Next up for the Big Freakin’ Cartridge Test is Federal’s T556TNB1 load, which is the civilian market name for the Mk.318 SOST projectile developed by US SOCOM as a “barrier blind” round for the M4 Carbine and Mk. 18 CQB upper [Read More…]
Next up for the Big Freakin’ Cartridge Test is Federal’s T556TNB1 load, which is the civilian market name for the Mk.318 SOST projectile developed by US SOCOM as a “barrier blind” round for the M4 Carbine and Mk. 18 CQB upper [Read More…]
The United States Marine Corps has finally officially announced its adoption of the 5.56mm M855A1 EPR round, developed in the late 2000s by the US Army, marking an important step towards ammunition commonality between the two services. Until now, the USMC has officially [Read More…]
After being cancelled in mid-2016, could the M4 Carbine upgrade program still be alive? That is the suggestion from a line in the US Army’s justification for its research budget in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, which references an “M4A2 Plus [Read More…]
With the termination of the Interim Combat Service Rifle, the CSASS program on hold, and the XM25 CDTE dead and buried, many are wondering: When will the Army get its act together on small arms? Given the long history of Army program failures, though, maybe a better [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…]
The issue of ammunition standardization between the United States Army and the Marine Corps has come to a head: Congress has delivered an ultimatum in the final version of the FY 2017 National Defense Appropriations Act for the two services to kiss and make up. [Read More…]
A while back, I received an email asking for my input on the M855A1 issue. It was from Will, a reader of mine who was working on an article trying to cut through a lot of the myths (on both sides) about the round. I assisted him as best I could, and now the product [Read More…]
The United States House of Representatives has ordered trials to be conducted to determine the right ammunition for both the US Army and Marine Corps, following on the recent controversy that each service was using its own unique round. Army Times reports: The Army and [Read More…]
Over at WeaponsMan, Hognose broaches the subject of “OTMs” and “JHPs” and that they are not the same thing. He writes: Okay, this is a post about ammunition, and especially, military ammunition, but it also has applicability to police and [Read More…]
The Army and Marine Corps’ ongoing schism over standard issue 5.56mm ammunition came to a head during a recent House Armed Services Committee meeting. The USMC, which still uses the 1970s-era M855 round, supplemented by their Mk. 318 SOST ammunition, were a [Read More…]
In response to the ongoing dustup over M855 ammunition, Ian and Karl of InRange TV have done a short video explaining some basics about the round, and its capabilities. As host website Full30 does not allow videos to be embedded on other websites, readers will have to [Read More…]
SADJ has posted an excellent interview with Donald Roebling Award winner Sal Fanelli, a supervising engineer for Infantry Weapons Systems at MCSC. Fanelli commented on the creation of Mk. 318, its modification into the Mk. 318 Mod. 1 “Silver Bullet”, and [Read More…]
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