Combat_Tactics_The_T..

The Tr uth ABOUT Mil-Spec
What exactly is “Mil-Spec” as it applies to the AR15/M16 and what
precisely does it mean? A special investigative report lays it all out.
By David Crane
is m il-speak for “m ilitary specification .”
term is b ecom in g in creasin gly
m isused by m arketers in the firearm s busin ess who are
tryin g to capitalize on the curren t popularity of m ilitarystyle weapon s, but the fact is that Mil-Spec has a very
precise m ean in g. The m ost flagran t m isuse of the term is
foun d in referen ce to the AR-15, but is also applied to the
M16 an d M4 rifles. Kn owin g that facts are the best an tidote to hype, Com bat Tactics presen ts this com prehen sive, in -depth report on curren t Mil-Spec rifles.
Accordin g to a Govern m en t Accoun tin g Office (GAO)
report, “In gen eral, ‘m ilitary specification s’ describe the
physical an d/ or operation al characteristics of a product
an d ‘m ilitary stan dards’ detail the processes an d m aterials to be used to m ake the product.”
Mil-Spec, then , is related to Mil-Std, which stan ds for
“m ilitary stan dard.” Together they com prise the specification s an d stan dards for m akin g a given product that
the U.S. Departm en t of Defen se (DoD) has issued as a
m ajor part of DoD’s Stan dardization Program , the goal
of which is to en sure that products design ed for m ilitary
use m eet the n ecessary requirem en ts with regard to
qu ality, d u rab ility, ru gged n ess, com m on ality, in terchan geability, total cost of own ership, logistics an d
other m ilitary an d defen se-related objectives.
In the case of an M16 rifle or carbin e, the m ilitary
specification m ight require a weapon’s bolt to be m ade
out of a certain type an d grade of steel an d for it to be
m ade via a specific m an ufacturin g protocol, while the
m ilitary stan dard m ight outlin e the specific in spection
an d testin g protocols for an d relatin g to that part.
Accordin g to Jim Battaglin i, Execu tive Vice Presiden t
an d Ch ief Op eratin g Officer (COO) of Colt Defen se
MIL-SPEC Th is
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COM BAT TACTI CS
SUMMER 2008
LLC, “Com m ercial black rifles are n ot con sidered
Mil-Sp ec becau se th ere is n o U.S. govern m en t verification to assu re th at th eir p erform an ce,
en du ran ce, accu racy, in terch an geability an d reliability m eet all of th e detailed an d exactin g m ilitary
stan dards an d sp ecification s im p osed by th e Un ited
States Arm ed Forces.”
Just so we’re crystal-clear on this im portan t poin t:
n o com m ercial AR-15 carbin e or rifle is, or ever will
be, Mil-Spec. If the govern m en t is n ot testin g the
gun , by defin ition , it is n ot Mil-Spec. “Mil-Spec com m ercial” is an oxym oron .
Technical Dat a Package
Colt Defen se actually own s the techn ical data
package (TDP) on the M4 carbin e, M4A1 carbin e
an d M16 rifle (M16A3/ A4 rifle). These weapon s are
th erefore m an u factu red an d in sp ected in strict
accordan ce with Colt’s TDP, which con tain s proprietary kn ow-how, trade secrets an d other in tellectual
property (IP) that is own ed solely by Colt.
Th e Colt tech n ical d ata p ackages for th e
M4/ M4A1 carbin e an d M16A3/ A4, respectively, are,
accordin g to Battaglin i, specifically iden tified in the
m ilitary specification , i.e. Mil-Spec. On ly Colt an d
FN Man ufacturin g, LLC can use Colt’s TDPs to m an ufacture the M4/ M4A1 an d M16, respectively.
If an oth er firm wan ts to m ake on e of th ose
weapon s, they m ust first obtain a licen se from Colt
to do so.
