7.62x51mm Purple Tip

Japan decided that full up 7.62 NATO was too powerful for its purposes, but also wanted to remain ammo compatible with US forces.

So they made a 7.62x51mm NATO rifle and issued a reduced pressure load to its troops.

For years I didn't have much information on it.

The internet has grown since then.

It's a 139gr bullet at 2,300 fps from the same barrel length as a H&K G3.

The G3 sends a 146gr bullet downrange at 2,625 fps.

The Japanese round, according to Gun Stats will do 5d+2 pi out to 700/2,900.  The G3 does 6d+2 pi to 840/3,500 (High Tech says 850/3,750) and so does the Type 64 firing NATO spec ammo!

The Type 62 GPMG, with a longer barrel will do 6d pi out to 730/3,100 and 7d pi to 900/3,800 with NATO spec ammo.  That 900/3,800 is the same as what the M14 calculates to, but High Tech says should be 1,000/4,200; plan accordingly.

Why did I figure this out?

I made something of a 'verse hopping setting and the players start as tourists at Ayer's Rock Urulu in Australia when the Japanese invade in 1994 inspired by Tom Clancy's Debt of Honor.

I knew the Type 64 rifle fired a reduced power round, but didn't know things like bullet weight and velocity so I made some shit up and called it good when the players captured a couple guns.

Ever since then, I periodically check up to see if more information has escaped the relentlessly classified JSDF records.  It's this kind of secrecy that had the Japanese using the Type 64 in 1994 instead of the 5.56 Type 89!

M14M

Get ready to tell the kids they're going to a community college because you're emptying their college fund!

The CMP is going to get some genuine M14 rifles to sell.

ATF has approved a method of modifying the receiver to get past the, "once an MG, always an MG," rule.  Contrary to popular belief, they've done it before with M2 Carbine receivers.

No word whatsoever about pricing and availability.

Clinton's Cap'n Crunch ate a lot of these guns, and their valuable parts, so it's anyone's guess how many there are to give to the CMP for sale.  An arfcom thread had an AI guesstimate of about 10% of the 1.38 million made are still in inventory or service.  That's close to the same numbers they had for the 1911 sales.

Their time as designated marksman rifles means a lot of what's left got rode hard and put away wet in the middle east.

I wonder what condition and configurations will be coming out of this.  Wood stocks?  SAGE stocks?  Fiberglass?  Scope mounts? 

But Wait! There's More!

Remember when I said the window on the PMAG25 SR/LR W was useless because it wasn't numbered?

In the process of taking pictures to see what showed in the window every five rounds, I noticed:

They're very faint.

For the record:

0-rounds:

5-rounds:

10-rounds:

15-rounds:  No number for the orange coil to point at, but the bottom round lines up with a dot in the window.

20-rounds:

25-rounds:  Again no number for the coil to point at, because the coils are below the window, but the bottom round is lined up with a dot in the window.

Bigger In Every Way

 

I was surprised to find that the new 25-rounder was longer than a 30-rounder.

The PMAG25 SR/LR gets you 25 shots for 1.8 lb.

The PMAG30 AR gets you 30 shots for 1.1 lb.

7d, assuming they all hit, for 25 rounds is 612.5 points on average.

5d, same assumption, for 30 rounds is 525 points on average.

1.17x the damage for 1.64x the weight.

That's just the ammo!

The rifle is 50% heavier too!

Of course, the deer (and the floppie) can tell the difference.

PMAG-25 LR/SR W (Black)

 For gaming purposes, I obtained a Magpul MAG292-BLK PMAG-25 LR/SR W.

That's a 25 round magazine for your "AR-10" with the SR-25 or DPMS magazine well.  The standard magwell now that the AWB is dead.

It sticks out a bit more than the 20 rounder.

The extra five rounds comes with a weight penalty; 1 lb. 12 oz. loaded compared to 1 lb. 6.8 oz. of the PMAG-20 LR/SR.  1.8 lb. vs 1.4 lb. in GURPS terms.  That changes the weight of the M1956A2, pictured above, from 11.7 lb. to 12.1 lb. as shown.  That also changes a load of 6 spare magazines from 8.4 lb. to 10.8 lb.  The more traditional 4 spares for a battle rifle goes from 5.6 to 7.2 lb.  You do go from 120 spare rounds to 150 (or 80 to 100 with the traditional loadout).

