USMC have made it official

[Wraith420]

I tried to join USMC Infantry OCS in college, ended up disqualified for a spine issue I have but thats another story. Up until 2015 every Marine was issued an M16A4 because every Marine is rated to be a Marksman. After 2015 Infantry was issued M4's due to their smaller size being more handy in vehicle convoy operations and urban engagements. However that comes at a huge loss in terminal performance with its 14.5 inch barrel. 5.56 needs at least 16 inch barrels to perform optimally to allow the round to yaw and fragment because of its velocity requirements to do so. This is primarily the reason the Marines held onto M16s for front line infantry until 2015. 

The M27 is a massive improvement over the M16 and the M4. For one it has a longer barrel of 16.5, that can hold up longer in sustained fire, with dependable terminal performance. It also has a piston gas system similar to Kalashnikov's which will make it far more reliable. The direct gas system of the AR platform essential craps where it eats, and combine that with a dusty/sandy environment and you will have issues. Lots of US forces have used captured AK's in engagements from time to time because of this, on semiautomatic the accuracy is more than enough for 300 meters engagements. Contrary to popular misconceptions, AK's in 762 generally run 3-5MOA within 300 meters if the barrel is quality, and not some crap knockoff made in a Pakistani "factory" run in someones home. They are even better out to 800m with the 5.45 74's. Iv fired a AR15 and a Romanian AKM that are semiauto only, and can shoot both just as accurately, everytime they go to the range. Wikipedia lists the M16/M4 as a 4.5MOA on average. Now here is where the M27 shines, it has a free floating barrel. It is rated at 2MOA from 500-700m. This will allow it to be used as a multirole weapon. It could be used as a SAW for surpressive fire due to the thicker barrel, or a Designated Marksmans Rifle because of the free floating, in addition to being a main combat arm. 

The M27 while having a longer barrel closer to that of the M16, also has a collapsing buttstock similar to the M4, which can adjust for length of pull for greater accuracy, and ease of transport and carry in confined areas. It does not weight much more than the M16A4 with the quad rail, and a slightly heavier gun will be more accurate during sustained fire due to less recoil. The M27 is also easier to quickly attach a suppressor than the previous family of AR based weapons that still used the basic birdcage  flashhider. 
All in all it is a very intelligent upgrade. It is a  more reliable, accurate weapon that can meet a wider variety of roles, with very minimal downsides of weighing 1.5lbs more than the current M4 issue. 

 

[Wraith420]

On 2/2/2018 at 11:09 PM, Ryko said:

According to the M27 entry on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M27_Infantry_Automatic_Rifle) it was announced in December 27.  It's actually pretty informative on the reasoning, but I'll summarize some salient points:

• portability and maneuverability (the M249 is 22lbs loaded, compared to the 9lbs for the M27). However, it would take around a 20-magazine load to carry the same amount of ammo with the M249.
• similarity in appearance to other rifles in the squad, reducing the likelihood that the gunner will receive special attention from the enemy.
• facilitation of the gunner's participation in counter-insurgency operations and capability of maintaining a high volume of fire. 
• Caliber was specified as 5.56×45mm with non-linked ammunition, so as to achieve commonality with existing service rifles.
• The battalion leadership also saw the M27 as better at preventing collateral damage, as it is more controllable on fully automatic than the M249.
• With the M27 IAR, the idea of suppression shifts to engaging with precision fire, as it has rifle accuracy at long range and fully automatic fire at short range.
• With a shrinking budget, the Marine Corps is looking at ways to implement the IAR as a multipurpose weapon.

Taking into account these items, it's not terribly surprising to see the Marines looking to replace its fleet of M4s with full-auto M27s. The Army just upgraded all its M4s to M4A1s, rather than do another procurement (they have a lot more bodies on the ground to arm, anyway). But you have to wonder if the intent is to essentially turn every marine infantryman into a Dedicated Marksman: while suppressive fire seems to make a lot of sense, when the M249 is firing away for even a handful of seconds, it's a loud target that's fairly easy to pinpoint, and when the AR is under fire, he's loaded with a heavy, cumbersome weapon that makes it more difficult to maneuver.

 

I think on our next op I might suggest our AR take a M27 with a bunch of mags to see if the concept bears fruit.

Due to advancements in magazine technology, that is not quite the case any more. Magpul makes excellent lightweight 40 round magazines, and Surefire and a few other companies have quadstack magazines holding 60-100 rounds that are more convenient than drums or belts to carry for that matter. They are also way more reliable than the belt fed links, and in extreme situations the  gunner or ammo man can resupply other Marines rifles in a pinch, which they could not with the belts.  

[Wraith420]

On 2/3/2018 at 1:07 PM, Minipily said:

US Military is trying to update the NATO Standardisation (STANAG) to use 40rd magazines for 5.56 rifles, CMAG has already made designs and CMAG in general will probably be the next NATO Standardisation.

 

Not to mention that they want to get a more lethal round anyway, but creating a new cartridge is expensive and 7.62x51 NATO proves too heavy and frankly dangerous as the Falklands War proved. I believe the plan was to try and use 6.5mm such as ArmA 3 shows as the NATO STANAG, though if this is the case, it's going to take a while to go through and take effect.

 

If 7.62x51 was to become a NATO STANAG round for the Rifleman (because civilian property isn't a priority), the British Armed Forces DMR design or perhaps a HK417 design may soon become a regular service rifle. However I highly doubt NATO will want to use said caliber as a regular round, like I said, too dangerous.

See my above post on newer magazine options that are available. My friend from high school is a Army Ranger and absolutely loves the Magpul 40's and surefire quadstacks in 60 and 100 when he was deployed last. I have one of the magpul 40pmags for my competition rifle, they are some of the most reliable magazines made for NATO STANAG weapons. Have not personally tried the Surefires but have heard good things, I just cant justify the cost of them personally. 

 

.223 & 5.56 are actually one of the safest calibers someone can own for home defense, considering someone is not using steel core or  FMJ. The reason police are ditching 9mm subguns and 12 gauge shotguns for AR's is because with the lower grain hollowpoints, or Open Tip Match ( Which are allowed in warfare for military use, HP are not) the rounds have a far less chance of posing a risk of over-penetration, either through the bad guy, or through a wall or other barrier. 00 Buck or 9mm HP will penetrate far more than most people realize. Dry wall or sheetrock will have the tendency to plug up a HP round from a pistol, essentially making it a solid slug that does not expand as it would if it hit a bad guy. That is very bad thing for bystanders, considering most homes use dry wall for interiors. 00buck is a .33 caliber ball, and having 9-15 of them depending on shell length flying all over a house is a huge liability, they do not fragment and have enough mass to do alot of damage through alot of material in a wide unpredictable pattern. A 223/556 round that is designed to fragment will break up into smaller less dangerous fragments much sooner through less material.  

A .30 caliber rifle round be in 7.62x51 or 7.62x39 and its ballistics twin .300 Blackout are designed to penetrate hard barriers and retain mass. Now on the civilian market there are excellent hunting ammo in those calibers that are designed to expand and expend all energy in a target from HP or Soft Point loads, a 154g 7.62x39 Soft Point load had saved a hiker from a polar bear attack in Alaska in a news report I read.  They still are too dangerous to rely on for defense if collateral damage is a possibility, and such loads are not allowed in warfare. Here is an excellent article on the issue. 

http://preparedgunowners.com/2016/07/14/why-high-powered-5-56-nato-223-ar-15-ammo-is-safer-for-home-defense-fbi-overpenetration-testing/