photos of an M4 from an IED explosion
I found some pictures of an M4 that was destroyed in an IED attack on my company while deployed just outside of Fallujah. This was one of my buddies rifle. His vehicle hit an IED. No one was killed thankfully.
I believe this one was completely destroyed. In one of the pics you can see that the rear takedown pin was busted. Barrel is bent all to hell. I don't remember if the Aimpoint still worked or not. I want to say that it still had power.
This will give you an idea of what happens to them. Others that were blown up actually came back and put into service again.
I was our unit armorer. I had a M2 .50 cal that was completely blown off a humvee and thrown about 30 yds and it was still functional. That is one helluva gun!
Hope these pics answer some questions.