Looking for some early Carbine History

[emfourbinator]

Greetings! I'm searching for some info on the history of AR carbines from the termination of the
XM177E2 program up to the mid '90s, when Colt got a lock on the TDP, and became sole provider
'til 2010...or???. There are tidbits of info in TBR, but not enough to really get a clear picture of what
was happening in that time period. (1972-1986) The military certainly acquired weapons of this
type in this time frame, but any type of specifics seems to be rumor, or a well kept secret! Later
on, as you get into the XM4 era, there is a bit more info, but only from one point of view. This is
rather unfortunate, but I understand there are "rights" issues and a lot of CYA integrated with this
part of the Carbine story. I'm thinking that now, that with better research, and with a certain
amount of the dust settled, that more of the complete AR Carbine story can begin to be told. I'll
be the first to admit, that my info is likely to be hugely incomplete at this time, but the deeper I
dig, the more you just know is "out there"

[dewatters]

My 5.56mm Timeline has grown tremendously over the years as older reports shake loose. However, I know that I'll never get the complete story.

There was so much reorganization during this period with US Army small arms research being kicked from Springfield to Rock Island, from there to Frankford, and finally to Picatinny. I fear there will be a similar loss now that small arms procurement responsibilities are being transferred from Rock Island to Warren.

[emfourbinator]

That, sir...is one incredible pile of information! One thing that became obvious in studying small arms, and
especially those with a military application, is the high degree of "personal factors" that enter into these
events. It was most apparent in TBR, and continues on into BR2...altho in a more concealed manner. I
remain convinced that at least a good part of the Carbine story is likely hidden in plain sight...if you know
how to read between the lines.

[dewatters]

There is the quote attributed to Winston Churchill: "History will be kind to me, because I will write it." Likewise, most manufacturers are better at getting their spin on a the story out to the media. Some individual designers have been successful in the same fashion. Journalists of all stripes love a "David v. Goliath" story and conspiracy theories, particularly when it fits their anti-military/government/authority worldview. I intend to go back through my timeline and point out anything that smacks of a personal opinion regarding the motivation of others or the performance of competing weapon systems.

In order to piece together the story of the XM4, one will need to find the records/reports from the US Army and Marine Corps' 1980s-era testing. I'd also like to find the Commerce Business Daily solicitations, and detailed copies of the Army's XM4 contracts/purchase orders. Another source will be the House and Senate appropriation hearings for the DOD's budget during the same time frame. As for interview subjects, some of them are already dead like Mike LaPlante and LTC Jack Muth (USMC-Ret.). KAC's Dave Lutz knows part of the USMC XM4 story from his assignment at the Firepower Division. (One of the unfortunate things about "Black Rifle II" was that Bartocci did not interview Lutz regarding the M16A1 PIP, nor the XM4.)

One thing to which I pay close attention is the references cited in publicly available reports. For instance, Rock Island's 1994 report "External Barrel and Handguard Temperature of the 5.56mm M4 Carbine" can be downloaded through DTIC. The author references a couple of reports from Colt: "XM4 Carbine Development Program" (1987) and "M4 Carbine Initial Production Contract Pre-Production Engineering Report". The first has a DTIC accession number, but is not available through the public interface. One suspects that while it may be unclassified, distribution was limited. The same was true of the final Advanced Combat Rifle report.

[dewatters]

Other sources for older 5.56mm carbine information would be magazines like "Infantry", "Jane's Defense Weekly", "International Defense Review", "Armed Forces Journal", "Ordnance", and "National Defense". The forerunners of the current NDIA, the American Ordnance Association (AOA) and the American Defense Preparedness Association (ADPA), also hosted annual conferences.

[jaygee]

Be kinda interesting to see what foreign militaries were buying in that time frame. We know the
XM177E2 was not on the menu, thanks to the J. Carter bunch, but Colt had plenty of other
"shorties" in the pipeline thru the years.

[emfourbinator]

Which brings up an interesting question. The original XM4....was it a purely Colt idea as the model 727,
or did it originate with the Abu-Dabi order in, what, 1987?? Who laid down the specs on this? TBR
is rather unclear on this as it was apparently a last minute submission by Colt prior to publishing. The
tiny bit of info that can be gleaned from the photo would indicate that the rough idea of the XM4 was
alive and kicking by this time. Outside of it's exterior profile, I'd guess that this weapon was pretty
much Colt 723 on the inside. The three round burst was NBD, as it had been around for years by this
time.

[Bobert0989]

I've never been that interested in this before now, but I thank you for posting this information. It's always fun delving into our past and seeing how far (or short) we've come these days...

[.45fmjoe]

Greetings! I'm searching for some info on the history of AR carbines from the termination of the
XM177E2 program up to the mid '90s, when Colt got a lock on the TDP, and became sole provider
'til 2010...or???.

Colt has owned the TDP since Colt invented the TDP. Colt purchased the rights to the AR-15 in 1959 and consequently developed and actually fielded a rifle the military could use. The U.S. Government has never, and will never, own Colt's M16 TDP or the M4 Addendum. Colt never "got a lock on it" from the end of the XM177E2 program - they created the XM177E2.

[dewatters]

1) The US Army awarded a contract for XM4 development years before Abu Dhabi's purchase of the RO727.

2) While the US DOD does not own the TDP, they do own a limited license to use it for military purposes. The 1967 licensing agreement included both the M16 and XM177. The DOD completed royalty payments for the M16 in 1990.

The whole issue of the 1997 "M4 Addendum" to the 1967 Licensing Agreement was over the improper release of the M4 TDP by Rock Island to NSWC-Crane, who then passed it out to multiple vendors, including FN. Colt threatened an expensive lawsuit and the withdrawal of the DOD's rights to use the M16 TDP. At the time, it probably seemed like a good deal to give Colt sole-source rights to the M4 in return for the DOD maintaining its rights to second-source the M16 and its spares. After all, the DOD intended at the time to issue far more M16 than M4. In response, FN legally challenged the DOD's right to give Colt sole-source rights to the M4. This placed the Army is the awkward position of claiming that the M4 was really far different than the M16 and XM177 after originally claiming that the M4 had ~80% in common with the M16.

The sole-source clause of the "M4 Addendum" expired June 30, 2009. The expiration allows the DOD to second-source M4 production under the terms of the 1967 Licensing Agreement. For the next few decades, the DOD will have to pay 5% in royalties to Colt for every M4 procured from second sources. My sources disagree as to whether M4 royalty payments will end on December 24, 2037 or December 31, 2050.