The latest rumor in the ongoing “when will I be able to buy an ACR” saga is that they are being manufactured as we speak and that they will retail for about $2300. Expect something formal at SHOT.
The Remington Adaptive Combat Rifle is a derivative of the Magpul Masada first debuted at SHOT Show 2007. For a time it was under development at Freedom Group company Bushmaster but in June of 2009 the program was formally moved to Remington Military Products in anticipation of future government interest. ACR marketing videos were leaked last week to YouTube after being “found…on a disk at the airport.”
Posted in Rumor Mill, weapons | Comments Off on Remington ACR to Ship in March
According to Janes Defence Weekly, the British Army is adopting a new a semi-automatic 7.62 mm x 51 mm ‘sharpshooter’ rifle offered by Law Enforcement International (LEI) and manufactured in the US by Lewis Machine & Tool (LMT). The Stoner-style L129A1 features LMT’s Monolithic Rail Platform (MRP) technology with a one piece upper receiver and Mil-Std 1913 railed fore end. The L129A1 fires from a 20 round magazine. Additionally, it incorporates a retractable stock and 16†black stainless barrel. One of the key features of the MRP is the ability to rapidly change out barrels rather than the entire upper receiver. For some reason, many punters on various internet forums have misconstrued this feature to imply that the barrels would have to be changed in the field every 100 rounds. This information is incorrect.
The design was selected over the H&K 417 and FN’s SCAR, both currently in service with Special Operations Forces as well as a weapon proposed by Sabre Defence. The $2.5 Million deal will supply 440 of the new weapons starting early this year in order to satisfy an Urgent Operational Requirement for troops fighting in Afghanistan. Currently, the only organic weapon for UK forces capable of reliable engagement beyond 500 meters is the L7A1 7.62 mm General-Purpose Machine Gun.
The L129A1 will replace the aging bolt action Accuracy International L96 in the Sharpshooter role. In the British Army certain troops are provided with specialist training and designated as Sharpshooters. They do not fulfill the role of Snipers but rather provide enhanced lethality and accuracy to the small unit leader.
Posted in weapons | Comments Off on Brits to Field New ‘Sharpshooter’ Rifle
The new weapon sight selected for use by the MoD is a special variant that utilizes a 4 power optic in a custom chassis. It is not variable like the Spectre DR.
Photo: UK MoD
The new Spectre sight is seen on the L86 carried by the second Soldier from the left.
Tags: Elcan Posted in Foreign, weapons | Comments Off on New British Elcan Update
It seems as though members of Congress have taken to talking to any old yahoo they can round up when they are on “fact finding” trips to exotic locales. It doesn’t seem to matter if any of what said yahoo complains about makes any sense.
Nothing like talking to GIs who have no idea what they are talking about. Of course the Soldiers were referring to the MOLLE rucksack. Somehow, the “plastic” frame is now an entire rucksack with matching plastic straps. Newsflash, I had the same problems with my arms and hands falling asleep back in the bad old days before we had high tech “plastic” rucksacks. The ALICE pack, affectionately known as the “big green tick” would put your arms to sleep just the same. This has much more to do with the load and a lot less to do with the pack.
Camo issues? Hello! The Army is knee deep in it. How about you give them a chance to at least bust their own time line before calling them out?
I am still scratching my head over the comments about needing a larger clothing allowance. I was under the impression that the Army is issuing FR ACUs to deployed troops for free. I guess the Overseas COLA isn’t enough to cover beer these days in Vincenza.
Interestingly, the letter wants to know what the Army is doing to “procure a superior replacement rifle, such as those used by our Special Operations forces (sic).” Do they mean like the SCAR? Excuse me while I guffaw. What wonder weapon are they talking about exactly?
Ok, so what do we have here? GIs want MultiCam. GIs hate their “plastic” rucksacks. GIs hate the M4 and want SOF weapons. GIs want even more of a clothing allowance (aka beer money). Hell, they could have found all of that out by spending five minutes on an internet message board.
Leadership and training are going to fix some of these issues long before the material developer can intercede. Until that happen clean your weapons and employ them properly, take a serious look at your load and accept some risk to lighten it, and use basic soldier skills to camouflage yourself and your equipment.
Got a Xenomorph problem? Then here’s the answer; modeled to look like the M-41A Pulse Rifle from the movie “Aliens” is the MAX-41A. Composed of a SWD M-11/9 submachine gun and a Remington 870 short barreled shotgun, it holds 50 9mm rounds via a Sumoi “Coffin” magazine and three 12 gauge, 2-3/4″ shells. That’s two in the magazine and one in the chamber. The MAX-41A also includes a red dot sight and digital shot counter, both of which power on with insertion of the magazine, as well as a collapsible stock.
Posted in weapons, WTF? | Comments Off on a ‘Real’ M-41A Pulse Rifle
There are three things we would like to see happen in the Soldier Systems world for our American Warriors.
1. A New Camo Pattern for the Army (and Air Force). Something effective would be nice.
2. Change the Color of Small Arms from Black to Anything Earth-tone. SOCOM seems to have figured it out with the SCAR. Flat Dark Earth works pretty well.
3. Fresh Drawers for the Marines. A little known problem is that Marine Corps has a policy to reissue cold weather long underwear once a Marine turns them in. We get being thrifty and all but come on. Who wants to wear a pair of underwear that some other guy wore for 12 months before you? The Army has a Soldier retain them throughout their career and the Air Force doesn’t want anything back that was worn against the skin. Maybe somebody on the Hill can see their way to a set aside for underwear.
Posted in Camo, Clothing, weapons | Comments Off on The Soldier Systems Daily Christmas Wish List
The History Channel presents “Sniper: Inside the Crosshairs” tonight at 9PM Eastern. Portions of the show were filmed at Tier 1 Group’s facility near Memphis, Tennessee and this two-hour special will feature a discussion by EOTAC’s Fernando Coelho of ballistic gelatin and its use in wound profiles for various rounds.
One of our readers clued us in on these new targets featuring zombie silhouettes. Billed as “The only target that will eat your brain”, many will find these entertaining and a nice diversion from standard targets. In addition to the four different black and white figures offered by the manufacturer, Law Enforcement Targets has six different color versions including the dreaded Frans – Nazi Zombie. Each target is 25″ x 35″ and printed on 60 lbs paper. Competition-style target zones are included on the torso and brain but cannot be seen from a distance.