Sin ce 1988, FN Man ufacturin g, a U.S. division of
FN Herstal, has won a n um ber of U.S. govern m en t
awards to m an ufacture the M16 rifle to Mil-Spec. In
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order to do this, they m ust use the
aforem en tion ed Colt TDP for the
rifle. FN does this un der govern m en t licen se, an d th is licen se
applies on ly to the production of
M16A3/ A4 for U.S. govern m en t
con tracts. This licen sin g agreem en t
is actu ally between Colt an d th e
U.S. govern m en t, an d it perm its the
govern m en t to com petitively procure the M16 rifle from FN.
It’s also im portan t to un derstan d
that the M4 carbin e, M4A1 carbin e,
M16A3 rifle, an d M16A4 rifle are all
select-fire weapon s that allow either
3-roun d burst fire or true full-auto
fire, which is written in to the govern m en t’s an d Colt’s techn ical data
package. Sem i-auto AR-15 carbin es
an d rifles, again by defin ition , can’t
be Mil-Spec. Therefore, parts like
the safety selector, bolt carrier, discon n ector, trigger, h am m er an d
others will be differen t in the sem iauto version s.
Even the steel that som e of these
com pon en ts are m ade from will be
differen t an d, on ce again , n on -MilSpec. Bottom lin e: if it’s n ot selectfire, it’s n ot followin g Colt’s TDP for
m ilitary weapon s, an d if it’s n ot followin g Colt’s TDP, it’s n ot m il-spec.
I nspect ion
Requirement
All the TDP drawings (the governm ent’s and Colt’s) are fully coded
and have inspection requirem ents
on them , and those requirem ents are
to Mil-Std. So, for exam ple, if Colt
receives a governm ent drawing for a
lower receiver, Colt will then have its
Colt no longer is housed in its historic
factory (left) w ith the famous “onion
dome” roof. The rampant Colt statue
atop the dome w as sold to a collector.
How ever, in Colt’s new factory (above) a
state- of- the- art ISO manufacturing and
assembly facility is housed to produce
Mil- Spec rifles for the U. S. military.
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Colt is the sole source for the M4 carbine, show n here as
specified by Mil- Spec standards. The oft- seen RIS M1913
forend is added later as part of a SOPMOD upgrade.
own drawing num bers that they use internally, but really
Colt’s drawing is just a snapshot of the governm ent
drawing and has all the inspection criteria on it, all the
special testin g requirem en ts, the in spection requirem ents, the level of inspection, and the references to, in
this case, MIL-STD-1916.
When a production lot of parts com es in from a
ven dor— or Colt or FN m an ufactures a production lot
of parts— sam ples of the com pon en ts or parts are
pulled, an d they go through poin ts of in spection . A
lower receiver goes through approxim ately 102 poin ts of
in spection , for exam ple.
“You can’t just m ake the parts an d throw ‘em in the
gun s. Probably a good thin g to say is that the m ilitarystan dard really m ean s that you’re doin g all the testin g
an d all the in spection in accordan ce with the m ilitaryspecification for that weapon’s specification . Are you
doin g everythin g that the stan dard requires you to do?”
explain ed Phil Hin ckley, Colt’s Director of En gin eerin g.
The in dividual com pon en ts have to m eet the U.S.
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Our patented mounting design minimizes point-of-impact shift, so there’s no need to re-zero after attachment or removal.
Sub-MOA accurate. On or off in under three seconds. Rugged enough for full-time use.
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Who Owns The M4 Name?
n o on e, accordin g to a federal cou rt.
APPARENTLY Th e term is gen eric.
Th e Un ited States District Cou rt in Main e recen tly ru led th at
Colt does n ot own a valid tradem ark for th e design ation “M4.” Th e
d ecision ca m e in a su m m a ry ju d gm en t gra n ted in fa vor of
Bu sh m aster Firearm s in a tradem ark case brou gh t by Colt Defen se,
in wh ich Colt accu sed Bu sh m aster of in frin gin g on th e “M4” tradem ark an d th e trade dress of th e M4, both of wh ich Colt claim ed it
own ed to th e exclu sion of oth ers in th e in du stry.
