Battle Rifles

[ForkTailedDevil]

The proliferation of the .223 round have saw the decline in issue of 7.62 class weapons like the FAl and G3. Recent conflicts have seen the reintroduction of the battle rifle to warfare.The Germans have issued a modified G3, the Israelis a modified M16 (in .223 though), the BA used their SA80 LSW as sniper weapons rather than on full auto and the Americans have dug the M14 out of armoury and dusted it down for issue in Afghanisation and Iraq, whilst the US Marines have been looking for a semi automatic file in .338 calibre. The idea of using a larger rifle in a more man sized calibre is to fill in the space between issue rifles and carbines in the hands of the grunt and a dedicated sniper.Recent lessons in Iraq have shown that there is a space between the M4 and M21 in use in gun battle.The M4 hasn't had the range to engage enemy forces in the desert whilst the M21 hasn't the rate of fire to be an effective weapon for suppressive fire and is issued in small quantites.The Battle Rifle allows for well aimed shot out to the 500-600 meter range but also allows the trooper to have a weapon he can take into a close range firefight.The scope and bipod equipped rifles cuts down on the amount of rounds sprayed by LMGs to make sure of a hit at longer ranges.So is it time to bring back a few FNFALs and attach extras to fill the bridge between the possible withdrawl of the Brens and the longer range suppression by the GPMGs in Irish units or do the troops still prefer the idea of a Minimi class weapons providing closer range covering fire?

[FCA Trooper]

hear,hear. bring back the FN. maybe one per infantry section? plus we already use the GPMG,so you wouldnt be creating the problem of mixing 5.56 with 7.62.

[yellowjacket]

This has come up before. Please use the search function.

FTD, you base your argument on the fact the M4 isnt great at distance (down to it's very short barrel length - a feature not shared by the Steyr). If you look at Irish equipment, you'll quickly notic a dramatic lack of said weapons, so why is any of this relevant?