M16 rifles - Articles - Zimbio

Assault Rifles FN SCAR

Fri, 8 Dec 2007 09:14:00 GMT

posted by thinkfast
The SOF Combat Assault Rifle, or SCAR, is made by Fabrique Nationale (FN) for the elite U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM). The SCAR is a modular rifle made to satisfy the unique and specific requirements of the SCAR competition.

This rifles family consists of two main types. The Scar-H, for heavy, fires 7.62 mm NATO ammunition and the SCAR-L, for light, is chambered in the 5.56 mm NATO cartridge. Both rifles are available in further differing variants such as CQC (Close Quarters Combat) and sniper. The FN SCAR system is in final development and testing phases having won the competition as of late 2006.

SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMBAT ASSAULT RIFLE (SCAR)

The Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR), designed by FN Herstal (FNH), is within a modular assault rifle family. The Rifle was designed and manufactured responding to a United States special Operations Command requirement. The weapon won quick prize after capturing the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) development and production contract in November of 2004. The SCAR family of weapons includes the SCAR L (Light) 5.56 mm version, SCAR Heavy 7.62mm rifle, and Enhanced Grenade Launcher (EGLM) grenade launcher that is able to fire Fuse Programmable Ammunition.

SCAR L

SCAR L (above) is set to replace the M4A1, Close Quarters Battle Rifle (CQBR) and Mk12 sometime in 2007. The CQBR and the Mk12 are currently under SOCOM use and service. The SCAR L is a 5.56 mm assault rifle whereas the SCAR H is a 7.62 mm assault rifle which will replace the Mk11 sniper rifle and M14. The SCAR L and the SCAR H variants share ninety percent (90%) commonality of parts and will have a choice of three distinct barrel dimensions. This feature will allow operators to tailer he SCAR for specific and unique operations, using a Close Quarters Combat (CQC), â€œstandardâ€, or â€œsniperâ€ barrel. Each change of barrel will directly relate to the lethal blow because of the direct affect on the velocity. The EGLM addition is a 40mm grenade launcher with a ballistic and target ranging solution for improved fire control and side opening breech to accelerate loading longer munitions.

SCAR H

Following the ultimate and final design review of the SOF Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR), FNH is finalizing the completion phase of full scale development and is currently preparing and undergoing full scale serial production of the new weapon. After a series of testing and design reviews with the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) and the United States Special Operation Command (USSOCOM) the SCAR appears to be ready for a modest and low rate initial production. The SOCOM contract calls for delivery of the first 1,000 of a total of 85,000 rifles by January of 2007. The military often keep deployment of weapons classified and we have yet to receive confirmation to whether the weapons are in SOCOM possession. The FN SCAR will be produced and manufactured at the FN Manufacturing LLC corporate headquarters and plant in Columbia, South Carolina.

The new family of SCAR rifles was specifically optimized for ergonomic availability, handling, reliability and maintainability. Parts interchangeability between the SCAR-H and SCAR-L will be further maximized to create a distinct and varied family of SCAR weapons. The SCAR's standard finish is a durable desert tan color, specifically selected by SOCOM. The SCAR is cable of lube les firing and is manufactured to be corrosion resistant. The interchangeability between all models is a requirement to improve the SOF operators ingrained emergency and operational procedure by reducing training time which will make responses easier during critical high stress situations.

SOCOM created a Joint Operational Requirements Document for the SCAR in order to specify the high reliability standards required of the rifle. The rifle is designed to meet three times the reliability standards of other assault rifles such as the M4.

At the Las Vegas SHOT show in Nevada, FNH headlined plans to bring to the consumer within two years, therefore around 2008, a semi-automatic variant of the SCAR modular rifle system. This system will be specifically designed for commercial markets and law enforcement.

