Corps considering collapsible stock for M16A4 - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Corps considering collapsible stock for M16A4

The Corps is considering a collapsible butt stock for the M16A4, an attempt to make the rifle fit better with the body armor Marines wear in combat, officials said.

While the 5.56-mm rifle remains the Corps’ favored primary service weapon, its long, solid stock can impede a Marine’s ability to properly shoulder it while wearing items such as the Modular Tactical Vest, Marine Corps Systems Command officials said.

In an e-mail, an officer with the Marine Corps Infantry Weapons Program said the change, though not assured, has been considered for years. There is renewed interest because the weapon remains a workhorse in combat, and it has received a handful of upgrades, including new optics, illuminators and pointers, he said.

The Corps said in its advertisement to industry late last month that the new gear would replace the existing 11-inch stock, providing between four and six adjustable position stops. The weapon’s 20-inch barrel would be unaffected, but the collapsible stock would allow a Marine to decrease the rifle’s overall length as necessary and reduce its weight by less than a pound.

“The desired solution … should not degrade the reliability of the current M16A4,” the advertisement said.

The move would give the M16A4 a stock similar to that of the M4 carbine, used by the Army and by tens of thousands of Marines in jobs where a longer barrel can be too cumbersome. The M4 has a 14.5-inch barrel and a collapsible stock with four position stops.

A collapsible stock would give Marines a rifle similar to the Canadian military’s C7A2 rifle, an adaptation of the M16 that has an adjustable stock with four position stops. Made by Colt Canada, it is considered an upgrade over the C7A1, which has a solid stock.

The Corps has not determined when or where testing on the collapsible stock will occur — if it is pursued — but it is likely that developmental and environmental testing, and user evaluations, would take place in various locations. The Corps also is conducting studies to improve components of the M16A4, such as the weapon’s Picatinny rails, Marine officials said. They did not elaborate on the type of changes those studies could yield.

Under existing contracts, the Corps expects delivery of 126,000 M16A4s from FN Manufacturing by the end of fiscal 2013 and 82,000 M4s from Colt Defense by the end of 2011.