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#Post#: 3209--------------------------------------------------
American Assault Rifles
DIR By: Thorgrimm
Date: September 10, 2014, 3:09 pm
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M8 Combat Rifle / Lightweight Assault Rifle
Standard Assault Rifle Version
HTML http://www.stgfc.com/pnp/Images/m8.jpg
Squad Automatic Rifle Version
HTML http://www.stgfc.com/pnp/Images/m8_ar.jpg
SMG Version
HTML http://www.stgfc.com/pnp/Images/m8_c.jpg
Sniper Version
HTML http://www.stgfc.com/pnp/Images/m8_s.jpg
Caliber: 5.56x45 mm AADP
Action: Gas operated, rotating bolt
Overall length: 33 in (838 mm) in basic configuration, butt
extended
Barrel length: 12.5 in (318 mm) in basic configuration; also 9
in (229 mm) in Compact and 20 In (508 mm) in Sharpshooter and
SAW versions
Weight: 5 lbs 10 oz (2.659 kg) empty in basic configuration
Rate of fire: 750 rounds per minute
Magazine capacity: 30 rounds (STANAG) or 100-round double drum
in Automatic Rifle/SAW role
In October 2025 ATK (Alliant Techsystems) was awarded a 15
million dollar contract modification from the U.S. Army Armament
Research, Development, and Engineering Center (ARDEC), in
Picatinny, N.J., to develop the new M8 Lightweight Assault
Rifle. ATK Integrated Defense Company, of Plymouth, Minn., and
its development teammate in the BCN from Enfield Arms Company,
in London, England, provided key support for the rapid
development program, which investigated the potential of the M8
as the lightweight assault rifle for the Army's Objective Force.
The M8 Lightweight Assault Rifle reduced the 21st century
soldier's load and increased his mobility. Two very important
aims of the Army's Objective Force Warrior and Land Warrior
initiatives.
The progress made to reduce the weight and improve the
performance on the M29 program was key in the decision to
accelerate the development of the M8, The M8 was to be
integrated with the Army's efforts to transform to a more lethal
and rapidly deployed fighting force as part of its Objective
Force.
The M8 is a true family of weapons with different barrel lengths
designed to address all of the needs of an Infantry Squad. The
standard model is lighter than the M4 carbine and no larger in
size.
There is also a sharpshooter version for increased range, a
compact SMG version for cramped quarters, and an automatic rifle
version for a squad-automatic weapon. The M8 family has a 9-inch
compact, 12.5-inch carbine and a 20-inch sharpshooter and
automatic rifle models.
The 12.5-inch carbine is 5.7 pounds in weight and is 33 inches
long with its adjustable folding stock extended. The M-16 A2 is
39.63 inches long and 8.79 pounds with a 30-round magazine.
Internally, the M8 uses a rotary locking bolt system that
functions and could be field stripped like the M-16 rifle and
M-4 carbine, according to the M8 manufacturer - Enfield. The
bolt is powered by a unique gas operating system with a
user-removable gas piston and pusher rod to operate the
mechanism.
Unlike the M-4 and M-16 direct gas system with gas tube, the M8
gas system did not introduce propellant gases and carbon back
into the weapon's receiver during firing.
This improved reliability of the M8 can be credited to
differences in the weapon's operating system from the one in the
M16 and its variants. For instance, a thin gas tube runs almost
the entire length of the barrel in all of the M16 variants.
When the M-16 is fired, the gases travel back down the tube into
the chamber and push the bolt back to eject the shell casing and
chamber a new round. The M8's gas system, instead, is connected
to a mechanical operating rod, which pushes back the bolt to
eject the casing and chamber the new round each time the weapon
is fired.
So there was no carbon residue being constantly blown back into
the chamber, which reduced the need to clean the weapon as
often. The weapon did not get gases blowing back into the
chamber that had carbon residue in them. The M8 also has a much
tighter seal between the bolt and the ejection port, which cut
down on the amount of debris that can blow into the weapon when
the ejection port's dust cover is open.
The M8 was part of the Army's effort to perfect an
over-and-under style weapon, known as the M29, developed by
Alliant Techsystems and Enfield. It fired special air-bursting
projectiles and standard 5.56mm AADP ammunition.
However, the M29 was still is too heavy and unwieldy for Army
requirements. Instead of scrapping the M29, the Army decided to
perfect each of the M29's components separately. This was so
that the soldiers could take advantage of the new technology
sooner.
The parts were to be brought back together when lighter
materials become available. The M8 system is one of those sub
components.
