XDA: Return of the Queen of Battle

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Return of the Queen of Battle

For years and years now I have been critical of the M16 and it's progeny, including the M4 carbine, because the intermediate rifle round it used (.223 or NATO 5.56 mm) just didn't knock the bad guys down. Seems like the Army is catching up to my way of thinking. The brass is finally looking for a better weapon with, finally, better ballistics (read--knock down power).

Yeah, Army! Here are some results of testing years ago.

In 2007, the M4 fared worse than three other weapons—the Heckler & Koch HK416, the FN Herstal Mk16 Special Operations Combat Assault Rifle and the Heckler & Koch XM8—in comparative reliability testing conducted by the Army.

Wait, all of those use the 5.56. Boo, Army!

But wait again, there's another solution.

In Afghanistan, the Army has introduced the M14 Enhanced Battle Rifle, an upgraded version of the M14 rifle, which is chambered for a full-power rifle round that has a longer effective range than the M4 or M16.

Now you're talking. The Mk 14 Mod O Enhanced Battle Rifle is the action of the old M14 (a rifle I consider to be near perfection) placed in a new stock. It fires the full sized rifle bullet (NATO .308 or 7.62 mm), is selectively semi or full auto, and can reach out and touch people the M4 could merely harass.

And we have plenty of old M14s moldering away in armories--all it would cost really is the new stocks. How much could they be?

This could be the new queen of the infantry. Yeah, Army!

UPDATE: Well, darn it, we don't actually have plenty of old M14s. Although over 1.3 million were made, we foolishly destroyed more than half and sent another 400,000 overseas. Perhaps we have 130,000 left. Still, that's plenty for two per combat squad. A full auto, large caliber sniper weapon good out to half a mile. Absolutely badass. Who says things can't get better?

Labels: Mk 14 Mod O Enhanced Battle Rifle