Us army adopts .50 cal replacement

[Winters 1]

Guys,

Soldiers care about what they carry into the field and this weapons weighs 14, yes fourteen!!!! pounds lighter than the current model. That makes a world of difference, how can you not think thats a good thing???

I carried around an M2 and after a mile or two it feels three times the amount of its actual weight, and 1-2 miles is a short walk.

[DracoPaladore 0]

Looks kinda cool

Though, I dont question either reliability or any issues with either due to the fact that I havn't touched any. But common sense says taht 14 pounds lighter means much happier soldiers.

[Pathy 0]

Nah, give it a few and they will be complaining what a bitch this machine gun is to lug around, when you have something heavy to carry its easy to forget that there was something heavier....

[denoir 0]

I carried around an M2 and after a mile or two it feels three times the amount of its actual weight, and 1-2 miles is a short walk.

During my service one day our team's boat drivers were out on an excersice. They came back one day too late and looked like hell. We took one of them to the hospital where he was treated for dehydration and exhaustion. What had happened?

During the excersise they had live firing drills with the 12.7's (aka Browning M2) that are mounted on the boat. The empty casings from the gun were supposed to be collected by a bag but for some reason they could not account for two casings.

When their CO saw this he ordered them to dismount a 12.7 and to carry it while going the 5 km track (this was on our training island). When they came back he told them to do the track twice. When they came back he told them to do it three times. And so on. They were up all night walking, carrying it.

[EiZei 0]

I carried around an M2 and after a mile or two it feels three times the amount of its actual weight, and 1-2 miles is a short walk.

During my service one day our team's boat drivers were out on an excersice. They came back one day too late and looked like hell. We took one of them to the hospital where he was treated for dehydration and exhaustion. What had happened?

During the excersise they had live firing drills with the 12.7's (aka Browning M2) that are mounted on the boat. The empty casings from the gun were supposed to be collected by a bag but for some reason they could not account for two casings.

When their CO saw this he ordered them to dismount a 12.7 and to carry it while going the 5 km track (this was on our training island). When they came back he told them to do the track twice. When they came back he told them to do it three times. And so on. They were up all night walking, carrying it.

Heh, guess having ex-warsaw pact HMGs is not such a bad thing afterall.. (NSV weights 25kg while M2 does ~50kgs, right?)

[DarkLight 0]

man shiat here come scifi guns, what happened to "guns should look like guns and not supersoakers"?

I guess humans have now realized that the looks don't matter at all... at least not if you're not the one who gets shot to pieces...

Who gives a damn what it looks like, if you can kill someone else before they kill you with that gun then everybody's happy!!!

hooray

[hellfish6 7]

I carried around an M2 and after a mile or two it feels three times the amount of its actual weight, and 1-2 miles is a short walk.

During my service one day our team's boat drivers were out on an excersice. They came back one day too late and looked like hell. We took one of them to the hospital where he was treated for dehydration and exhaustion. What had happened?

During the excersise they had live firing drills with the 12.7's (aka Browning M2) that are mounted on the boat. The empty casings from the gun were supposed to be collected by a bag but for some reason they could not account for two casings.

When their CO saw this he ordered them to dismount a 12.7 and to carry it while going the 5 km track (this was on our training island). When they came back he told them to do the track twice. When they came back he told them to do it three times. And so on. They were up all night walking, carrying it.

Two casings?? Jeez... we'd routinely lose 5-10% of all our casings, even when on a nice clean firing range.

[Baron Hurlothrumbo IIX 0]

Two casings?? Jeez... we'd routinely lose 5-10% of all our casings, even when on a nice clean firing range.

....We don't even count our casings back in....

[Balschoiw 0]

I bet everyone is happy to get a more light weight weapon than the M2. When I did my doorgunner job at the UH-D I cursed a lot. I only had to carry it to the helo everyday. Only about 700 m´s. But that was enough to make me hate it fot it´s weight.

For the futuristic gun-look. Most of the time the weapons look more "streamline" because of the new component materials and for safety reasons and the protecti0on of the gun itself. Water, mud, etc.

Anyone who has already jumped from a wall with a G3 or any other weapon with sharp edges knows that you can seriously hurt yourself with you own gun by accident.