The M8 began its life as the 5.56mm KE (kinetic energy)
component of the 25mm air-bursting M29 Objective Individual
Combat Weapon (OICW). The M8 Lightweight Modular Carbine System
represented the state-of-the-art in 5.56x45mm AADP assault
rifles.
Developed by the US Army's office of Project Manager for Soldier
Weapons, located at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey in close
conjunction with the US Army Infantry Center. The M8 Combat
Rifle replaced existing M4 Carbines and select 5.56mm x45
weapons in the US Army arsenal beginning as early as the fourth
quarter of FY2028.
Once adopted, the M8 Carbine replaced the aging M16/M4 family of
weapons, which had been in service for nearly six decades,
longer than any previous US service rifle. The M8 Carbine is 20%
lighter than a comparably equipped M4 Carbine MWS, and yet
offered additional features and performance unavailable at that
time in any assault rifle in the world.
As a direct development of the separable OICW (M29) KE or
Kinetic Energy module, the M8 Carbine shared a high degree of
common parts and training and maintenance procedures to lessen
the required support for the family of M8 weapons.
Being developed are four M8 variants, which include a baseline
carbine, a sharpshooter variant, an automatic rifle variant, and
the ultra-compact carbine variant. A unique feature of the M8
modular weapon system was the ability to easily, and quickly,
reconfigure the weapon from one variant to the other to meet any
changing mission requirements, to include caliber conversion.
This modularity included the exchange of interchangeable
assembly groups such as the barrel, handguard, lower receiver,
buttstock modules, and the sighting system with a removable
carrying handle. In addition. and in parallel, the M320 quick
detachable single-shot 40mm grenade launcher with side-opening
breech and LSS lightweight 12 gauge shotgun module could be
easily added to the M8 by the user in the field without tools.
The unique buttstock system allowed the operator to exchange
buttstocks without tools from the standard collapsible
multi-position version, to an optional buttcap for maximum
portability, or an optional folding or sniper buttstock with an
adjustable cheekpiece for special applications.
Internally the M8 employs a combat-proven robust rotary locking
bolt system that functions and fieldstrips like that used in the
M16 rifle and M4 carbine it was going to replace. However, this
bolt is powered by a unique gas operating system that employs a
user removable gas piston and pusher rod to operate the
mechanism.
Unlike the M4/M16 direct gas system with gas tube, the M8 gas
system does not introduce propellant gases, and its associated
carbon fouling back into the weapon's receiver during firing.
This greatly increases the reliability of the M8 while at same
time reducing operator cleaning time by as much as seventy
percent.
This system also allows the weapon to fire more than 15,000
rounds without lubrication or cleaning, even in the worst
operational environments. A cold hammer forged barrel guaranteed
a minimum of 20,000 rounds service life and ultimate operator
safety in the event of an obstructed bore occurrence.
The M8 had a fully ambidextrous operating control, which
included a centrally located charging handle that doubled as an
ambidextrous forward assist when required, ambidextrous magazine
release, bolt catch, safety/selector lever with semi and full
automatic modes of fire and release lever for the multiple
position collapsible buttstock.
The operating controls allowed the operator to keep the firing
hand on the pistol grip and the weapon in the firing position at
all times while the non-firing hand actuated the charging handle
and magazine during loading and clearing.
Major components of the weapon were produced from high-strength
fiber reinforced polymer materials that could be molded in
almost any color to include OD green, desert tan, arctic white,
urban blue, brown and basic black. Surfaces on the M8 that
interface with the operator are fitted with non-slip materials
to increase comfort and operator retention. The M8 used 10 or
30-round semi-transparent box magazines and high-reliability
100-round drum magazines for sustained fire applications.
Special integral flush-mounted attachment points are located on
the handguard and receiver to allow the quick attachment of
targeting devices. Unlike MIL-STD-1913 rails, the M8 attachment
points do not add additional weight, bulk and cost to the host
weapon, and will accept MIL-STD-1913 adapters to allow for the
use of contemporary in-service accessories.
The attachment points for the standard multi-function integrated
red-dot sight allowed for multiple mounting positions and ensure
a 100% zero retention, even after the sight is removed and
remounted. The battery powered M8 sight included the latest
technology in a red dot close combat optic, IR laser aimer and
laser illuminator
This also had a back-up etched reticule with a capability
exceeding that of the M68-CCO, AN/PEQ-2, and AN/PAQ-4. This
sight was factory zeroed on the weapon when it was delivered and
did not require constant rezeroing in the field like
contemporary rail-mounted targeting devices.
The US M8 Carbine was designed at the Enfield Defense design
center in London, England and was produced and assembled in the
United States at the new Enfield manufacturing plant located in
Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to Fort Benning.
