Coming To Grips

Recently, the military finally caved into all the dialogue about how inferior the M4 is and allowed it to be tested against three seemingly superior weapons – the H&K XM8, the FNH USA’s Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle and the H&K 416. Both have been touted by SF units as being more reliable and less prone to jamming. The military stuck behind the M4 Carbine, manufactured by Colt. A big roadblock to ensuring the military has the very best personal weapon are the politicians trying to protect Colt. Let’s face it: Colt is an American company and H&K is German owned. No matter how crappy their product is, they want our military to buy American instead of forcing weapon manufacturers to make better quality arms.

However, after years of telling us the M4 IS the best weapon available to troops, the test results said otherwise.

The M4 carbine, the weapon soldiers depend on in combat, finished last in a recent “extreme dust test” to demonstrate the M4’s reliability compared to three newer carbines.

Weapons officials at the Army Test and Evaluation Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., exposed Colt Defense LLC’s M4, along with the Heckler & Koch XM8, FNH USA’s Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle and the H&K 416 to sandstorm conditions from late September to late November, firing 6,000 rounds through each test weapon.

When the test was completed, ATEC officials found that the M4 performed “significantly worse” than the other three weapons, sources told Army Times.

Officials tested 10 each of the four carbine models, firing a total of 60,000 rounds per model. Here’s how they ranked, according to the total number of times each model stopped firing:

• XM8: 127 stoppages.

• MK16 SCAR Light: 226 stoppages.

• 416: 233 stoppages.

• M4: 882 stoppages.

Yet instead of ceding defeat on the issue, military officials created “alibis” for the M4′s performance. I’ve shot the H&K 416 and other H&K weapons at ranges and I’m in awe of the technology. The weapons are FAR superior than our current M4 rifle (though, I love the M4!!).

When I was in Iraq, my M4 had numerous jams. So much so, that I typically left my M4 in the track when I dismounted, carrying only my 9mm. After successfully defending myself during an ambush with my 9mm, I took an AK from one of the Iraqis I shot and used it for the remainder of my time there. My AK never once jammed. And, I NEVER ONCE cleaned it the whole time I was over there even though I shot hundreds of rounds through it. (sidenote: I received permission to bring that AK back with me. It was demilitarized and is sitting at Fort Stewart in the HQs of the 2nd BTB at Fort Stewart, GA.)

Army testers threw out hundreds of M4 carbine failures from a reliability test this summer, causing the number of Class 1 and Class 2 stoppages, those that soldiers can clear themselves, to drop from 678 to 296, according to an Army briefing document.

This reminds me of a funny story. I won’t mention specifics out of respect for my fellow First Sergeants. Every quarter we are required to brief our battalion and brigade on our training statistics. It’s called the quarterly training brief. Every First Sergeants goal is to go up there and honestly report to the higher headquarters that they met 100% of their training objectives and that they have the best stats out of all the other companies in the battalion.

During a recent briefing, one of the First Sergeants reported that his company had a 274 PT average but that two three individuals had failed a PT test. The commander had asked if that number reflected the failures. No, they didn’t. I joked with my commander that next QTB we need to just exclude anyone without a 300+ PT score and we’d be #1 next time.

This sounds eerily like what the Army is doing with the M4 tests.