Army Launches Competition for More Powerful Combat Rifle

[JJ_BPK]

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant View Post
Actually two rifles would be a great compromise. We have a jungle uniform, a winter uniform, desert etc.

Why on earth don't we have a short range, med range and long range rifle?

And making one that does all three, that's called a failure.

Strongly agree..

Up thru Nam, infantry had choices:

Infantry rifles

• Vietnamese Rangers with M16 rifles in Saigon during the Tết Offensive
• L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle – Used by Australian and New Zealand soldiers in Vietnam
• AR-10 – Limited uses
• A U.S. soldier with an M14 watches as supplies are dropped in Vietnam, 1967.
• M1 Garand – Used by the South Vietnamese, South Koreans and Laotians. Limited numbers were carried by early US advisors and USMC troops.
• M1, M1A1, & M2 Carbine – Used by the South Vietnamese Military, Police and Security Forces, US Military, and Laotians supplied by the United States
• M1903A3 Springfield – Limited numbers were used by the South Vietnamese and USMC.
• M14 rifle Issued to most US troops from the early stages of the war until 1967-68, when it was replaced by the M16.[7]
• M16, XM16E1, and M16A1 – M16 was issued in 1963, but due to reliability issues, it was replaced by the M16A1 in 1967 which added the forward assist and chrome-lined barrel to the rifle for increased reliability.[8]
• CAR-15 – Carbine variant of the M16 produced in very limited numbers, fielded by special operations early on. Later supplemented by the improved XM177.
• XM177 (Colt Commando) – Further development of the CAR-15, used heavily by MACV-SOG, the US Air Force, and US Army.[6]
• Stoner 63 – used by U.S. Navy SEALs and USMC.[6]
• Heckler & Koch G3 – Used by Thai forces.
• Heckler & Koch HK33 – Used by Thai forces that were not armed by the United States. It was chambered for the same cartridge as the M16 assault rifle used by American troops.
• T223 – which is a copy of the Heckler & Koch HK33 Assault Rifle under license by Harrington & Richardson used in small numbers by Navy SEAL teams. Even though the empty H&R T223 was 0.9 pounds (0.41 kg) heavier than an empty M16A1, the weapon had a forty-round magazine available for it and this made it attractive to the SEALS.[6]
• Winchester Model 70 – Used by the USMC.
• MAS-36 – Captured models were used in limited numbers.
• MAS-49 – Captured models were used in limited numbers.

Sniper/marksman rifles

• M1C/D Garand – Limited numbers were used by the South Vietnamese.
• M1903A4 Springfield – Used by the USMC throughout the war, replaced by the M40.
• M21 Sniper Weapon System – Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR) used by the US Army.
• M40 – Bolt-action sniper rifle meant to replace the M1903 Springfield rifle; used by the U.S. Marines.

Submachine guns

• Thompson submachine gun – Used often by South Vietnamese troops, and in small quantities by U.S. artillery and helicopter units.
• M3 Grease gun – Standard U.S. Military submachine-gun, also used by the South Vietnamese[6]
• Ingram MAC-10 – Used by U.S. special operations forces.[6]
• Swedish K – Used by Navy SEALs in the beginning of the war, but later replaced by the Smith & Wesson M76 in the late 1960s. Significant numbers were also utilized by the South Vietnamese,[6] and limited numbers were used in Laos by advisors, and Laotian fighters.
• Smith & Wesson M76 – Copy of the Swedish K, replacing it in 1967.[6]
• Madsen M-50 – Large numbers utilized by South Vietnamese and U.S. forces, supplied from Denmark.[6]
• Owen Gun – Standard Australian submachine-gun in the early stages of the war, later replaced by the F1.
• F1 submachine gun – Replaced the Owen Gun in Australian service.
• Sterling submachine gun – Used by Australian SASR and other special operations units.
• Sten submachine gun – Used by U.S. special operations forces, often with a suppressor mounted.
• Uzi – Used by special operations forces, supplied from Israel.
• Beretta M12 – Limited numbers were used by US embassy security units.[9]
• MAT-49 submachine gun – Captured models were used in limited numbers [6]
• M50/55 Reising – Limited numbers were used by MACV-SOG and other irregular forces.[6]
• United Defense M42 – Used by the South Vietnamese.
• MAS-38 – Captured models were used in limited numbers.
• A180 – Used by the South Vietnamese Forces.
• Vigneron M2 - Used by the South Korea Army.

Shotguns

• Ithaca 37 - The shotguns were used as an individual weapon during jungle patrol; infantry units were authorized a shotgun by TO & E (Table of Organization & Equipment). Shotguns were not general issue to all infantrymen, but were select issue, such as one per squad, etc.
• Winchester Model 1912 – Pump-action shotgun was used by the Marines during the early stages of the war
• Ithaca 37 – Pump-action shotgun Used by NAVY SEALs and ANZAC.[6]
• Remington 7188 – Experimental select fire shotgun, withdrawn due to lack of reliability[6]
• Remington Model 870 – Pump-action shotgun primary shotgun used by Marines and ANZAC after 1966[6]
• Special Operations Weapon a modification for a Remington 1100 which made it fully automatic
• Remington 11-48 – Semi-automatic shotgun used by the Marines in small quantities
• Winchester Model 1897 – Used by the Marines during the early stages of the war, but was later replaced by the Remington Model 870
• Winchester Model 1200 – Pump-action shotgun used by the U.S. Army
• Stevens Model 520-30 and Model 620[10]
• Stevens Model 77E – Pump-action shotgun used by Army and Marine forces in Southeast Asia. Almost 70,000 Model 77Es were procured by the military for use in SE Asia during the 1960s
• Browning Auto-5 - Remington M11 Semi-automatic shotgun used by the South Vietnamese Forces
• Winchester Model 21 - Used by the South Vietnamese Forces
• Remington 31 - Used by the South Vietnamese Forces

Machine guns

• Stoner M63a Commando & Mark 23 Mod.0 – Used by U.S. Navy SEALs and tested by Force Recon.[6]
• M60 machine gun – GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun) Standard General Purpose Machine Gun for the U.S., Australian, New Zealand, and South Vietnamese forces.[6]
• M1918A2 – Issued to troops during the early stages of the war by the United States. But many were airdropped into Laos and used by Laotian fighters. Also used by South Vietnamese.
• M1917 Browning machine gun – .30cal heavy machine gun issued to some machine gunners in the South Vietnamese Army and also in limited use by the U.S. Army.
• M1919 Browning machine gun – Vehicle and helicopter mounted machine gun. Also fitted to Australian M113 Light Reconnaissance Vehicles.[6] Meanwhile, still of use by many South Vietnamese and Laotion infantry forces.
• Heckler & Koch HK21 – Used by Thai forces.
• Colt CMG-2 – Experimental light machine gun deployed by SEAL Team 2 in 1970.[6]
• Browning M2HB .50cal Heavy Machine Gun [6]
• M1941 Johnson machine gun – Used by South Vietnamese Forces.
• FM-24/29 – Captured models were used in limited numbers.
• Madsen machine gun - Used by the South Korea Forces.
• Chauchat - Used by the CIDG.

Plus miscellaneous pick-ups..

Granted, some were incremental improvements, as we learned..

But we had the ability to field a verity of weapons as the needs of the business.