Ok this is like comparing apples and brake pads
two whole different worlds
take the USA,
manufacturing costs are not a thought of item any more
R&D way way out in front
you considered other things like ammo carrying capacity
maintinace in the feild and service contracts ( read as ongoing income )
income from these weapons is a big factor , maybe more than most realise
the Soviet considered least ammount of machining to produce
one of thier major refits was to allow a feild factory production
(one factory was sent to vietnam in the early days but stolen off the 3 railway cars in china by the chinese)
simple feild cleaning and repair or throw it away and get another was the attitude
income was never a issue and so many "options" where never included as compared to the US rifles
as for China
its a AK or AKM clone
as are Tobuks and the mid east varients
so it boils down in recent times to a 1960;s design that had 5-6 revamps on the US side and a 1940's design with about the same number of revamps but for differing purposes
its a differential of economic needs and political thinking reflected in a product
but both are still in the same base cycle of revamping pretty old designs
other places are looking at more modern designs
like the P90
M88 Styer ( ok but not great trust me)
the PDW's
various bullpup designs to give a smaller profile of the soldier while allowing full length barrels to allow the smaller 5.56 mm rounds and others to hit with the required force to be effective at the expected conflict ranges
different thoughts behind the design again
while a lot of thoughts are now turning to advanced munitions and thier delivery such as metalstorm and the Russian version Naskoi
Naskoi has a lot of advantages
its a combined projectile and explosive munition, like a grenade
set the range, fire, and the thing will explode at that range, showering fragments in a kill zone of about 3 meters radius ( 2m to ensure a 90% kill)
max effective range is only 250 meters but most firefights they expect are below this range
it will not be a standard weapon but looking at maybe half a squad armed with these and half regular battle rifles
metal storm is a financial based weapons system
the idea there is to GIVE AWAY THE RIFLE, but sell the ammo in its preloaded format, this one i have worked on a lot as its a aussie idea but now there are so many varients but still awaiting a major US contract''
so what is best?
i'd say the one you have in your hand and know how to use and have ammo for and ongoing supplies
of the modern battle rifles my choice in order would be
M4
AR10(7.62, Modded)
AK47 (Modded)
Styer M88
AKM (Modded)
M16 (Modded)
FN FAL L1A1 B1 (F1 with 12G under attachment similar to M203, Modded)
modded means modified to take avadnced sights s in the M4 and M88 styer
beyond this it really dont matter in choice its how well i use what i have that will count.
i like the stopping power of the 7.62's
but most are unweildly, heavy and the ammo size and weight issues are a big consideration
another 1.87 cents worth from down under
cheers
jack
( some of our toys)
