Fire w/out Trigger

The Army is Finally Fixing Its Rifles That Could Fire Without Pulling the Trigger

Some M4A1 carbines will fire without pulling the trigger.

By Kyle Mizokami
GETTY IMAGESPHOTO BY CPL. JERED STONE

The U.S. Army is fixing a flaw in its carbines that allows some of the rifles to fire without pulling the trigger, a serious and deadly defect. The problem is particularly common among rifles designed to fire fully automatic.


Last summer a U.S. Army soldier noticed his M4A1 carbine would discharge if his weapon was loaded and the selector switch moved from the semi automatic firing position (“SEMI”) to the fully automatic (“AUTO”) position. Needless to say, the only time a firearm should discharge is when the user pulls the trigger.

According to Army Times, the service has inspected the weapons and found the issue affects the M4 carbine (less than one percent), M4A1 (six percent) and M4A1PIP (nine percent) carbines, and M16A4 rifles. The problem does not affect the 1980s-era M16A2 rifle. Approximately 900,000 weapons across both the Army and Marines require inspections.


A National Guardsman with the 48th Brigade Combat Team, George Army National Guard, fires his M16A4 rifle. 2009 pic.
MICHAEL WILLIAMS

The problem was narrowed down to a “tolerance stack of the internal firing components,” and the service is modifying the existing fire control group components to eliminate the defect. In June, a spokesperson for the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command told Army Times that checking every M4 and M16-series weapon in the service’s inventory and implementing a fix would take “a year to 18 months.”

The M4/M4A1 carbine is the standard infantry weapon of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marines. A descendant of the original M16 rifle, it has a shorter barrel and collapsible stock for increased mobility and ease of use. The M4 is 33 inches long and weighs 7.4 pounds. The M4 is chambered for 5.56-millimeter NATO ammunition and takes a 30 round magazine.

In 2014, the Army decided to move from a mixed fleet of M4 carbines and longer M16A2 and M16A4 rifles to an all-M4A1 fleet. The conversion process involved upgrading older M4s to the M4A1PIP (Product Improvement Program) standard and buying brand-new M4A1s. The original, stock M4 carbine only fires semi-automatic and three round burst. New features for the M4A1 over the M4 include a heavier barrel for prolonged firing and a modified trigger group that allows for a more consistent trigger pull and fully automatic fire.

Via Army Times.