In late 2005, a Russian mineral exploration company discovered a series of large oilfields in southern Sudan. Sudan’s Military government, with its ability to hold the newly revitalised Sudanese People’s Liberation Army at bay beginning to falter, decided this new source of oil was its one sure-fire way to hold onto power.
Caliber: 5.56mm NATO
Action: Gas operated, rotating bolt
Overall length: 838 mm (stock extended); 757 mm
(stock fully collapsed)
Barrel length: 370 mm
Weight: 2.52 kg without magazine; 3.0 kg with
magazine loaded with 30 rounds
Rate of fire: 700 - 950 rounds per minute
Maximum effective range: 360 m
From the first sight, the M4A1 SOPMOD is an ideal
Special Operations weapon - handy, flexible, with
good firepower. But the latest experience in the
Afghanistan showed that the M4 has some flaws.
First of all, the shorter barrel commands the
lower bullet velocities, and this significantly
decreased the effective range of the 5.56mm
bullet. Second, the M4 barrel and the forend
rapidly overheats. Third, the shortened barrel
resulted in the shortened gas system, which works
under greater pressures, than in M16A2 rifle. This
increases the rate of fire and produces more
stress on the moving parts, decreasing the
reliability. While adequate as a Personal Defense
Weapon for the non-infantry troops (vehicle crews,
clerks, staff officers etc), M4A1 is, by some
accounts, less than ideal for the Special
Operations troops, at least in its present state.
The idea of the complete re-arming of the US Army
with the M4 as a money-saving measure, also is
somewhat dubious.
700-900 RPM actually.