I like Fox News.
But whoever they have writing about the military and/or weapons for the military either doesn’t have a clue or doesn’t care enough about their job to do some basic background work.
I’ve written about it before.
And this time, they’re writing about the USMC IAR, which is made by HK – but the video they embedded on the page is from FutureWeapons, and talks about the LWRC IAR entry, which was not selected by the USMC.
Aside from the obvious error – using FutureWeapons as an authoritative source – the LWRC IAR and the HK M27 are different weapons, and this could have been discovered very quickly had anyone chosen to investigate for a few minutes.
“Fair and Balanced” doesn’t incite accuracy. 😉
It’s Fox News…it should be expected. If you’re an expert in any particular field, you’ll find Fox’s reporting on said field to be very inaccurate and substantially worse than other news outlets. Fox News is not a legit news source, I’ve been saying it for a decade.
I used to be a FoxNews fan and have over time drifted away from them as a news source with most of my info now coming from Drudge. I hope you don’t put the lamestream or CNN in the legit news source pile though.
I mainly use Drudge for news.
Eaaaaasy there trigger, FOX made what is a very insignificant error in the big picture of current events. This is especially true when comparing FOX to other new outlets. They probably don’t put their best people on this type of story, and being in New York, I doubt many folks are up to speed on weapons of any type (other than to know they don’t like them) in one of the largest bastions of liberalism in the US.
Bottom line, contrary to the beliefs of the beverage consumers, the HK IAR is POS cobbled abortion of Stoner’s rifle. A heavy and bloated weapon with proprietary parts, I have yet to have anyone tell me what it has over a comparably configured Colt M16. Plus, to replace a belt fed weapon with another magazine fed weapon is ludicrous at best. If the USMC wanted a replacement for the SAW, Knight’s LMG along with appropriate training should have been the choice.
As someone who’s carried the SAW on dismounted patrols, I disagree with you.
that is why I said Knight’s LMG would have been the logical replacement. 10 lbs (yes 10 lbs and only 2 lbs heavier that the M27)) of belt fed heaven. I have watched Reed hold it over his head with one hand on numerous occasions and unload 200 rds. There is information elswhere where it was turned down allegedly/partially because Knight’s didn’t have have the manufacturing capability. Reed has some interesting quotes in the article.
I believe the sights were set on HK’s offering to back door a piston operated M16 type rifle into the system from the beginning, based on another myth that the M16 family of weapons as designed by Gene Stoner is somehow inferior because of the DI system. You keep it lubed (wet), contrary to current military doctrine, and it will run and run and run. I also beleive that HK’s marketing coated with ample supplies of fairy dust is the best in the business and it was a partly a sales job. That is not to say HK doesn’t make adequate weapons, but I have never seen the Tuetonic myth come to fruition, and it definitely doesn’t with the M27.
Still. no one has told me what HK’s offering has over a similarly configured M16, and you can’t replace a belt fed weapon with a magazine fed weapon. Lack of proper training with a light weight belt feld (Knight’s) would work wonders in the long run. My .02.
“What” is why the Knight’s LMG would have been the logical replacement? I said that I had carried the SAW and disagreed with you. That’s all. I didn’t say “well only if someone had come up with a 10lb belt fed, that would just be perfect!” Nobody carries an unloaded weapon into combat. The SAW is heavy and cumbersome mainly because you’ve got to carry 200 rounds in the weapon, or 100 if you’re lucky enough to find a nutsack. Now your 10lb LMG weighs 17lbs.
I don’t care, honestly, about your conspiracy theories. I don’t care if you think that “you can’t replace a belt fed weapon with a magazine fed weapon.”
I am almost always impressed with the level of knowledge I see among people that comment here. Many of them have tons of real world experience and their comments come from that experience. I very rarely see someone who is just parroting what they heard or read elsewhere and insisting that they’re correct. This keeps me very happy.
If you don’t have fire and maneuver experience with the SAW and the M16 and the M4, if you’ve never humped at night with a SAW, if you’ve never lost sleep because you had to constantly maintain your SAW to keep it working, please refrain from commenting in the manner that naturally suits you. There are plenty of places on the internet where you can do that. It may fly elsewhere, but you just stick out like a sore thumb here.
Wow, why are you so uptight? I must say I am surpised at your response and attack. First, and not wanting to be condencending, but since you started it, I was carrying an M16 probably before you were born. When you hump a 60, then talk to me.
I am not one to get into internet debates, and don’t generally question someones opinion. I don’t think I did so with yours, and I don’t insult. If it is that important to you, feel free to email me and we can have a chat. I often wonder why I even bother? You can’t say anything w/o somone getting their panties in a wad.
I brought up Knight’s and the associated article solely because as you and others have complained about the SAW’s weight. Knight’s LMG weighs loaded what a SAW weighs unloaded. Substantial. Plus, the dual feed of the SAW has been a bit problamatic on occasion.
I have known Reed for ** years or so. I know what he makes. I know what Gene designed, and the LMG smokes anything out there, period. By the way, the so called “conspiracy theories” are not mine. The fact is if you read the article and quotes by Reed, you would get the picture of what often goes on in the procuremnt process. Bottom line is Reed has far more experience in weapons design, manufacture, sales, procurment, etc. than either you, me, and probably all of your readers here combined. So, if you want to call him a “conspiractry theorist”, be my guest. Myself, I will dirgress to his expertise.
The beloved piston abortion called the 416 has absolutely nothing over a comparably configured M16. That holds true particlualry with the firing constraints put on the IAR. Andrew, if you know, please tell me what any real world advantage the HK IAR has. As I mentioned earlier, you keep an M16 lubed, and it will run, at a 20% weight reduction over the HK IAR, and you seem very concerned about weight.
Oh, and I wouldn’t get too excited about the newest and bestest high capacity magazines being offered or in developement. We’ll see how well these pan out.
That’s a good question. Why do you bother? You’ve repeated the same thing over and over again. I get it, you hate the M27. You think it’s a backdoor way to replace the M16. Conspiracy theory. I really don’t care, because this is not a place to discuss theories.
You’re trying to make your square experience with the M60 fit a round discussion hole regarding the SAW. You don’t understand the doctrinal shift that the IAR represents. I have better things to do than explain it to you. I know, I’m a big meanie. I really, honestly, don’t have the time to deal with crap like this. Go somewhere else, where people have nothing better to do than talk about inane stuff for hours on end.
The problem is that this is their consistant standard ,or lack thereof, when it comes to everything. They are always sloppy, lazy, and half assed.
That may be politically convenient if you are not ideologically aligned with the most frequent targets of bad reporting but shoddy reporting is shoddy reporting.
Fox news (and many others) should not be taken seriously for any reason ever. They mix in opinion far too often and more often than not have no Idea what in the hell they are talking about. Basically what John Baker said.
Please don’t generalize NY city as with the rest of “New York”. There are some very ardent gun enthusiasts and proponents in upstate NY and some very knowledgable individuals in regards to firearms as well.