5.56mm for long range or heavy firepower? WTF? 7.62mm belt-fed is an absolute minimum for that sort of thing, with a strong preference for .50 BMG.
I thinking about the differences the M16 and the M4 guns.Small caliber,but the rate of fire is 700 - 950 rounds per minute,and I think thats not bad,and when must choice I choice this two gun for assault
Cyclic rate of fire is irrelevant - you’ll never control either weapon on fully automatic particularly well (it’s OK at point blank, beyond that you need arms like a Gorilla). In any case after more than 2-3 magazines at that rate of fire you’ll start burning things out.
It’s very rare that you need fully automatic fire from a rifle anyway - ambushes, clearing positions, and that’s about it. Not to mention the fact that soldiers rarely carry more than a few hundred rounds because ammo is so frikking heavy.
HK derive their reputation from having an extremely good marketing department (probably inherited from Mauser!), however I have been remarkably unimpressed with everything they have produced that I have had my hands on. They seem to have a winner with the 416 and 417, given that they didn’t design it from the ground up.
The G36, for instance, has an aura of myths surrounding it. A friend of mine has worked on them (mostly converting them to blank for the film industry), and his opinion is that they are wretched. Bear in mind that the only military customers for the damn things have been Germany and Spain. Hardly an overwhelming success. They are now practically giving them away and concentrating on the 416.
The roller locked rifles… where do we begin? Yes, the G3 works, but the ergonomics are terrible and the recoil heavy. Try one next to a FAL – it is no contest. The 5.56 mm rifles with this system are badly balanced and marginal of function. All of these rifles fling your empty brass in a beautiful wide arc, glinting in the sunlight , telling the bad guys exactly where to aim at you.
MP 5 – over engineered (it doesn’t need the rollers or the fluted chamber, so why bother?), otherwise okay
USP – bore line far too high, grip too big, and a safety catch/ de-cocking-lever combination which is ill thought out (flick the safety catch off with even a little bit too much enthusiasm and you activate the decocker.)
G36 – they melt, the cocking handle is inaccessible, the safety catch out of reach of your thumb, and the sights/mounts are bespoke. Great idea…
UMP and its civilian equivalent – like shooting with a brick in a Tupperware box.
They are most distinctly onto a winner with the 416 though – an AR with the final gas related problems ironed out. They have been characteristically stupid with the civilian version though, since they have made it completely incompatible with the AR 15 rifles produced by everyone else on the planet. And they want €3500 for them , which really looks like they are charging €1500 for a gas piston…
That’s another favourite of mine 
H&K416 looks promising, and its coming in an upcoming game, Battlefield Bad Company, I guess that’s how H&K advertise now. Do you think it’s going to fully replace the M4 or will the M4 still stay for another couple years.
RifleMan20:I think no need to replace the M4,its a good trusty gun
another trusty
do both the g36 and the l85a1 suffer the same problems, what was done to correct it and how does the new /improved product rate?
Nope, different problems. Not too sure what the problems with the G36 are (apart from the fact that it melts). The problem with the L85A1 was that it jammed all the time, and a number of parts (e.g. firing pins) broke regularly. H&K did a good job with the A2 rebuild, replacing/modifying a large number of parts, and the resulting rifle is very good indeed from a reliability point of view.
I like the FAMAS.
The FAMAS, though, is HUGE. But I heard its performance was great.
I like the m16a4 rifle, to me it has more use in it then poeple think. But for a new rifle, i Like the FN Scar mkII it looks great with the 7,62x51mm round.
I would go with the M-4 it is aged but effective.
Yet very light.Hence the hefty price for one.I chose it because it is the only AR I ever shot with.It is also very easy to assemble/disassemble.I liked the fact you could modify it to make it a left hander weapon too.:mrgreen:
Any opinion about the hk-416 ??? Do you think it’s better than the m-4 or the m-16 ??? Is this going to be the succesor of the colt series ???
Well I might ask what your opinion of the HK-416 is. And why do you ask?
In short I doubt it will replace the M-4 since US special operations troops wanted it replaced with an FN carbine. This was briefly considered --then rejected-- and some improvements were made on the M-4. The US military probably some years off from deciding on the M-16 series’ successor due to the protracted Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan where the M-16 performs well enough…
Note: folding this into an existing thread on contemporary military rifles…
Actually I find it amusing that Heckler&Koch entitled a potential M4 respectively M16 successor “416”.
The HK416 probably won’t be procured, but I’d say it’s a pretty good bet that a gas piston mod to the AR15 will be in service within a few years. It isn’t rocket science.
I’m actually surprised at all the harsh criticism of the G36.
Granted, I never fired it, but my brother, who’s in the Bundeswehr, obviously has, and even though he is qualified with the Famas, M16, M4, Sig552 and G36, he said of all of them, he likes and performs best with the G36.
Of course he hasn’t been in a combat scenario with either of them yet, but still.
And Stoat, when you mentioned its users you forgot quite a couple, really:
UK (Spec Ops)
US (State Police)
Sweden
Thailand
Poland
Norway
Netherlands
Italy
Ireland
Greece
France (GIGN & RAID)
Australian Police
Canadian Police
Finland
and a couple more…
Errrr… I don’t recall mentioning G36 users, that was Stoaty. And I know for a fact that UKSF do NOT use G36s - they use Dimarco C7/C8s. The UK police forces use G36s, largely because the L85 was no longer in production when they wanted a 5.56mm rifle. Beyond that it would pretty much have come down to price…