The US Marine Corps may soon be calling on the firearm industry for proposals for integrally suppressed firearms. The Marine Corps Times report that Colonel Mike Manning, the program manager for the Marine Corps Systems Command’s Ground Combat Element Systems [Read More…]
The 1/6 “Hard” Über Squad that Marine Infantry Gunner (WO5) Wade put into motion some months ago has taken on Golf Six, a live fire range in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. 1/6 is trialing several new pieces of kit, most importantly M27 IARs as a standard [Read More…]
Suppressor manufacturers, start your engines. The United States Marine Corps Systems Command (MARSYSCOM) has issued a new request for information (RFI) to the industry regarding future suppressors for the M4 and M4A1 Carbine and M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle (IAR). The [Read More…]
The United States Marine Corps has issued a new acquisition notice for up to 50,814 M27 Infantry Automatic Rifles (IAR), to be sole sourced from Heckler & Koch. The notice is technically not a solicitation in and of itself, but a pre-solicitation notice, intended to [Read More…]
According to a Military.com article, an element of 1st Battalion, 6th Marines will be deploying a 13-man squad of Infantry fully equipped with M27 IARs, suppressors, drum magazines, and other pieces of experimental gear. Called the “Über Squad”, it will be [Read More…]
In recent testimony to Congress, USMC leadership Lieutenant General Robert Walsh and Brigadier General Joseph Shrader officially acknowledged that the USMC’s M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle, made by Heckler & Koch, encounters durability issues when used with the [Read More…]
In recent testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, General Mark Milley, the Army Chief of Staff, admitted during questioning that the Army is looking at alternative rifle platforms to the current M4 Carbine. Milley’s comments were made primarily during a [Read More…]
Since its introduction in 2009, the Marine Corps’ M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle has proven itself as an effective support weapon that offers more firepower and range than the Corps’ other squad level weapons, the M4 Carbine and M16A4 Rifle. This good [Read More…]
Today, a variant of the Heckler & Koch HK416 rifle is the standard squad infantry automatic rifle (IAR) of the United States Marine Corps, as the M27. At one time in the mid-2000s, though, companies from Colt to LWRC competed against each other in a competition to [Read More…]
Military procurement is a very precise business, in which the costs, drawbacks, and benefits of different ideas and proposals are weighed in the balance, and those that don’t make the grade are relegated to research status or cancelled outright. It’s also a [Read More…]
Recent experience in Afghanistan, coupled with concerns about the effectiveness of the M4 Carbine – and perhaps also just a general long-term swing of the pendulum – has spurred many to advocate for a new configuration of infantry weapon centered around [Read More…]
More and more, it seems like we are on the cusp of a break in the small arms “plateau”, and that major changes may be coming both in the technology and use of infantry small arms and ammunition. The biggest harbinger of this coming paradigm shift has been [Read More…]
Will Heckler & Koch’s HK416 rifle become the most successful assault rifle model of the early 21st Century? It’s starting to look that way. After the French adoption of the HK416F as their standard issue weapon to replace the FAMAS, and a likely [Read More…]
Following close on the heels of our other articles about the development and use of the AKS74U “Krinkov”, we now bring to TFB an article specifically about the prototypes that were entered into the design competition, that would later turn into the [Read More…]
To most TFB readers, the terms “battle rifle” and “assault rifle” are probably familiar ones. A “battle rifle” is something chambered in 7.62mm, or maybe any full power rifle cartridge, which has a big 20 round box magazine and fires [Read More…]
(This Article first appeared in Small Arms Review in 2012) Miles Vining This is the first part of a two-part article on the new M27 automatic rifle, now in service with the United States Marine Corps. The first part will cover initial use and training while the second [Read More…]
The Marine Corps times have published the first photos of the M27 IAR in Afganistan. I like to give credit where credit is due: the Marine Corp Times was the first publication to originally state that the Marines were dropping the M249. The rest of us all dismissed the [Read More…]
Military.com reports that the Marines will be replacing the M249 SAW with the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle. Marine infantry squads will replace their M249 light machine gun with a highly accurate, auto rifle geared for fast-moving assaults. In late May, Gen. James Amos, [Read More…]
Nexus-7 at ARFCOM said … This M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle, along with 83 others, was delivered last Friday to Marine Corps Base Hawaii, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment armorers. Since then, M27 IAR gunners and armorers have received training on operating and [Read More…]
Military.com reports on the deployment of the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle. Program officials maintain that the increased accuracy will compensate for the M27′s slower, sustained rate of fire. Unlike the M249, the new IAR doesn’t have a spare barrel that can [Read More…]
You’ve all probably seen it leaked on social media by now but today is the day – Trijicon has officially announced the introduction of the new larger and updated RMR HD, and the new enclosed RMR footprint RCR or Ruggedized Close Reflex sight. I’ve had the [Read More…]
The United States Marine Corps made the decision back in early 2020 to equip its infantrymen with a universal weapon optic by adopting the Trijicon VCOG (Variable Combat Optical Gunsight) 1-8×28 riflescope as the Squad Common Optic (SCO). After an extensive [Read More…]
Newcomer gun accessory maker Partizan Solutions recently announced two new red dot mounts for ACOG scopes. The new ATLAS mounts are available in Acro or Delta Point Pro footprints. Trijicon @ TFB: Trijicon ACOG stops incoming fire and saves Marine’s life NEW Unity [Read More…]
Good afternoon everyone and welcome back to TFB’s Silencer Saturday (Sunday) brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the YHM R9 multi-host suppressor. Last week we got a look at the KAC QDSS and QDC mounting systems. This week we get on the range [Read More…]
The United States Marine Corps (USMC) has begun fielding a new standard magnified day optic for its small arms that will allow their infantry to engage adversaries at greater distances. Designated the Squad Common Optic (SCO), the new scope can be fitted to both the M4 [Read More…]
TFB has long followed the progress of the US Marine Corps effort to field suppressors across the board. At the end of December 2020, the Corps finally announced that they had begun the process of fielding thousands of rifle caliber suppressors to Marines for use with [Read More…]
The US Marine Corps is actioning their order for rifle caliber suppressors from Knight’s Armament Company. We first reported on the USMC’s suppressor Sole Source Notice which was published on the 9th of July. The execution of the contract award confirms the [Read More…]
If you have a taste and interest in weapons, this is where you’ll find some of the greatest photographers in the world on the subject. Let TFB’s Photo Of The Day be your daily guide. Today we’re looking at a LAW, or Light Anti-Tank Weapon, fired by a U.S. [Read More…]
The US Marine Corps Systems Command have announced their intention to procure more than 25,000 suppressors from Knight’s Armament Company via a Sole Source contract. The Sole Source notice was published on the 9th of July and confirms plans to procure 25,853, [Read More…]
The US Marine Corps has recently undergone a top down doctrinal reevaluation of its future role. As part of these changes in the make up of the Corps have been planned and now a brand new initiative has also been launched – Marine Corps Systems Command’s [Read More…]