Feature SCAR L SCAR H Operation principle Gas Operates, Rotating Bolt, Short Stroke Gas Piston Caliber 5.56x45 NATO 7.62x51 NATO / 7.62x39 M43 & others Max. Overall length 33" / 838 mm 40.2" / 1,021mm Minimum length 31.02" / 612 mm 38.7" / 798mm Barrel length 13.78" / 350 mm 19.70" / 500 mm Weight (unloaded) 6.8 lb / 3.08 kg 7.2 lb / 3.26 kg Rate of fire (auto) 550 RPM 550 RPM Magazine capacity 30 (M16 magazine) 20 (7.62x51) / 30 (7.62x39)

Manufactured by: FN
Type: Assault Rifles
Country of Origin: United States
Cartridge: 5.56 x 45 mm NATO

XM26 Lightweight Shotgun System

Fri, 8 Dec 2007 09:33:00 GMT

posted by thinkfast
The XM26 Lightweight Shotgun System (LSS) is a developmental under-barrel attachment type shotgun for the M16/M4 family of United States service firearms.

The shotgun can also be fitted with a collapsibile buttstock and a pistol grip to act as a stand-alone weapon.

Background

The XM26 LSS was originally designed and developed by C-More Systems to meet the requirements of United States troops in Afghanistan for a lightweight less lethal and door breaching delivery system which would eradicate the need to carry an additional weapon such as a pump-action shotgun.

The XM-26 Lightweight Shotgun System has been in production and development at the United States Army's Soldier Battle Lab since late 1990s. These shotguns are manufactured by the prominent C-More Systems company. The concept was to equip soldiers with lightweight accessory weapon, which could be mounted under the generic issue infantry rifle (M16A2 or M4A1 carbine), and additionally provide soldiers with more capabilities, such as: very short-range increased lethality; door breaching using special slugs; using 00 buckshot; rubber slugs and buckshot, less-lethal capabilities using tear gas shells, and other less-lethal rounds.

Design

The original idea has been based on the standard Masterkey system, dated back to 1980s, which initially included the shortened Remington 870 shotgun mounted under the M16 rifle or carbine. The XM-26 improved upon the original Masterkey concept with the more comfortable handling, a detachable magazine option, thanks to bolt-operated system. Detachable magazine generally offers more rapid ammunition type change and quicker reloading; the relatively large bolt handle is located closer to the rear of the weapon, than the slide on the pump-action shotgun in the Masterkey configuration, and thus is much more comfortable to cycle in combat. The bolt handle could be mounted on either side of the shotgun. At the present time small numbers of XM26 LSS shotguns are issued to United States troops in Afghanistan, and, according to gunslot sources, these weapons are well received by troops who used them.

Type: Shotguns
Country of Origin: United States
Cartridge: 12 Gauge

Assault Rifles FN FS2000

Sat, 2 Dec 2007 14:16:00 GMT

posted by thinkfast
The FN FS 2000 is the civilian-legal, semi-automatic version of the F2000 that first became available in June 2006 manufactured by Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (FN Herstal).

The FS2000 is equipped with a 17.4-inch barrel with a permanently attached flash suppressor and 1/7 right hand twist rifling; the bayonet lug was not included on the FS2000 carbines. The FS2000 has an overall length of 29.1 inches and weighs 7.6 pounds when empty. Compared to the M4 Carbine with a fully collapsed stock (29.75" and 6.49 lb empty), the FS2000 is slightly shorter and heavier. The trigger pull was found to vary between 6-11 lbf. The lower hand guard can be removed in the same manner as the F2000 to accept the same variety of accessories. It comes with a Picatinny rail optic rail along with backup iron sights. The rear flip-up National Match-sized aperture is adjustable for windage, while the removable front sight is adjustable for elevation. The FS2000 is not configured from the factory to have a drop-free magazine system due to the friction from the removable dust gaskets. The magazine needs to be pulled out manually. It should also be noted that the rifle does not have a hold open device...the bolt does not stay rearward after the last round is fired. A small number of the early models featured a stepped barrel contour as well as a de-milled bayonet lug. A measurement of the stepped barrel's rifling was as long as the non-stepped barrel, revealing that the stepped barrel is not simply a shorter F2000 military barrel with an extended flash hider. FN Herstal has recalled approximately four hundred early FS2000 carbines in July 2006[3] due to the heavier military firing pins causing slam fires with commercial ammunition. The fixed carbines are equipped with a reduced mass firing pin, captured firing pin spring, and a revised bolt. Some users have experienced light primer strikes and short-stroking with the recalled parts using certain types of ammunition.

