HISTORY OF THE M4 - PART 2

[@mrivantchernegovski3869]

Even the Tsliban love their new decked out M4s and as fast as they could they dumped the worlds most reliable 40 yr old worn out AK for the out standing M4 with Trijcon and pecs and new mags and shiny ammo by the ton

[@planetcaravan2925]

Ammo is gone soon, but maybe they look good on tiktok or insta

[@sr25jd]

Thanks to JoeBiden/KamalaHarris

[@kirkmagill7313]

@@sr25jd it would have been much different under a trump administration

[@nickloven6728]

​@@kirkmagill7313lol, trump almost back handed General Milley when he suggested we leave the shit behind.

[@kirkmagill7313]

I was hoping to get more replying to my comment but the exact same thing would have happened no matter who was in office ​@@nickloven6728

[@geodkyt]

One of my favorite "Gotcha!" takes used tonoush thr HK416 was a Ranger company commander who thought he had the kill shot to prove the M4 sucks in his story about how, stepping off the CH-47 into a firefight and the M4 malfunctioned and wouldn't fire the *first* round. Uh, Captain? That's proof of a *user* failure in maintenance. *You* failed to properly clean, maintain, and function check your rifle in the FOB before you headed out for a mission.

[@armorer94]

It's a sad artist who blames his paintbrush for his mistakes.

[@BradleyHoff-ck5kw]

I’m really glad someone is actually talking about what’s really going on with these weapons and not just showing a torture test. It’s what I’ve kept my eye out for for a long time. It sounds weird I know but I’ve always had an obsession with firearms of all kinds. But the m16 stole my heart as a child and never let go. I know it’s just a rifle but it’s so much more to me. Iconic. Something about it. The way it looks the small 5.56 there is something incredible and special about the m16 family of weapons that’s very dear to my heart. I know I’m weird. I don’t care.

[@Covert_Arrangements]

You are not weird. Sometimes I’ll bring my m16a1 to the toilet to look at her whilst taking a dump. 😎👍🏼

[@kennethhamby9811]

As American as the Winchester 1873.

[@Phantom8589]

Crazy history, We had FN's and SOPMOD M4A1's, a couple GUA5's and a couple XM177's in our armory's. As far I can remember all our guys wanted Colts. We gave the rest to support or left them home station side. I really like using the Eotech with magnifier and the Elcan Spectre DR those are what I used in Iraq and Afghanistan. This would have been 2008-2017. Never had a single issues in any fire fight with my Colt I would take that all day everyday. M855A1 ammo was a game changer in Afghanistan with the longer ranges.

[@Mrgunsngear]

Great info as always!

[@Duma86]

This channel deserves way more subs. The gentlemen here has a great knowledge about ARs weapon systems. Thank you so much for your time and lessons. Much respect from Croatia

[@totalnewb123]

Chris you’re the definition of “Killing Them Softly”. Your demeanor is very polite but harsh at the same time. SOCOM is trembling right now. 🤣😎👍💯🇺🇸

[@MrSpook-ri8kv]

Carried a Colt M4A1 for almost two years in combat, as long as you maintained it with proper parts I trusted my life to it. Was doing contract work, and I ran a heavy 11.5” barreled Bushmaster upper on it for all my training sessions, and a lot of the time when driving or carrying a belt fed, I would run my good low round count 11.5”.

[@BT1776]

You could have gone on for hours and I would still be listening to what you have to say. It sounds like the military need to get its act together when purchasing spare parts and truly sad how things are run.

[@ourvaluesarewhoweareinadem4093]

To paraphrase Slavoi Zizek, "you don't hate the M4, you hate the Army/DoD bureaucracy."

[@jhalscott]

These two M4 history videos are perhaps the greatest ones you have ever done. Glad you got the audio levels up on this one too. Thanks!

[@j.mangum7652]

As you said the AR platform has been with us for awhile, almost sixty five years since the AR-10 and is going to be with us a even longer. I know AR stands for Armalite Rifle but for as long as we've already have had it it should now be called America's Rifle. The M1 Garand has earned that title but the AR-15 so much more so.

[@SmallArmsSolutions]

I can not argue with your logic!

