Army nearly replaced the M16 with the pulse rifle from ‘Demolition Man’

[Wathen1955]

Decades before the U.S. military transitioned away from the M16 assault rifle in favor of the lightweight M4 carbine, the Army eyed an unusual-looking replacement for the Vietnam-era rifle: the boxy Heckler & Koch G11, the very same weapon that would appear years later as a futuristic energy rifle in the batshit crazy 1993 sci-fi action comedy Demolition Man.

Well, not the exact same weapon. The H&K G11, in development by NATO partners since the late 1960s, was one of four submissions tested in the late ‘80s by U.S. officials as part of the Advanced Combat Rifle (ACR) program that sought a rifle with a superior hit probability to the M16 of “spray and pray” fame.

The sleek gas-operated G11 was particularly noteworthy for chambering 4.72x33mm caseless ammunition and a bullpup design intended to eliminate the ejection cycle. A 1990 Army video on the ACR program claimed the rifle could fire in burst at an eye-popping rate of 2,100 rounds per minute (with a full-auto option at 400 rounds per minute).

https://taskandpurpose.com/entertain...demolition-man

[Anjdog2003]

I was an Expert shooter with the M-16 at one time. Now i'am into hugs and making friends.

[DAB]

Man: constantly inventing new ways to kill other people.

[Anjdog2003]

Originally Posted by DAB

Man: constantly inventing new ways to kill other people.

We don't need new ways. Just pull the trigger like they've been doing for over 200 years.

[69camfrk]

Originally Posted by DAB

Man: constantly inventing new ways to kill other people.

And a cure for cancer is out of the question....

[Bill]

I've been saving up for a phased plasma rifle, in the 40 watt range.

[JRD77VET]

US use a military rifle that wasn't designed by US engineers?

When they were getting away from the M1 garand, they allowed the M14 to be modified so it could beat the FAL


https://www.quora.com/Why-did-the-US...-rifle?share=1

Originally Posted by Kevin Oliver

Not Invented Here.

During the initial testing in 1952–3 the two rifles proved to have roughly equal in performance with the T48 (FAL) having greater dust resistance and being easier to field strip. It appeared likely that the T48 would be selected as NATO standard.

Before the Arctic firing test in the winter of 1953, Springfield Armoury was allowed to prepare and modify their T44 test rifles, using the armoury’s cold chamber, and customise the magazines and other parts to optimise them for extreme cold. No such modifications were made to the T48 and it proved to be less reliable than the T44 under Arctic conditions. The US insisted that the T48 could not be adopted until it matched the T44s cold weather performance.

A second series of Arctic tests was arranged for the following winter. During the intervening year the T44 received new lighter receivers, optimised for the shorter 7.62mm round, and the design was simplified to use fewer parts making field stripping easier. During the second series of Artic tests the T48 was not significantly inferior than the T44.

In the end the US Army chose the T44 as the M14 because it was lighter than the T48, which still had wooden furniture. They also continued to argue that the M14 would be cheaper because it could be made using existing M1 tooling, even though the modified receiver and simplified mechanism made that impossible.

TLR The Yanks cheated, or at least moved they the goal posts until they got the results they wanted.

[JetMechZ16]

Originally Posted by Wathen1955

https://taskandpurpose.com/entertain...demolition-man

looks a little like my Hebrew Hammer

G11


TS12 aka "Hebrew Hammer"