U.S. Air Force's Newest Rifle!

[Moped]

The U.S. Air Force is issuing a new "Survival" rifle for it's pilots.  It's a modified M4 with a 12" barrel and fits in the ejection seat of a plane, along with 4 30 round mags.  You can read the article here.  The military has followed the Civilian model this time.  This is basically a AR pistol with a shoulder stock, not a brace. Smart!!! You can read the article here.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/usaf-created-mini-rifle-fits-232300799.html

[Defender]

16 minutes ago, Moped said:

The U.S. Air Force is issuing a new "Survival" rifle for it's pilots.  It's a modified M4 with a 12" barrel and fits in the ejection seat of a plane, along with 4 30 round mags.  You can read the article here.  The military has followed the Civilian model this time.  This is basically a AR pistol with a shoulder stock, not a brace. Smart!!! You can read the article here.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/usaf-created-mini-rifle-fits-232300799.html

I saw that earlier this morning.  Looks cool and would make an awesome truck gun, lol.  Speaking of which, I wish I could come up with an affordable, unobtrusive method of securing a small ar in my SUV, without making it uber obvious or uber expensive, lol.  Ive got a small lockbox, secured by a steel cable that i use in emergencies for my pistol, but it wont really fit anywhere up front, at least accessibly, so its secured in the back storage area.

[Moped]

I guess this is actually an SBR. 

[MP5_Rizzo]

Make your own take down AR.

https://www.leotakedown.com/

[Ronald_55]

My question is how much money did they spend to do this instead of just pulling the 2 pins and separating the upper and lower? Put something on the upper to retain the BCG and CH that can be removed easily. Such as this $10 device:

https://rcsgear.com/topstop-ar-upper-receiver-cover/

People even make one for the lower

https://www.shapeways.com/product/2K8V9VN28/ar15-lower-receiver-dust-cover-with-mag-rel-pin

@Defender

Never used them, but this is not expensive. Not as good as a box, but 1/4 the price. Looks like you get a vehicle kit to match what you have. 

 

https://arma15.com/products

 

Edited February 19, 2020 by Ronald_55
Lower cover

[DaveTN]

You can buy the kit the AF is using.

http://cryhavoctac.com/

I don’t know how this will fair in accuracy and longevity testing, but I could see this becoming popular with those who like to “tinker” with their firearms.  The MFG claims less than 1 MOA repeatability.

I’m not sure this offers anything over the standard AR breakdown, for those of us that don’t have to fit our AR in an ejection seat; but its interesting.  

[Garufa]

What happens if you don't latch the barrel down and set off a round?

[DaveTN]

20 minutes ago, Garufa said:

What happens if you don't latch the barrel down and set off a round?

The barrel falls off, you say a bunch of curse words, and you miss what you are shooting at. But that’s just a WAG. 

[TomInMN]

17 minutes ago, DaveTN said:

The barrel falls off, you say a bunch of curse words, and you miss what you are shooting at. But that’s just a WAG. 

And maybe you're trying to come up with a field expedient cleaning rod to push a bullet out of the barrel...

[Ronald_55]

14 minutes ago, TomInMN said:

And maybe you're trying to come up with a field expedient cleaning rod to push a bullet out of the barrel...

Or you are stuck with a VERY short barreled rifle. 

[quedz]

"The Gunsmith Shop has built and shipped out 2,700 GAU-5As to Air Force units worldwide, at a total cost of $2.7 million."
($1000/copy) Not bad for Government "work." 

Edited February 19, 2020 by hughd

[Chucktshoes]

5 hours ago, hughd said:

"The Gunsmith Shop has built and shipped out 2,700 GAU-5As to Air Force units worldwide, at a total cost of $2.7 million."
($1000/copy) Not bad for Government "work." 

The fact that they built it for this price using off the shelf parts is truly impressive. The gun is cool, but I think it’s the real story here. 

Edited February 19, 2020 by Chucktshoes

[Grayfox54]

$1000 each? Hell, the government can't buy a toilet seat for that cheap. 

[gary_boom]

Thanks for doing the math for us

[Johnny Rotten]

11 hours ago, Garufa said:

What happens if you don't latch the barrel down and set off a round?

 

10 hours ago, DaveTN said:

The barrel falls off, you say a bunch of curse words, and you miss what you are shooting at. But that’s just a WAG. 

 

 

Edited February 20, 2020 by Johnny Rotten

[Handsome Rob]

Soooooo.......The Ramada force have finally gotten around to doing what civilians have been doing for 10 years (mostly legally...)???

And I thought the marines were behind the times on kit.

[Handsome Rob]

Srsly....ish asking: does anyone in the zoomy crew actually know how to operate an actual hand-held firearm? Because my experiences dealing with the Royal Airforce would suggest no. HAAAARD no. If it's not laser guided, painted & pre-targeted, they ain't gonna hit it. 

The airfarce bods I had to cope with couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo, let alone a 'man at 200yds'

[E4 No More]

7 hours ago, robtattoo said:

Srsly....ish asking: does anyone in the zoomy crew actually know how to operate an actual hand-held firearm? Because my experiences dealing with the Royal Airforce would suggest no. HAAAARD no. If it's not laser guided, painted & pre-targeted, they ain't gonna hit it. 

The airfarce bods I had to cope with couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo, let alone a 'man at 200yds'

Besides using .22LR conversion kits:

https://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/air-force-rifle-qualification-course.html 

The Air Force used to also require qualification on the M-9 pistol during basic training, but this requirement was recently eliminated.

During the actual firing, you'll fire a total of 80 rounds at a man-sized target (upper body only) at ranges from 75 meters to 300 meters (1 meter = 1.094 yards). The range at Lackland is a short range, so you'll actually be firing from only 25 yards away. However, the target sizes are shrunk to represent the proper sizes at the specified distances (75 meters, 175 meters, and 300 meters).

 

The Air Force conducts its basic training weapons qualification course in three phases.

Tip: Airmen who hit the target at least 35 times qualify for the Small Arms Expert Ribbon.

[tnhawk]

There's a rumor that the air force replaced weapons qualification with several days with a golf pro.  The challenge is to build a set of golf clubs to fit in the ejection seat with a six pack.

Edited February 20, 2020 by tnhawk

[DaveTN]

Well first off, we all know the fighter pilots that will get shot down and need this aren’t in the Air Force.

And…if they are giving these to the Air Force, what kind of cool stuff will the Space Force get? 

 

 

[E4 No More]

5 minutes ago, DaveTN said:

Well first off, we all know the fighter pilots that will get shot down and need this aren’t in the Air Force.

And…if they are giving these to the Air Force, what kind of cool stuff will the Space Force get? 

 

 

"LAZERs" 

[Moped]

I think I want to join up for The Space Force!  Wonder if they take 57 year olds?  

[DaveTN]

3 minutes ago, Moped said:

I think I want to join up for The Space Force!  Wonder if they take 57 year olds?  

Probably for the first tests to Mars they would.

[Johnny Rotten]

2 hours ago, Moped said:

I think I want to join up for The Space Force!  Wonder if they take 57 year olds?  

Only if you can save the world 

Untitled by Johnny Rotten, on Flickr

[Magiccarpetrides]

That CryHavoc kit is pretty cool actually...$350 feels steep but they are a smallish company so bills are bills.  I too am impressed the Air Force built these at such a reasonable cost to the taxpayer.