Info :
Type : Carbine, assault rifle
Place of origin : United States
In service : 1994–present
Manufacturer : Colt Defense, Bushmaster,U.S. Ordnance,Remington Arms Company,THOR Global Defense Group,SME Ordnance,FN Herstal,Sarsılmaz Arms
Produced : 1994–present
Variants : M4A1, CQBR (Mk. 18 Mod 0)
Weight : 6.36 lb (2.88 kg) empty , 7.5 lb (3.4 kg) with 30 rounds
Barrel length : 14.5 in (370 mm)
Cartridge : 5.56×45mm NATO
Action : Gas-operated, rotating bolt
Rate of fire : 700–950 round/min cyclic
Muzzle velocity : 2,900 ft/s (880 m/s)
Effective firing range : 500 m for a point target
Feed system : 30 round box magazine or other STANAG magazines.
The M4 carbine is a family of firearms that was derived from earlier carbine versions of the M16 rifle, which was in turn derived from the original AR-15 rifle that Eugene Stoner designed and ArmaLite manufactured. The M4 is a shorter and lighter variant of the M16A2 assault rifle. It is a gas-operated, magazine-fed, selective fire, shoulder-fired weapon with a telescoping stock and 14.5 in (370 mm) barrel to ease close quarters combat. Like the rest of the M16 family, it fires the .223 caliber, or 5.56 mm NATO round.
The M4 has selective fire options including semi-automatic and three-round burst (like the M16A2 and M16A4), while the M4A1 has the capability to fire fully automatic instead of three-round burst (like the M16A1 and M16A3). The carbine is also capable of mounting an M203 grenade launcher, a reduced barrel length version is made but almost all of the M203's are still the standard length. The distinctive step in the M4 barrel is for mounting the M203 with the standard hardware.
The M4 carbine is heavily used by the U.S military. It will eventually replace the M16 rifle for most combat units in the United States Army. The winner of the Individual Carbine competition had planned to supplement the M4 carbine in U.S. Army service however, the army cancelled the Individual Carbine competition without selecting a replacement rifle and instead plans to equip soldiers with the improved M4A1.
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| M4 Carbine with Grenade Launcher |
History :
Following the adoption of the M16 rifle, carbine variants were also adopted for close quarters operations. The CAR-15 family of weapons served through the Vietnam War. However, these carbines had design issues. They were primarily made for close ranges, like submachine guns, and so weapons like the XM177 "Commando" In 1988, Colt began work on an new carbine design called the XM4 based on their M16A2 rifle.
The barrel was given the improved 1:7 inch rifle twist of the M16A2 to use the heavier 62 grain M855 rounds. The extended barrel gave the XM4 the ability to mount a shortened M203 grenade launcher. In 1994, the U.S. military officially accepted the XM4 into service as the M4 Carbine to replace the M3 Grease Gun, as well as selected 9 mm M9 pistols and M16A2 rifles.
The United States Marine Corps has ordered its officers (up to the rank of lieutenant colonel) and Staff Non-commissioned officers to carry the M4 carbine instead of the M9 handgun. This is in keeping with the Marine Corps doctrine, "Every Marine a rifleman." The Marines however chose the full-sized M16A4 over the M4 as its standard infantry rifle. United States Navy corpsmen E5 and below will also be issued M4s instead of the M9. While ordinary riflemen in the Marine Corps are armed with M16A4s, M4s are fielded by troops in positions where a full-length rifle would be too bulky, including vehicle operators and fireteam and squad leaders. As of 2013, the U.S. Marine Corps has 80,000 M4 Carbines in their inventory.
The M4 carbine has replaced the submachine gun in military use due to increased use of body armor, as submachine guns fire pistol-power cartridges that are unable to penetrate modern body armor.
Improved M4 :
On 1 July 2009, the U.S. Army took complete ownership of the M4 design.This allowed companies other than Colt to compete with their own M4 designs. The Army planned on fielding the last of its M4 requirement in 2010. On 30 October 2009, Army weapons officials proposed a series of changes to the M4 to Congress. Requested changes included an electronic round counter that records the number of shots fired, a heavier barrel, and possibly replacing the direct impingement system with a gas piston system.
The benefits of this, however, have come under scrutiny from both the military and civilian firearms community. According to a PDF detailing the M4 Carbine improvement plans released by PEO Soldier, the direct impingement system would only be replaced after reviews were done comparing the direct impingement system to commercial gas piston operating system to find out and use the best available operating system in the U.S. Army's improved M4A1.
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| M4 Carbine Accessories |
In September 2010, the Army announced it would buy 12,000 M4A1s from Colt Firearms by the end of 2010, and would order 25,000 more M4A1s by early 2011. The Army announced also to have open competition for the newly designed M4 bolt carrier and gas piston operation system, which would be fitted to the newly bought M4A1 carbines. The service branch planned to buy 12,000 of these conversion kits in early 2011. In late 2011 the Army bought 65,000 more conversion kits. From there the Army had to decide if it would upgrade all of its M4s.
On 21 April 2012, the U.S. Army announced to begin purchasing over 120,000 M4A1 carbines to start reequipping front line units from the original M4 to the new M4A1 version. The first 24,000 were to be made by Remington Arms Company. Remington was to produce the M4A1s from mid-2013 to mid-2014. After completion of that contract, it was to be between Colt and Remington to produce over 100,000 more M4A1s for the U.S. Army. Because of efforts from Colt to sue the Army to force them not to use Remington to produce M4s, the Army reworked the original solicitation for new M4A1s to avoid legal issues from Colt. On 16 November 2012, Colt's protest of Remington receiving the M4A1 production contract was dismissed, which was thought to[according to whom?] likely result in the Army re-awarding the contract to Remington. Instead, the Army awarded the contract for 120,000 M4A1 carbines worth $77 million to FN Herstal on 22 February 2013. The order is expected to be completed by 2018.
Design :
The M4 and its variants fire 5.56×45mm NATO ammunition (and .223 Remington ammunition) and are gas-operated, magazine-fed, selective fire firearms with either a multi-position telescoping stock or a fixed A2 or LE tactical stock.
The M4 is a shorter and lighter variant of the M16A2 rifle, with 80% parts commonality. The 20% of the parts that are not interchangeable include the buffer spring and weight, barrel, and gas tube due to the shorter carbine length. Original M4 models had a flat-ended telescoping stock, but newer models are now equipped with a redesigned telescoping stock that is slightly larger with curvature at the end. The M4 is similar to much earlier compact M16 versions, such as the 1960s-era XM177 family. Some of those visual designs are obvious in both weapons.
As with many carbines, the M4 is handy and more convenient to carry than a full-length rifle. The price is slightly inferior ballistic performance compared to the full-size M16, with its 5.5" (14 cm) longer barrel. This becomes most apparent at ranges of 200 yards and beyond.
While the M4's maneuverability makes it a candidate for non-infantry troops (vehicle crews, clerks and staff officers), it also makes it ideal for close quarters battle (CQB). The M4, along with the M16A4, have mostly replaced the M16A2 in the Army and Marines. The U.S. Air Force, for example, has transitioned completely to the M4 for Security Forces squadrons, while other armed personnel retain the M16A2. The US Navy uses M4A1s for Special Operations and by vehicle crews.
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| Modified M4 Carbine |
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