The Future of the Infantry rifle.

As I have stated several times I am working on upgrading my trusty AR-15 but what if there are better alternatives out there.  The Bushmaster/Remington ACR and the FN SCAR series are two such rifles available to civilians however at $2000 out of my reach.  This got me to thinking about where firearms are going and what has happened since WWII
Have you noticed though the new firearms are all taking the shape of what was the Magpul Masada (which Bushmaster and Remington bought and is currently in the Army's carbine competition)and the HK G36(which the military adapted for about a month and changed their mind)  which is really a joke because we know who is going to win....Colt just because.

World War II brought the world some of the most iconic rifles in history and were prime examples of the wood and steel of classic firearms but that started to change. These were heavy large caliber rifles in the 7.92-7.62 these are large caliber weapons made to shoot upwards to 1000 yards.

German Mauser 98K 7.92x57 caliber

British Lee-Enfield .303 caliber

The Soviet Mosin Nagant 7.62x54R

U.S. M-1 Garand 7.62x63 (30-06) caliber

The U.S. saw a need for a smaller rifle that support troops and officer could carry that would be effective to 100 yards or so.  Front line troops appreciated the fact the weapon was light and could put out a lot of bullets in a hurry.  However there were issues with reliability and stopping power.

U.S. M-1 Carbine used the .30 carbine round which was basically a large pistol bullet and a 15-30 round detachable magazine a trend is starting. Could actually be considered the first assault rifle as it came out before the STG43/44

The German STG44 7.92x33 kurz this rifle fired a smaller bulled than the Kar 98 had  detachable magazine could fire semi or full automatic. the rifle that would shape the design of assault rifles going forward.

Post WWII
Studies following WWII showed that most infantry combat occurred within 300 yards and that the full sized rifle cartridges used were not needed.

The Soviet/Russian's famous or infamous AK-47 this rifle and its variants have been made in larger numbers than any other in history.  It is still be produced today. Smaller cartridge 7.62x39 vs the large 7.62x54R that the Soviets used in WWII

The M-14 7.62x51 was the U.S. Military first attempt at an assault rifle. Still fired a very large bullet effective out to 800 yards.  The round is still used today in sniper rifles and machine guns.  The U.S forced this round on NATO whose member countries adapted rifles to fire it.

The M-16(A1) 5.56x54 the U.S. military second try at an assault rifle born from the fighting in Vietnam.  When first issued has problems with reliability.  The modular design can be seen with the addition of a grenade launcher.  Previous rifle grenades were launched from the barrel.

The U.S. NATO allies without the large defense budgets the U.S. had stuck to the 7.62 battle rifles as they were called for far longer than the U.S. did

The Belgian FN-FAL 7.62x51 the most widely used battle rifle of the period if a country was not using an AK or an M16 chances are they were using the FAL.

The H&K G3 7.62x51 the second most widely used battle rifle behind the FAL those countries that did not use the FAL use the G3.  Pakistan still makes them today.  Iran also issues them.

The British SA-80 5.56x54 was the UK's answer to the assault rifle question.  This rifle was plauged by reliability problems and it took a decade or more and several million Pounds sterling and H&K to fix it.  British SAS and SBS prefer to use the Canadian version of the M16 series of rifles.



German H&K G-11 4.7 mm case less.  Towards the end of the Cold War Germany was developing this space aged looking weapon. It was tested by the US military and its never ending quest to adapt the better rifle.  It was adapted in small numbers by the German Army.  If you look though you will see its shape in the guns of today.

Since the Global War on Terror the M16 family has gotten a face lift.

This is the M16A4 which is the standard rifle of the US Marine Corps even though it is moving towards the M4 Carbine. This rifle includes an infrared laser sight and an ACOG scope (that costs at least twice the amount as the weapon).  

This is the M4 carbine and all of the attachments asked for it by SOCOM it includes several different types of accessory rails, optics, flashlights, grenade launcher, laser, and suppressors.  However it was found that the more you hung off of one the less reliable it got.  Also the shortened 14.5" barrel made the 5.56 round less effective.

The last 10 years have also seen a new look in military firearms.  They look more like the G11 than the M16 and at least in appearance as different as the M16 is from the M1 Garand.  The trend is for lighter, more compact weapons that are modular in design so that they can have any number of accessories added and even calibers changed within minutes.  Where the M4 these accessories were an after-thought and actually effect the reliability of the weapon today rifles come designed to use them.

Here is a selection of some of the new weapons out there.  Oh and in case you were wondering where are the Russians?  They are still soldiering on with the AK family of rifles in 5.45 caliber, just like we are with the M16.

H&K G36 this is the short carbine version.  This rifle was very briefly going to be adapted because it was the rifle part of the U.S. Army's OIWC program which mated a 20mm grenade launcher and a G36 rifle as the kinetic part of the weapon.

The problem with this thing is it weight 19lbs empty.  Also all the high tech gear on it was new technology and was a huge battery hog.  Anyway the S. Koreans now have a version in production and issue I think 1 per platoon.  The U.S. Army is also using the XM-25 grenade launcher.

A company called ATK came up with the XM-25 it appears they are working with HK on the weapon now as when they first came out they were basically hand made.  From what I have read the troops really like them.



But here is the shape of military rifles to come...

Magpul's Original Masada

Bushmaster/Remington ACR

FN SCAR-16 which SOCOM adapted and then dropped when they had to foot the whole bill for it.  Since SOCOM consists of the 75th Ranger Regiment who actually took some of these into combat, the Army Special Operations guys (Special Forces and Delta), SEALs, AF units, and Marine MARSOC the bill was going to get expensive quick.  SOCOM realized they could not fund the whole program without the big army so they dropped the 5.56 version which could easily be adapted by the rest of the force since FN is already set up for production.

SOCOM did decide to keep the SCAR17 which is the 7.62x51 version of the weapon and fund it themselves.  FN also adapted a sniper version of this rifle that some claim is better than the  M-110.  NO offence to Knight Armament Intended.

This is the M-110 a beefed up and accurized version of Knight's SR-25 and 2007 Army Invention of the Year winner.  There have been claims that there are some reliability problems down range with these.  Just like there have been reliability problems with the M16/M4 family of weapons.  Also the Army and Marine Corps have not yet been able to completely replace the 1950s era M-14 with this new weapons system. 

This is Beretta's new AMX-160 that is already being adapted by some units of the Italian military.

The M16/M4 family of rifles is not a bad weapons system on the contrary it has become a reliable well like weapon not only for the US military but many others as well as US law enforcement and civilian shooters.  However there are still a lot of questions on reliability that need to be addressed.  There are better weapons out there and the U.S. Army is conducting another rifle testing trial however before the last one could even begin Colt dropped the price and the military caved.  The current test has already seen Smith and Wesson drop out as well as the support of the Marine Corps.  While this post was not about the M4 controversy it seems that pops up when ever new combat rifles are talked about.