What guns are currently used by the US Army?
February 18th, 2010 by eranio
Simple questions for anyone involved. What guns, both rifles and pistols are currently used in the US Military (mainly the Army)? Is there a difference in what the US Army SF / Special Forces carry? What are the differences between the civilian and military versons of these weaponds if any? Thanks in advance
What gun do you get first when you get into the Army?
Posted in military guns
February 18th, 2010 at 7:57 am
The number of handheld firearms in the inventory of the US military is quite large, but here is a fairly complete listing.
M16A2 – Standard issue rifle to infantry capable of semi-automatic and three-shot burst .223 caliber (5.56 NATO)
M4 – More specialized, smaller weapon firing the same round, some versions are capable of fully-automatic fire. Usually issued to special forces
M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) A light machine gun firing the 5.56 NATO round from either a belt or a box magazine at fully-automatic.
Beretta M9 – Standard pistol in NATO standard 9mm (because the .45 ACP was too powerful — hah!)
Colt M1911(variants and other manufacturers) – Used by certain troops that actually might use a handgun in their work (Special Forces), the .45 ACP is a much more powerful round that is much more suited to military operations than the 9mm.
M240 – 7.62 NATO (.308 Win) light machine gun usually mounted on vehicles where the .223 round is too light. (Basically similar to the M249)
M-60 – 7.62 NATO light machine gun, a holdover from before the 240 and 249, this belt fed gun was the support weapon from Vietnam and was developed from plans of the MG42 of the German army in WWII.
M2 -A heavy machine gun in .50 BMG (Browning Machine Gun) caliber that remains nearly unchanged from WWI. This weapon is employed by vehicles and individually employed only with a tripod. A very heavy weapon this gun fires from a belt at a fairly slow rate of fire, but due to he size of the round is accurate out to extreme ranges (in Vietnam these were sometimes used for very long sniper work).
M-24 – A 7.62 NATO bolt action, scope mounted rifle used by snipers at medium to long ranges. Other rifles exist and are in use by various units and individuals, but this is a common type rifle used widely.
M-82 – A .50 BMG semi-automatic sniper rifle using a special recoil absorbing design is utilized for Explosives disposal as well as long and extremely long range (up to about 2,500 yards or 1.4 miles) sniper work. I believe that other .50 BMG rifles exist in the inventory but do not know for a fact.
Other weapons are carried in certain quantities for special purposes, but the above are those weapons that are widely issued, at least to my knowledge. There is a rifle, developed by Barrett Rifles (makers of the M-82) that fires a 25mm round, but I am unaware of any widespread use of this firearm, although I am sure it is contained within the US military inventory.
The AR-15 is a design quite similar to the M-16 and M-4, but is (mostly) a civilian version of the weapon. Civilian versions of this weapon are semi-automatic only (illegal in California), police forces often issue versions of this that may be fully-automatic. Some police forces arm their SWAT units with various of the above weapons including: M-16A2 (some fully-auto); M-4; M249; and various sniper rifles. The civilian version of the Beretta M9 is the 92F (and variants) which have little to no changes from the military version (versions in California have certain differences, namely a magazine disconnect). Likewise the M1911 exists in many forms from many manufacturers with various similarities too the military arm (same California differences as Beretta). The M24 is unavailable exactly to civilian users, but custom rifles are available to civilians of very high financial means ($5,000 minimum). The M-82 is available (.50 BMG weapons are banned in California, other calibers may be purchased) to civilian users, but again the price is quite high.
February 18th, 2010 at 7:57 am
it’s a secret, you nut.
February 18th, 2010 at 7:57 am
M4, m16, m9, m82, ar15(not sure), m24, and many more…
The Military ones are automatic while the civilian ones aren’t.
February 18th, 2010 at 7:57 am
m4 m16 m14 m24 mk.19, m107 m203 m249 m240 and a .50 cal machine gun… i dont know the actual term for it. oh m9 too. sf carries the same thing pretty much, though they are typically smithed in such a fashion to allow better performance. they also have the funding for special optics, IR lasers, and other such things. infantry, and other combat mos’s have alot of the same things, but typically get messed up pretty fast cause you get joe dip sh*t who doesnt know how to keep his equipment in good repair. sf also has mini guns mounted on alot of their trucks.
February 18th, 2010 at 7:57 am
-US Army
-active duty :M4 , M249, M9, M19111 ..infantry
M60 (Blackhawk mounted weapon)…aviation
M240 , M2 .50 cal .(Humvee mounted weapon)
-reserve…National guard:M16A2 …the rest same.
-special forces ..M4A1 , HK23 Mod 0. the rest same .
note/ there was a rumor that Delta use HK416.
ok check this link :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_individual_weapons_of_the_U.S._Armed_Forces