cartridge round, among others.

The 6.8mm SPC round was born of a 6-month program launched by the interagency Technical Support Working Group which looked into how an M4 or M16 could be easily modified to fire a round that had better ballistic characteristics than the current arsenal when fired from a short barrel.
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"There's no urgent need to improve the M4, it's clearly working better than the M16," the senior senate aide said.
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...and that is where the aid lost ALL my confidence. They don't understand firearms well enough.
 
There was a good discussion about this on silencertalk a little while ago.

It basically boiled down to this: If it's not going to be a viable option to have linked up to run through a SAW of some sort, it ain't gonna fly.

Kiss yer grendel goodbye and lets start making more Mk262.

Mk262 is the solution to the "lets replace the rifle" problem.

And why in the hell are we getting congresscritters to play with rifles? They wouldn't know a viable solution if it hit them in the head.
 
And why in the hell are we getting congresscritters to play with rifles? They wouldn't know a viable solution if it hit them in the head.
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That is what I thought. What exactly does the standard congres staffer know about what a infantry soldier needs?
 
Who knows...maybe they actually found 30 congressional staffers with prior military experience. There have to be at least a few of those.

Probably not, though.

At the least, hopefully the staffers being sent will listen to the Marines doing the testing/shooting.
 
my fears

all the exsisting ones and the new possible ones are to be displayed? oh no, some 21 or 22 yr old staffer with a HALO fetish is going to think we need gun "X" because it "looks the coolest" :barf:

Congress in case any of you brave it this far into the real world:D here is a subtle hint....
Let Soldiers test them, their lives will depend on them not your political hack staffers.
 
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