1911 & M1 Carbine: Going strong?

[jmoore]

I was talking to a guy at the Benning AMTU armory. He said that the main problem with the M855/SS109 is the short barrel. He said it works well (yawing and fragmenting) out of the 20 inch barrel. Out of the 14.5 M4 barrel, the velocity is insufficient past 75-80 yards to reliably yaw OR break up and fragment. The 5.56mm Open Tip, 77 grain MK262 Mod1 (from Black Hills) that they developed for the SAW works very well out to 150-200 yards even from the M4. It is an easy fix, but he says the brass is fighting it.

Which fix is easier, reissuing the 30 Carbine cartridge or making the Mk262 Mod 1 the standard? Which would we rather see?

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[imarangemaster]

Which fix is easier, reissuing the 30 Carbine cartridge or making the Mk262 Mod 1 the standard? Which would we rather see?

For a full power rifle or even M4, as much as I love the .30 carbine, the MK262 Mod1 77 grain OTBT 5,56mm is far more versatile. Out of a 20" it is extremely disruptive at 300 yards and more. Even out of a 14.5 inch M4, it zaps at 150 to 175+ yards, yaws and breaks up.

A nice little M1 carbine with an M1A1 or modern folding stock would still be a good PDW, though. The M4s, especially with all the tacticool stuff start weighing 8 lbs and are more cumbersome.