why the u.s marines love the m27 infantry automatic rifle
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marksmanship the ability to shoot accurately and service targets
with the minimum expenditure of ammunition has always been part of the u.s marine corps ethos
the adoption of the m-27 infantry automatic rifle over the older m249 squad automatic weapon
marks a return to the ethos across the service at the small unit level more accurate and capable of
accomplishing its mission with fewer expended rounds the m27 is now being considered as the
frontline rifle not only for a handful of squad members but across the core's front line units
the u.s marine corps custom to heavy losses against strong enemy defenses and beach assaults
maintains robust 13-man infantry squads these squads further divide into three fired teams led
by a single squad leader each of which has two riflemen a grenadier and an automatic rifleman
compared to a nine-man us army infantry squad the marine squad has four more personnel and a third
rifle team the result being increased flexibility and more tactical options for the squad leader
for decades the fireteam automatic rifleman has been equipped with the m249 squad automatic weapon
originally developed by fabrique nationale as the mini-me the m249 was capable of laying down
a large volume of fire up to 900 rounds per minute using 200 round belt-fed packs of ammunition
this made the m249 useful for suppressive fire keeping the enemy's head down while other fire
teams closed with the enemy the m249 was a marine corps staple through the 911 era
as useful as the m249 was it did have problems a 2006 report conducted by the cna corporation
found that among u.s army combat veterans the m249 scored below average
in third place after the m16 rifle and m4 carbine but generally ahead of the m9 pistol
and handling accuracy maintainability and corrosion resistance nearly 30 percent of
troops issued the m249 reported experiencing stoppage in contact with the enemy and 35
expressed a lack of confidence in weapon reliability although a us army study the
weapons involved in the study were identical to those issued at the time by the us marines
the most glaring problem with the m249 it was never a good institutional fit for the marine
corps although the weapon could hose down an enemy position with fire it wasn't particularly
useful for accurately engaging individual targets the increase in ammo consumption
meant an increase in carried ammunition weight ammunition consumption went up the weight of
carried ammunition went up and accuracy went down not an ideal situation for infantry
in 2010 the marines introduced the m27 infantry automatic rifle iar
the iar based on the heckler and kosh 416 rifle which outwardly is very similar to the m4 carbine
unlike the m4 carbine the m27 uses the gas piston operating system
which uses a piston to drive the bolt instead of recycling hot dirty propellant gases
the m27 bends them resulting in a cooler running cleaner running if slightly front heavy rifle
the m27 differs in other ways the rifle barrel is slightly longer and heavier than the m4 carbine
giving the m27 a slight range advantage over the carbine the thicker m27 barrel can fire longer
than the m4 before overheating but will also disperse heat longer the m27 is also much lighter
weighing nearly 10 pounds fully loaded versus 22 pounds fully loaded for the m249 squad automatic
weapon this is an appreciable difference during long periods of carrying the weapon
the main difference between the m27 and m249 squad automatic weapon however is accuracy the m249
is first and foremost a machine gun and is accurate to about 12 minutes of angle
meaning rounds will hit within a foot of their target at 100 yards the m27 on the other hand
is approximately a two minute of ankle weapon meaning it will land rounds within
2 inches of the target at 100 yards in the hands of a trained automatic rifleman
this scales upwards so the m27 will deliver rounds within 12 inches of the target at 600 yards
other factors further improve the m27s accuracy the weapon features a harris folding bipod
giving it a stable shooting position while prone or from behind cover it also features a trijicon
acog squad day optic which sports 3.5 power magnification and allows target identification
and precision fire out to distances of up to 600 yards the acog also incorporates
a rugged miniaturized reflex rmr sight for close quarter shooting at 100 yards or less
the m27 is described by marines in the field as two weapons in one a rifle capable of precision
fire to eliminate individual targets but also capable of providing area suppression fire like
a saw if necessary the difference is that the improved accuracy of the m27 leads to the need
to fire fewer rounds to suppress a target and less ammunition consumption in general by contrast the
m249 it replaces is primarily an area suppression fire weapon with no precision fire capability
the m27 has become so well liked in august 2017 the marine corps issued an intent notice
to procure another 50 000 rifles enough to equip every infantryman and automatic rifleman
in front-line combat units such an upgrade would give the marine corps an impressive
boost in aimed firepower and mark a broad return to the coors tradition of marksmanship
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