Army might have found its new rifle in Colorado Springs garage

[ProgSpear]

Interesting concept, but certainly not ready for prime time.

Army might have found its new rifle in Colorado Springs garage

 

[ProgSpear]

And then a series on how the M-16 platform keeps on chugging...

The M16 Rifle Went to War Against North Korea—And Succeeded. But In Vietnam, Not So Much.

Did the M16 Rifle Totally Fail During the Vietnam War?

How the Army's M16 Keeps Evolving (And Killing America's Enemies)

 

[Cavalry]

An interesting novelty but it wont go anywhere. The "enblock" chambers would be far more expensive and more importantly bulky/heavy than traditional rounds. The action is wide open to the elements or debris. Electronic actuators hitting primers, yeah that sounds like its always going to work. The side magazine I am sure will be absolutely delightful for lefties and urban warfare. One of the strong points of the M16 platform was the minimal recoil due to the buffer system, that is gone with this, think old school rifle. 5 shots at once? Sure an experienced shooter might be able to handle that but a novice which many in basic training are? Meh....

 

[Celt]

Interesting idea, id like to see the military worthy prototype.

 

[Shadow2]

If anything maybe the military will re-coop his 500K investment and some seed money for R&D i don't see it going anywhere as designed but often parts of a design can be applied somewhere else.

 

[meketrefe]

Interesting concept, but certainly not ready for prime time.

Army might have found its new rifle in Colorado Springs garage

Nah!
The Army can waste as many taxpayer dollars as they want but this design has several fundamental flaws by design.
4, 3, even 2 rounds the same time is going to be pretty unpractical. For long range the shots will be scattered and
for close range you already have a shotgun that can do anything from birds to Grizzlies or breach doors.
The 4 bores will not be able to converge w/o separating the bore from some sort of bore housing so the POI can
be adjusted.
Also 4 round blocks will still a larger housing to allow more firepower and quick reloading that will make the
magazine system huge and heavy. I see more future in PCP ammo, but graphene cases will be most likely the solution.
I do see potentially the powder being replaced by other substances like gels and liquids that require a very small
super high pressure casing.
Also electronics in the firing mechanism add another layer of complexity and with that diminished reliability.

This makes a nice article but IMO nothing else. We have to keep trying though.

 

[Catskillkid]

Interesting concept. Personally, I don't see it's practicality but I always appreciate folks who like to tinker and push the envelope on technology. Will be neat to see what if anything comes of this and if it can actually function in a real world setting.