How come the U.S. Army hasn't replaced the M4/M16 yet?

Question

Is it THAT good of a gun, or is the Army that cash-strapped? We came 95% of the way to making the XM8 but stopped. Also, why are countries like Israel, Thailand, and Australia replacing the M4/M16 with Steyr AUG's and TAR-21's, which also happen to be more accurate. It may be battle-proven, but come on, so was the Thompson and M1 Garand.

Answer 1

Toms 1266 gave a pretty good answer. I'll give him a thumbs up.

Answer 2

give gunsrfun mg hes smart

Answer 3

Within a few years the M16 A6 will be completely out of stock. The M4 is slowly replacing it. Theres so many bases, barracks, troops, etc, itll be a while before its completley in circuit

Answer 4

Probably for reasons totally unrelated the weapons performance. Gov't contracts have alot of politics along with them. Why do they buy $300 hammers and $150 toilet seats?  

Answer 5

the aug and tar-21's although ive never fired one are not more accurate or at least thats what research tells me. the reason we didnt accept the xm8 was because it would be manufactured in germany and its handguard melted when u fired too many shots. in my eyes it outbeats any other assault rifle out there except the g36, bushmaster acr, and a few others but those other rifles arent that much of an improvement over the M16 so its not worth spending millions to replace a weapon thats almost as good as them. look at Tom's links the M468 and HK416 are starting to replace M4's and M16's in certain SF groups. the M468 is even available for civilians ^_^ with a starting price of around $2500 if u want one

Answer 6

because it is a good weapon although we maybe replacing them with the XM8 in the next 2-5yrs

it is light and really accurate but it lacks in punch.

Answer 7

The U.S. wants a much better firearm and they have been looking for over 30 years to find one.  Generally the bigger the rifle (like one with a bunch of stuff attached to it), the heavier the rifle which is a bad thing.  Their version of the perfect round is between the 5.56 mm and the 7.62 mm round which are already in production.  There might be some caseless rifles down the road but they are expensive right now.

Answer 8

the eugene stoner series is a pretty god firearms series. BUT there are better ones out there.  They were changing to the HK 416.  But, they took them away.  To expensive.  Its all about money.  The gun is made by the lowest bidder.

Answer 9

Look up:  M468 and HK416.

The M16 is an incredibly reliable weapons platform and rather than replacing it completely we are evolving the design.

Answer 10

because they kick *** even though they are old.

Answer 11

why fix it when it ain't broke?!