Colt Automatic Rifle

Last updated
Colt Automatic Rifle
Danish LSV M04.jpg
Danish LSV (Light Support Weapon) M/04 with optical sight and 100-round Beta C-Mag
Type
Place of originUnited States
Service history
In service1994-present
Wars Iraq War
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
Operation Atalanta
Mali War
Military intervention against ISIL
Production history
Designed1982
VariantsSee text
Specifications
Mass5.78 kg (Unloaded)
Length1,000 mm (39.4 in)
Barrel  length20 in (510 mm)
Cartridge 5.56×45mm NATO
Action Gas-operated, rotating bolt
Rate of fire 600–750 round/min
Muzzle velocity
  • 991 m/s (3,251 ft/s; using the M193 round)
  • 945 m/s (3,100 ft/s; using the M855 round)
Effective firing range600 m
Feed systemVarious STANAG Magazines.
SightsAdjustable front and rear iron sight
optical sights

The Colt Automatic Rifle or Colt Light Machine Gun is a 5.56 mm NATO, open-bolt, full-automatic-only firearm developed by Colt Defense. It is based on the M16A2/A4, and has a distinctive squared-off handguard, vertical grip, carrying handle and integrated bipod. [1]

Contents

It is one of many squad automatic weapon-type firearms that have been developed from the Armalite AR-15 that use the Stoner bolt and carrier piston system. [2] The family name was derived from the original AR-15 by adding "Colt", resulting in the CAR-15, to stand for Colt Automatic Rifle, even though the "AR" in AR-15 stands for Armalite Rifle, the original manufacturer. [3] The CAR-15 weapons system consisted of the AR-15 and five variations, including the Colt Machine Gun and CAR-15 Heavy Assault Rifle. [4]

Overview

The Colt Automatic Rifle is the name of a current product, but Colt has developed a number of similar weapons since the company obtained the rights to produce the Armalite AR-15 family at the end of the 1950s. Originally known as the Colt M16 LMG or simply as the Colt LMG (Light Machine Gun), this weapon was developed as a joint venture by Colt and Diemaco, a Canadian firm licensed by Colt in 1982 to produce variants of the M16 family for the Canadian Armed Forces. In 2005, Diemaco was acquired by Colt's Manufacturing LLC and renamed Colt Canada.

The Colt/Diemaco weapon traces its lineage to a number of weapons developed both at Colt and by the U.S. military. These weapons were all designed to fill the role of the earlier Browning Automatic Rifle. The BAR was originally to have been replaced by the M15 Squad Automatic Weapon, but instead was ultimately replaced by the M16A1; one rifleman was supposed to use this weapon's fully automatic setting while the rest of the squad used semi-automatic. Throughout the period between the introduction of the M16 and the introduction of the M249 as a purpose-built squad automatic weapon at the end of the SAW trials, interim weapons were developed and tested in order to fill the gap.

Colt Model 606 CAR-15 Heavy Assault Rifle M1

Between 1964 and 1965, Colt began to expand the AR-15 beyond the realm of an infantry/assault rifle with the development of light machine gun weaponry. The result was the Model 606 series. [5]

Colt made two of the model 606, called A and B models. The A model “featured forward assist devices found on the Colt 603 rifles.” The B model had a “four-position selector with burst fire as an option.” The M1 model, designed for sustained automatic fire, carried a heavy profile barrel. Colt developed a 30-round magazine for the weapon, and a bipod was designed for added stability. [6]

The M2, designed with the same heavy barrel and bipod, also features a belt-fed drum mounted on top of the gun. [7]

In February 1965, Colt submitted the Model 606A for the Small Arms Weapons Systems Trials (SAWS trials), sponsored by the U.S. Army, and would be known by the experimental classification as the GX–5856/Heavy Assault Rifle M1. [8]

The 606 series was not successful as they were prone to rapid overheating, and the gas impingement system, together with the white nylon buffer, did not adapt effectively to sustained fire. [5]

