Welcome back to Military Update Channel.
Assault rifles, battle rifles, they’re all here.
Though some of the rifle platforms originally entered service during the Cold War, some
have been updated and upgraded for the 21st century — and they’re part of the reason
why the United States military is so lethal.
M4A1
No conversation concerning U.S. military rifles is complete without mentioning the M4 carbine,
the smaller, more compact version of the iconic M16 rifle.
Though the M16 and M4 are quite similar, the M4 is lighter and shorter overall, a design
that optimizes the platform for situations where a smaller, more compact weapon would
be an advantage, such as in close quarters urban spaces, or for soldiers riding in and
dismounting from cramped armored vehicles.
Like the M16, it fires the NATO-standard 5.56x45mm cartridge, though thanks to the M4’s shorter
14.5-inch barrel, has a slightly lower effective firing range.
The M4 design has proven popular and is used by a wide variety of countries throughout
Latin America, the Middle East, Europe, and elsewhere.
FN SCAR
The SCAR family of rifles came to life in order to fulfill a request by the United States
Special Operations Command for a modular family of rifles chambered in 5.56x45mm and 7.62x51mm
NATO-standard cartridges.
The FN SCAR is therefore actually two different rifles, SCAR-L for light, and SCAR-H for heavy.
Both rifles can be used as designated marksman rifles, or for close-quarters weapons thanks
to three available barrel lengths: Close-Quarters Combat, Standard, and Long Barrel.
Though the rifles are outwardly quite similar, the SCAR-L uses NATO-standard STANAG box magazines,
whereas the larger SCAR-H is fed from FN-designed magazines.
M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle
The Marine Corps’ new M27 is perhaps one of the most accurate standard-issue rifles
in the United States military, giving new meaning to the Marine’s mantra “every
Marine a rifleman.”
The IAR benefits from a 16.5-inch free-floating barrel and a short-stroke piston action that
give the M27 accuracy, range, and reliability improvements over both the legacy M16 rifle
and M4 carbine
The M27’s parent rifle is a German-designed Heckler & Koch 416, which was famously used
to take down Osama bin Laden during the famous SEAL Team Six raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
The Marine Corps is further enhancing the M27’s lethality by issuing effective flow-through
suppressors that allow lower-volume shooting without the possibility of burned powder and
bullet detritus flying in the face of the shooter.
M14
Though the M14’s reputation suffered during the United States’ involvement in Vietnam,
the rifle itself is quite rugged and offers good accuracy and stopping power thanks to
its larger 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge.
Although the rifle was not well-suited to the wet jungle warfare of Vietnam — it was
too heavy, too long, and its wooden stock prone to warping — these two updates to
the platform have given the rifle a new lease on life.
Overall the M14 was a controversial weapon.
It has a significant advantage of accuracy, range and penetration.
Also it was a reliable and lethal weapon.
However it was too long, too heavy and performed poorly in fully automatic mode.
As soon as drawbacks of the M14 became obvious to the US Army Command, they started to search
for a new weapon, and finally settled on the Armalite AR-15, which was adopted as the M16.
Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle
The Army and Special Operations Command redesigned the M14 from the ground up, giving the battle
rifle a new adjustable stock, pistol-style grip, collapsable bipod, as well as Picatinny
accessory rails and a modern optic, to give the old M14 better range as well as lightening
the rifle.
The Mk 14 EBR is chambered for the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge and operates in a semi-automatic
nature.
The effective listed range is between 600- and 800-yards depending on conditions and
operator training/experience.
The weight of the firearm when empty is listed at 14.9 lbs with a loaded weight of 16.6 lbs
and the magazine is a detachable box type offering 20 rounds of ready to fire ammunition.
Muzzle velocity is reported at 2,600 feet per second while barrel length (utilizing
original M14 barrels) measures in at 22 inches with an overall system length of 35 inches.
M39 Enhanced Marksman Rifle
The Marine Corps had the same idea as the Army, though they decided to modify the M14
a bit differently, resulting in the similar M39 EMR.
This modified rile also sported an adjustable stock and collapsable bipod as well as an
accessory rail that could mont optics.
It was however an interim measure and has since been mostly replaced in Marine Corps
service by newer, group-up designated marksman designs.
With its origin in check, the newer M39 shares much of the same qualities of the M14 before
it including its gas-operated, semi-automatic firing action as well as being chambered for
the 7.62x51mm NATO standard cartridge.
The M39 is, in essence, a further evolution of the M14 series itself, extending the operational
life of the decades-old platform for the requirements of the new battlefield.
The designator of "Enhanced Marksman Rifle" indicates its primary use by "non-sniper"
elements, operators more akin to the "designated marksman" in the US military (also known as
"sharpshooters" elsewhere) - a battlefield element tied to a long range, repeat-fire
weapon intended to serve as an integrated part of the infantry squad.
The M39 EMR was developed for use by the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and replaced the
M14 Designated Marksman Rifle (M14 DMR) in the same role beginning in 2008.
The M14 DMR itself served from 2001 to 2010 and saw combat action in the 2001 American
invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 American invasion of Iraq.