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XM106 light machinegun.
Excerpts from article:
The US began the Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) program in the late 1970s with four main contenders emerging.
The XM106 an open-bolt, magazine-fed adaptation of the M16A1 developed by the US Army’s Ballistics Research Laboratory under the direction of Timothy Brosseau who also developed the M231 Firing Port Weapon used in the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
The XM106 boasted a quick-change barrel system, forward pistol grip and a modified fire control group which allowed the weapon to fire from an open bolt.
The XM106 was quickly discounted from the Squad Automatic Weapon program with FN’s Minimi/XM249 eventually winning out.
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McDonnell Douglas Advanced Infantry Weapon System (AIWS) and ARES-Olin AIWS - contenders that were knocked out before Phase 3 of the ACR program.
Link to article on ACR entries.
The McDonnell Douglas AIWS (Advanced Infantry Weapon System) was one of the ACR prototypes that did not make to Phase III of the program. The AIWS used lockless "chiclet" rounds. A saboted flechette was positioned in the center of the cartridge with the powder compartments on either side, with the "lockless" chamber closed off at the breech end with a slot at the top and bottom of the barrel. Ammunition is fed into the chamber from the magazine located on the left side of the weapon and a sliding pressure sleeve closes off the barrel’s openings.
The ARES-Olin AIWS also didn't make it past Phase II of the program. The AIWS uses a 5mm caliber (5×44mm in Phase I, 5×54mm in Phase II), 45 grain saboted tracer round in a telescoped configuration that feeds into the weapon using a 65-round plastic belt carried by a drum. Initially, the cartridge consisted of a brass casing with a plastic end cap at the front, and the projectile sheathed in a three-part sabot. When the weapon is charged and ready to fire, the chamber is sealed in a lower position by the trigger sear. When the trigger is pulled, the chamber moves upwards, releasing the firing pin slide. The firing pin locks up the action as it struck the primer, firing the weapon. As the projectile passes the gas port, the expanding gases push the firing pin and rammer slides backwards while the chamber drops into the feed position.
XM19 AAI SPIW prototype flechette "rifle"
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/47437185
(I apologize for the photo quality. The lighting in this building was very harsh)
The Special Purpose Individual Weapon was part of a long-running weapons development program to develop a flechette-firing weapon that was supplemented by a grenade launcher. Rock Island Arsenal's Weapons Command received the project in 1962 as part of the organization of Army Materiel Command.
Four competitors submitted weapon designs: Harrington & Richardson Arms Company, Winchester Arms, AAl Corp., and Springfield Armory. Trials were held in 1964 with both Winchester and Harrington & Richardson being eliminated.
When Springfield Armory closed in 1968, AAI Corp. took over as the lead on the project and developed the XM19. By 1979, the Army concluded the XM19 did not meet the needs of the program, and it was abandoned. Despite its cancellation, the project's work on grenade launchers led to the development of the XM203, adopted in 1969 as the M203 40-mm. grenade launcher. The M203 replaced the M79 launcher.