The unit cost of the M8 was less than that of the M4 Carbine and
guaranteed the American war fighter uncompromising performance
far exceeding that of M4 Carbines.
#Post#: 3210--------------------------------------------------
Re: American Assault Rifles
DIR By: Thorgrimm
Date: September 10, 2014, 3:42 pm
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M-22A1 Gauss Rifle
M-22 Gauss Rifle
HTML http://www.stgfc.com/pnp/Images/M-22_Gauss_Rifle.png
Caliber: 4.5mm EC (electrically charged), 25mm HEAB (High
Explosive Air Burst) grenades
Overall length: 38 in (965mm) in basic configuration, butt
extended
Weight: 10 lbs (4.535 KG) empty in basic configuration
Rate of fire: 900 rounds per minute
Magazine capacity: 100 rounds in a U-bend magazine configuration
The M-22 gauss rifle has had one of the most controversial
development histories of any American service weapon since the
M-16. It was, until 2073, a much maligned and ridiculed weapon,
both inside and outside the military, with so-called experts
criticizing everything from its reliability to its choice of
ammunition:
"The M-22 is a bad weapon, plain and simple, I have never seen
such a rushed job to get a weapon into service. It’s got a
litany of problems, all guaranteed to get a soldier killed, and
provided it does work, the damn cartridge won’t stop a charging
snowflake… the thought my boy is going to have to carry one of
those (expletive deleted) things… [shakes head], it’s enough to
tick me off!
MAJ Joseph Kilgore, USA (ret) on INN’s "America Watch"- "The
Army’s new rifle, boon, or boondoggle?" (Airdate: 10/21/2072)
The weapon's troubles began when the Army opened the competition
to find the replacement for the venerable and beloved M-8
assault rifle. It had served US troops well in the 2nd
Mexican-American War, the Brazilian War and the beginning of
WW3.
The M8 had been hailed as a simple, reliable, and with few
faults. However by 2065, with the development in Germany of the
soon-to-be G-72, and the fact that Gauss weapons could generate
higher muzzle velocities and associated wound traumas became
apparent to the Army.
The contest to replace the M-8 opened in August 2066, with three
major contenders. First was the Colt Model 22, (soon to be known
as the XM-22) which was everything the Army was looking for.
It had 10x Optical Sights, with back-up iron sights, laser
sighting in visible, UV, and IR bands, under slung 25mm Grenade
Launcher and fired the British-developed, BCN standard C70 4.5mm
EC (electrically charged) ammunition which improved
interoperability with the British on foreign exchange
assignments. Along with its price being projected to be cheaper
than any other gauss weapon then in service.
However the prevailing political agenda led to Congress demanded
that there be a 'shoot-off' before the weapon was could be
purchased by the Army.
A competition was something that the other contractors, frozen
out by the Army’s demand for a Gauss weapon, relished, and had
paid for handsomely with their 'friends' in Congress. Winchester
submitted the XM-10 design, which was basically a modernized M-8
utilizing a binary propellant system and although it was not
much more capable than the M-8 it was reliable.
The M-10 also had a 25mm grenade launcher and was readily
familiar to existing users of the M-8. However, to save costs
Winchester even retained the same aging sighting system that had
been used on the later M-8's.
Also submitted for consideration, although not taken seriously,
was the latest BSA (Birmingham Small Arms) Mk-1 Assault Rifle,
which was also a Gauss weapon, but suffered from the notorious
US Congressional and military phobia: NIH (Not Invented Here)
Syndrome.
The trouble was that Congress could not order the Army to buy
the weapon without good reason. The President had already sided
with the War Department and the Army. Moreover, he made it known
that he would veto the FY 2067 appropriations bill if it did not
give the XM-22 a fair chance.
Congress, in turn, made noises about the 'ammunition not
fulfilling the made in America requirement'. This was something
of a false argument since the M-22's ammunition and magazines
were to be license produced in the US. However, Congress soon
relented, confident that they could then 'influence' the results
of the test.
Testing began on 4 May 2067, with the XM-22 quickly outpacing
the XM-10 in the early testing, especially on range, muzzle
velocity, and ammunition to weight ratio. However, the XM-22
soon had a disquieting trend emerging.
"The weapon (XM-22) has a lot of promising qualities, but it
suffered from a few problems that could prove fatal to the
individual soldier. Namely, the batteries had a failure rate of
5%, and there were wide fluctuations in the power net in the
weapon, which meant that another 5% of the time, the weapon will
not fire, even with a fully charged battery.
"Furthermore, the integral optical sights had a nasty habit of
becoming occluded by moisture in wet climates. If the weapon was
immersed in water, for any reason, the sights will be
effectively useless for hours and must be disassembled to clean
them, a process that cannot be performed by the individual
soldier.