[@boxedowl]

If an M16 or M4 with new magazines (PMAG or otherwise) and SOST ammo jammed in Sangin, Afghanistan in 2011 it's because the marine didn't clean their rifle. I watched them half-ass clean their weapons, then bitch when it jammed, sometimes days later. Properly lubricated (like any 2-stroke internal combustion engine should be), loaded with decent ammo (the equivalent of quality fuel), and fed from a decent magazine (your fuel pump) it tends to run without issue. Only times I saw jams were with old, abused magazines, and firing blanks during field ops... oh... and when someone else didn't clean their weapon... then they had issues. Awesome video as usual!

[@PARR53]

A couple months before my unit deployed to Afghanistan in April of 2013 we turned in all of our M4 carbines and got back M4A1 carbines. The M4s were a good weapon but the A1s were definitely better. I remember they has Ambi safeties and a thicker barrel. I shot a lot of rounds through it on both semi and full auto many times as well as qualified expert with it. It was a fine weapon. I never heard a single complaint amongst anyone I knew or didn’t know within the 506th.

[@whisper8742]

No matter what else anyone says to you, Chris, you're doing a fantastic service for weapons enthusiasts and prospective soldiers. Thank you, sir. Carry on~

[@snunez1911]

Currently on deployment with the Air Force, all magazine in the armory were replaced with Black Gen 3 window p mags with m855a1 and tracers

[@mabs9503]

Having any weird problems with the feed lips? I've had bad luck with Gen 3s so far.

[@snunez1911]

@@mabs9503 Air force deployment....we never shot the weapons. Just loaded them and issued them out

[@mabs9503]

@@snunez1911 Oof!

[@DanK1977]

Because airmen don’t know how to load their own mags.

[@samb7652]

@@DanK1977 lol, nasty but lol. Was teaching an AF vet once...had never fired any wpn in training or deployment. But luv AF all the same.

[@nathanhardin8530]

Great video. Another point I have to point out is price. Look at the price of H&K rifles and the Fn Scar 16s. For those prices, I would have to imagine some sort of improvement over a mil-spec M4. But looking at this with what I believe as a non biased perspective, nothing to date have shown any real improvement to the M4 that could not be overcome by improvements to the M4. I find myself watching videos on this channel over and over and getting more and more info every time. Thanks Chris for your service and your expertise has influence me in purchases and broadened my knowledge of small arms.

[@sgtjarhead99]

Fascinating stuff. The A2 was still the standard when I got out in ‘93 so I never saw all this evolution with this rifle.

[@toki89666]

I have to stop watching this channel. He is making me want to start a military clone collection of all the different AR-15 pattern variants. My fiancé is going to kill me.

[@vaclav_fejt]

Well, get him into shooting as well. :-D

[@tteot1wph]

I’m in the exact same boat

[@toki89666]

Update: she left me in October.

[@vaclav_fejt]

@@toki89666 F

[@aholegunner]

@@toki89666 Sorry to hear that

[@worddunlap]

I was issued the M16-A1 and I loved it. Just a few years back I purchased a Sig M400 M-forgery with MOE furniture. In basic training I was asked to shoot the targets for the guy next to me so he could pass. I did and we both passed. No doubt I was proficient and knew how to use the rifle on an extraordinary level. When I purchased the M-forgery I was a bit upset that I could not get something closer to my A2. It was during the Obama regime and rifles were hard to come by so I took what I could get at a fair price. The M-forgery is a great rifle and it does not disappoint. I had been concerned about the range with the shorter barrel and it was just as accurate. It has been reliable although both were very reliable, no problems ever. I did change the BCG to an enhanced one. The brass deflector did confuse me a bit. I think I liked the version without it better. I never recall using the FW assist. You are the greatest source of info for this series of rifles and a national treasure just like the rifle.

[@MrTangolizard]

worddunlap I remember in the British army on a Friday having to shoot the guy next me targets so he could pass and we didn’t need to stay late for retests lol I’m glad to see it goes on over the pond as well

[@elifoust7664]

So the guy you shot for went on to drive for the General?

[@worddunlap]

@@elifoust7664 He got caught sleeping on guard and stealing candy from the PX. He became a civilian before his second paycheck.