Modern guns therefore provide protection for the user.

I don´t care how my guns look anyway. They need to work and be efficient. That´s my interest in a gun.

I´m happy to have the AG36 though. I wouldn´t know any other weapon I´d like to have right now.

[Tydium 0]

Quote[/b] ]

Heh, guess having ex-warsaw pact HMGs is not such a bad thing afterall.. (NSV weights 25kg while M2 does ~50kgs, right?)

M2

NSV

From the above links the M2 weigths 38 kg and 58 kg with tripod. NSV weigths 25 kg and 41 kg with tripod and can of ammo. So yeah there are clear weight advantage for having russian HMGs.

[denoir 0]

Two casings?? Jeez... we'd routinely lose 5-10% of all our casings, even when on a nice clean firing range.  

It had really nothing to do with the casings. It was one of those penalistic 'character building' excercises that our drill instructors loved so much. You could get punished for just about anything.

Anyway, in theory we did collect and count all our casings because it's required by several environmental laws. In practice however you did your best to try to collect them and then claimed that you've collected as many casings as rounds you had fired. Nobody checked it anyway (unless they specifically were out to make trouble for you).

[The Frenchman 0]

Looks kinda HALO-ish.

[red oct 2]

your shooting up the area w/ bullets, mortors, and rockets and your government is worried that a couple of spent shell casings? sounds kinda silly.

[hellfish6 7]

It had really nothing to do with the casings. It was one of those penalistic 'character building' excercises that our drill instructors loved so much. You could get punished for just about anything.

Ah.. ok. That makes sense. For a second there I thought the Swedes were being super cheap with their brass.

[Winters 1]

Two casings?? Jeez... we'd routinely lose 5-10% of all our casings, even when on a nice clean firing range.  

It had really nothing to do with the casings. It was one of those penalistic 'character building' excercises that our drill instructors loved so much. You could get punished for just about anything.

Anyway, in theory we did collect and count all our casings because it's required by several environmental laws. In practice however you did your best to try to collect them and then claimed that you've collected as many casings as rounds you had fired. Nobody checked it anyway (unless they specifically were out to make trouble for you).

I was the flag bearer in my unit and once our 1st Sgt. got pissed because while we had been marching and singing cadence we said "We like it here, we love it here, BULLSHIT!!!" so he makes everyone do push-ups but since i am carrying the flag i cant do any because the flags not allowed to touch the ground.

So,

After they all finish doing push-ups he starts to march them and keeps yelling "about face" which forces me to run all the way to the other end of the formation. Well, he starts asking me how i like it and all i kept saying was "Drive on 1st sgt. drive on" as if i was gonna him any satisfaction  

[stgn 39]

Composite materials have already proven their value - the G36 is a good sucess example.

Well they tend to brake more offen than metal G36, have had problems like that and it is clumsy being much too big(not heavy but big) and a soldier said that he would much rater have a C8 than a G36 cause of the G36 big sight and the C8 was much more costimiseable.

and funny enough the XM8 has from what I have seen the same "problems" it is bigger and more clumsy than a M4 and dosent realy offer enything a M4 could not be changed in to.

STGN

[Baphomet 0]

Quote[/b] ]Nah, give it a few and they will be complaining what a bitch this machine gun is to lug around, when you have something heavy to carry its easy to forget that there was something heavier....

That's why recruits should be trained in some aspects on handling shitty heavy old equipment.

They'll appreciate and handle better the lighter weight of the actual equipment when in the field maybe?

[denoir 0]

Well they tend to brake more offen than metal G36, have had problems like that and it is clumsy being much too big(not heavy but big) and a soldier said that he would much rater have a C8 than a G36 cause of the G36 big sight and the C8 was much more costimiseable.

and funny enough the XM8 has from what I have seen the same "problems" it is bigger and more clumsy than a M4 and dosent realy offer enything a M4 could not be changed in to.

I don't know about that, the G36 users tend to be euphoric about it. It's very reliable, accurate and easy to maintain. The whole AR family of weapons on the other hand have always been plagued by reliability problems. They have been improved upon over the years but still suffer from a number of problems.

Also comparing the G36 to the M4 isn't quite right when it comes to size. You should compare it to a G36K.

