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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/19/armys-quits-tests-after-competing-rifle-outperform/

A competing rifle outperformed the Army�s favored M4A1 carbine in key firings during a competition last year before the service abruptly called off the tests and stuck with its gun, according to a new confidential report.

SEE ALSO: Troops left to fend for themselves after Army was warned of flaws in rifle

PHOTOS: Hand cannons: The world's most powerful handguns

The report also says the Army changed the ammunition midstream to a round �tailored� for the M4A1 rifle. It quoted competing companies as saying the switch was unfair because they did not have enough time to fire the new ammo and redesign their rifles before the tests began.

Exactly how the eight challengers � and the M4 � performed in a shootout to replace the M4, a soldier�s most important personal defense, has been shrouded in secrecy.

But an �official use only report� by the Center for Naval Analyses shows that one of the eight unidentified weapons outperformed the M4 on reliability and on the number of rounds fired before the most common type of failures, or stoppages, occurred, according to data obtained by The Washington Times.

The Army did not respond to The Times. At the time, the Army explained the cancellation by saying none of the eight showed a huge improvement over the M4. In the past, the Army, with an inventory of 500,000 M4s, has defended the carbine as reliable, accurate and popular among the large majority of soldiers. It has been upgraded throughout the war on terror to improve its magazine, barrel and sights.

Congress pressed the Army to hold the shootout in the face of mounting criticism from soldiers that the M4 is unreliable. The M4 is perhaps the most deployed weapon system in the war on terror � essential firepower in combating the Taliban, al Qaeda and other insurgents at close range during raids and firefights.

The Times earlier this year published a two-part series on the M4 revealing that, as the war on terror began, the carbine flunked several reliability tests when subjected to rapid fire. The Times spoke with soldiers who had used the M4 in intense combat. They said the magazine is tinny and subject to jamming. The gun itself requires constant cleaning. One Green Beret said he and his colleagues, once in theater, rebuild the gun with better parts.

he CNA report shows that one competing gun outperformed all other competitors, including the M4, on some key tests. The results show there was a potentially better gun for soldiers.

�It was misleading for the Army to say none of the weapons passed the test,� said a U.S. official critical of how the Army buys small arms. �It was true, but it was extremely misleading. They set the requirements for the mean round between failure at around 3,000 rounds. That�s extremely high.�

He added: �You had one weapon beat the pants off your incumbent, and the result of this was not to do more testing. You had the opportunity to keep working and pursuing a better weapon, and you chose not to.�

The data is contained in a broader Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) report on the military�s procurement of small arms, such as the M4, and small-caliber ammunition.

Like the carbine competition, this study was demanded by Congress, where some members believe the Army is wedded to inferior guns and ammo.

The CNA report does not name the eight guns and producers, apparently to protect proprietary information.

The U.S. official knowledgeable about the report said gun �A� was the Army�s M4A1, an enhanced model of the basic M4.





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I wonder which parts get replaced by the anonymous Green Beret and which brand is better?



Travis


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Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual.
Originally Posted by Judman
Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit.
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My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house
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Sounds like BS to me.
If there were some better weapons, they probably weren't enough better to justify a change.


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Pay attention to what the Seals use for weapons and ammo, and trust that what they use works.

Army grunts carry what has always been a political and low-bid issue.


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That article sure used a lot of words to say nothing.


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Quote
It was misleading for the Army to say none of the weapons passed the test,� said a U.S. official critical of how the Army buys small arms. �It was true, but it was extremely misleading.


If it was TRUE, it wasn't misleading.
It sounds like whining to me


One shot, one kill........ It saves a lot of ammo!
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Quote
They set the requirements for the mean round between failure at around 3,000 rounds. That�s extremely high.�


May be high by the standards of a REMF, it is low by my own experience.



I am..........disturbed.

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Originally Posted by deflave
I wonder which parts get replaced by the anonymous Green Beret?

Travis


Probably everything except the lower receiver.


You didn't use logic or reason to get into this opinion, I cannot use logic or reason to get you out of it.

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Who makes the "better" ones?



Travis


Originally Posted by Geno67
Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual.
Originally Posted by Judman
Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit.
Originally Posted by KSMITH
My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house
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I wonder if it was the HK416 that came out ahead?

and what was the ammo change? powder? weight of bullet?

Sycamore


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...Actually Sycamore, you are sort of right....
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Originally Posted by deflave
Who makes the "better" ones?



Travis



'better' costs more. This is not a new concept with buying arms. laugh


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Originally Posted by BarryC
Sounds like BS to me.
If there were some better weapons, they probably weren't enough better to justify a change.
Any Gen III Assault rifle (like an ACR or an ARX-100) is quite a bit superior to the M4, not least because of the inherent superiority of a gas piston system vs direct impingement in terms of reliability and cleaning frequency. The latter makes for a constantly filthy chamber.

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LMT


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Originally Posted by deflave
Who makes the "better" ones?



Travis
FN, Bushmaster, Beretta.

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I have been personally involved in tests similar to this and rigged is exactly what they are. My experience didn't involve guns though, it was a robotics platform. The winner of the "test" broke during the first exercise. One of the requirements was for the platform to be man transportable. The winner tipped the scales at...280 lbs. I could go on for several more paragraphs but it isn't worth getting mad about again so I will leave it at this.

Civilians in an HQ position should have ZERO input on what guys in the field use. Dirty fuqs

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From all reports, the test that gave us the M-14 was heavily rigged. FN's FAL was the real winner.

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I thought this article was nearly a year old?


Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven.
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Originally Posted by sherp
I've seen vids of AKs doing that, too.

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Originally Posted by Robert_White
I thought this article was nearly a year old?


What I was thinking except stick an (s) after year. Best I can recall the rig was the M4's used in the test were previously issued carbines against new competition and anytime the M4 did not fire 3 shots when placed on burst it would count as 2 malfunctions.

Seems that it was also mentioned any lack of reliabilty on the part of the M4 stemmed from the lack of open space in the lower which is an issue not corrected by an HK416 or any other piston upper, but the operator would no doubt feel better about it.

Guess any carbon fouling in the chamber/receiver of an SKS, AK, FAL, G3, or even a bolt action somehow comes from the gas pipe of a Stoner rifle as well. In a bygone era the design would have been blamed for milk cows drying up and fields withering.


"My message to my troops is if you see anybody carrying a gun on the streets of Milwaukee, we'll put them on the ground, take the gun away and then decide whether you have a right to carry it." - Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn
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