M16A4

M16A4

Caliber:　5.56 × 45mm M855

The U.S. Army announced in the mid-1990s that it would use the M4/M4A1 equipment . The reason was said to be to reduce the load on individual soldiers when the "Land Warrior" system was adopted in the future. However, there is another rumor that the "Land Warrior" system will not be opened and completed in the near future. In fact, some senior people in the Army have always been worried about purchasing the M16A2 from FNMI, a foreign company. Colt happens to own the M4 series of exclusive patent rights, so I decided to buy a new gun from Colt.

Following the U.S. Army's announcement to equip the M4/M4A1 , the U.S. Marine Corps also announced to fully equip the M4/M4A1 to replace the original M16A2 . In the second half of 2002, after some debate, General James Jones, commander of the U.S. Marine Corps, officially announced through the Marine Corps Times that after two years of testing and evaluation, the U.S. Marine Corps finally decided to abandon the comprehensive replacement of M4 and Equipped with M16A4, the equipment period will start at the end of the year. However, the Marine Corps does not plan to fully equip the M16A4, and the mechanized troops will still use the M4 as the main weapon.

The predecessor of the M16A4 was actually the M16A2E4 that began testing in 1994. However, the M16A2E4 at that time was just a flat-top receiver-type M16A2. Its appearance was the same as Colt's commercial M16A3 (Type 910), but it could not be fired continuously. In 1997, the M16A2E4 began to be equipped with the XM5 RAS rail handguard produced by KAC. Later, the M16A2E4 equipped with RAS was officially designated as M16A4, and the XM5 RAS was officially renamed M5 RAS.

Although the M4/M4A1 was accurate enough at range for infantry combat, the Marine Corps decided to opt for the longer range M16A4. Why would the Marines go back and go back to 20-inch barrels? Some reports from Afghanistan seem to illustrate the Marine Corps' choice: the SS109/M885 round has shown a lack of lethality on the Afghan battlefield, especially when fired from an M4 or C8 carbine. For SS109/M885 to achieve effective killing, the warhead speed when hitting the target must be above 732 m/s . The warhead will start to deflect after passing through a certain distance at this speed, causing greater trauma when deflected. The M4/M4A1 has a low muzzle velocity and unsatisfactory trauma effect, which has led some troops to use heavier commercial competition warheads to improve the terminal ballistic performance. Some troops even suggested using new bullets. In "U.S. Infantry Equipment Use in Afghanistan" This is mentioned in the article "Excerpts from the Investigation Report" .

However, the Marine Corps still used the M16A2 as its main weapon. It was not until the start of the Iraq War in 2003 that 31,000 M16A4s were urgently transported to Iraq. After the war, more M16A4s were sent to Kuwait, but since the troops had already started The front line was moved, and the result was that it remained in Kuwait until the end of the frontal battle. Due to insufficient quantity, they are mainly used as SAM rifles, and the Army's 3rd Infantry Division has already fully replaced the M16A4. It seems that the Army also realizes that the 14-inch barrel cannot completely replace the 20-inch barrel. However, what is interesting is that this time the M16A4 is provided by two suppliers. The one supplying the Army is Colt, while the one supplying the Marine Corps is FNMI. It seems that the Army is determined not to order standard rifles from FNMI. In fact, during the initial trial, only a very small amount of M16A4 was ordered from Colt, and the initial bulk orders were all placed with FNMI.

It was this issue of Marine Corps Times that announced the news.

The M16A4 is designed with the firearm as a module and the fire control system as a module. The sight uses many new technologies, but the gun itself has not improved much. The receiver is a flat-top type with a MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail on the upper end, which can be used to install aiming equipment or a detachable carrying handle. The bolt action, like other M16 series, has a Teflon lubricating coating to provide reliability. The heavy barrel is engraved with numbers formed by suitable bullets and rifling. The M16A4 of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps both use KAC 's M5 RAS handguard, which can be installed with straight grips, laser pointers, tactical lights and other accessories. There is an aluminum heat shield on the inside of the handguard. A wiping tool can be installed on the rear of the fixed stock. Since the complete M16A4 system is not just a gun, but also includes a bunch of optional accessories mounted on Picatinny rails, the M16A4 is also called the M16A4 MWS , or Modular Weapon System, in the U.S. Army Field Manual.

The handguard of the M16A4 is made of KAC M5 RAS handguard.

The M16 series has changed back and forth between 3-round burst fire and burst fire. M16A2 changed from burst fire to 3-round burst fire, M16A3 changed to burst fire again, and now M16A 4 has changed to 3-round burst fire. The single shot/burst firing mechanism on the M16A4 is also the burst firing ratchet the M16A2 .

The M16A4 's sighting equipment includes the AN/PEQ-5 laser designator, M68 Close Combat Optical Sight ( CCO ), Holographic Diffraction Scope ( HDS ) and AN/PVS-14 night vision sighting system. It is said that based on the M16A4 , Colt has made a model with three shooting modes: single shot, burst fire, and fully automatic shooting. It may be unveiled as the M16A5 . However, the original firing mechanism of the M16 series cannot have three firing modes at the same time. It seems that the M16A5 must use a new firing mechanism.

Optional accessories for the M16A4

While senior officials from the United States and Iran were having a heated exchange of words, the Marines who had already been equipped with M16A4s were intensifying their training on the aircraft carrier. However, because FNMI was too late to provide the Marine Corps with a sufficient number of M16A4s, during the Iraq War, a Marine Corps infantry squad only had one M16A4, and the rest of the soldiers still used M16A2 as their main weapon . (US NAVY picture)

The contractor that produces the M16A4 for the US Marine Corps is also FNMI

Marines preparing to enter Iraq in 2002 in Kuwait

This Marine swapped the fixed stock of his M16A4 for a telescopic stock

FNMI markings on the Marine Corps M16A4 receiver

Although the Marine Corps was the first to announce the replacement of M16A4, during the Iraq War, the Army's 3rd Infantry Division was almost entirely M16A4. At that time, most of the Marines' battlefield photos were of M16A2, and A4 was relatively rare.