[@worddunlap]

@@MrTangolizard Someone shot for my father and lots of people took other's swim tests. During the Korean war my one eyed uncle had someone take his eye test....

[@MAXMAN357]

I love it when people know there stuff! There was no way that we accounted for how many rounds were fired by a weapon when they were constantly reassigning them to new soldiers at the unit level. It could have been done, but that is something I never tracked, maybe my armorer did.

[@samb7652]

Wow wow wow, such a huge body of knowledge and experience. Rock on dude!

[@Elong_Musket]

Sat through this while cleaning my 14.5 block II """cLoNe""" and man does it make me love this weapon even more. I remember back in 2017 at the end of the duty day when we had all our shit done waiting to be dismissed we got told to empty the arms room of our M4s and transport them in their cages onto the LMTV. We had no idea why, and rumor was our Squadron Commander(Cav) forgot that this was to be done today, so word came last minute to all the Troop Commanders. A week later I think it was, and we got them back with heavy barrels, "burst" etched out and "auto" stamped over it, ambi safety and A1 hastily etched next to M4. Never got the chance to shoot it full auto though while in Active Duty, but just a cool little memory I have even though at the time it sucked ass carrying cages full of rifles to be transported.

[@Steve_643]

I love that the AR-15 has been a work in progress for close to 60 years!!!!! I’m surprised KAC SR-16 has never been in the running or used for SOCOM considering it’s reputation and it was Stoner’s final upgrades to the AR!!!!

[@SmallArmsSolutions]

KAC is not the holy grail for M16/M4. Their expertise has been AR10-type rifles

[@AbhishekSingh-pp1ks]

@@SmallArmsSolutions What do you consider the holy grail?

[@Planked]

This channel is seriously underrated

[@Britishshooter]

This guy is awesome. The main point you take away from this video is the sad fact of life that whilst there are highly knowledgable individuals involved in military weapons development, ultimately the important decisions are made by people who either just do not fully understand the important criteria, or have some political agenda to satisfy (the second aspect being the more prevalent BTW). However, it was ever thus in the Military Establishments of most countries including my own (Britain) so it is not just an American problem. If only Mr SA Solutions here could be consulted at political level.

[@Thunderbolt22A10]

I fail to see an issue with gun youtubers talking about gun rights lmao, it's directly correlated to what they're doing

[@stevecochran2677]

Always appreciate and respect your honest opinion on these rifles. I hope us civilians will only have to use our rifles for our hobby and self entertainment, but its good to know these facts that you supply us in case these rifles are needed for more serious business.

[@incognito_1111]

Interesting item, bought a new Colt 6920HBPW and the rifle came with an FN barrel assembly (has the FN cage code on the barrel). The flash hider is 2 inches and pinned nicely (clean and blended) to the 14.5 inch M4A1 profile barrel. The flash hider is different than the one Colt was using on the Government roll marked lowers. The upper is marked M4 and has Colt's cage code.

[@isaactrujillo76]

Audio is a millionaire times better in this one. You’re awesome man.

[@davidschaadt3460]

Truly wonderful programs.Thank you Chris and Mrs SAS.

[@draganbalzic4493]

This is a most invaluable channel.

[@mikemc330]

Amazing how much info this gentleman dishes out!

[@robh2907]

I have the Colt with Sir system, old school, love it. Also have the 14.5 Colt 1 piece upper, shoots 1" moa at 100yrds.

[@everythingphil9376]

Yay! I've been waiting for you to reupload this.

[@locksmithdb5987]

I absolutely love the history on all of this!

[@MrJfortheElohim]

Well detailed information. Straightforward no chasers.

[@JasonBoyer-x3f]

In hindsight, ive suspected the same thing regarding what the man is saying as per QC/supply/performance of these small arms. Let's find solutions people.

[@davidchristner7291]

I was Issued a M16A1 in Basic training, The same on my First posting at FT Bragg, then a M16A1 w/ M203 in Germany, then in 1992 posted at Ft Bragg again now issues a M16A2 20" , all of them Colt's, in 1994 the switch was made in The 82nd ABN to the M4 carbine 14.7" I can attest this thing out of the box on no zero 300m hits right out of the box. It was a 40/40 hits. I love the M4.

