U.S. Army PEO Soldier: M4 Program Report

[Army Chief]

Spent an hour or so with the traveling U.S. Army Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier Team in central Germany today, and came away with a few notes of interest related to ongoing M4 developments.

First, the primary display weapon was a Colt factory modded "non-gun" M4 with a XXXXXXX serial number. From front to rear, the carbine sported a standard tapered (non-HB) barrel with a conventional KAS RAS M4 top rail -- and no bottom rail, the reason for which I will explain in a moment.

The latest M68/CCO was mounted, which I noticed was one of the new Aimpoint M4 variants, to include the new battery compartment and 2 MOA dot. The stock mount gives the sight a dead-center iron sight cowitness. (Side note: the briefer's notes listed a government price on this sight of just over $300.) Seemed like a terrific sight all around.

BUIS was MATech, if I recall correctly.

Buttstock was a LMT SOPMOD, and this was the first time I had actually seen or messed around with this stock. The rubber buttpad, storage, and great check weld surfacing make this component worth the rather steep price of admission in my view.

Now ... back to that missing lower RAS rail. The big surprise of the day was mounted up under the barrel. Instead of a VFG or M203, this carbine was equipped with a C-More (believe it or not) sourced 12 gauge (side-lever actuated) pump shotgun, complete with a five-shell composite magazine. I believe it was the XM26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System (MASS) -- or a derivation thereof -- and for a breeching or CQB weapon, this struck me as a pretty competent solution.

Obviously, there was a lot of other equipment on display, to include a number of crew-served advancements (titanium-receivered M240, anyone?), but my basic notes were confined to the M4. I was half-expecting/hoping to see a new Daniel Defense SOPMOD2 rail, but of course the shotgun mounting precluded the use of any one piece free-floated rail.

I'm sure I'm forgetting plenty, but those are the highlights, boys. :)

Chief

[R. James]

Interesting info. Thanks for the report.

[shark31]

I was half-expecting/hoping to see a new Daniel Defense SOPMOD2 rail, but of course the shotgun mounting precluded the use of any one piece free-floated rail.



I thought that one of the biggest objectives of the trials was to free-float the M-203 on the rail system. A good friend of mine bought a DD SOPMOD rail and the lower rail would detatch. Did they change it?

[Army Chief]

Almost certainly not. I'm not especially familiar with the DD rail, and made a presumption that it was a one-piece unit. I could well be mistaken.

Chief

[M4Guru]

The DD RAS II has a removable lower section to make use of barrel-mounted accessories. The big screw on either side is used to drop the bottom rail off. PEO won't have any due to the fact that it's a SOCOM project.

http://www.danieldefense.com/?page=shop/detail&product_id=17

It's a really nice rail, but for $580, I'll get a VLTOR VIS instead.

[Stickman]

The DD RAS II has a removable lower section to make use of barrel-mounted accessories. The big screw on either side is used to drop the bottom rail off. PEO won't have any due to the fact that it's a SOCOM project.

http://www.danieldefense.com/?page=shop/detail&product_id=17

It's a really nice rail, but for $580, I'll get a VLTOR VIS instead.


Remember that Daniel Defense has stated that they would drop the price on that rail if they gained the contract. They have obviously gained the contract, so I await availability and pricing on the new RIS II.

I'll stay positive unless someone has heard something different from Daniel Defense.

[Stickman]

Almost certainly not. I'm not especially familiar with the DD rail, and made a presumption that it was a one-piece unit. I could well be mistaken.

Chief



Chief,

It is a 2 piece rail, and in this early model pictured, you can see the two screws that release the bottom section.

On a side note, did you hear any rumors regarding upcoming ammo?

http://stickman.rainierarms.com/galleries/Daniel%20Defense%2C%20Inc./IMG_2164%20Stick.jpg

[Army Chief]

It is a 2 piece rail .... /snip/ ... did you hear any rumors regarding upcoming ammo?

Quite honestly, I have not followed the SOPMOD2 contract developments very closely, so I guess I was under the impression that the standard (commercially available) DD 7.0 carbine rail was the component being procured for the military. That, inasmuch as I could tell, was a one-piece unit -- not unlike the LaRue -- so I very much appreciate the corrections and insights!

I heard nothing at all about small arms ammunition, per se, though there was much discussion about various feeding systems and such that are in development or about to be fielded. None of those were particularly surprising, and most pertained to crew-served weapons.

The only ammo-specific conversation I took notice of involved the XM-25 Individual Airburst Weapon System, and that was centered around the capabilities of the newly developed 25mm ammunition used by this curious new hybrid computer/rifle. The promises of the system are impressive, but I'm not sure I would want to have to be the guy carrying it.

http://peosoldier.army.mil/ contains spec sheets and such for most of the items currently being featured by the PEO Soldier office.

Chief

[JLM]

Thanks for the info Cheif, most interesting......

[RHINO6383]

STICKMAN,

Please give me all the data you have on the rail system in that picture of the weapon resting on the eotech.

This is what I have been wanting... a rifle with standard front site and 3-4 inches forward of the front site as well....

Jon

[M4Guru]

Its the Daniel Defense RIS II for the SOPMOD II weapons suite. The two big screws release the bottom rail to facilitate mounting of the M203, and it uses the same attachment system as the DD Lite series of rails.

KAC, DD, Troy, and MI to name a few make rails of this style.

[Stickman]

STICKMAN,

Please give me all the data you have on the rail system in that picture of the weapon resting on the eotech.

This is what I have been wanting... a rifle with standard front site and 3-4 inches forward of the front site as well....

Jon

A better point of contact than myself would be posting the question in the Daniel Defense section of this site. The DD RIS II and DD Lite rails are quite similar, and I would be more than happy to post more picture of both styles, but I don't want to sidetrack this thread off its intended purpose.