#M4

Welcome to our Photo Of The Day! Today we’re offering images of U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to the 1st Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment as they train with their M17 handguns and M4 carbines. The location is the Grafenwoehr Training Area (2023), in Germany.

The original Bushmaster ORC (Optics Ready Carbine) was a simple, hard-use, flat-top AR that offered no real frills and could be had at a very low asking price leaving more room in your budget for optics and other accessories. Fast forward to today and the tastes and requirements that most people have these days when it comes to hard-use rifles have changed a bit, and that’s why Bushmaster has revamped the ORC with new features including modern handguards, as well as several different configurations that still keep the cost low, but improve key areas of the rifle that are often upgraded first.

It’s the  Photo Of The Day o’clock and above we see a Hulk-like Lance Cpl. Matthew J. Zawisky, a Marine with the Guard Company, Marine Barracks Washington as he posts security around a simulated landing zone during a casualty evacuation scenario at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., Nov. 2, 2022. The Marines engaged in basic fire-team maneuver tactics with the M16A4 and M4 weapon systems.

Mesa Tactical continues to expand its accessory options for shotguns, particularly for the Beretta 1301 and Benelli M2. New for 2023, the Truckee forend is now available for M2 and 1301 shooters.

This review started when I said mean things about Turkish shotguns online. My comments were generally targeting the gas-operated bullpup magazine-fed guns, but I have had a generally negative view of most Turkish shotguns. That opinion is based on a parade of Turk shotguns that have come through the shop where I work. As a category, they have more issues than shotguns of other origins. But they also have price points that tend to be much lower. I was soon contacted by a VP at Four Peaks Imports who threw down the gauntlet. He offered to send out a shotgun from their lineup because he thought shooting one would change my mind. I respect his approach of choosing a public hater as a potential reviewer, and letting the product speak for itself. I selected the Aksa S4, and in short order, it showed up at my FFL.

Today we have pictures from the Russian-Pakistani Friendship shooting competition from 2018. The results were a draw, but we’re left with images of interesting firearms.

Much digital ink has been spilled over the last several years regarding the US Army’s NGSW ( Next Generation Squad Weapons) Program. Most of the rifles/carbines and machine guns currently employed by America’s soldiers are not particularly modern, by any stretch. Today’s M4A1 has seen some notable updates and improvements, to be sure, but at its core it’s still based on the same M16 that first entered service in the Vietnam era, more than half a century ago. The 5.56×45mm NATO round it uses has come under fire from time to time, for being perhaps a bit too anemic for its purpose. This same cartridge is used by the belt-fed M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon), which was designed in the ’70s and has been in service since 1984. Though some update attempts have been explored since then, none came to fruition.

A recent bit of local Massachusetts news has revealed that the Cambridge, MA police department may be reducing its weapon inventory by up to 20% as well as making a few other changes to its equipment roster. According to news source Wicked Local, the push to reduce the weapons inventory of the Cambridge Police came about after the department released a full inventory of its stores that was open to the public. Aside from the move to reduce the guns of the department, there is some disagreement over the methodology by which the reduction will take place.

Diverse and dedicated, our Reserves are a valuable asset to our Defence Force. They’re well trained, highly skilled and ready to deploy when needed.

As India continues its unprecedented effort to modernise its Army’s small arms, fresh news of one of the early procurement efforts has emerged. Could a deal with Caracal for nearly 100,000 carbines be close to fruition?

“The M4A1 Carbine is a lightweight, 5.56 millimeter, magazine fed, gas operated, air cooled, shoulder fired weapon.” For many years, US Army Infantrymen have had this phrase, or a slight variation of it, drilled into their heads until they could recite it perfectly. The above version was the one I learned verbatim during my time training at Sand Hill on Fort Benning, and then serving as an 11C with the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum.

Soldiers with the Qwat al Khasah, the Special Forces of Iraq, were recently photographed unloading boxes of new M4 carbines at Camp Taji, March 25, 2020. The Qwat al Khasah, Iraqi Special Forces, are part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the fight against Daesh. They are a key part of the Inherent Resolve’s efforts to interrupt Desh operations in order to continue the further stabilization of Iraq.

With the recent release of the US Army’s FY2020 Budget Justification Books, we’ve seen some more exciting developments like procurement projection figures for the Next Generation Squad Weapon and the desire to replace the M2010 sniper rifle with the Precision Sniper Rifle. But the US Army’s ongoing M4 carbine modernisation program is just as important as these other programs, as it forms part of the Army’s ‘Army Modernization’ initiative which aims to ‘Build a More Lethal Force through enhancement of Joint Lethality’.

There have recently been some rumours that Colt is abandoning the civilian AR-15 market. The truth isn’t quite so simple. With national news outlets picking up the story, Colt have today released a statement emphasising their commitment to the Second Amendment and reassuring that they ‘highly value’ their civilian customers.

The Cove is an Australian Army blog that covers everything related to soldiering.  In a recent series of posts, author Solomon Birch took an in-depth look into the previously issued EF88 bullpup rifle.  Mr. Birch used the M4 rifle as a comparative baseline.