When it comes to firepower, it is safe to say that the US has the best weapons of the world, and for some countries by far. But what makes the guns of the US strong, and what makes it the best? Lets take a look.
A Marine Firing a M16A4 Assault Rifle with ACOG Scope and grip.
M16 A3 Assault Rifle- This is once the Standard Rifle for the US Military, but is now replaced with the M16 A4 model. This can be still found in the US military though.
M4 A3 Carbine with ACOG Scope and M203 Grenade Launcher. It is used by the US Military. Current perferred weapon of the Army Green Berets.
Model 16
The M16 is a lightweight, 5.56 mm, air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed assault rifle, with a rotating bolt, actuated by direct impingement gas operation. The rifle is made of steel, aluminum, composite plastics and polymer materials. The M16 rifle fires the 5.56x45mm cartridge and can produce massive wounding and hydrostatic shock effects when the bullet impacts at high velocity and yaws in tissue leading to fragmentation and rapid transfer of energy. However, terminal effects can be unimpressive when the bullet fails to yaw or fragment in tissue.
The M16 entered United States Army service as the M16A1 and was put into action for jungle warfare in South Vietnam in 1963, becoming the standard U.S. rifle of the Vietnam War by 1969, replacing the M14.
The U.S. Air Force's rifle, the M16, and the United States Marine Corps and Army rifle, the XM16E1, were the first versions of the M16 rifle fielded. Soon, the U.S. Army standardized the XM16E1 as the M16A1 rifle, an M16 with a forward assist feature requested by the Army. All of the early versions were chambered to fire the M193/M196 cartridge in the semi-automatic and the automatic firing modes.
The U.S. Army retained the M14 in CONUS, Europe, and South Korea until 1970. Since the Vietnam War, the M16 rifle family has been the primary infantry rifle of the U.S. military. With its variants, it has been in use by 15 NATO countries, and is the most produced firearm in its caliber.
Model 4
The M4 carbine is a family of firearms tracing its lineage back to earlier carbine versions of the M16, all based on the original AR-15 made by ArmaLite. It is a shorter and lighter version of the M16A2 assault rifle, with 80% parts commonality.
The M4 has selective fire options including semi-automatic and three-round burst (like the M16A2), while the M4A1 has a "full auto" option in place of the three-round burst.
FN SCAR
The Special Forces Combat Assault Rifle, or SCAR, is a modular rifle made by Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (FNH) for the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) to satisfy the requirements of the SCAR competition. This family of rifles consist of two main types. The SCAR-L, for light, is chambered in the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge and the SCAR-H, for heavy, fires 7.62x51mm NATO. Both are available in Long Barrel and Close Quarters Combat variants.
During a test, the SCAR suffered 226 of 60,000 stoppages ranking second to the XM8 with 127 stoppages, but less compared to the M4 with 882 stoppages and the HK 416 with 233.
