January 30th, 2008
3…2…1…Dust-Off!
Note: This column appeared in the September/October 2007 issue of Shooting Sports Retailer magazine. For more info, see the startling results here, plus more here and here.
Bowing to Congressional pressure, the US Army is conducting a test to determine whether concerns about their rifles jamming in the desert are justified. Beginning in August and scheduled to run through the end of the year, the tests at the Army Test and Evaluation Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., will use a “dust chamber” to see whether a long history of anecdotal evidence of M16 and M4 jamming and maintenance problems in harsh environments warrants a closer look.
More interesting than a mere test of the M4, though, is the fact that the carbine will be compete head to head against a list of worthy challengers. The competitors, all hoping to outdo the M4 and each other, are the Heckler & Koch HK416, the Heckler & Koch XM8, and FNH USA’s Mk16 SCAR (Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle). All three of the challengers are short-stroke piston weapons as opposed to the M4’s direct gas impingement system (see “The Next Wave of ARs” in the May/Jun Battleground column). If ever there was a chance for the pistons to show their stuff against the status quo, this might be it.
These tests came about when Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) wrote a letter to acting Army Secretary Pete Geren last April, asking for a “free and open completion” before the service committed to buy another $375 million worth of M4’s from manufacturer Colt Defense, based in West Hartford, Connecticut. Recently, Coburn threatened to withhold his vote for Geren’s confirmation unless tests were conducted.
As has been noted previously, the M4 has come under fire from some of our troops. The 5.56mm NATO round (the military version of the .223 Remington) had long been questioned for its perceived lack of “stopping power, ” and others have complained about the weapon’s reliability on the battlefield and the amount of time it takes to keep it cleaned properly. To try to counteract some of this grumbling, the Army’s Public Affairs office issued a press release in March titled “Army position: M4 Carbine is Soldier’s battlefield weapon of choice.” But not everyone was convinced.
The fine, talcum powder-like sand in Iraq has caused no end of difficulty with America’s high-tech weaponry. A survey conducted at the end of last year indicated that 19% of respondents had experienced M4 stoppages in combat, and that one-fifth of them had suffered malfunctions that kept them out of the fight even after “performing immediate or remedial action to clear the stoppage.” The survey also found that soldiers who mounted accessories on their weapons, now standard operating procedure, suffered more than those who did not. Given the wide range of sights, lights, grips, and other essential gear now available to our troops, it’s safe to say that accessories are here to stay.
US Special Forces in Afghanistan after 9/11 weren’t impressed by the M4’s range or stopping power in the mountainous terrain, and requested a replacement weapon. This replacement is FNH USA’s SCAR and is entering service with the Special Forces as you read this.
The regular Army, too, had those who felt it was time for a new standard rifle, and the XM8 program was rushed together in an attempt to replace the 40-year-old M16/M4. In the end, Army politics, Congressional resistance to a foreign-designed infantry rifle, and the military’s gargantuan procurement bureaucracy killed the XM8.
Meanwhile, other elements of the military’s special operations community continue to wish for a new rifle. Delta Force, the shadowy anti-terrorist unit, adopted the HK416 as its standard combat carbine in 2004. Other individual units within special operations have ordered HK416s on their own, which demonstrates how much some of our best warfighters want a new rifle.
The HK416 probably has a leg up on the Mk16 SCAR and the XM8 because it is so similar to the M4. In fact, apart from the piston inside, the HK416 is nearly identical to the weapon all of our troops are already intimately familiar with.
This test, which will cost about $500,000, will focus squarely on the issue of weapon reliability in a dusty and sandy environment. Ten samples of each weapon will be subjected to the dust chamber and fired, each following a strict cleaning schedule, in an attempt to measure the relative reliability each has under those harsh conditions. A total of 6,000 rounds will be fired from each weapon.
If this test is conducted in a fair and honest manner, not always a guarantee when big dollars like this are at stake, it should shed some light on the future of assault rifles in the US. If the M4 performs well, it will solidify its position as the Army’s standard weapon and the efforts of competitors will suffer a big blow. If, on the other hand, one or more of the challengers outdoes the M4, it could signal a change in the wind.
A shift in US military policy will surely trickle down to law enforcement and sport shooters rather quickly. Hunters, who have been slowly warming to the idea of assault rifles in deer camp, will also see their available options determined by the billion dollar military contracts. Though this shoot-out will not directly determine any contracts or procurement decisions, it will certainly affect the future of the AR in America.
–Republished from Shooting Sports Retailer. Do not use without permission.