BRL XM106

The U.S. Military followed the Small Arms Weapons Systems study with the Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) program starting in the late 1970s. One of the four main concepts coming out of this program was the XM106, developed by the U.S. Army’s Ballistic Research Laboratory (BRL) in January 1978. The design, an open-bolt, magazine-fed adaption of the M16A1, was developed under the guidance of Timothy Brosseau. [9]

BRL XM106 Rifle, 5.56mm XM106.png
BRL XM106

The BRL gun differed primarily in having permanently fixed handguards and a special quick-change barrel system. The handguards also had an M2 bipod originally for the M14 rifle and a vertical foregrip fashioned from an M16A1 pistol grip. Early XM106s also had the front sight moved forward along the barrel to create a longer sight radius for more accurate long range fire, but this was dropped from later versions. In the end the Army used the XM106 as a control variable during the competition and instead selected the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon.

The Colt M16 HBAR was also included in the Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) program, as requested by the U.S. Army’s Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff of Operations. The United States Marine Corps, in December 1977, had already invested funds for the development of a “sustained-fire capable version of the Colt M16 HBAR.” [10]

Colt/Diemaco LMG

The heavy barrel profile is seen with the handguards removed from the upper receiver of the C7 LSW De loopgroep en handbeschermers van de Diemaco C7 LSW (Light Support Weapon) van het Korps Mariniers (2009 D050713-X1016).jpg
The heavy barrel profile is seen with the handguards removed from the upper receiver of the C7 LSW
The return spring and hydraulic buffer assembly of the C7 LSW De trekkergroep en kolf, de sluitveer en de zuiger met -stang van de Diemaco C7 LSW (Light Support Weapon) van het Korps Mariniers.jpg
The return spring and hydraulic buffer assembly of the C7 LSW
Diemaco Light Support Weapon (LOAW) in Dutch service, 2004 Diemaco Light Support Weapon.png
Diemaco Light Support Weapon (LOAW) in Dutch service, 2004
Upgraded Light Support Weapon (LOAWNLD) in Dutch service, 2020 Korps Mariniers colt jungle training.jpg
Upgraded Light Support Weapon (LOAWNLD) in Dutch service, 2020

During the 1980s Colt decided to expand on the basic ideas that had been developed in the WAK and BRL guns. The weapon was essentially a modified M16A1 with a new square handguard to cover the enlarged straight gas tube and almost 1 inch thick heavy barrel to make the barrel less susceptible for overheating and hence increase the sustained or effective rate of fire capability, a carry handle on top of the handguard, with a hydraulic buffer assembly and the ability to fire from an open bolt. The chrome-lined barrel was permanently fixed to the receiver and could not be replaced in the field. An angled foregrip was added to the handguard to improve handling as an automatic rifle. Rear sights later featured on the M16A2 were also introduced, and the weapon could only fire in fully automatic firing mode. Unlike many M16 variants, it fired from an open bolt, necessitating the removal of the forward assist for operating safety. Colt initially packaged these weapons with the MWG 90-round "snail drum" (later replaced with the Beta Systems C-Mag). Colt had also originally used the M60 machine gun bipod, but switched this to a proprietary design that was lighter for the subsequent Model 750.

The Colt Model 750 was an improvement of the basic principle of the Colt LMG, developed jointly by Colt and Diemaco with an eye to Canadian Army sales. The improved version featured all A2 parts and is essentially the same as the preceding variant externally except for the redesigned vertical foregrip, now of a ribbed straight cylindrical style. This weapon was marketed by Diemaco as the C7 Light Support Weapon (LSW) or simply as the LSW. [11] The Netherlands Marine Corps designate it as "LOAW" (licht ondersteunend automatisch wapen/light supporting automatic weapon) and the Danish military as "LSV M/04". The LSWs used by the Netherlands Marine Corps and the Danish military like many M16 variants fire from a closed bolt and feature semi-automatic and fully automatic firing modes and a forward assist. [12] With its 5.42 kg (14.5 lbs) the C7 LSW is relatively light and as it uses 5.56×45mm NATO ammunition fed from STANAG magazines, like assault rifles and carbines that are fed in the same way, ammunition is easy to redistribute between riflemen if the operator runs out of ammunition. The lack of belt feed and quick barrel change options limits the C7 LSW and similar magazine fed light support weapon's rapid rates of fire.

