10-09-2013, 04:44 PM
Quote:Well, it looked futuristic, was compact and lightweight, with light recoil making it relatively easy to control in auto fire - all things that the M14 was not.
However, I wonder if that testing included firing at longer ranges in cross-winds?
There was a lot of testing shooting at farther distances, where the 1/14" twist was found lacking in ability to stabilize projectiles, especially in cold weather, and the Air Force identified this pretty early. The funny thing is, the Whiz Kids piped in and said that Eugene Stoner's genius was responsible for the edge of stability design of the 1/14" rifling with 55gr FMJBT, and that anyone in the service trying to change it wasn't worthy of even worshiping in the shadow of his brilliance.
The only problem was, Stoner never specifically selected 1/14" rifling. 1/14" rifling was the common .222 Remington varmint twist for rifles chambered in that cartridge, and it carried over when they cut the .222 Remington chambers on the original prototype guns, as Colt just picked up the ball and ran with it on the Colt Model 601, which was a very good design actually.
The Air Force said the beyond 200yd accuracy of the AR15 was unacceptable to them, and the Alaska trials that the Army conducted also showed the same thing. You also had another series of trials in combat going on that ARPA sponsored, placing them in the hands of South Vietnamese units who were in-contact with VC infiltrators, and this is where the famous wound ballistics results were recorded, astonishing all who witnessed them. The case of the fleeing VC who was shot in the rear of his foot after watching his buddies' chests explode, spewing pink frothy blood from their mouths is of note. It split his leg open all the way up his calf and thigh, killing him.
The Whiz Kids incorrectly attributed the success of the SCHV concept to Stoner, even though Stoner didn't like the idea of a .224 caliber military rifle. He was a .30 cal kinda guy through-and-through, but the SCHV concept had been brewing with a small faction of Army Ordnance workers dating back to before The Great War, who were seen as theoretical, way outside the box thinkers with no real practical merit to their findings. After the AR10 was dropped from the Service Rifle trials, one of the Generals involved asked ArmaLite to make a rifle in the SCHV format, as well as Springfield Armory.
These rifles were evaluated for the SCHV concept, and the ArmaLite AR15 submission was better. ArmaLite's owners, Fairchild, began to see ArmaLite as a liability to the company after the AR10, but their brokerage and marketing firm for the AR10 felt the AR10 was a gem, and took them on a world tour of demos. They also set-up the deal with Colt for the licensing once Fairchild decided not to pursue it anymore.
pds Wrote:LRRPF52,
Have you seen this web site? http://www.thegunzone.com/556dw.html The blue panel on the right side of the screen provides links to read the complete history of the 5.56x45mm round. It is also a very interesting read.
pds
I'm very familiar with that site, and have referenced it over the years. That and The Black Rifle are great sources to peruse together. I've referenced the 5.56 Timeline many times in the Military Thread here.