The cute little window is rendered a little useless by not including any numbers, but you can still check to see if there's any ammo in there with it. <-- This turned out to be incorrect, there are numbers, see this post correcting it.

Magpul no longer includes a dust cover.  C'est la guerre.

Poof It Was Gone

 

I was out at the rumored $2,600 price point.

I don't think it's really an unreasonable price for a gun with so many unique and bespoke parts.

$3,300 is more than I want to spend on one.

BUT!

The entire production run sold out in less than an hour.

That speaks to an unsatisfied demand.

All of those expensive, bespoke parts get cheaper if you make a lot more of them and get the price down.

I am not sure what the number of people who want such a rifle are, but I was tempted at $2,600 and out at $3,300.  It'd have been a done deal at $2,200!

I am, also, not sure of what kind of margins are built into the production of this rifle.

Economies of scale can make a lower margin pay more than a higher margin in increased sales. 

Slackin'

I got it my head that The Day The Unbearable Light Of Lex went out was next Friday.

It was last Friday.

Make up toast of Guinness (for strength) and Jameson (for courage) was done yesterday at dinner.

Sorry about that, Lex.

Then I totally missed 3-08 day!

So...

 and

plus

 

Triumphant Return

The Lovely Harvey has overcome her fear of damaging her robo-shoulder and taken Kevina to the range! 

Considering she has not had this carbine to the range in more than a decade...  Not too bad a group.

I got the M1956A2 zeroed with the new 5x scope too!

 

Gotta say, that Faxon barrel is pretty sweet.

Idle Hands, Pawn Shops And Good Light

Got good afternoon light to take the official picture of Dissipator Dottie:

 

One of the local pawn shops had a Primary Arms 5x36 SLx Gen III Prism scope marked down about $130 from new.  Harvey said, "we need it!"

So I put it on the M1956A2:

 

As far as I can tell, it's unused.  It had the kill-flash in it, a $30 value, and I think those don't come with the scopes any more.

Though it's a fixed 5-power instead of a variable 3-9, I like the reticle and I think it just looks better.

I should probably get a QD mount for it...  Or carry the tools in the buttstock. 

3/08

 

Because there's no 62nd of July.

So Much For My Credit Rating

I don't have the budget for this, but the wants are VERY strong.  I'd tell people it was an M17.
 

Same Same

Both AR's.

Both flat-tops.

Both fixed stocked.

Both olive drab green.

Neither in 5.56.

Both with magnified optics.

Identical!

Oh, wait...

This is AR-15 v AR-10.  6.8x43mm v 7.62x51mm.  16" v 20".  Fixed power v variable.  3-prong v A2.

6d pi v 7d pi.  820/3,500 v 1,000/4,200. 8.8 lb. v 11.6 lb.  27 v 20 shots.

Progression

I didn't get a good pic of it the day it arrived with the bull barrel and giant quad-rails.

AR-10ish clone we dubbed M1956A2.

This was the configuration before the BRN-10 came along.

Then I changed the furniture to Magpul and detached the detachable carry handle for a fixed rear sight.

The fixed rear sight was dropped for a MBUS Gen 3 when I played around with putting a Primary Arms SLx 5 scope on it.

That scope belongs to my 6.8 gun, Olive, so...

I suppose that I should take it out and zero it now that I've replaced the sights and scope at least twice, huh?  7.62 NATO is spendy.

Idle Hands

I decided to clean off the top of my gun safe.

I bumped into a never mounted Leupold Rifleman 3-9x40mm still in its box.

I have an AR-10 here that needs a scope...  I have a mount for a 1" tube leftover from the Olga build.

This story starts writing itself, don't it?

Pretty fetching, ain't she?

11.6 lb. as shown.

7d Furious

7d pi is 7d pi.

I'm still not seeing the advantage of .277 Fury over .308 Win.

And I say this as someone who likes .270 Win.

