Poll: Yet another gun thread!

[Canid117]

No, it was the hand guard melting, not the whole gun:

Wikipedia:

" Two other key issues were reducing the weapon's weight and increasing the heat resistance of the hand guard, which would start to melt after firing too many rounds"

And, from a news article:

"The U.S. Army has asked Congress for an extra $26 million to buy 7,000 XM-8 rifles next year. These weapons would be used to equip to infantry brigades and thus give the rifle a wide scale test. The money requested would also pay for the staff needed to monitor the testing. The rifle has already undergone thousands of hours of user testing and there have been some recommendations, all minor. The buttons on the sight are to be rearranged, to make the sight easier to use. There were also complaints about battery life for the sight, and a new battery is being obtained that will boost battery life from 200 to 400 hours. A more serious problem arose when the hand guard began to melt when several hundred rounds were fired in a few minutes. It was expected that the barrel would get very hot in these situations, but the heat resistant hand guard material was thought capable of dealing with that. So now a new hand guard will be needed, with more heat shielding. This will add some weight to the weapon, which is now 6.4 pounds. The designers are trying to get the weight down to 5.7 pounds. The issue of changing the caliber from 5.56mm to 6.8mm is still taking place in the background, with there not even being official recognition that there are 6.8mm version of the XM-8 being tested. There is a bit of competition among combat divisions to be the first to get the rifles for the 2005 test, with many officers lobbying to get one of their divisions brigades selected."

That was in 2004.

I'm sure we have or can develop a more heat resistant material to use without adding too much more weight after 6 years since then.

Yes the polymer guard melted. These tests were also carried out in environments where the heat was about 110 or so. The weapon would be deployed in environments where the heat will top out at 150 very frequently. Parts of a weapon melting off in combat is about as large a flaw a weapon can have without it shooting the person using it. I am sure that commanders did want to test the weapon and see how it works but that was in 2004 before the failings were fully understood. After that the weapon was dropped. The XM8 had a fatal design flaw and its performance increase was not significant enough to warrant continued funding by the United States government. H&K the manufacturer has also mostly given up on the design in favor of other weapons such as the G36 and M-416. The military has given up on the gun, its designers have given up on the gun and people who have handled it have given up on the gun. The only people who still think that this would make a great replacement for the M-16 family of weapons are people such as yourself who only have a passing familiarity with the weapon and want it because it looks cool. Once again I shall repeat myself. Aesthetics are a horrifically bad reason to choose a weapon. I personally think that the standard AUG looks fuck ugly but it is still a good weapon. The XM8 looks cool and doesn't jam in a dust test as often as the M4 but it has a disastrous major failure rate and a dust jam can be fixed in two seconds on an M4 using S.P.O.R.T.S. Replacing the polymer guard with a suitable material would increase the weight on the front of the weapon which will increase the overall weight of the weapon especially when a grenade launcher is attached. (The hand guard on the front of the weapon is not removed when the grenade launcher is attached. What do you think the launcher is attached to?) There might not even be any suitable materials in existence which are cheap enough to be deployed on a large scale. The weapon was given up on by all the people with the qualifications to give up on it. I suggest you follow suite.

 

[AmrasCalmacil]

Good Lord, just fit all of them with 7.62 uppers and call it a day, it's a great design, and theres a resign why they're still around

I'm surprised no-one's suggested the H&K 416 yet, it has an immediately recognisable design, it's remarkably durable and has already been adopted by America's 1st SFOD-D.

Spoiler: Image

the HK416 is basically an expensive M4 Carbine, we still need a full-sized rifle

It comes in 3 different barrel sizes and there's also the HK417 which fires 7.62 rounds.

 

[SoloStoffe]

Your bare hands. Think about it, it gives your opponent a fair chance, the best man wins. If wars were resolved with people just punching the crap out of eachother, countries would save millions, and the wars wouldn't last long.

 

[Death_Korps_Kommissar]

Snippage

Isn't the SCAR already set to become the replacement for the M16?

 

[Canid117]

Snippage

Isn't the SCAR already set to become the replacement for the M16?

It has only been adopted by certain units and not as a full replacement for the M-16 series.

 

[Death_Korps_Kommissar]

Snippage

Isn't the SCAR already set to become the replacement for the M16?

It has only been adopted by certain units and not as a full replacement for the M-16 series.

Ah okay, my mistake.

 

[Johnny Reb]

The 1861 Springfield is a good choice.

[http://s1108.photobucket.com/albums/h403/hippykiller15/?action=view&current=1861Springfield.gif]

 

[mb16]

why not what they are going to use which is the scar

Spoiler

top Scar-l
bottom Scar-h

if i had to chose i would go for

Spoiler: raping time

(no i dont know what it is)

 

[bubba145]

I'd rather we just bullpuped the M-16A4 into the A5 and left it alone.

 

[Scolar Visari]

Snippage

Isn't the SCAR already set to become the replacement for the M16?

It has only been adopted by certain units and not as a full replacement for the M-16 series.

Ah okay, my mistake.

As far as I know, the only non SOF groups that have gotten their hands on a good number of SCARS is the Rangers and even then, only a few select groups of Rangers.

So.. not that anybody will read this, but H&K making the next U.S. service rifle is unlikely. H&K's less than stellar business and quality control practices have pissed the military off to no end. Colt or FN are the most likely to provide the next service rifle.