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Thoughts On The New Xm8 Assault Rifle?


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#1 Viper

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Posted 28 August 2005 - 05:26 PM

The XM8 appears to be a great rifle in its ability to be quickly converted to just about any type of weapon. The recoil shouldn't be bad and the weapon itself is quite light. They do say that it's ability to fire high volumes of rounds is unproven and that the saw does well in that area. The barrels can be removed quickly as just about any other part of the weapon can from its modular design.

Through all these neat features still lies a clone of a G36, basically the design itself is no engineering marvel from the respect that there is still a firing pin and it is still gas operated. I read on NHQ from boltsniper stating that the AR has better accuracy because of its gas piston? I just want to hear people's thoughts on the possible switch.
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#2 boltsniper

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Posted 28 August 2005 - 06:21 PM

I read on NHQ from boltsniper stating that the AR has better accuracy because of its gas piston?

Because of it's lack of a gas piston.

The AR15 uses direct gas impingement to operate the action so there is no mass moving out of line with the barrel. Although small the movment of a gas piston out of line with the barrel creates a moment on the rifle that will effect accuracy. It doesn`t effect it must and would probably only be noticable at longer ranges.

The XM8 is a G36 in a new case. And the G36 is a conglomerate of a number of different rifles. The gas piston action is was borrowed from the AR18, so we are still operating on 50-60's technology.

I personally don`t thing the XM8 offers enough over the AR15 to justify a replacment.

Quick change barrels:
There are a number of AR15 upper receivers available that have quick barrel change capability. The LMT MRP comes to mind with barrel swaps via 2 allen bolts in under a minute. A few manufactures have tool-less barrel swap uppers available. Of course with an AR you can always swap the entire upper receiver out with another in about 5 seconds. You could go from a 14.5" barreled upper with an Aimpoint to a 20" SPR upper with a 12x scope in no time.

Polymer Frame:
The XM8 along with the G36 have FRP receivers. It does make the rifle light and even though FRP's are strong I dunno if I would want a plastic rifle as a GI. I`ve heard a lot of people say that the G36 is great as a specops weapon but would not stand the punishment of army/marine troop punishment.

Many AR manufactures are now offereing rifles with FRP receivers with base rifles weighing as little as 4 pounds. Check out the Carbon15 by bushmaster.

I love the G36 and would certianly own one (if they weren`t $3500 for a converted SL8), but when it comes to replacing our military's frontline weapon I don`t think the XM8 offers enough to fit the bill. And personally I don`t think we need to replace it anyway.

The AR15/M16 is one of the few things left that is homegrown and I`d hate to see our entire military equipped with foreign small arms. We have enough already. Not that there is anything wrong with them...HK rocks.
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#3 Shotty Master

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Posted 28 August 2005 - 06:48 PM

Linky
Thats a thread I started a while back about the XM8 and the Future Warrior system. Lot of info in there.
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#4 Viper

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Posted 28 August 2005 - 06:55 PM

The rifle itself is deisgned by HKUSA. Its still foreign, but I wouldn't think we'd risk our nations sovereinty by choosing the XM8 the M4. Isn't this system supposed to be easier to maintain vs. the M4? I suppose the M4 already has these capabilites considering that we have commando,loser, and support variations of the M4. Now what would you think of the military switching to .308 for their main rifles vs the .223 Remington? I read the reasoning for such a hot, flat shooting caliber but with the M4 a three shot burst/semi rifle only, do we still need that ability to carry more .223 than .308?
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#5 boltsniper

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Posted 28 August 2005 - 08:21 PM

A gas piston action keeps gases out of the action so it stays cleaner. They love to argue that point to oblivion when comparing to the AR15. Other than that I don`t see how the XM8 could be much easier to maintain. It actually has more moving parts....

They`ve reintroduced the M14 into service to get the larger round. I like the 308 round. It's a good performer. One of the main reasons for the smaller round was so that a soldier could carry more ammo for a given weight load. I think the 5.56 does fine for most purposes and if the need for a larger round arrises then the M14's will be there to take care of it. I don`t think we should totally revert back to 30 caliber....it's jsut overkill in a lot of situations.
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