Colt and Diemaco further improved on the design, adding a flat top carry handle and a further improved bipod to the weapon in the 1990s. Colt refers to it as the Model 950, but markets it as the Colt Automatic Rifle, and until their purchase by Colt, as the Diemaco LSW. Because of the Colt-Diemaco partnership on this system, it was the only weapon in the Diemaco product line to feature M16A2-type range and windage adjustable rear sights, and when modified a detachable carry handle with M16A2 fully adjustable rear sights (the majority of Diemaco's product line had modified M16A1-type rear sights, and they actually developed a detachable carry handle with modified A1 rear sights). A maple leaf is stamped on the lower receiver of current Colt Automatic Rifles. [13]

From 2009 onwards many of the Dutch LOAW purchased in 1994 have had an overhaul: the black furniture has now been replaced by dark earth furniture. New parts include a new retracting stock, ambidextrous controls, an Integrated Upper Receiver (IUR) with a free-floating barrel and RIS rails for mounting Laser Light Modules and other accessories. The ELCAN 3.4×28 optical sight has also disappeared in favour of the Swedish made Aimpoint CompM4 red dot sight and, if desired, an accompanying Aimpoint magnifier. The polymer STANAG compliant magazines became not exclusively black in color as translucent smoke colored Lancer L5AWM 30-round magazines (NSN: 1005-01-657-7839L5) were also introduced along the black Thermold magazines. [14] This upgraded version is now known as "LOAWNLD". [15]

Users

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "The Colt LMG – Small Arms Defense Journal".
  2. ↑ Kevin Dockery, Kevin. Future Weapons (Penguin, 2007 ), pp. 60 and 61.
  3. ↑ Dockery, p.60.
  4. ↑ Dockery, pp. 60 and 61
  5. 1 2 Hamilton, Michelle (2021-08-20). "Early SAW: Colt's AR-15 Heavy Assault Rifle M1". Firearms News. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  6. ↑ "Colt and its Infantry Automatic Rifle concept". Sandboxx. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  7. ↑ "Colt and its Infantry Automatic Rifle concept". Sandboxx. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  8. ↑ Hamilton, Michelle (2021-08-20). "Early SAW: Colt's AR-15 Heavy Assault Rifle M1". Firearms News. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  9. ↑ "National Infantry Association honors Army researcher". www.army.mil. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
  10. ↑ "Historical Firearms - Prototypes: XM106 Light Machine Gun Following..." www.historicalfirearms.info. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
  11. ↑ "Maintenance Instructions: C7 family of combat weapons". Archived from the original on 2011-07-08.
  12. ↑ "The COLT LMG, Christopher R. Bartocci, 19 August, 2011". Archived from the original on 2021-12-30. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  13. ↑ "Colt Automatic Rifle". Colt Defense LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-11-04. Retrieved 2008-11-09.
  14. ↑ Feeding the Black Rifle: A Close Look at Current Magazines
  15. ↑ "The Netherlands Forces - C7NLD, C8NLD, LOAWNLD Upgraded from C7, C7A1, C8, C8A1, LOAW". Archived from the original on 20 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. ↑ "wiw_sa_brazil - worldinventory". 2016-06-02. Archived from the original on 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
  17. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120214173747/http://www.mindef.gov.bn/new_home/news2007/1-6%20Sign%20Contract%20MINDEF.htm. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2022.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. 1 2 Miller, David (2001). The Illustrated Directory of 20th Century Guns. Salamander Books Ltd. ISBN   1-84065-245-4.
  19. ↑ Let Støttevåben LSV M/04 Danish National Museum
  20. ↑ "Colt C7/C8NLD 5.56mm". Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  21. ↑ Bartocci, Christopher R. (2004). Black Rifle II The M16 into the 21st Century. Collector Grade Publications Incorporated. ISBN   0-88935-348-4.
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