#Stoner

It’s a well-known fact that the AR is categorically superior to the AK and the Kalashnikov is suitable only for dirty commies and the poors. There are a lot of reasons for this fact, but today we are going to focus on reliability and the ballistic differences between common FMJ for AKs and ARs, after touching briefly on the ergonomic inferiority of the AK.

Last week we looked at the Stoner 86/ARES LMG-1 in depth while at the Institute of Military Technology in Florida. This week we are comparing the older design to the much more modern Knight’s Armament 5.56x45mm NATO Light Assualt Machine Gun (LAMG) that the company brought to SHOT Show last year and this year. In addition to the 5.56x45mm version, there is also a 7.62x51mm version as well. Hopefully we’ll be able to get an in-depth look at it in the future, but for the time being, we were only able to see the smaller caliber version.

The Stoner 86/ ARES LMG-1 unfortunately never received much fanfare in the time that it was produced. Originally intended as Eugene Stoner’s concept idea for the SAW trials in what would later become the FN Herstal M249, it never reached full production potential. Truly a shame considering the well thought out features of the weapon system. Essentially Stoner was really updating his Stoner 63 LMG from the Vietnam era, bringing it into the 1980s. Whereas the Stoner 63 was conceived as a modular small arm with the ability to be converted from rifle to carbine, or even to an LMG, the Stoner 86/ARES LMG-1 was produced with the sole intent of being a lightweight LMG that could either be belt fed or magazine fed.

The Armalite AR-10 is the original lightweight 7.62mm combat rifle – a space-age amalgam of aluminum, steel, and advanced plastics capable of a rate of fire of 800 rounds per minute and weighing just a hair over 7 pounds, unloaded. Its younger, 5.56mm caliber brother, the AR-15, is today perhaps the dominant rifle design in the West, but the .30 caliber AR-10 is the one the started it all, the progeny of Eugene Stoner’s brilliant design and Fairchild’s advanced manufacturing.

If you want a Mini-14 buy one.

Knight’s Armament Company has announced a new very light weight belt fed light machine gun – which they have appropriately termed the Stoner X-LMG (for “Extra Light Machine Gun). The new weapon is based on the previous Knight’s LMG, itself a development of the ARES, Inc (unrelated to ARES Defense, now called FightLite Industries) Stoner 86 LMG which itself descended from the famous Stoner 63 Light Machine Gun. Like those weapons, the new Stoner X-LMG is a 5.56mm caliber weapon, but unlike those it achieves a virtually unheard of light weight of just 8.6 pounds, unloaded. The release of the X-LMG was announced via IHS Jane’s, as well as – oddly enough – Turkish gear outlet Öztekin. From IHS Jane’s:

The traditional wisdom goes: Lightweight or “pencil” profile barrels can shoot great – just so long as you don’t get them hot. After a mag or two of heat is dumped into your lightweight build, your point of impact (POI) will probably shift by several minutes of angle. If you don’t like it, then you’d better go for a thicker profile or learn your holdovers, because that’s just a fact of life with pencil-thin tubes.

According to a report by Mönch Publishing Group, French Special Operations units and Danish Armed Forces are currently testing Knight’s Armament Corporation’s Stoner 5.56x45mm NATO LMG. Specifically the French Commandement des Forces Speciales Terre, and even more specifically the 1 Regiment de Parachutistes d’Infanterie de Marine will be conducting extensive tests of the XLMG to replace current FN Herstal M249 legacy systems in their inventories. There is little information dealing with what Danish unit will be conducting trials or is considering an LMG replacement.

Honestly, I’m a little tired of seeing the cult of the AR-15 preach its superiority as an “ergonomic” platform. While the AR-15 is an excellent weapon, and lord knows I own many of them, it’s not the superior choice for a weapon platform in a sea of continuously expanding alternatives. A weapon designed mid last century for right-handed operation only cannot hold a candle to other later generation platforms.

In January, just before the 2017 SHOT Show, I got the opportunity to travel to Cody Wyoming to visit the Cody Firearms Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, to see some of their rare firearms and bring photos of them to our readers.

In this 201-level post on the devices and mechanisms that automatic firearms use to do their work, we’ll be discussing a distinction between two very similar types of gas systems. These are what’s commonly known as the “Ljungmann-type” gas system (called so after a Swede, even though in reality a Frenchman invented it decades earlier) and “Stoner-type” gas system. Both are forms of what’s called “direct impingement”, a term which has two different meanings, one of which we’ll discuss today

As part of their recent set of mud testing, including some disappointing results from the fabled M1 Garand, and AK rifles, Ian and Karl of InRange have tested a weapon most people would expect to wither like a delicate flower at the first frost, in the presence of mud: The AR-15, designed by Jim Sullivan, and based on Eugene Stoner’s innovative, but maligned direct gas impingement operating system:

At this point, I’ve written relatively few articles about small arms design in general, due to my time going to a certain other writing project. However, small arms design and theory has always captivated me, since the beginning of my interest in firearms. Ian McCollum’s recent Forgotten Weapons video about the CMG-3 has really excited my interest, as the Colt machine gun design is a virtual incarnation of “best design practices”. The video, which includes disassembly and shooting segments, is embedded below:

The Stoner legacy goes beyond just the AR-15. Several firearms designed either by Stoner or based off his work continue to impress modern shooters at the range and in use. One very notable such weapon is the Stoner 63 LMG, the weapon Larry Vickers has taken to the range for the first time in the video embedded below:

Most military members take the arcane workings of their rifle for granted. Even an avid shooter myself, I was NEVER allowed to do maintenance on my M-16 fire control group while I was in the Corps. While some might argue this is a good thing considering that many members of the military are not interested in firearms, I firmly believe that everyone should know their weapon inside and out – especially if there is an issue.