In addition to den yin g Colt’s in frin gem en t claim s, the Court
granted judgm ent for Bushm aster on its claim for cancellation of Colt’s
federal tradem ark registration for the nam e “M4.”
Bu sh m aster sp okesm an an d ch airm an , Rich ard Dyke,
said h e is gratified with th e d ecision , n ot on ly for
Bu sh m aster, bu t for th e en tire firearm s in du stry. “Colt
Colt’s Tech n ical Data P (TDP) for th e
h as for years m ade all sorts of claim s [abou t in tellectu al
M4/ M4A1 carbin e— their in tellectual propp rop erty], bu t th is case clearly sh ows Colt h as been overerty— apparen tly hasn’t always been easy to
statin g its righ ts. In th is case, th e Cou rt determ in ed th at
protect.
th e righ t to u se th e M4 term an d to sell firearm s th at look
In 1997, the DoD’s Office of the In spector
like th e M4 typ e, are righ ts th at belon g to th e in du stry,
Gen eral (OIG) con ducted an audit on the pron ot ju st Colt.”
curem en t of M4/ M4A1 carbin es. Based on this
The Court’s order affirm ed a prior recom m en ded deciaudit, they issued a report (Report No. 97 -165)
sion of a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the case. Am on g other
on Jun e 17, 1997 that discussed the failure of
thin gs, the Magistrate’s decision held that “M4” is a gen eric
the U.S. Arm y an d U.S. Navy to protect Colt’s
term that m erely describes a type of firearm , an d is n ot an
M4A1 TDP from “im proper release.”
iden tifier of Colt as a sole source for such firearm s.
Basically, an Arm y en gin eer released the
In doin g so, the decision n oted that m ore than a dozen
M4A1 TDP to the Navy. The Navy had origifirearm m an ufacturers other than Colt have used the term
n ally requested the TDP for in tern al use, but
M4 for years to refer to m ilitary-style carbin es with colen ded up releasin g it to 21 differen t con traclapsible buttstocks an d shorten ed barrels. Sin ce the M4
tors—essen tially Colt’s com p etitors— in a
term is gen eric, th e Cou rt gran ted ju d gm en t for
solicitation for M4A1 adapter kits. Not good,
Bushm aster that Colt’s federal tradem ark registration for
at least n ot for Colt.
the M4 should be can celled.
In the Arm y and Navy’s defense (excuse the
The court also dism issed Colt’s claim for in frin gem en t
pun), they did take steps to rem edy the TDP disof M4 trade dress, both because the alleged trade dress is
closure and security breach “…as is provided
p rim arily n on -fun ction al an d because Colt could n ot
for in Article XX of the license agreem ent.”
establish that the buyin g public associated the look of the
The OIG was un able to determ in e what, if
M4 on ly with Colt.
an y, deleterious effect the im proper disclosure
Addition ally, th e Cou rt dism issed Colt’s claim s for
had on Colt’s future sales of M4 an d M4A1 carin frin gem en t of the term s M16, CAR, Match Target, AR-15
bin es. Wh ile th e OIG determ in ed th at th e
an d Com m an do because it con cluded that there was n o
Arm y had been within its rights to term in ate
likelihood of con fusion am on g purchasers as to the source
their con tract with Colt for M4 carbin es, OIG
of Bushm aster’s products.
also determ in ed th at th e Arm y h ad m ade
The court also held that Colt could recover n o dam ages
“…n u m erou s ad m in istrative an d clerical
on its on ly rem ain in g claim un der Section
errors” durin g M4 procurem en t.
43(a) of the Lan ham Act.
Thanks For Nothing, Guys
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Colt M4 w ith M203 grenade launcher and optional
M203 sight on the flat- top upper.
govern m en t’s techn ical data package an d Colt’s TDP,
which are iden tical, except Colt puts the govern m en t’s
M4/ M4A1 carbin e TDP in to its own n um berin g form at
for its own m an ufacturin g process. Colt actually own s
the techn ical data package.
