New M4A1 Barrel patented by US Army Armaments Center

[ColtSeavers]

So, the already beefed up barrel is somehow not cutting it?

Or is the m4a1 now supposed to be a SAW, minus the belt?

ETA: I'd be very interested in the results of accuracy from that barrel after a couple magazines through it. Wet rotini comes to mind.

[markm]

This made me “lol”

[ABNAK]

A RIOT!
Ribbed..for THEIR pleasure.

Yeah, I knew there was a joke in there somewhere!

[ABNAK]

Allegedly it means the barrel expands and contracts more evenly around the diameter, preventing the barrel from warping as it heats up.

I think the premise behind that is better heat dissipation with the "flutes" or "ribs" than a standard straight surface.

[PracticalRifleman]

So, the already beefed up barrel is somehow not cutting it?

Or is the m4a1 now supposed to be a SAW, minus the belt?

ETA: I'd be very interested in the results of accuracy from that barrel after a couple magazines through it. Wet rotini comes to mind.

That was my thought.


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[ABNAK]

That was my thought.

While the SOCOM profile barrel existed before that, the fight at Wanat in 2008 set the wheels in motion to morph into the M4A1, or at least contributed to it significantly. Guys who were a hair away from being overran were flipping the happy switch and burning through beaucoup rounds which of course was not the intended purpose of the M4 (i.e. using it as a SAW). The heavier profile of the SOCOM theoretically can withstand full-auto fire better than the original thinner-under-the-handguards standard M4 barrel.

[ColtSeavers]

I'm still extremely curious to see a head to head comparison of the rotini barrel vs the a1/socom barrel after a couple magazines have been put through them.
I cannot wrap my head around how spiral fluting adds or even retains rigidity.

[PracticalRifleman]

I'm still extremely curious to see a head to head comparison of the rotini barrel vs the a1/socom barrel after a couple magazines have been put through them.
I cannot wrap my head around how spiral fluting adds or even retains rigidity.

It doesn’t. It adds cooling.

The theory is if it cools faster, it will be less likely to deflect. The flip side of that theory is less mass means it heats up faster. There are so many variables to test whether the design has merit.


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[ColtSeavers]

It doesn’t. It adds cooling.
The theory is if it cools faster, it will be less likely to deflect. The flip side of that theory is less mass means it heats up faster. There are so many variables to test whether the design has merit.

It's the spiral pattern that makes no sense to me. Straight flutes, check. Diamond pattern or even golf ball dimples, sure. Hell, I could even be swayed by that hexagonal dimple pattern barrel years ago.
But spiral offers the least amount of rigidity to my (lack of) knowledge.

[PracticalRifleman]

It's the spiral pattern that makes no sense to me. Straight flutes, check. Diamond pattern or even golf ball dimples, sure. Hell, I could even be swayed by that hexagonal dimple pattern barrel years ago.
But spiral offers the least amount of rigidity to my (lack of) knowledge.

It creates the most surface area.


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