IAR wins over skeptical Marine infantrymen
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
www.marinecorpstimes.com
Posted : Tuesday Jul 19, 2011 10:54:48 EDT
GARMSER, Afghanistan — Lance Cpl. Kendrick Johnson used to carry around the 22-pound M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. During patrols, he said, being so weighed down “really sucked.” But after five hours on the move, his arms would get used to it.
Related stories
Marines swap firepower for accuracy with IAR (June 29)
Corps eyes next-generation service rifles (June 27)
Exclusive M27 photos (Battle Rattle)
Since joining the Marine Corps three years ago, Johnson has heard that a lighter automatic weapon — the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle — was in development. “But I didn’t believe we were going to get it,” said Johnson, an infantryman with 4th Platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, out of Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.
Now he carries one, and he’s pleased to have it.
Johnson’s battalion is the first to take the M27 downrange. Soon, though, the 5.56mm variant of Heckler & Koch’s HK416 assault rifle will be the standard for infantry fire teams — instead of the SAW, which will be retained by rifle companies but kept largely in reserve.
The plan is to field one IAR in virtually every four-man fire team, with three per squad, 28 per company and almost 4,476 across the Corps. Nine SAWs will typically be kept in each company and used at commanders’ discretion.
The commandant approved the change in May.
At slightly more than 9 pounds when loaded with a standard 30-round magazine, the M27 is capable of firing single long-range shots with deadly accuracy. Flip a switch, and the IAR goes fully automatic with a sustained rate of fire of 40 rounds per minute.
“It’s actually two weapons in one,” Johnson told Marine Corps Times last month before setting out from Patrol Base Empire here. “I love it.”
His battalion deployed to Garmser in April. Located along the Helmand River south of the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, the area has seen steady security gains in recent months. In fact, fighting here has distilled mostly to run-ins with small enemy cells, holdouts who take their chances with potshots and improvised explosives, and others in the more hostile desert area west of the river.
As such, most 1/3 Marines carrying the M27 haven’t had a chance to fire it in combat. But the former SAW gunners who carry the new auto rifle have already formed their opinions about it.
“As a machine gunner, my first thought was that I didn’t like it,” said Lance Cpl. Joshua Houck. But then he fired the M27 during 1/3’s pre-deployment training.
“It’s very accurate. On single-shot, you can hit 800 yards no problem,” he said. “I love that you can go from single shot to full auto with the flick of a switch.”
Houck also observed that the M27’s design “blends in” with the M16 and M4, the Corps’ primary service rifles. “So if you come into contact, the enemy won’t know who the machine gunner is,” he said.
The battalion leadership sees a much broader benefit: preventing innocent casualties.
“In a counterinsurgency environment, every bullet is a risk,” said Lt. Col. Sean Riordan, 1/3’s commander. The IAR, he said, is “super accurate out of the box.”
“Guys are able to control this,” he said.
An infantry adviser at the Pentagon when IAR discussions ramped up, Riordan took command of the battalion Dec. 2. He said he knew the weapon would be fielded, but he didn’t know his battalion would be one of five taking it downrange for a test. The others have not yet deployed, but are expected to within the year.
There are 84 IARs distributed among Riordan’s fire and sniper teams. New training courses were developed in December, and the unit’s SAW gunners got a run with the M27 the following month.
Switching from the SAW
With its 200-round drum, the SAW is a beast, able to pump out a sustained rate of 85 rounds per minute. That’s more than double the M27’s rate. When 1/3 was tapped to be a test unit for the new auto- rifle, there was some concern about volume of fire during assaults, said 1/3’s battalion gunner, who asked that his name be withheld.
“That, to me, is a training fault that will be trained out,” he said, noting that the M27 made believers out of the Marines tapped to carry it once they experienced the weapon’s ability to hit targets.
“There was a lot of skepticism,” he said, “until they saw the accuracy.”
First Lt. Tom Rigby, Alpha’s executive officer, spearheaded the training in consultation with Riordan and the battalion gunner. He studied everything he could find about the rifle and participated in the course of fire familiarization training with a team from Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va.