[@sh33pshot84]

Best comprehensive video of this platform I've seen. I look forward to ordering some books soon, thanks!

[@Godzilla691138MW3]

I love these videos, they give so much information. I could watch these for hours.

[@janetcameron4652]

Thanks. Now to watch more to soak up this outrageous amount of great info.

[@robertdonnell8114]

The AR-15 and I go back a long time, an M-16A1 was issued to me in Basic in 1979. I do remember that they checked the headspace before firing on the range. Yeah....Thank you so much for this information, it explains so much of the conflicting stories. Oh, the stories are all true but the important information is left out due to well... How does the poor infantryman know how old his weapon is, how many rounds went through it and what kind of ammo he is using?

[@ericjohnson2024]

It is supposed to go through Annual Services every year and be TPIed before deployments.

[@stevelemmen7048]

Yes, I've watched your videos. I'm surprised about all the under currents surrounding this gun.

[@ZerokillerOppel1]

2 Government officials disliked...

[@samb7652]

I understand that you are a m16 guy... But...if you think you are running out of content...I would benefit for any knowledge of the Ar10/lr308 platform.

[@modap3000]

I have relatives (in the Army) who were part of the 2003 invasion of Iraq who said that the M4 carbines were malfunctioning a lot during firefights. I cannot speak to the conditions the weapons were subject to, but did not speak highly of them during that time (2003).

[@SmallArmsSolutions]

Barrels were to light, overheat in heavy firing schedule. It was not designed for that. The adoption of the SOCOM barrel corrected that

[@DB-yj3qc]

Don't forget that many of the M4's of 2002-3 time had been in service for 3-5 years already (at least) just a thought. I know one of the units that was a big part of the initial push in Iraq had M4 since before 1998 and still using the same ones.

[@davebee1128]

Fantastic. It's a technical seminar and history lesson rolled into one. Thank you sir.

[@Oldtimerider]

Not sure how I found this channel, but really glad I did.

[@RobinP556]

Good information! I spent a large portion of my career as a Special Forces operator, but I was retired medically in 1993 following a HALO parachute accident, so by the time that 9/11 rolled around most of the guys that I knew from the ODAs had retired or been promoted and were at an age that they were off of the Teams. But what you said about SOCOM and the M4A1 is the exact same thing that I had heard. Thanks for putting out factual information

[@ronniesmith9568]

Hey Robin, I always enjoy your input on the TR live streams.

[@RobinP556]

@@ronniesmith9568 Thanks, that means a lot. I’m always kindly hesitant to respond on TR’s livestream when someone has a question. In my opinion they’re most likely wanting Karl’s opinion on something and he knows a lot more than I do, especially anything post 9/11. I’ve discovered that not only do I like retro rifles and information, but I’ve reached a point where I’m kindly retro myself. Lol

[@ronniesmith9568]

@@RobinP556 look forward to seeing you there.

[@JRH6271]

I read some bits from Tactical Small Arms of the 21st Century by Charles Cutshaw (written about 2005ish) where he mentions that the M4 has been ruled inferior and was likely to be replaced by the XM8 because of obvious and known deficiencies only found in full-auto fire. Are the "issues in design" he mentions the same thing you are talking about with the SOCOM M4 issues that the Army wasn't experiencing? The idea that the M4 is an inferior platform, but we still keep using it seems off to me. If anything, shouldn't we have basically mastered the design by now since we still allow it to be our workhorse?

[@SmallArmsSolutions]

Cutshaw was a jack ass. Bought and paid for. Gary Paul Johnston is the guy you listen to in those periodicals. He knows his stuff and is in biased.

[@Shadee226]

Always appreciate the knowledge brother.

[@gimiked8685]

M4 did me just fine while in Afghanistan. Great little rifle.

[@nickma71]

I have a request. I sifted through your extensive list of videos. Maybe you can cover Gary Gordon’s carbine. There are some good videos with candid people and they say at times “we think”, because there isn’t official documentation or even good pictures. I’m not going to put a clone together. I’m just in awe of the story of both of them. In one video, they think he cut his barrel down. A delta thing if I ever heard one.

