XM8 Assault Rifle

Have any of you guys come across/ heard of the XM8 Assault Rifle project which involved Heckler and Koch?

It was shelved by the US Military halfway through.

What are your thoughts on this rifle? I was seriously impressed by its universal operational capability and its clean design. Only downside is that its almost entirely polymer based... so low temp operation may be poor!

Check it out and let me know your views!

I only know about it from articles and video games. I do you have an article that talks about its cancellation?

the XM8 looks cool but i prefer the HK416 check it out. www.youtube.com...

reply to post by miguelbmx


Ya, I saw the HK416 on that very same FutureWeapons episode. It is very cool.

Its why I always love and respect the AK-47.

Wow the 416 looks even better in terms of reliability!

I dont know if its as modular as the XM8 though.

Plus weight is an issue because these are assault rifles instead of main battle rifles... so the polymer XM8 may have an edge there.

I was also looking through the H&K G11... now theres a radical design! (Wouldnt like to be stuck with it in combat though, cumbersome beast).

From what I understand, the HK-416 is designed to be fully modular, possibly even more so than the XM8.

Assault rifles also tend to be lighter than battle rifles.

Shattered OUT...

reply to post by 44soulslayer


For something that was first designed nearly 50 years ago, are you really that surprised?

Originally posted by ShatteredSkies

Assault rifles also tend to be lighter than battle rifles.

Yeah that was my point, that the XM8 may be a better candidate when it comes to weight because it is lighter.

True that the 416 is modular though. Does it have many parts in common with the M4 its derived from? This would make spare parts easier to obtain, which may explain the US army's rationale in dropping the radical XM8.

Actually, many of the parts the HK-416 uses is from the M-4, one of the major components is the butt-stock.

Shattered OUT...

The XM8 was not that much of an improvement over the M4, where as the HK416 was much more durable and reliable in harsh conditions. It took alot of the great aspects of the M4 and corrected many of the problems. This along with abilty to use a 7.62 round in the HK417 model make for a great option.

here is a info video about the HK416 www.armytimes.com... too bad about what he says at the end.

[edit on 12-4-2008 by miguelbmx]

The XM8 was dropped because the plastic its made of starts to melt after about
a hundered or so rounds are put through it. That was I believe nearly four years ago now. The whole reason the HK416/17 came out was because they had invested so heavily in the XM8 and when that failed they had to have something to offer to the US gvt that improved on the Stoner or HK would be looking at the biggest loss in its history.

In the past 12 months the Pentagon held an open competition between manufacturers to test and compare reliability after the complaints from our soldiers in the sand about how badly and often the ARs jammed from at times just a few grains of sand. It became such an issue that congress started complaining about it and forced the Pentagons hand.

There were four competitors...
1.Standard issue M4A1
2.Robinson XCR
3.HK416
4.HKXM8

To everyones suprise it finished in this order..
1st place:HKXM8(!)...with barely any jams whatsoever
2nd:Robinson XCR
3rd:HK416
4th:M4A1

Roughly 1,000 rounds were put through each gun and the event was purposely held in the desert somewhere(location was classified I think)and none of the rifles were allowed to be cleaned.

Obviously HKs been working on the XM8 in hopes that they can fix what made it fail the last time and apparently they did something right as the plastics its made of didnt soften up and begin to melt this time. Also the reasons it actually jammed was according to HK was the cheap standard issue ammo.

Of course the Pentagon is more concerned about contractual obligations with Colt than the lives of our soldiers. For example, the Pentagon DID issue the HK416 to a limited number of troops. The troops loved it and the gun performed brilliantly in the field. Then someone in the Pentagon decided to implement an order for nearly all the troops to turn them back in giving no reason as to why. Only a couple spec ops units were allowed to keep their 416s.

The troops were furious and the turn-in order has caused quite the s-storm. They turned them back in as ordered but they let everyone know they werent happy about at all in some pretty unpleasant terms.

As of now the debate is still very much alive in congress and Pentagon officals have had to explain why they keep issuing the same obsolete and unreliable operating system when far better alternatives have long been available directly to congress in person. Its on YouTube somewhere..

Of course the Pentagon line is and has been "I dont know what youre talking about its the best assault rifle in the world!" and my favorite "..but the troops
love it!" and lastly "what complaints?"

The contract with Colt is up in 2010. It is a NO BID contract. Meaning no matter what happens, no matter how many have died cause their rifles jam from barely anything getting into it at all to having the horrendus gas impingement system overheat after not even a full clip and fail-so hot if you touch the breech youll burn your finger--, the Pentagon is legaly not allowed to take bids to replace it until the contract is up in 2010.

Sickening....

The XM8 will likely make another run for it but has an awful long way to go to
beat the new Magpul MASADA.

Itll be interesting and sadly most likely disappointing when and why the Pentagon makes its choice...

Hope this clears things up a bit....the XM8 may be cancelled but is far from dead.
Th

reply to post by Reise Reise

And meanwhile.. troops in Afgh. and Iraq get their a$$ kicked by stamped steel, super low tech AK`s. Ugly as heck, yet functional to the umpteenth degree(gotta love russian idiot-proof tech..) Money over lives ..They are the bloody US Army, one of the most powerful military mights on earth..they should kick Colt out of the loop.. Just test that odd-ball 1mil. shots-a-minute electric gun on Colt`s executives..would make them useful at last