"The tunable laser sight had it’s own problems, in that the
polymer knob could be jostled or even snapped off of the weapon
far too easily."
SSGT Eric Kilmer, evaluator for the Ordnance Branch, XM-22/10
trials, report of 7 July 2067, pp 34-35
In any event, by December of 2067, the Army had decided to go
with the XM-22 and awarded the contract to Colt. This enraged
Congress, who soon hauled in the Chief of Staff of the Army to
'explain' why the Army had chosen a problematic, if
state-of-the-art, weapon over a weapon that may have had a sound
and tried design basis, but for the most part, was only slightly
less obsolescent than it’s predecessor.
The Army needed a gauss rifle for it’s soldiers in the war
against China and it was going to get one. By January of 2068,
the funding had come in and the weapon was standardized as the
M-22 Gauss Assault Rifle, 4.5mm. However, its trials were far
from over.
The weapon was procured on a limited basis, to see if the kinks
could be worked out of it, and the Army gave Picatinny and
Aberdeen a year in which to do it. Otherwise, the Army would
have to go with the Congressionally beloved M-10.
After six months of limited combat trials the same disquieting
problems continued. Many of the same things observed in the
trials of the weapon began to emerge with a vengeance in the new
rifle. Dead batteries, dead rifles, occluded sights, broken
sighting knobs, all of these problems were still not worked out
after a year.
Some issues, like the sight problem and the bad cells were fixed
by the simple field expedient of industrial sealant in the case
of the sight and by jury-rigging a port for an extra battery in
the case of the bad power cells. However, the power net itself
could not be fixed very easily, and it seemed no field expedient
could remedy the problem.
By 2068, it became apparent that the M-22 had a lot wrong with
it, and the weapon soon became a favorite target of the press
and opposition politicians. In particular the charge was raised
that Colt was making the M-22 'on the cheap' with shoddy
components to meet the unit price.
In May, Congress held hearings on the entire decision to procure
the weapon, and why their 'advice' to purchase the M-10 had been
ignored. Needless to say, Congress relished the chance to impose
its decision on the Armed Services, and ordered that all M-22s
be pulled from service and that the M-10 be purchased as an
'interim' weapon until such time as that the M-22 could be made
to work.
The simple fact was Congress had every intention to make sure
that the M-10 was around a lot longer than on an interim basis.
They under-funded efforts to fix the M-22 and meanwhile, funded
efforts to speed the M-10 into troop service on the front lines,
which occurred in 2069.
In the meanwhile, Army troops liked the M-10 and they felt as if
they could get more out of a more modern weapon. It was a good,
if obsolescent design, but that did not help the USMC's supply
problems during their foreign service with the British in India
and Southeast Asia.
The British did not use 9mm binary propellant and try as they
might, they could not retrofit surplus Vickers VB-46 propellant
bottles to fit in the M-10, worsening the logistical crunch.
However, the weapon did have some good points and excelled in
MOUT operations.
It remained a disliked relic with Marine units who often
protested vigorously when equipped with the M-10. Interestingly,
the only other nation to go with a wide-scale adoption of a
binary 9mm weapon were the European Alliance, who developed
their G-45 independently from the M-10.
The M-22, during all this, was upgraded with a better sealing of
the sights, polymer knobs and catches were replaced with carbon
fiber switches and the power net's fiber optic connections were
hard-wired into the weapon rather than the 'modular network'
that had been the case.
Furthermore, the jury-rigged carry point for the battery was
made type standard and was hooked into the power net of the
weapon, which made it possible for there to be an auxiliary
power source for the weapon. Weight increased by two pounds, but
the weapon was now more controllable on full automatic. Thus,
the improved M-22 (now known as M-22A1) was ready to be
re-issued to a grateful US military by 2073.
The M-22A1 soon vindicated its maligned reputation in another
set of trials with the nearly obsolescent M-10. This time it
passed handily and the M-22A1 was re-issued beginning in March
of 2074 to the Marine Raider Regiments first and then the US 8th
Army in British Columbia.
However, large stocks of M-10s remained in service and on-issue
to the National Guard and state militias, managing to retain
many for close quarter battle roles.
The M-10’s story certainly was not finished, however. The
European Army was not the only military organization to adopt
the concept of a binary propelled round. The US Army Special
Operations Command (SOCOM) liked the idea of the M-10, but
wanted something more modern and especially, lighter.
So, they asked Remington to bring the weapon up to the M-22A1's
standard with better sights, integral silencer/suppressor, and
shortened length. The result was the M-10A1 Special Operations
Carbine, which was purchased by SOCOM beginning in 2075.
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