[@comfycouchreviews]

carried both fn and colt m4a1s for the last 7 years Zero problems both suppressed and unsuppressed, incredibly accurate also. Cant say the same for the m27/m38 variants

[@hectorvazquez4528]

Outstanding! Purchased the book! Thank you!

[@btedd]

Great information! And now for the 6.8..

[@ryanburbridge]

Looking for the video on the Ammo you were talking about destroying all the test rounds

[@ttjjyy]

great info. very informative and interesting.

[@mochikun3038]

Also i one hundred % agree with the rifles not cycling properly, (speaking for the AF) not a single m16 i was ever issued ever cycled properly. It actually made me think it was caused by it being DI, totally false. They ( the AF back shop etc etc) just isnt taking care of them.

[@SmallArmsSolutions]

Thystaff Thywill actually no, the forward assist was created to fill a psychological need the army had to have a external link to the bolt carrier. It was not needed and not advisable by Stoner?

[@mochikun3038]

I'm just saying that the firearms I was issued were threat deterrers at best, they needed actual tear downs or whatever, and weren't receiving it. All the money the AF has from planned they could have spent 20 buck for a gas tube. (I'm guessing that was the problem)

[@JonathanFergusonRoyalArmouries]

Any weight to the argument that the FA allows for quietly closing the bolt in sneaky-beaky type operations?

[@G5Hohn]

There’s a word for “test data” like that: an anecdote.

[@ilikedirtx22]

Good Lord you have so much knowledge. I really enjoy these history videos.

[@locksmithdb5987]

I love it how you (someone who really knows what they are talking about) love Sig Sauer.

[@pjansen2010]

Another great vid, thanks for the information.

[@johnnypop5235]

Fully agree with your assessment of the rifle.

[@DanielPierce-qj2ub]

TY Master Excellent as usual

[@mihaeltomasovic]

Larry Vickers certainly knows what he is talking about and the H&K 416 is a fabulous weapon!

[@MS-gr2nv]

He certainly loves his AKs and pistons lol

[@COLT6940]

because he was working with HK, oh course he lied about m4a1 and praise hk416. Turn out HK416 is over-gas, part wear, no interchange milspec parts and overpriced. No wonder special forces in the west are replacing HK416 with Sig MCX.

[@COLT6940]

@@MS-gr2nv he was saleman/hk propagandist.

[@jamescarter4175]

Very interesting. Thanks. Enjoyed it.

[@im413]

Awesome and very informative video. Please do one on the Glock series of pistols

[@SmallArmsSolutions]

Already did!

[@billbynon9839]

Priceless information. Thank you Sir

[@duswil3934]

Approximately how many consecutive rounds would it take to reach 1400 or 1500 degrees?

[@calebsone1630]

So I was watching your FN collector video and you said your stampings were different than mine. I have the same as your picture of the real US stamped FN just mine doesn't say US property. I think they changed the roll marks since when your rifle was made.

[@deanschneider8775]

I have a bit of a segue question. Could an M4 feed from a mag where the top round in the mag is centred in the mag? Like a single column? Or would that require a mod? TY.

[@SomeGuy1234X]

What are the primary differences between the M16A4 and M4A1? Like durability, accuracy, usage. I'm up in the air about getting an M&P 15 or shelling out the extra $ for a FN Military collector rifle as a first AR.

[@SmallArmsSolutions]

someguy1234 A4 gives you a little more accuracy and range beyond 400 meters. Same money as M&P, buy a LE6920. Still more mil spec than the FN

[@jmc7y804]

Get an LMT, LMTs out of your budget get a Colt. If you buy a BCM or DD or some other painted Colt...put it in your mouth...

[@FXIIBeaver]

@@jmc7y804 shut up.

[@jmc7y804]

FXIIBeaver you buy the guns Instagram tells you to. Nice job POG.

[@MS-gr2nv]

@@jmc7y804 lol...the old POG!

[@JamesHavens-sk2uw]

Thank you thank you, great info🇺🇸

[@chrispetersen4863]

Excellent video! Thank you!