“It’s been almost a paradigm shift in understanding what suppression is. It’s always been understood by the junior Marine that volume of fire and the sound of the machine gun equaled suppression,” Rigby said, pointing out that the IAR “shifts the idea of suppression by engaging with precision fire. The range is greater than the M16, and it provides short-range auto fire as well.”
During training, Rigby had his shooters transition from long-range precision fire at 700 meters to short-to-medium suppressive fire at 200 meters. Both were done in the prone position.
“With auto, you’re heavier on the shoulder, flatter to the ground, leaning in more to absorb the recoil and sustain the cone of fire,” Rigby said. “In long-range, you’re slightly higher, similar to a sniper or designated marksman.”
By canting up on the weapon for a precision shot, the shooter has a better cheek weld on the butt stock and better eye relief, he said. Plus, with higher posture, breathing is better.
“You’re teaching the Marine a new weapon that has two capabilities,” Rigby said, recalling his last deployment to Helmand’s Nawa district, just north of where the battalion is now. At the time, he was concerned with the strain on a Marine carrying the SAW, and how accurately he could be expected to perform after eight hours in the blistering sun.
Here in Garmser, Marines like Johnson are happy with their new gear. He’s burning less energy on patrol, and he’s even been used as a designated marksman. Johnson especially likes the reticle in the M27’s Squad Day Optic, compared with the little red arrow other grunts see through the Rifle Combat Optic on their M16 or M4 carbine.
Created for the SAW, the day optic offers more magnification and longer eye relief than the RCO does. That helps reduce injury risk from recoil, though some Marines here say it’s not ideal for precision shooting.
Riordan said Marines “love it” and will use the M27 effectively.
“A kid behind a day optic with a well-aimed shot achieves the effect [of the SAW’s volume of fire] with three or four bullets. I’ll take that. If he needs heavier volume, he can still do that, he can keep his beaten zone very accurate.”
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/07/marines-m27-iar-wins-skeptical-infantry-afghanistan-071911/
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
www.marinecorpstimes.com
Posted : Tuesday Jul 19, 2011 10:54:48 EDT
GARMSER, Afghanistan — Lance Cpl. Kendrick Johnson used to carry around the 22-pound M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. During patrols, he said, being so weighed down “really sucked.” But after five hours on the move, his arms would get used to it.
Related stories
Marines swap firepower for accuracy with IAR (June 29)
Corps eyes next-generation service rifles (June 27)
Exclusive M27 photos (Battle Rattle)
Since joining the Marine Corps three years ago, Johnson has heard that a lighter automatic weapon — the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle — was in development. “But I didn’t believe we were going to get it,” said Johnson, an infantryman with 4th Platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, out of Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.
Now he carries one, and he’s pleased to have it.
Johnson’s battalion is the first to take the M27 downrange. Soon, though, the 5.56mm variant of Heckler & Koch’s HK416 assault rifle will be the standard for infantry fire teams — instead of the SAW, which will be retained by rifle companies but kept largely in reserve.
The plan is to field one IAR in virtually every four-man fire team, with three per squad, 28 per company and almost 4,476 across the Corps. Nine SAWs will typically be kept in each company and used at commanders’ discretion.
The commandant approved the change in May.
At slightly more than 9 pounds when loaded with a standard 30-round magazine, the M27 is capable of firing single long-range shots with deadly accuracy. Flip a switch, and the IAR goes fully automatic with a sustained rate of fire of 40 rounds per minute.
“It’s actually two weapons in one,” Johnson told Marine Corps Times last month before setting out from Patrol Base Empire here. “I love it.”
His battalion deployed to Garmser in April. Located along the Helmand River south of the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, the area has seen steady security gains in recent months. In fact, fighting here has distilled mostly to run-ins with small enemy cells, holdouts who take their chances with potshots and improvised explosives, and others in the more hostile desert area west of the river.
As such, most 1/3 Marines carrying the M27 haven’t had a chance to fire it in combat. But the former SAW gunners who carry the new auto rifle have already formed their opinions about it.
