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Carbine, 5.56 mm, M4
| 2013-03-16, 11:54 PM | |
| The M4 carbine is a family of firearms tracing its lineage back to earlier carbine versions of the M16 rifle, all based on the original AR-15 rifle designed by Eugene Stoner and made by ArmaLite. The M4 is a shorter and lighter variant of the M16A2 assault rifle, with 80% parts commonality. It is a gas-operated, magazine-fed, selective fire, shoulder-fired weapon with a telescoping stock. A shortened variant of the M16A2 rifle, the M4 has a 14.5 in (370 mm) barrel, allowing its user to better operate in close quarters combat. The M4 has selective fire options including semi-automatic and three-round burst (like the M16A2 and M16A4), while the M4A1 has the capability to fire fully automatic instead of three-round burst (like the M16A1 and M16A3). The carbine is also capable of mounting an M203 grenade launcher (the M203A1 with a 9-inch barrel as opposed to the standard 12-inch barrel of the M203 used on the M16 series) as well as its successor, the M320 grenade launcher. The M4 carbine is heavily used by the U.S military. It is eventually going to replace the M16 rifle for most combat units in the United States Army.[6] The winner of the Individual Carbine competition might supplement the M4 carbine in U.S. Army service. This is for the US Army only while all other services will continue to use the M4 carbine and M16 rifles.Following the adoption of the M16, carbine variants were also adopted for close quarters operations. The CAR-15 family of weapons served through the Vietnam War. However, these carbines had design issues. They were primarily made for close ranges, like submachine guns, and so weapons like the XM177 "Commando" series suffered at longer ranges. In 1988, Colt began work on an new carbine design called the XM4 based on their M16A2 rifle. To remedy the range problem, Colt incorporated a 14.5 inch barrel, giving the weapon greater reach than the XM177 while still being more compact than the M16. The barrel was given the improved 1:7 inch rifle twist of the M16A2 to use the heavier 62 grain M855 rounds. The extended barrel gave the XM4 the ability to mount a shortened M203 grenade launcher. In 1994, the U.S. military officially accepted the XM4 into service as the M4 Carbine to replace the M3 Grease Gun, as well as selected M9 pistols and M16A2 rifles. The United States Marine Corps has ordered its officers (up to the rank of lieutenant colonel) and Staff Non-commissioned officers to carry the M4 carbine instead of the M9 handgun. This is in keeping with the Marine Corps doctrine, "Every Marine a rifleman." The Marines however chose the full-sized M16A4 over the M4 as its standard infantry rifle. United States Navy corpsmen E5 and below will also be issued M4s instead of the M9. The M4 carbine has largely replaced the submachine gun in military use due to increased use of body armor, as SMGs firing pistol-power cartridges are unable to penetrate modern body armor. | |
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