8 things you’ll love about the XM8
Issue Date: March 08, 2004
1 killer weapon
8 things you’ll love about the XM8
By John G. Roos
Special to the Times
LAS VEGAS — About a year from now, the M8 — the U.S. Army’s likely new 5.56mm assault weapon — should begin showing up in armories.
That’s not official — the weapon is still the experimental XM8; there’s testing yet to be done, contracts to be signed. But if any casino in this gambling mecca would take my bet that this is the American soldier’s (and, perhaps, the Marine’s) next rifle, I’d put some serious cash on the line.
I was among the first shooting enthusiasts anywhere to put the XM8 to the test. That’s thanks to good fortune — and my job as an editor at Army Times Publishing Co. and organizer of the annual “Shoot-out at Blackwater” weapons-testing event in North Carolina.
I really like this weapon — and soldiers do, too — but it looks as though it’ll be years before it makes its way to Marines.
The XM8 already underwent arctic testing with the Army in February and is now in the hands of troops in Alaska. Jungle testing in the tropics (probably in Panama) is slated for June. The weapon will be put through a final workout in the desert — probably Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona — immediately after that.
The Infantry Center, at Fort Benning, Ga., is in the early stages of an eight-week assessment of the XM8 to see how the first prototypes of the weapon meet the small-arms needs of the Army.
In addition to soldiers, the weapons have been put into the hands of a 10-man Marine team. But the Marines are just looking, according to the latest word from officials at Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va.
Last week, the Marines from Quantico arrived at Benning to spend the week observing the Army trials.
The Air Force and Coast Guard also are expected to evaluate the weapon later.
The Marine observers — armorers, weapons maintainers and trigger pullers among them — are assigned to the Weapons Training Battalion at Quantico.
When Marine Corps Times first heard the Marines had landed at Benning, it looked as though XM8s might soon be making their way to the Corps. But that’s not so, Systems Command officials said.
“I would say the thing that we are most interested in is the ‘tailorability’ of the entire system. ... That’s probably … what I’m the most interested in,” said Lt. Col. Brent Smith, director of infantry weapons programs at Systems Command.
“If you look at our system right now, we’ve got a lot of different weapons made by a lot of different individuals, and they’re all great weapons, don’t get me wrong, but the idea of having a single ‘tailorable’ platform looks like — in the long run — it may save money and be more effective,” he said.
But, “since we’re buying M16A4s out through 2008, the M16A4 will be the service rifle for a good long time to come.” he explained.
So far, all testing of the XM8 has been open to the press. But the senior leadership at Benning decided to deny access to reporters to ensure an unbiased assessment environment, free from outside distractions, said Rich McDowell, a Benning spokesman.
The Army remains mum about how tests are going, but program officials with manufacturer Heckler & Koch Defense Inc., prime contractor for the weapon, are confident the XM8s will measure up to the challenges of the environmental testing.
They’re so confident that they invited hundreds of journalists writing for defense, firearms and related publications to put three XM8 variants to the test during the annual SHOT Show here.
On Feb. 11, about 120 firearms specialists gathered at the Las Vegas Police Department firing range to try out the new weapons.
I was privileged to be the first journalist to fire the baseline carbine model of the XM8. I don’t say that lightly. Two colleagues and I tried to find things that weren’t quite right with the weapon’s design and functioning, but failed on both accounts.
Here are eight cool things shooters will like about the XM8:
1. It’s light. The baseline carbine model currently weighs in at 6.25 pounds (the objective weight is 5.7 pounds), including an integrated sight with infrared laser and illuminator, red-dot reflex sight and integrated mount. By comparison, an M4 carbine with rail attachment, backup sights, M68 Close Combat Optic and standard laser/illuminator systems tips the scales at 8.85 pounds.
2. It comes with a cutting-edge sighting system. The XM8’s battery-powered sight houses a red-dot close-combat optic that incorporates an infrared laser aimer and illuminator. The shooter controls the sight’s functions through a wireless switch that can be mounted anywhere on the weapon. The sight combines all the capabilities of the separate close-combat optic, AN/PEQ-2 laser and AN/PAQ-4 designator systems normally mounted on the M4.
3. It’s easy to zero. The sight has a backup etched reticle and comes factory-zeroed. It retains its zero position through a positive-locking mounting setup.
4. It has no rails. Designers fashioned integral, flush-mounting, metal-lined attachment points on the XM8’s handguard and receiver. Standard 1913 adapters can be mounted on the attachment points so operators can continue to use lights, lasers and other items already in the inventory.
5. It needs little maintenance. The XM8 can fire more than 15,000 rounds without need for lubrication or cleaning, even under the most extreme operating conditions, H&K officials say.
6. It’s easy to clean. Unlike the M16/M4 series, the XM8’s gas system doesn’t blow gases and their carbon-fouling elements into the receiver during firing. Instead, about 90 percent of the gases created during firing are vented through a gas port under the front of the barrel; the other 10 percent are used to cycle the weapon. This new design reduces average cleaning time to four minutes, compared with the 14-minute average cleaning time for an M4.
7. It’s tough. Between shooters, H&K officials alternated sticking the carbine in a drum of water and burying it in sand. Despite that treatment and the thousands of rounds put through the weapons at the range, there wasn’t a single misfire or stoppage. The weapon’s cold hammer-forged barrel has a service life of 20,000 rounds and has blow-out vents to direct energy and gases from a catastrophic chamber failure forward and away from the shooter.
8. It’s ambidextrous. Lefties will find a southpaw-friendly, centrally located charging handle that doubles as a forward assist slide, an ambidextrous magazine release, bolt catch, safety/selector lever and release lever for the multiposition, collapsible butt stock. All shooters will be able to keep their firing hand on the pistol grip while loading, unloading or charging the weapon.
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