Carbine Vs Heckler Essay

763 Words2 Pages

Colt M4 Carbine vs Heckler & Koch HK416 The Colt M4 carbine assault rifle is designed to be a lightweight, short barreled rifle from the M16 family. The M4 has been around for decades and the Army does not see any issue with this weapon system even though the HK416 assault rifle out performs the M4 when put to the test. The HK416 extensive testing begun due to the issues brought about during sustained combat operations and multiple failed field tests with the issued M4. The HK416 has been proven to be more suitable for today’s combat environments. The HK416 is more suitable for today’s Army because it requires less maintenance, less malfunctions during sustained fire fights (gun battles) and has been combat proven by units of the highest caliber. Jay Lefts explains that “The Heckler & Koch HK416 uses a different type of piston action as a remedy to the inherent fouling issue that the M4 Carbine carries with it’s direct impingement system” (Lefts). You may be wondering what a “fouling” issue is. The fouling issue that is being addressed by Lefts is the reoccurring …show more content…

The M4 has been known to receive several different malfunctions during firefights (gun battles), such as failure to extract (the round casing is not ejected after firing), failure to feed (rounds not properly feeding into chamber) and simply double feeds (when two rounds feed into the chamber at the same time). “The principle discriminator of the 416 is the use of a piston-driven action that reduces stoppages through eliminating much of the carbon build-up. Currently only JSOC, the Asymmetric Warfare Group (AWG) and unidentified OGA elements are carrying the HK416 in Afghanistan” (Neville 49). Elements and Units of the highest caliber carrying the HK416 only shows how reliable the HK416 actually is during combat

More about Carbine Vs Heckler Essay

Open Document