“As a machine gunner, my first thought was that I didn’t like it,” said Lance Cpl. Joshua Houck. But then he fired the M27 during 1/3’s pre-deployment training.
“It’s very accurate. On single-shot, you can hit 800 yards no problem,” he said. “I love that you can go from single shot to full auto with the flick of a switch.”
Houck also observed that the M27’s design “blends in” with the M16 and M4, the Corps’ primary service rifles. “So if you come into contact, the enemy won’t know who the machine gunner is,” he said.
The battalion leadership sees a much broader benefit: preventing innocent casualties.
“In a counterinsurgency environment, every bullet is a risk,” said Lt. Col. Sean Riordan, 1/3’s commander. The IAR, he said, is “super accurate out of the box.”
“Guys are able to control this,” he said.
An infantry adviser at the Pentagon when IAR discussions ramped up, Riordan took command of the battalion Dec. 2. He said he knew the weapon would be fielded, but he didn’t know his battalion would be one of five taking it downrange for a test. The others have not yet deployed, but are expected to within the year.
There are 84 IARs distributed among Riordan’s fire and sniper teams. New training courses were developed in December, and the unit’s SAW gunners got a run with the M27 the following month.
Switching from the SAW
With its 200-round drum, the SAW is a beast, able to pump out a sustained rate of 85 rounds per minute. That’s more than double the M27’s rate. When 1/3 was tapped to be a test unit for the new auto- rifle, there was some concern about volume of fire during assaults, said 1/3’s battalion gunner, who asked that his name be withheld.
“That, to me, is a training fault that will be trained out,” he said, noting that the M27 made believers out of the Marines tapped to carry it once they experienced the weapon’s ability to hit targets.
“There was a lot of skepticism,” he said, “until they saw the accuracy.”
First Lt. Tom Rigby, Alpha’s executive officer, spearheaded the training in consultation with Riordan and the battalion gunner. He studied everything he could find about the rifle and participated in the course of fire familiarization training with a team from Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va.
“It’s been almost a paradigm shift in understanding what suppression is. It’s always been understood by the junior Marine that volume of fire and the sound of the machine gun equaled suppression,” Rigby said, pointing out that the IAR “shifts the idea of suppression by engaging with precision fire. The range is greater than the M16, and it provides short-range auto fire as well.”
During training, Rigby had his shooters transition from long-range precision fire at 700 meters to short-to-medium suppressive fire at 200 meters. Both were done in the prone position.
“With auto, you’re heavier on the shoulder, flatter to the ground, leaning in more to absorb the recoil and sustain the cone of fire,” Rigby said. “In long-range, you’re slightly higher, similar to a sniper or designated marksman.”
By canting up on the weapon for a precision shot, the shooter has a better cheek weld on the butt stock and better eye relief, he said. Plus, with higher posture, breathing is better.
“You’re teaching the Marine a new weapon that has two capabilities,” Rigby said, recalling his last deployment to Helmand’s Nawa district, just north of where the battalion is now. At the time, he was concerned with the strain on a Marine carrying the SAW, and how accurately he could be expected to perform after eight hours in the blistering sun.
Here in Garmser, Marines like Johnson are happy with their new gear. He’s burning less energy on patrol, and he’s even been used as a designated marksman. Johnson especially likes the reticle in the M27’s Squad Day Optic, compared with the little red arrow other grunts see through the Rifle Combat Optic on their M16 or M4 carbine.
Created for the SAW, the day optic offers more magnification and longer eye relief than the RCO does. That helps reduce injury risk from recoil, though some Marines here say it’s not ideal for precision shooting.
Riordan said Marines “love it” and will use the M27 effectively.
“A kid behind a day optic with a well-aimed shot achieves the effect [of the SAW’s volume of fire] with three or four bullets. I’ll take that. If he needs heavier volume, he can still do that, he can keep his beaten zone very accurate.”
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/07/marines-m27-iar-wins-skeptical-infantry-afghanistan-071911/
I guess they must be using the rate of fire recommended to not over heat the barel. Not to mention 85 for the m249. IIRC it should be capable of ~700-1000. Thats why the extra barrel.