“We utilize the sam e on e as the govern m en t requires,
but we also m ay add to it. It’s n ever less than , but it can
be greater than [the govern m en t’s TDP],” Hin ckley said.
MIL-STD-1916 is the in spection requirem en t which
is to say, it’s an in spection sam plin g plan . All the com -
pon en ts are laid out on a drawin g as to what actually
has to be in spected, an d at what level. Colt or FN will
pull a specific quan tity of com pon en ts based on the size
of a production lot. They have to then put the pulled
com pon en ts through all the in spection criteria. If they
fin d even on e defect in on e part, that puts it out of specification on a 102-poin t (or 102-code) in spection , an d
the whole production lot is rejected.
If the govern m en t wan ts to upgrade the M4/ M4A1
carbin e or M16 A3/ A4 TDP, they would presen t an
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SUMMER 2008
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En gin eerin g Chan ge Request (ECR)
to Colt. Altern atively, Colt cou ld
presen t an ECR to the govern m en t.
Colt wou ld evalu ate th e ECR to
determ in e whether or n ot they can
im p lem en t th e requ ested ch an ge
successfully.
If it in volves a p art th at’s th e
sam e on both th e M4/ M4A1 an d
th e M16 A3/ A4, th e govern m en t
wou ld fu n n el th e ECR ou t to FN, so
Colt, FN an d th e govern m en t all
h ave it an d can u n an im ou sly agree
on th e ch an ge. It wou ld th en
becom e a Notice of Revision (NOR),
an d Colt an d FN wou ld im p lem en t
it. It’s n ot an act of Con gress, bu t a
close secon d.
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Pressure Cooker
Now that we have the big picture,
wh at are th e m an u factu rin g,
in sp ection , an d testin g p rotocols
an d procedures in volved in m eetin g
Mil-Sp ec requ irem en ts? Th e first
p rotocol is som eth in g called th e
“High -Pressu re Proof Testin g an d
Colt M4 Car bine Specifications
CALIBER
5.56X45mm NATO (.223 Rem)
W EIGHT W ITHOUT M AG:
5.9 lb (2.68 kg)
EM PTY 30 ROUND M AG:
0.25 lb (0.11 kg)
LOADED 30 ROUND M AG:
1.0 lb (0.45 kg)
OVERALL LENGTH:
33 in (84 cm)
Stock Retracted:
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Magn etic Particle In spection .”
Th is p rocedu re calls for every
bolt an d barrel— n ot on e in 10, n ot
on e from every lot, but every sin gle
on e— to fire a high-pressure proof
roun d. A proof roun d is about 20
percen t over the n orm al pressure of
a stan dard roun d of am m un ition .
The bolt an d the barrel get highp ressu re p roof tested sim u ltan eou sly, wh ere th ey fire th e rou n d
in side an en closed capsule, with the
barrel an d bolt closed beh in d it.
Th is is th e “p ressu re vessel,” or
high-pressure area, of the weapon .
After the barrel an d bolt com e
out of the proof-testin g area, they
receive a m agn etic particle in spection , where a n on -destructive Level
2 test is perform ed by an NDT Level
2 tester. Th is m agn etic p article
testin g is also
kn own
as
“Magn aflu xin g,” sin ce it’s d on e
usin g a m achin e m ade by a com p an y called Magn aflu x. Wh en
som eon e says, “We Magn afluxed it,”
what they m ean is they perform ed a
29.8 in (76 cm)
BARREL LENGTH:
14.5 in (37 cm)
BORE CHARACTERISTICS:
Hard Chrome Lined, 6 Lands and Groves,
1:7 in RH twist (178 mm)
M ETHOD OF OPERATION:
Gas; Direct System, Locking bolt
M UZZLE VELOCITY:
2,900 ft/ sec (884 m/ sec)
M UZZLE ENERGY:
1,645 Joules
EFFECTIVE RANGE:
600 m
FRONT SIGHT:
Adjustable front
REAR SIGHT:
M 16A4 adjustable for windage and
elevation to 600m
SIGHT RADIUS:
14.5 in (37 cm)
CYCLIC RATE OF FIRE:
700- 950 rpm
FIRE CONTROL SELECTION:
Safe - Semi - Full Auto
UPPER RECEIVER:
Flat Top W ith Detachable Handle
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Colt M16A4 w ith a 20- inch barrel, fixed stock and detachable
carrying handle on an M1913 upper receiver.
m agn etic particle in spection .