There is some speculation that FN Herstal plans to release a variant of the FS2000 with the factory F2000 1.6x magnification scope, and does not include the grenade launcher firing computer.

Manufactured by: FN
Type: Assault Rifles
Country of Origin: Belgium
Cartridge: 5.56 x 45 mm NATO

Political Talk :: Should Flint police carry assault rifles?

Wed, 27 Mar 2008 11:59:41 GMT

posted by Studio1714
Author: Adam
Subject: Should Flint police carry assault rifles?
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:46 pm (GMT -4)
Topic Replies: 1

I think have had Ak-47 attacks/killings in Flint

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080326/ap_on_re_us/ak47s;_ylt=AmUk31ZcNOeQcYKttnQYipxH2ocA

KENNER, La. - The cake had been served and the children were jumping up and down in a big, inflatable castle when the birthday party turned to bedlam.

Clarence McGraw's jaw dropped as he saw the visitors coming, guns drawn. The screaming began.

Children ran everywhere in the courtyard of the low-income apartment complex; adults fell to the ground. Bullets flew. The killers wounded three youngsters, but for reasons police can't explain, it was 19-year-old McGraw they were after.

As McGraw lay in the center of the green square, the gunmen stood over him and fired again. He was shot 15 to 20 times in all.

The Sept. 15 killing was remarkable in that it took place in the most innocent of settings the fifth birthday of twin boys. But it was unremarkable in that one of the guns brandished was an AK-47-type rifle a powerful, rapid-fire weapon that has long been used in Third World conflicts but is increasingly being used in American street fights.

Figures from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, obtained by The Associated Press through public records requests, show a marked increase in the number of AK-type weapons traced and entered into the agency's computer database because they had been seized or connected to a crime.

The number of such tracings rose even while the federal assault weapons ban was in effect and has continued to climb since its expiration.

Since 1993, the year before the ban took affect, ATF has recorded a more than sevenfold increase in 7.62x39mm guns which includes the original Russian-made AK-47 and a variety of copycats from around the world. The number of AK-type guns rose from 1,140 in 1993 to 8,547 last year.

Since 2005, the first full year after the ban's expiration, ATF has recorded an 11 percent increase in such tracings.

ATF says the increases in the first half of the 1990s are partly the result of wider usage of its weapons database by local law enforcement agencies. But after that point, the numbers reflect a real increase in tracings of AK-type guns, the agency acknowledged.

The numbers corroborate what police chiefs around the country have been saying: AKs and other so-called assault weapons are terrorizing their communities and endangering their officers.

The numbers are reflected in some of the most horrifying violence of the past year, including a deadly shooting rampage at a department store in Omaha, Neb.

They're reflected in the growing number of police forces equipping their officers with higher-powered guns to match the bad guys' firepower.

And they're reflected in a single 72-hour period in September that started with the shooting of four Miami-area officers and ended here, in a drab apartment complex just outside New Orleans.

___

On Thursday, Sept. 13, Jose Somohano, a 37-year-old officer with the Miami-Dade Police, was cut down during a traffic stop in suburban Miami by a man with an AK-type weapon. Three other officers armed, like Somohano, with just handguns were wounded, one of them suffering a bullet wound the size of a grapefruit in her leg.

By midnight, the gunman, Shawn LaBeet, had been shot to death by police after a huge manhunt.

Police have refused to say how many times Somohano was hit or how many shell casings were found.

The officer's wife, Elizabeth Somohano, had gone off to her job at an insurance company earlier that day, and just before noon, Jose's sister reached her at the office. "Have you heard?" she asked. Something was going on in the area Jose patrolled.

Elizabeth called his cell. She text-messaged him, over and over. She called her kids to see if they had heard from him. She checked the Internet to find out what was happening, and learned that officers had been shot and a gunman was on the loose.

A colleague of Jose's one of his closest friends called Elizabeth and told her to stay put. He showed up at her office, and when their eyes met, he broke into tears.

"He didn't make it," he told her. She screamed.

Later, she took some comfort in knowing that her husband had eaten lunch that day, which meant he must have seen the hot-pink note she had slipped into his lunch bag along with his chicken salad-on-pita sandwich: "I love you, macho man."