[@PeterNissen878112]

But I've watched iraqveteran8888 do a mega mag dump with the AR platform and in his video's, it's the gas tube that fails before the barrel. In his words - the gas tube acts as a safety valve designed to blow before the barrel. So why were Socom's rifles blowing before the gas tube?????

[@ventroid4473]

Batou good point. I didn’t think about that video

[@mihaeltomasovic]

I think because the problem was with the barrels and the fact being that they were simply victim of bad QC unlike what this nice gentleman says. I served in the US Army from '04-'09 and I had several failures with first the M16A2 and then with the M4A1 before I got out. I knew how to clean the weapons perfectly well and I was actually put on the M249 prior to my first deployment and later was put on the M240B. In my unit (I was mainly with 2/3 ACR in all my deployments except the final one) we had _many_ type 3 malfunctions - that is, failures to extract that basically ended with impacted brass smashed in the chamber that required a cleaning rod to punch out and get the weapon working again. These malfunctions occurred in combat situations on deployment mostly because you are knocking your weapon around, shooting at odd angles sometimes off-hand, and you really clean as well as you can but some engagements would last nearly 30-45 minutes (rarely, but it did happen and there were several cases in which the engagements were longer than that). I think there is much room for improvement, particularly with extraction and with the bolt itself...

[@SmallArmsSolutions]

The full length rifle, the gas tube will fail before the rifle’s barrel. Not the Carbine, if the Carbine gas tube fails before the barrel it is not a properly made mil-spec gas tube.

[@Ilovebanjos]

SmallArmsSolutions Can you explain why that is? Why the carbine length gas tube outlast the barrel and vise versa?

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

@@Ilovebanjos if I had to take a guess, the mil-spec tube is perhaps the same thickness between rifle and carbine, but the rifle barrel has more mass and more surface area to shed heat so the rifle gas tube gets more heat trapped in that part and eventually fails. With the original M4 Carbine barrels, the fact that they are shorter probably creates an issue where the gas tube was not "weakened" in proportion to the new properties of the barrel and thus the barrel fails first.

[@frankgon4]

My very used M16A1 that was issued to me in the 80's would constantly have problems in the sand. Many Going into battery issues. I can see sand tests failing depending on rifles chosen.

[@davidbanner1652]

Amazing content!!

[@bpintogsxr1000]

Thanks for the info! 👍🏻

[@austingriff5905]

Can you link references to units saying the hk416 isn’t acceptable for use? I’m just curious would like to read more about it. But I agree with your determination, overall, a well built well maintained m4 pattern rifle is still a quality weapon for war and there isn’t anything that’s significantly better

[@Angl0sax0nknight]

What’s your opinion on the 5.56 vs 6.8spc as a primary cartridge for the military? I like the 5.56 for medium to long range it’s extremely accurate. But I’ve been turned on to the 6.8 for CQC with a short barrel.

[@BaconSlayer69]

5.56 is a medium range round not long

[@davidberkey1041]

What if any did the new m855a1 round have to do with this problem?

[@wfrentzel7503]

Thanks!

[@justinmartinez680]

So chris what is your favorite combat rifle? The ar 15/m16/m4 or The scar etc what's your favorite? As in what do you thinks the best weapon all around

[@echofoxtrotwhiskey1595]

justin M Watch the video again

[@jungleno.]

Too bad a link to History of the M4-part 1 was not in the description.

[@FirstmaninRome]

which AR should I buy , for my first ar? There is no way I'd spend the money on a colt, haven't seen his other videos and there price mark up, but I"d go springfield saint money maybe, but will probably go Palmetto state , I am basically an ak guy, but I have this vietnam Itch , the Troy xm177 is reallly sexy

[@Corrado4me7]

Nice, thanks!

[@joshboy1st]

great series of videos Chris, wish there was a school here in the uk, i use to work for manroy but it didn't work out to well for me ):, love your channel, regards josh

[@WWIIman1942]

I've got a question. Did all M4A1s feature the ambidextrous components and the upgraded platform? Or was it only the PIP M4 to M4A1 conversion carbines that featured them? Also, when exactly was the M4A1 adopted? Sorry, I don't recall hearing any of this. But this is still a great, highly informational series. Great job!