The NDT Level 2 in spector m agn etically charges the
bolt an d barrel assem bly, then dips it in to a fluorescin g
solution an d “reads” it un der ultraviolet light. By m agn etically chargin g the assem bly, an y an d all im perfection s, or “in dication s,” will show up un der the UV light.
Sin ce they have already fired a high-pressure proof
roun d, if the bolt or barrel has an y im perfection in the
raw m aterial, the m agn etic particle test will reveal it.
Th ere are zero “in dication s” allowed, for even th e
vaguest poten tial of a crack in the barrel assem bly or
bolt is un acceptable to the govern m en t. An y “in dica-
tion” whatsoever, an d the part is rejected.
On e of the guidelin es that’s used durin g this n on destructive testin g— the Magn afluxin g doesn’t dam age
the assem bly in an y way— is ASTM E-1444, which is
stan dard p ractice for m agn etic p article in sp ection .
MIL-STD-1949 is also referen ced in the stan dard. The
wet fluorescen t particles which con form to AMS-3045,
are added to a light petroleum distillate con form in g to
DoD F-87935.
Commercial St andards
The tester has to be certified to Am erican Society of
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replacem en t for Mil-Stan dard 9858,
an d is largely based on Mil-Stan dard
9858. The ISO 9001-2000 is used n ot
on ly for the M4 Carbin e, M4A1 carb in e, an d M16-series weap on s
(M16A3, M16A4, etc.), but it’s also
written in to in dividual com pon en ts
an d parts, in cludin g sm all parts.
Ba rrels, sp a re b a rrels, u p p er
receivers, even sm all com p on en ts
like p in s a n d screws a n d oth er
p arts can be p u t in to th e ISO 90012000 sp ecification m an u factu rin g
requ irem en t.
When Colt first got their ISO certification , th e U.S. govern m en t
cam e in with twice as m an y people
as usual an d audited the com pan y
to th e en tire ISO stan dard, righ t
courtesy DoD
Testin g Materials (ASTM) stan dards, a com m ercial organ ization .
Form erly, the govern m en t tested to
a m il-stan dard, but n ow Un cle Sam
is u tilizin g com m ercial sp ecification s m ore an d m ore. With th e
adven t of in tern ation ally regulated
com m ercial stan dards, the govern m en t has largely m oved to in dustrial stan dards for m an u factu rin g
an d quality con trol.
Th e m ost p rom in en t of th ese
com m ercial standards is ISO 90012000. ISO stands for International
Organ ization for Stan dardization .
When they write the ISO 9001-2000
into contracts, it’s usually specified as
a higher-level quality requirem ent.
ISO 9001-2000 is b asically a
after a th ird -p arty registrar h ad
already don e so. That’s what you
m ight call “close scrutin y.”
Th e ASTM in sp ectors are
dou ble-qu alified as well. Th ey are
NDT Level 2 certified , a u n iqu e
classification at Colt wh ich requ ires
in -h ou se train in g offered on ly by
Colt. Th ey’ll do on -th e-job train in g
an d stu d y for an exam at Colt.
Th en , th ey h ave to go to a con tracted th ird -p arty NDT Level 3
h ou se th at p erform s th e actu al
testin g an d certification .