Days before the ambush, Miami Police Chief John Timoney agreed to let patrol officers carry assault rifles to help counter the use of such weapons by criminals. John Rivera, president of the Dade County Police Benevolent Association, pleaded for the same for officers in the Miami-Dade department, which protects more than 1.4 million people around the city.

"It's almost like we have water pistols," he said.

For years, only SWAT teams and the like carried AR-15s or similarly powerful weapons. But police forces nationwide have increased their firepower to match the criminals' arsenal not only in urban areas such as Miami and Los Angeles, but in Waterloo, Iowa, Stillwater, Okla., Danbury, Conn., and Merced, Calif.

"We're in an arms race," said Police Chief Scott Knight of Chaska, Minn., chairman of the firearms committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

On Friday, Sept. 14, along the Tigris River outside Baghdad, an alleged Shiite extremist linked to roadside bombings was taken into custody with his AK-47s and grenades. In Afghanistan, in villages south of Kabul, troops arrested three suspected Taliban militants and confiscated their weapons, including their AKs. And in Sydney, Australia, a former soldier pleaded guilty to gunning down a photographer with an AK in a contract killing.

With AK-47-type guns used in wars and insurrections all over the world, some 250,000 people are said to be killed by such weapons each year, and more than 75 million are believed to be in existence. In Iraq alone, congressional investigators estimate 110,000 AKs bought by the U.S. for security forces there cannot be accounted for.

The AK was designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov and went into production in 1947, with its name standing for Avtomat Kalashnikova and the year.

"Once the Wall fell, these guns were everywhere," said Carlos Baixauli, an agent with ATF.

Kalashnikov, who is now 88 and still lives in Russia, has said he is proud of his invention but saddened it's been used by terrorists. He said he wishes he had invented something like a lawnmower.

Bullets fired by AK-47s travel at a higher velocity than those from many other weapons, and can do grievous damage to the body. Often they have enough energy to pass clear through.

Knockoffs of the AK can be bought from legitimate gun dealers for as little as $300, and are also available on the street. Original Russian-made models are more expensive. Normal ammo clips hold 30 rounds, but higher-capacity ones are also available.

Most of the AKs on American streets are semiautomatic, meaning they fire as fast as the gunman can squeeze the trigger. Fully automatic ones, common on the battlefield, require just one pull of the trigger to release a burst of fire.

A 2004 study by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence concluded the U.S. ban on AKs and other guns was successful, saying in the five years before its passage, assault weapons made up 4.82 percent of ATF crime gun traces, compared with 1.61 percent between 1995 and 2003.

Many politicians, police chiefs and gun control advocates point to the expiration of the assault weapons ban as a reason for the spread of the guns. But many others argue the law was so riddled with loopholes that it had little effect.

The National Rifle Association says the focus must be getting criminals off the streets, not more legislation.

"The basic reason why gun control laws fail is that they require the cooperation of a very unlikely source, and that is criminals," said NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam. "Each time you pass a gun control law, the only people that are going to be affected by that law, the only people that are going to follow that law are law-abiding Americans."

___

On Saturday, Sept. 15, at the Glenwood Apartments in Kenner, Trinioucka Martin rose early and cooked all morning for her twin boys' birthday party meatballs, fried chicken, baked macaroni, sandwiches. She had already ordered a cake with the youngsters' picture on it, hired a DJ, and rented the inflatable castle and house.

McGraw woke up at his aunt's house across a highway from the apartment complex and had a hankering for something sweet. He wanted some cake.

At the party, after the crowd had dispersed and the officers arrived, McGraw lay dead on the ground near a sewer grate, his torso and lower body riddled with bullet wounds. Balloons still floated from ribbon; the "Happy Birthday" banner still hung.

No arrests have been made. McGraw was buried in a $450 grave against a chain-link fence in a crumbling New Orleans cemetery. The mound of dirt above his casket is littered with rocks and bone fragments and teeth. There was no money for a marker.

VIDEO / M16 Back-Fires Video

Tue, 12 Dec 2007 19:12:00 GMT

posted by thastoner

This guy has a blockage which causes his M16 to back-fire right in this face. Apparently this is very common for m16s CLICK HERE