Colt ACR (Advanced Combat Rifle)

History of the Colt ACR (Advanced Combat Rifle)

In the late 1970s, the U.S. Army began to explore the prospect of replacing its M16A2 main battle rifle, which was the driving force behind various small arms programs in the 1980s and 1990s.

In the 1980s, this was the Advanced Combat Rifle (ACR) program designed to improve the starter probability of standard infantry. Three phases were fleshed out and six contractors were part of the initial work. In the third phase, only AAI, Colt, Heckler & Koch and Steyr remain.

Colt has opted for an evolution of its existing line of M16 rifles, so the gun has a similar look and feel to earlier rifles. The biggest changes are the addition of an oversized heat shield to the barrel assembly and an improved, longer barrel handle to the receiver. The stock is collapsible and the barrel is fitted with a slotted flash suppressor. An ambidextrous selector control scheme allows single or fully automatic fire. In addition to the mounted iron sights, the mounting of a set of optics was also provided.

Chambering is a 5.56x45mm NATO or "duplex", and the heart of the action is still gas power.

The double cartridge is a single cartridge with two bullets, developed by Olin (Winchester) for competition. The company eventually launched three different cartridge types, with a third product selected for completion. The duplex design fires multiple rounds at the target in rapid succession, theoretically increasing the probability of a first shot. The first got to where it was aimed, while the second got near the target area of ??the first.

Many other ACR submissions follow the multi-bullet approach as it is seen as the best way to meet Army requirements.

While the muzzle compensator is great for reducing recoil and maintaining gun control, the dual-shot design reduces accuracy at long range - allowing the operator to also use regular 5.56x45mm NATO ammo for all shots, which must be Carry a medium distance (approximately 325 meters).

In the end, none of the commits were selected for further development, as none could improve the M16A2's first-hit probability by 100%. After hundreds of millions of dollars, the ACR program was terminated.

Attention then turned to the objective individual combat weapons of the 1990s, but even so failed to find a successor to the famous M16 rifle series still in service today (2016).

Specification

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Changes