The National Interest – by Matthew Moss
The U.S. Marine Corps has picked the Heckler & Koch M27 as its new infantry rifle. Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert Neller confirmed the selection in an interview with Military.com.
[Heckler and Koch is a German defense manufacturing company]The new rifle is part of a wider overhaul of the Marines’ infantry gear. Jarheads are also getting new communications equipment, body armor, suppressors and night-vision optics.
The Corps began running unit-level trials with the M27 in late 2016. In February 2017, the branch released a Request for Information asking various manufacturers about their capacity to produce 11,000 M27s. In August 2017 the Corps announced its interest in buying more than 50,000 of the new weapons from Heckler & Koch as part of a sole-source deal.
A few Marines received M27s starting in 2011. The weapon has already seen action in Afghanistan.
While Neller admitted that the 17-inch M27 might not be ideal for mortar crews or Javelin missile operators, it could be issued to engineers and fire-support teams as well as to Marine infantry.
It’s unclear how fast the Corps will field the M27 or what the total cost might be. “Wait and see,” Neller said. “It’s not that much [money].”
“I could kit out every grunt in the Marine Corps with the coolest sh*t head-to-toe for $100 million,” Neller said. “And I intend to do that.”
The 5.56-millimeter M27 is based on Heckler & Koch’s HK416. It’s piston-driven and sports a free-floating barrel. Marines reportedly like the M27 for its reliability and accuracy. A marksman’s variant called the M38 boasts a Leupold TS-30A2 Mark 4 MR/T variable-power scope in place of the Marines’ standard ACOG sights.
An M27 reportedly costs around $3,000. “The price for that rifle is comparable to what we paid for the M4s the riflemen currently have,” Chief Warrant Officer 5 Christian P. Wade, 2nd Marine Division Gunner, told Military.com.
This first appeared in WarIsBoring here.
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-heckler-koch-m27-the-marines-new-rifle-24019
It’s unclear how fast the Corps will field the M27 or what the total cost might be. “Wait and see,” Neller said. “It’s not that much [money].”
I guess it’s not, when you’re spending someone else’s money, you welfare rat.
“I could kit out every grunt in the Marine Corps with the coolest sh*t head-to-toe for $100 million,” Neller said. “And I intend to do that.”
I bet you do and and I bet you will, oath-breaking bonehead. Ever hear of a gas-piston conversion? Not that you need it, because you shouldn’t be working for is-real-hell in the first place. Your lackeys also shouldn’t expect US to buy them a beer and thank them for their service to them after they get their shite blown off.
Well said.
This looks like a waste of money to me, but hey — that’s what “our” military is for, isn’t it? Wasting money. Of course they do that by waging wars of aggression overseas, as well as threatening our freedom as a domestic standing army of government-serving oath-breakers.
As for the H&K…well, I believe that H&K makes the best handguns on the planet, but I don’t think their rifles are anything special, and they seem overpriced.
Besides, the direct impingement gas system in the AR-15/M16/M4 works perfectly fine. Even when the action is filthy, these guns will still function great as long as they’re kept lubed. (Of course, this assumes the gun is made properly, i.e., by a company like Colt or Bravo Company, and not by a “hobby gun” maker.) ARs with 20″ barrels are especially reliable due to the longer gas system, though full-size rifles are a bit unwieldy in some situations.
If the Marines are paying $3000.00 for ARs, they are getting ripped off, no surprise there. I put together a BMC carbine, total was $1500.00 with optic.