Th e NDT Level 2 in sp ector, in
tu rn , m u st be certified by an NDT
Level 3 h ou se to p erform th e
requ ired m agn etic p article in sp ection on bolts an d barrels. Hellier of
Nian tic, Con n . is Colt’s NDT Level 3
m agn etic p article h ou se th at con du cts all train in g an d certification
for Colt’s in -h ou se NDT Level 2
in sp ectors.
Yet M ore Test ing
The M4 an d M4A1 carbin es are
tested in accordan ce with MIL-C70599A(AR). This is the M4/ M4A1
carb in e m ilitary sp ecification
which, you m ay recall, is part of
Colt’s techn ical data package.
This specification requires all the
in sp ection criteria: en d u ran ce
testin g, in terch an geability testin g,
etc. It spells out what’s acceptable
an d wh at’s rejectab le d u rin g th e
fin al in spection process.
Th ere are ap p roxim ately 108
poin ts of in spection on every sin gle
gu n th at’s m an u factu red . Th is
testin g is very tim e con sum in g. On
th e tech n ical d ata p ackage for
in spection of all the com pon en ts,
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th e govern m en t sp ecifies all th e
m ajor an d m in or characteristics on
th e d rawin g, an d th e con tractor
(Colt an d FN Man u factu rin g, for
in stan ce) is resp on sib le for
in spectin g all com pon en ts in the
drawin g with MIL-STD-1916, which
is essen tially a sam plin g plan .
Every sin gle in d ivid u al p art—
every sprin g, every pin , every little
ball bearin g— has a coded drawin g
that specifies the in spection requirem en ts, an d the m an ufacturer has to
show proof of in spection back to the
origin al sou rce if th ere’s a th irdparty ven dor in volved.
Th e p arts in terch an geability test
is p erform ed in accordan ce with
MIL-C-70599A(AR). In a n u tsh ell,
you’re takin g 10 gu n s in a lot, for
exam p le, breakin g th em down to
th eir in d ivid u al com p on en ts,
sh akin g u p th e b oxes, an d
rebu ildin g th e 10 gu n s with in terch an ged p arts.
Th ose 10 gu n s th en go b ack off
to th e firin g ran ge, wh ere th ey’re
fu n ction -fired an d targeted again
to m eet sp ecification s. A govern m en t-em p loyed in sp ector will b e
p resen t for th is.
Th e
M4/ M4A1
carb in e’s
en duran ce test is 6,000 roun ds. The
weapon’s bolt gets exam in ed at the
2,400- roun d m ark in accordan ce
with the m ilitary specification . For
the M16 series (M16A3 an d M16A4),
the bolt gets exam in ed at the 6,000roun d m ark.
One Bad Lug
courtesy DoD
Let’s say you h ave a 5,000-gu n
p rodu ction lot. If an yth in g fails, like
42
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lt
on e lu g breaks off on th e bolt on
h as a fu ll m etallu rgical laboratory
on e weap on ou t of th e en tire 5,000,
with a ch ief m etallu rgist on staff,
And By The Way…
th at wou ld fail th e en tire lot.
an d th ey d o all th eir m aterials
Oh, in case we forget to menThe en tire lot would have to go
testin g in -h ou se.
tion it, Colt doesn’t just make M 4
back, the m an ufacturer would have
Before an y raw m aterial (steel,
and M 4A1 carbines. They also
to determ in e the root cause, evalalum in um , polym er) is used in an y
make M 16A3/A4- series rifles. Colt
uate the failure, an d then go back
of their firearm s, the m aterial has to
recently made a small number of
an d m ake correction s to the core
fall with in th e m aterial su p p lier’s
M 16A4s for the U.S. M arine Corps,
m aterials, replace the parts on all
own specification an d receive a cerbut they’ve also made some for a
5,000 weapon s in the lot an d go
tification . On ce it’s received in
foreign military sales contract.
back to testin g.