The biggest benefit of the XM8 is as I see it in its weight as well as the new gas system that does not push back propellant gases onto the reciever (resulting in much less necessary cleaning). Also supposedly it is far superior for use in bad operational environemnts. The AR family has always had problems with mud and sand.

[walker 0]

Hi all

Airburst munitions can have nasty drawbacks if the fuse ignites before it is suposed too.

Quote[/b] ]***UPDATE***Prototype rifle blows up during firing test, injuring 2.

By Matthew Cox

Army Times Staff Writer

The army's rifle of the future suffered a setback Sept 29, 1999 when a prototype blew up at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD., injuring two technicians. The weapon failed during a live-fire test at a remote firing range. The Objective Individual Combat Weapon was loaded with a 20mm high explosive round when it exploded, spewing shrapnel in all directions, officials said. Officials were reluctant to speculate on the cause of the explosion until an investigation can be conducted. The failure followed about 150 successful tests with the 20mm, high explosive ammunition, said Stepen Mango, civilian project engineer for the weapon. The prototype of the weapon that was destroyed cost about $20,000 for the weapon and $200,000 for the fire control system.

http://www.snipersparadise.com/equipment/rifles/ocsw.htm

Kind Regards Walker

[walker 0]

Hi all

More intel and Pics here.

http://www.gdatp.com/products/lethality/xm307/xm307.htm

As well as a quick time movie that dont work

Kind Regards Walker

[Commander-598 0]

Quote[/b] ]The prototype of the weapon that was destroyed cost about $20,000 for the weapon and $200,000 for the fire control system.

How much does one M2 cost???

Secondly, how much do those "Special Rounds" cost a piece?

[Mister Frag 0]

Quote[/b] ]The prototype of the weapon that was destroyed cost about $20,000 for the weapon and $200,000 for the fire control system.

How much does one M2 cost???

Secondly, how much do those "Special Rounds" cost a piece?

Now you are comparing apples and oranges. The weapon that blew up was a OICW prototype, which isn't a crew-served heavy machine gun.

[red oct 2]

actually $20,000 for a heavy machine gun sounds pretty reasonable to me, considering there are much more expensive troop weapons and the company getting the licence to build this new weapon has to make it so that the gun can still be operational w/out the fancy electronics. so if the the computer goes kapoot, batteries die, or if the soldier just doesn't like the electronics they can pull them out and stick to firing regular .50 cal bullets. either way sounds like a good deal to me i guess...

[walker 0]

Quote[/b] ]The prototype of the weapon that was destroyed cost about $20,000 for the weapon and $200,000 for the fire control system.

How much does one M2 cost???

Secondly, how much do those "Special Rounds" cost a piece?

Hi Commander-598

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/docs/ocsw_wea/slide19.htm

These are the costings and comparison on why The Objective Individual Combat Weapon is cheeper than any other comparable weapon.

Also compare the logistics train costs in this slide.

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/docs/ocsw_wea/slide20.htm

I suggest clicking on the index then looking through the whole series of slides. The argument they make is quite powerful and convincing.

Kind Regards Walker

[Balschoiw 0]

Quote[/b] ]Well they tend to brake more offen than metal G36, have had problems like that and it is clumsy being much too big

Huh ?

I´ve been part of the troop testers when the G36 was introduced. There were some incidents of broken components during troop beta, but that was years ago. I have never experienced such breakdowns or have witnessed them since then. Do you have a source for that ?

It furthermore isn´t to big. Where did you get this from ?

Ok compared to the M 16 toy it may look big, but it isn´t at all clumsy or big imo.

You have several models to choose. You can take the G36 with dual sights, single sights, optics, etc.

Here is a G36K with 1.5x reticle sights:

And here is the version with the dual reticle combat sights,

The dual system has a red dot sight above a 3.5 power reticle. This red dot sight is battery powered, but with a sliding window on top of the sight, ambient light can be used during the day for battery conservation.

And here are the sights in detail. I especially like the range finder, wich has proven to be very usefull

It just gives you the right swing to aim very fast and keep a steady aim even on far targets.

Hmm, I know taste in guns are different but as far as I can tell everyone who has the G 36 would not swap it for any other weapon.

Did you already fire one ?