Marine Corps Leaves M249 SAW for M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle.

[statesman]

I dont have a dog in the caliber fight to be honest. Im not a ground guy, so when it comes to putting lead in the head I have to defer to guys on the ground.

After reading about the complaints in Mog. and some similar complaints in Iraq it sounds like people want heaver ammunition. I am still hoping that 6.8 SPC becomes the standard, because it will encourage a wider variety of guns at the civil level and hopefully encourage ammunition manufacturers to start producing more of it.

I don't really see how this could be accurate, as they are comparing a rifle with a 20" barrel to a carbine with a 16.5" barrel, the only real difference being the gas system. The acceptance standard for the M16 is supposedly 4-6 MOA or something along those lines, and the -416 is supposed to be capable of 1-2 MOA (according to HK), but one would have to think that in practice, the rifle would have the advantage.

There is a lot more to accuracy than length of barrel and action. HK is well known for producing very highly accurate and very wear resistant parts. But they also don't do it cheap. I dont know enough about the 416 but if I had to guess its a very high quality barrel with octagonal button rifling, or something similar.

 

[CAMike]

The main sales positioning on this unit was the open bolt feature and accuracy. When you shooting in full automatic, the bolt stays in the rear position allowing substantial air movement through the barrel. I'm not a big fan of this TV show but this video clip is fairly comprehensive.

 

[statesman]

Im surprised senor douchebag was able to resist the urge to tell everyone how much he would have loved to have this weapon when he was a Navy SEAL.

 

[Junkball]

There is a lot more to accuracy than length of barrel and action. HK is well known for producing very highly accurate and very wear resistant parts. But they also don't do it cheap. I dont know enough about the 416 but if I had to guess its a very high quality barrel with octagonal button rifling, or something similar.

I'm pretty sure they use a CHF barrel and I was surprised to see traditional lands and grooves are the norm... is polygonal rifling a pistol-only thing? I wonder what the USMC is paying per copy, hopefully its not anywhere near the ballpark $3k they go for individually

 

[Gatordev]

... is polygonal rifling a pistol-only thing?

Noveske uses polygonal rifling on their barrels, with much applauded results.

 

[CAMike]

Lothar Walther also uses Polygonal rifling in their AR barrels and quite frankly it just as accurate as the Krieger DCM product- at least from my average skill level. L/W also uses LW50 steel which is an improvement over 416R steel for cooling/warpage and accuracy. Not sure if additional manufacturers use polygonal rifling though. Others here probably would know.

 

[Flying Toaster]

"But accuracy seems to be the key to the M27's effectiveness, Clark said. The auto rifle is already showing signs that it could to be twice as accurate as the Marine M16A4." (from the military.com article)

I don't really see how this could be accurate, as they are comparing a rifle with a 20" barrel to a carbine with a 16.5" barrel, the only real difference being the gas system. The acceptance standard for the M16 is supposedly 4-6 MOA or something along those lines, and the -416 is supposed to be capable of 1-2 MOA (according to HK), but one would have to think that in practice, the rifle would have the advantage.

Regardless of whether or not it's more accurate, since when is that the primary selection criteria with a weapon designed for suppressive fire? They should also define the type of accuracy. Are we talking single shot, or full auto? It would seem you could put a higher volume of fire in a smaller location, quicker, with the heavier and consequently more stable M249.

 

[SynixMan]

Regardless of whether or not it's more accurate, since when is that the primary selection criteria with a weapon designed for suppressive fire? They should also define the type of accuracy. Are we talking single shot, or full auto? It would seem you could put a higher volume of fire in a smaller location, quicker, with the heavier and consequently more stable M249.

I think the point was that this rifle can provide and adequate volume of fire at the squad level, and do it more accurately than the M249 when that's required.

 

[pourts]

Either way our standard load out was having a PAIR of M240B for every squad. Any terrain we were in there was one with each of my fire teams.

You were mounted almost all of the time, right?

My only experience was being my fire team's SAW gunner at TBS over 4 years ago, but it sure will be nice to have a smaller weapon in the fire team that can still do the job. It was a joke carrying that thing and crashing through the vines that would constantly tangle you up on the way to set up an ambush. I am pretty sure people could hear me 300m out at least, and thats when I was trying to be quiet.

 

[pourts]

So it looks like the Corps is also looking into changes for the standard rifle, to include free-floating barrels, adjustable stocks (for the M16A4... M4s already have them) and better eye-relief.

Also, there's a pilot program to have Marines at boot camp do all of their range qualification with scopes.

Not sure how to post the article without a subscription, but here's the editorial commenting on the news piece:
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/community/opinion/marine-corps-editorial-rifles-062011/