[@SmallArmsSolutions]

WWIIman1942 it was the PIP. Original M4A1 carbine were just full Auto M4’s. Later they would add the Socom heavy barrel and Ambi features.

[@WWIIman1942]

@@SmallArmsSolutions Thanks for the info!

[@GWMJRSmith]

Just because the bolt is in the carrier and acts somewhat like a car piston doesn’t make it an internal piston system. If you blow air into a straw and blow off the paper from the outside. That’s called gas impingement.

[@GWMJRSmith]

Kinda like how the gas tube sits inside the gas key and directs gas into the “internal piston” not a piston inside a cylinder. Dude it’s called direct gas impingement. The bolt and carrier are not an internal piston.

[@SmallArmsSolutions]

It is an internal piston, inside the carrier.

[@GWMJRSmith]

I respect you and your opinion and know you’re a professional. Though, the idea of the bolt being a piston because it is forced by gas by the rings to force the bolt open from the carrier. Can be considered a piston operation… maybe.

[@GWMJRSmith]

I apologize for multiple replies. The definition of the word piston essentially explains out how an ar bolt works. I get it. It’s the gas though that is impinging into that system to drive it. It’s not linkage like a shirt or long gas stroke piston system. It’s diff nomenclature.

[@kristroseth37]

Chris could you please explain what Socom is, is it an acronym what purpose do they serve what's it about?

[@richardcranium2581]

Special operations command something lol, It’s a special military group.

[@rifleandcarbine7656]

Is there any reason to believe the M16 (A4 or a future A5) could possibly go back into general issue, or is the M4 too useful for that role?

[@geodkyt]

There isn't any advantage to the 20" M16 barrel with current ammo that is optimized for shorter barrels, and effectively everyone is using optics (so no advantage to a longer barrel for more sight radius) Back when the standard round was still the original 1980's SS109/M855 (or the earlier M193 from Vietnam), there was a strong case to be made that the 20" barrel was useful. Because that's the barrel length *those* rounds were optimized for.

[@fclentuber]

Chris, If you were to buy a comercial colt rifle today, would you get a 6920, 6940 or other?

[@fmt5327]

I remember reading about the dust test in AR15 Magazine.... never had any issues with the M4 other than I much prefer a 13” rail..

[@williamhedrick7983]

What is your opinion of the newer FN-15 LE carbines?.. They seem to have a government profile barrel that is button broached and the FA BCG. The price at around 850.00 seems too good BUT are they to the same specs as a 6920 or is it a commercial gun all together?

[@sku32956]

That was informative .

[@mrfawkes9110]

I don't buy that SOCOM was rupturing barrels due to heat on the M4, mostly because it ignores a major design feature of the AR-15. The gas tube wall thickness and materials were chosen specifically to prevent this possibility. The gas tube fails far before the barrel gets even close to the temperature required to remove the temper from the barrel. I don't doubt they were bursting barrels, but I reject the reason given.

[@SmallArmsSolutions]

You are mistaken. The 20-in barrel, the gas tube was designed to rupture before the barrel blew. That is correct. But it appears there is a diffrent between the point of failure between 1./12 and 1/7 twist barrels. The 1/7 tend to fail sooner due to increased heat from the faster twist. That is not the case of the carbine. The carbines, the barrels on Mil-Spec rifles normally fail before the gas tubes tube. This is just physics dude. I have witnessed several M4 destruction tests. The SOCOM barrels will normally out last the gas tube due to the increase in heat due to an additional 500 rounds fired over the govt profile barrel. The Govt profile barrel fails around 450 degree compared to a SOCOM barrel lasting 900 degrees. The barrels hit transformation and rupture around 1600 degrees F.

[@nathanielradtke7590]

I thought the hottest part of the barrel was 6-8"s in front of the chamber ot something? Did those barrels blow near the gas block because it was thinner there?

[@ShotGunner5609]

The barrel is thicker near and around the chamber. The spot rear of the fsb us near the pressure peak area and is thinner than closer to the chamber.

[@ShotGunner5609]

So more likena combination of 2 reasons not just that.

[@bigred06100]

Great insight

[@diezelvh4133]

Scar = reciprocating bolt = 👎. M4 = 🤘