WTF: XM8 Light Assault Rifle. Who designed it, Cardassians?

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Batman
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Post by Batman »

Hobot wrote:
Death from the Sea wrote:Now this is interesting... and kinda scary, I am not sure I would want to shoot ammo with a plastic casing to it.
XM-8 specs wrote:It will fire all standard 5.56mm NATO ammunition, and, to further decrease the load on the future infantrymen, a new type of 5.56mm ammunition is now being developed. This new ammunition will have composite cases, with brass bases and polymer walls, which will reduce weight of the complete ammunition, while maintaining compatibility with all 5.56mm NATO weapons.
Why not?
There's several potential problems with 'plastic' cartridge casings:
-casings melting
Cartdridge casings heat up, and signifcantly so. That's quite intentional because when the used cartridge is ejected, the heat leaves the gun with it, decreasing the danger of a cookoff and reducing wear on the gun.
A plastic cartridge might potentially melt, causing quite a mess.
-casings breaking on ejection
Depending on the rifle, case ejection can be quite violent. A plastic case could potentially get damaged in the process due to lower durability, leaving parts of it in the chamber or ejection port and causing a jam or worse.

...Okay, that's only two but I can't think of any more ATM.
I'm sure some HAB representative will be along shortly to tell you how wrong I am and what's really the problem (if any) with plastic cartridge cases.
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Post by Sea Skimmer »

Batman wrote:
...Okay, that's only two but I can't think of any more ATM.
I'm sure some HAB representative will be along shortly to tell you how wrong I am and what's really the problem (if any) with plastic cartridge cases.
No you're quite right. Aluminum cartridge cases where rejected for automatic weapons for the same reasons. Though since the gun can fire NATO standard 5.56 if the plastic cases fail there won't be a major problem.
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Post by Iceberg »

Looks like they chose a color that would blend with the landscape in the largest number of possible environments.
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Post by Companion Cube »

Iceberg wrote:Looks like they chose a color that would blend with the landscape in the largest number of possible environments.
A nice, sandy brown... :wink:



Actually, I don't see the issue everyone has with the thing's appearance. I think it looks good, and even if it doesn't, that's secondary to the functionality anyway.
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Post by The Silence and I »

Phaser rifles!!!!

Seriously, it looks cool enough, and the built in sight should nicley prevent the need for the non-existant iron sights (heh, I just realized this is kinda funny--plastic gun, no iron sights...oh well :) ).
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Post by Bill Door »

Maybe the trouble with the looks is due to the XM-8 looking alot like a supersoaker...

And just how much better is this supposed to be than the current M-16 models anyway? If anything, the weapon looks more limited in terms of what can be placed on it.
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Post by Einhander Sn0m4n »

The Silence and I wrote:Phaser rifles!!!!

Seriously, it looks cool enough, and the built in sight should nicley prevent the need for the non-existant iron sights (heh, I just realized this is kinda funny--plastic gun, no iron sights...oh well :) ).
That's what I was screaming about in the OP. It has no iron sights (like lotsa guns in Trek) it's plastic (like EVERYTHING in Trek), and it doesn't look modular (like everything but the cargo containers in Trek). Worst of all, it fires VARMINT RIFLE AMMO that needs illegal modifications to the bullets in order to get acceptable effectiveness against a human-size target...
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Post by Lord Pounder »

Because of the supersoaker look to it i assume that i would break quite easily under the strains of battle.
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Post by Hotfoot »

Einhander Sn0m4n wrote:
That's what I was screaming about in the OP. It has no iron sights (like lotsa guns in Trek)
The iron sights are replaced with the reflex laser sight for close ranges, I'm guessing. The IR laser sight can be used during night ops with nightvision gear to avoid giving up the element of surprise. Any ranges at which the laser sight would not be useful, the optical sight can be used instead. Also, it would appear that there is a backup hard sight, it's just not made of iron. ;)
it's plastic (like EVERYTHING in Trek),
Well, most of the exterior is plastic, but that's not a bad thing.
and it doesn't look modular (like everything but the cargo containers in Trek).
Sorry, I'm afraid you're wrong there. It's hard to see given the size of the images, but if you blow them up enough you can see just where the breaks in the plastic are where it can be disassembled. The things you can do with it are more clearly shown here (PDF Document)
Worst of all, it fires VARMINT RIFLE AMMO that needs illegal modifications to the bullets in order to get acceptable effectiveness against a human-size target...
It uses 5.56, the same as you'll find used in the G36, M4, M16, etc. I doubt we'll see a design using 7.62, and the 6.8 is a long way from being accepted.
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Post by Vympel »

The gun would look much better if it was

a- black
b- didn't have that super lame XM8 marketing logo on the side.

The barrel is two inches shorter (12.5'') than that of the M4 (14.5''). This is a *bad thing*.
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