Hartford, it then goes to Colt’s lab
Heaven forbid, if the in spectors
where it will go through the sam e
were to determ in e that the heat-treatin g was off on the an d even m ore rigorous testin g all over again .
bolt— if it were too hard, for exam ple— they’d evaluate
Basically, Colt does advan ced m aterial an alysis for
it, fin d a cause, an d the govern m en t would tell the con - their m aterials suppliers. Every com pon en t or part that
tractor to quaran tin e an d replace all the bolts in those gets heat-treated, gets hardn ess tested, in cludin g the
5,000 gun s, go back through test firin g on the fun c- alum in um receiver com pon en ts.
tion in g (reliability) an d targetin g (accuracy) side, then
Target ing And Firing
go back through en duran ce an d in terchan ge testin g
again to see if an ythin g else breaks.
Let’s say the production lot size of weapon s is 1,000.
It’s n ot easy to be Mil-Spec, as you m ay be gatherin g All 1,000 gun s go in to the firin g ran ge. Each gun gets 30
by n ow. Oh, but it’s n ot over yet.
roun ds fired through it for fun ction testin g. If it’s a fullColt an d FN h ave to test th e m icrostru ctu re of th e auto gun (M4A1 carbin e), the testers fire the gun on fullm etal on th e bolts to determ in e th e p rop er case dep th s auto. If it’s a three-roun d burst gun (M4 carbin e), the
an d h ardn ess. All com p on en ts h ave a sp ecific h ardn ess tester fires 10 three-roun d bursts.
sp ecification , wh ich is p art of th e requ irem en t. Colt
Next, the gun goes over to the firin g ports on the
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COM BAT TACTI CS
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Thinking outside
the sandbox.
courtesy DoD
takes two to three days to com plete, an d all in spection
an d testin g is perform ed un der the supervision of a
rotatin g govern m en t in spector.
TM
Pack I t Up
CNC and other automated machinery assures precise
tolerances to meet Mil- Spec requirements.
other side an d is targeted at 100 yards in side an in door
firin g ran ge. The govern m en t requirem en t is 10 roun ds
on target to m easure the group size of every gun . Colt
allows up to five warm -up shots; targetin g can require
15 roun ds plus 30 roun ds for fun ction testin g equallin g
(up to) 45 roun ds per gun .
After test firin g is com pleted, the gun s then go in to
the wash station , where they are broken down for a full
wash. Techn ician s clean the bore, then do a drop-plug
test on the barrel to test the straightn ess of the barrel.
Each gun then goes to the fin al in spection ben ch for a
108-poin t fin al in spection by AT1-level in spectors.
On ce th e wh ite-lab -coat gu ys h ave in sp ected all
1,000 gu n s, a govern m en t in sp ector com es in an d
p u lls fou r gu n s at ran d om from th e lot an d takes th ose
fou r gu n s goes ou t to th e ran ge an d in to a fu n ction testin g p ort, wh ere an in -h ou se AT2-level tester con d u cts th e 6,000-rou n d en d u ran ce test in fron t of th e
govern m en t in sp ector.
Ten additional guns are then pulled at random for parts
and com ponents interchangeability testing in the interchange room , again in front of a governm ent inspector.
The governm ent inspector will then pull a varying-size
sam ple— perhaps 13 to 15 guns out of 1,000— and perform the exact sam e 108-point final inspection that the
AT1-level inspectors did on all 1,000 guns.
In order to keep all the Colt in -house AT1 in spectors
on their toes, the govern m en t rotates the in spectors
they use to pull gun s. You wouldn’t wan t Joe In spector to
get too buddy-buddy with Fred Forem an . The govern m en t can be rem arkably in sightful.
This fin al in spection an d testin g process usually
46
After all the in spection s are com pleted, the gun s go
to the packagin g area. Colt has im plem en ted a radio frequen cy iden tification (RFID) on all gun s as part of the
packagin g system so the govern m en t can iden tify the
products. This is n ow a requirem en t, as of Jan uary 2008.
Not on ly does the box have to con tain an RFID
device, but also the packagin g itself has a m ilitary stan dard requirem en t for heat seals an d leak testin g!