My choice of .270 had a lot more to do with it remaining in stock when thirty caliber rounds became unobtanium and my uncle's endless debates over .270 v .280 v .30-06 than any tangible advantage in range or penetration.

How Difficult?

Guns/TL (Rifle) is an easy DX based skill.

I don't think it really takes much practice to get good at it.

I can hit a 3.5" circle at 100 yards pretty much at will with Wilma, especially since I adjusted the zero from the picture above.

That's a -8 to hit for size and a -10 for range.

I get +1 for braced.  +1 for All-Out-Attack (Determined).  +5 for Acc and +1 for taking a second to aim through a scope.  +5 for well lit indoor range.

-5 total.

Since I hit this target almost without fail my skill is at least 15.  Because 10 is the average roll and I average hitting this.  A miss by one is still within a 5" circle, which we can see above.

Does the math check out if we move the target to 50 yards?

 The range penalty is -8 now, giving me a 12 to hit the blue circle instead of 10.  The +2 to hit shrinks the average to a 1.5" circle, and this is close.

Cool!  I GURPS with a skill of 15 in rifle.  Same as my Guns/TL8 (Pistol)!

Perhaps even got it up to 17 based on the performance with Willard's M1956A2:

Will It GURPS - Does The M1 shoot Faster Than The M14

When the M14 being a disaster comes up, someone always says that the M1 Garand could akshually fire faster.

Does it GURPS?

Both are semi-automatic.  One by design, one by modification.

The Garand has a magazine capacity of 8 and reload time of 3 (grab, load, ready).  Basic load 104 rounds.  3 seconds of shooting, then 3 seconds of reloading.  3x13 for the shooting and 3x12 for the reloading.  75 seconds.

The M14 has a magazine capacity of 20+1 and a reload time of 3.  Basic load 100 rounds.  7 seconds of shooting, then 3 seconds of reloading.  7x5 for the shooting and 3x4 for the reloading.  47 seconds.

GURPS busted!

Even if we say that the M14's reload time should be longer because you have to drop the magazine before reloading it only adds 4 seconds to the time.  51 is still shorter than 75 seconds.

Ian Sure Can Stir Up The Hornet's Nest

 

Reading about the reaction to the video and it's clear that so many people didn't watch it before they commented. 

Regurgitated is the common refrain that they know someone who carried one in 'Nam and they loved it!

Watch the vid!  Ian covers that.  The issue isn't that the M14 that was issued to the troops was a bad gun.  The issue is only 2/3 of the guns made actually passed inspection to be issued and that all three contractors making them were losing money making them to spec.

It's astonishing that Winchester and H&R both made Garands which are thought of as better than the Springfield made guns.

The design changed enough from the M1 that new processes had to be implemented to make the M14, contrary to what Springfield told the DOD.

It's still embarrassing that Italy and Beretta did what Springfield claimed they'd done, made a 7.62x51mm NATO rifle derived from the Garand that used tooling and processes from the original gun.

Humiliating is they did it in two years, not 17 and did it for far less money.

The BM59 is a better gun in many, perhaps most, ways than the M14.

Another thing that keeps coming up is defenders of the M14 citing their M1A.  They're not the same gun at all.  The detail differences add up fast and do a great deal to explain how Springfield Armory (no relation) can economically make them.

Idle Hands

The M1956A2 is now modeling a Primary Arms SLx 5x36 Prism Scope and a Magpul MBUS Gen3 rear sight.

The scope usually rides on Olive, but I wanted to see how it'd look on the AR-10.

The MBUS I got for the occasion, since I'm always short one when I want one.

It's a lot slimmer than the original MBUS and the aperture flip is very cool.  It's also a full three ounces lighter than the aluminum A2 stub!

Small aperture:

Big aperture:

Pretty cunning and easier to flip than the older model.

I know the Kewl Kids eschew the presence of back up irons, given the massive improvement in reliability and durability of optics; I'm just paranoid enough to want them.

All Modern Like

Willard's M1956A2 in modern furniture with a more minimalist rear sight:

It tips the scales at 10.7 lb. loaded.

With retro furniture.

Same weight with the PMAG.  A bit heavier with steel.