Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/958224
Until now, firearms collectors had very big problem – original XM177E2 was produced in limited quantity, pieces that least present times are even fewer (mostly in museums in USA). There is also a group of hardcore collectors building their own guns with using as much of original parts as they can find. Troy XM177E2 is part of Troy's My Service Rifle mod- ern replicas that try to follow the original design as close as possible.. Unfortunately, American laws required to make few changes, what will be described in detail later. Little bit of history History of XM177E2 dates back to middle 1950s when Eugene Stoner invented .308 AR-10 with innovative construction system of diverting combustion gases by port in the barrel that lacks of gas piston element. Except characteristic carrying handle, the AR-10 was built from aluminum alloys that resulted in low overall weight. An- other creation was .223 AR-15 adapted to .223 Reming- ton ammunition developed in 1957, rifle that after many adventures was adopted by… USAF. At the beginning there were problems with reliability, but in 1964 AR-15 was officially adopted as M16. Two years later US Army placed an order for 840,000 improved XM16E1 rifles that on 28th February 1967 got official designation of "US Ri- fle, 5.56, M16A1". Purchase of M16A1's was announced as "temporary and one time only". Where XM177E2 came from? As combat operations in Vietnam have started, involvement of American special forces units was increasing and for them one meter long rifle was just too long for jungle warfare, so they request- ed something that can provide same firepower, will have identical weapon manipulation, but be more compact. Let's move back in time a little, because many readers hearing „carbine version of M16" will have in mind the „CAR-15", that often is (wrongfully) used to describe every version of M16 with short barrel. Colt Automatic Ri- fle name was purposefully made by Colt to move away all associations with Armalite Company and describe com- plex CAR-15 Military Weapon System that consisted of M16 rifle variants in many configurations that had addi- www.fragoutmag.com