A Wisdom Archive on Xm177

With the initial success of the 607 idea, Colt refined the pattern and created 3 additional guns, the 609, 610, and 610B. The most important features of these guns are the revised retracting stocks (similar in style to the stocks commonly found on M4 type rifles), originally case out of aluminum, and short round handguards to help with the issues of the barrel becoming extremely hot during prolonged firing. These weapons also had 10 in (254 mm) barrels and were originally fitted with the 3.5 in (89 mm) moderators designed for the 607. A 4.5 ...

Read more here: » Colt Commando: Encyclopedia II - Colt Commando - The XM177 and the GAU-5/A

The original "Commando" was created when Colt began developing the AR-15 pattern, newly acquired from Armalite. The need for a shorter handier weapon had been expressed by a number of forces engaged in the expanding conflict in South East Asia in the mid 1960s, and Colt responded with an ultra-short variant as part of its new CAR-15 family, the Model 607 CAR-15 Commando Model Submachine Gun. Note that calling it a submachine gun was a new trend in sub-machine gun naming, as previous SMGs were all chambered for pistol, rather than rifle ammun ...

Read more here: » Colt Commando: Encyclopedia II - Colt Commando - Early models & naming

Safety Precaution (no magazine fitted) Safety precautions should be performed when taking possession of the weapon from another user, or any time the state of the weapon is unknown or in doubt. Always assume for safety purposes that such a weapon has a round in the chamber, ready to fire. Point the weapon in a safe direction, pull the cocking handle to the rear (a round may be ejected) and hold it there, examine the chamber to ensure it is clear, allow the action to go forward under control, push the forward assist, fire the act ...

Read more here: » M16 rifle: Encyclopedia II - M16 rifle - Operation

CAR-15 - CAR-15 Rifle. By the time the idea of the CAR-15 family was developed, Colt had already been producing two rifle variants for the US military. Colt's CAR-15 family included two rifles, one with the forward assist function (Model 603) and one without (Model 604). Both of these weapons were purchased by the US military, and more information can be found on the M16 page.

Read more here: » CAR-15: Encyclopedia II - CAR-15 - The Family

When Colt aquired the AR-15 from Armalite in 1959 it not only became the primary contractor for the pattern, but also proceded to develop an entire family of weapons around the original weapon. Colt's family came under a new name, the Colt Automatic Rifle-15, or CAR-15, and the increasing sales of rifles to the US military increased hopes that they could be induced to purchase all the other members of the family. In the end Colt developed two rifles, two Heavy BARreled rifles (or HBARs), a carbine, an ultra-short carbine, and a survival rifl ...

Read more here: » CAR-15: Encyclopedia II - CAR-15 - CAR-15 firearm family

M16 rifle - Project SALVO. In 1948, the Army organized the civilian Operations Research Office (ORO), mirroring similar operations research organizations in Britain. One of their first efforts, Project ALCLAD, studied body armor and quickly concluded that they would need to know considerably more about battlefield injuries in order to make reasonable suggestions. Over 3 million battlefield reports from WWII were analyzed, and over the next few years they released a ...

Read more here: » M16 rifle: Encyclopedia II - M16 rifle - History

The M16 is made of aluminum alloy and plastics, except for the steel barrel and parts of the action. Early models were especially lightweight at 3.2 kg (7.5 lb), about 30% less than older 7.62 mm "battle rifles" of the 1950s and 1960s. It also compares very favourably with the 5 kg (loaded) AK47. New models weigh more (8.5 lb or 3.9 kg) because of the "heavy" barrel used to increase accuracy. The rifle is 40 inches (1.02 m) long with standard 20 inch (508 mm) barrel. Stoner experimented with titanium barrels for even greater weight savings, but failed to ach ...

Read more here: » M16 rifle: Encyclopedia II - M16 rifle - Design

838 mm (33 in) (stock extended) 3.0 kg (6.6 lb) w/ 30 rounds The M4 Carbine traces its lineage back to earlier carbine versions of the M16, all based on the original AR-15 made by Armalite. The weapon is a shorter and lighter version of the M16A2 assault rifle, achieving 80% parts commonality with the M16A2. The M4 has selective fire options including semi-automatic and three-round burst (like the M16A2), while the M4A1 has a "full auto" option in place of the three-round burst. The M4A1 is sometimes also found with a he ...

Read more here: » M4 Carbine: Encyclopedia II - M4 Carbine - Headline text

One of the largest end users of Colt 653s was Israel, who imported a large number just in time for the Yom Kippur War. In the last decade or so, these weapons have been extensively modified, bringing them up to a pseudo-M4 standard. These weapons have had their stock tubes modified to allow for six positions instead of the original 2 or 4, and have A2 style pistol grips, as well as, M4 profile barrels. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are currently phasing these out in favor true M4/A1 carbines. Elisco Tools in the Philippines also acquired a license to produce the ...

Read more here: » Colt Commando: Encyclopedia II - Colt Commando - Late 1970s and 1980s

The M4A1 carbine, an improvement upon the M4 carbine intended for Special Operations use, features a fully-automatic fire mode, a flat-top NATO M1913-specification rail on top of the receiver (for attachment of optical sights and other aiming devices — Trijicon TA11 and TA31 ACOGs and Aimpoint M68 CCOs being the favorite choices), and a detachable rail-mounted carrying handle. The M4A1 can be found in use by many U.S. military units, including the U.S. Army Rangers, Delta Force, U.S. Navy SEALs, and the United ...

Read more here: » M4 Carbine: Encyclopedia II - M4 Carbine - History and variants

Except for the very first delivery order, all U.S. military issue M4 and M4A1 possess a flat-top NATO M1913-specification rail on top of the receiver (for attachment of optical sights and other aiming devices — Trijicon TA11 and TA31 ACOGs and Aimpoint M68 CCOs being the favorite choices), and a detachable rail-mounted carrying handle. The current government standards are the Colt Model 920 (M4) and 921 (M4A1). The major difference between these models is that the M4 has the "S-1-3" (safe/semi-automatic/3-round burst) fire modes, while the M4A1 has a "S-1-F ...

Read more here: » M4 Carbine: Encyclopedia II - M4 Carbine - History and variants