The weapon s are packed in boxes in accordan ce with
the a m il-stan dard for boxes, alon g with the m agazin es
an d m an uals. The boxes are then placed on pallets,
which are on skids. The govern m en t in spector will then
in spect in dividual packs to m ake sure that the labelin g
is correct an d the boxes are properly packaged.
Th e in sp ector will eyeb all th e en tire p ackagin g
process. He’ll look at the boxes when they’re put in side
the pallets. Then he’ll look at the way everythin g is
strapped on the pallet to en sure the strappin g is up to
sn uff. If he doesn’t like the way a strap looks, or it’s loose,
he’ll m ake Colt re-strap them .
Wh en I m ade a com m en t abou t wh at a colossal
p ain in th e ass th is wh ole p rocess ap p ears to be, Colt’s
ch ief en gin eer calm ly rep lied, “Wh at we like to th in k
abou t is th e actu al en d-u ser, an d realize th at it’s all
worth wh ile for th e en d-u ser.” I u n derstood th at, bu t
th e p oin t h ad b een lost in th e seem in gly en d less
M4 vs. M4 A1
The M 4 Carbine is issued to U.S. Army and U.S.
M arine Corps infantry ground forces along with the
M 16A4 rifle. The M 4A1 carbine is currently issued to
Special Operations Forces (SOF) under USSOCOM and
has true full- auto capability instead of the standard
M 4’s three- round burst selector, which many SOF
assaulter/ operators don’t like.
The M 4A1 also has a heavier barrel and buffer than
the M 4. Specifically, the M 4A1 has an H2 buffer while
the M 4 has an H buffer. The H2 buffer has an extra
tungsten weight inside the buffer assembly.
According to a Colt engineer, the cyclic rate on the
M 4 and M 4A1 is approximately 700 to 970 rpm, usually hovering in t he 8 2 0 t o 8 3 5 rpm range.
The U.S. Army would like to give Colt Defense a $ 375
million M 4 carbine contract through fiscal 2009, but
t hey’ve been running int o some resist ance f rom
Congressional leaders, like Sen. Tom Coburn (R- Okla.),
who would like other weapon systems to be considered
and tested for a big Army contract.
w w w . s ur e f i r e . c om
p a ra d e of in sp ectors lookin g a t
everyth in g, righ t d own to th e
strap s in th e p allets.
Lives are on the lin e. If a gun gets
d am aged in sh ip m en t, all th e
in sp ection s are for n au gh t. Th e
en gin eer n odded p atern alistically,
“That’s it, an d that’s how we look at
it. An d I thin k people pay atten tion
to that fact.”
So, the bad n ews is, you can’t
have a Mil-Spec weapon un less you
wan t to break in to Ft. Bragg. The
good n ews is, you have som e seriously great com m ercial altern atives
at your disposal, than ks to a veritab le p leth ora of m an u factu rers
m akin g ARs. Just be ready to slap
th is article down if an y of th em
claim to b e Mil-Sp ec.
Now you kn ow better.
The au thor, David Cran e, w ou ld like
to than k Colt Defen se for providin g
detailed in form ation abou t th eir
m an u factu rin g, in sp ection , an d
testin g procedu res an d protocols,
w ith special appreciation for th e
cooperation to Phil Hin ckley, Kevin
Lan gevin (Sen ior Design En gin eer)
an d Jim Battaglin i (COO). Th e
au thor regrets that the appropriate
people at FN Man u factu rin g did n ot
to retu rn his phon e calls in tim e for
this article, con sequ en tly this story
has focu sed on Colt Defen se.
www.TangoDown.com
Cage code: 3BLZ8
3rd sq AD
David Cran e is a m ilitary defen se
in du stry an alyst an d con su ltan t an d
th e
ow n er/editor-in -ch ief
of
Defen seReview.com . He can be con tacted by phon e at (305) 202-2598, or
via e-m ail at u sdefcon @gm ail.com
COM BAT TACTI CS
SUMMER 2008
47