HK XM-8: What Was it and Why? (With Larry Vickers)
Forgotten Weapons
•
22m
Larry Vickers has the closest thing most any of us will ever have to a true XM-8 rifle, and has more than a little trigger time on the original XM-8 rifles. So, I asked him to explain what the rifle was and why it failed to become the new American service rifle. It's a fascinating story that will give you a lot of insight into the state of rifle development over the last 20 years!
Up Next in Forgotten Weapons
-
Shooting the Full Auto XM-8 Carbine
Thanks to H&K and to Trijicon for range access, we are out today shooting an original and authentic XM-8 carbine! The XM-8 family are relatively bulky guns; moreso than one would expect from seeing photos of them. However, they are also very smooth and comfortable guns to shoot, with a relatively...
-
Almost Adopted: The H&K XM-8 Family
Today we are in H&K's Grey Room in Virginia, taking a look at the XM-8 program. The rifle evolved form the kinetic energy carbine portion of the doomed XM29/OICW program, and eventually became the G36 rifle. In between those two, however, it was the XM-8, and it came close to adoption by the US m...
-
Winchester 1964 SPIW: Flechettes and ...
Today we are looking at the Winchester company's entry into the 1964 SPIW (Special Purpose Infantry Weapon) trials. The SPIW program was an attempt to increase small arms lethality by increasing hit probability with ideas like hyper-velocity flechette cartridges and burst fire trigger mechanisms....