QBZ-191 service rifle family

BoraTas said:

Not about China. But good for showing why the QBZ-191 is not very high-end. A truly gold-plated rifle the HK416 costs 1800 Euro in Germany. That is arguably a waste for an assault rifle, especially if you are not expecting a major land war.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1603192532728324096

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Since this is a technical thread, I’m going to be much more direct and terse:
1. That is off topic.
2. On that site, there is nothing that suggests it is a gold plated 416
3. That is just a yellow tan version of the Hk416A8. No military utilizes gold plated rifles/firearms in general because that is hard/impossible to produce in large quantities.
4. The materials, treatments and coatings of the inner AND outer parts of the rifle determine whether or not it is a high end rifle. A gold plated firearm with a cheap barrel will easily be beaten by a polymer based rifle with a barrel that has the proper treatment.

BoraTas said:

Not about China. But good for showing why the QBZ-191 is not very high-end. A truly gold-plated rifle the HK416 costs 1800 Euro in Germany. That is arguably a waste for an assault rifle, especially if you are not expecting a major land war.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1603192532728324096

Click to expand...

Off topic but I thought they were going to introduce the HK433 instead of the HK416 since it was the same but cheaper.

Aniah said:

Off topic but I thought they were going to introduce the HK433 instead of the HK416 since it was the same but cheaper.

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Nah. They were going to introduce the Haenel MK556, but that rifle got kicked out of the competition due to an infringement upon HK’s patent.

LawLeadsToPeace said:

Since this is a technical thread, I’m going to be much more direct and terse:
1. That is off topic.
2. On that site, there is nothing that suggests it is a gold plated 416
3. That is just a yellow tan version of the Hk416A8. No military utilizes gold plated rifles/firearms in general because that is hard/impossible to produce in large quantities.
4. The materials, treatments and coatings of the inner AND outer parts of the rifle determine whether or not it is a high end rifle. A gold plated firearm with a cheap barrel will easily be beaten by a polymer based rifle with a barrel that has the proper treatment.

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Gold-plated is slang. It basically means over specced.

BoraTas said:

Gold-plated is slang. It basically means over specced.

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That can be interpreted in either direction. Gold plated rifles do exist, so you’ll have to be more specific, especially when you are making a case in characterizing a rifle as overpriced.

LawLeadsToPeace said:

Nah. They were going to introduce the Haenel MK556, but that rifle got kicked out of the competition due to an infringement upon HK’s patent.

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So the HK433 is no longer being considered? I would think they would choose it since the competitor got disqualified. Seems they just wanted an AR-15 pattern rifle.

Aniah said:

So the HK433 is no longer being considered? I would think they would choose it since the competitor got disqualified. Seems they just wanted an AR-15 pattern rifle.

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Yep. It’s official:
I don’t know the thought-process behind the decision, but the decision has been made.

BoraTas said:

Not about China. But good for showing why the QBZ-191 is not very high-end. A truly gold-plated rifle the HK416 costs 1800 Euro in Germany. That is arguably a waste for an assault rifle, especially if you are not expecting a major land war.

Click to expand...

LawLeadsToPeace said:

Yep. It’s official:

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I don’t know the thought-process behind the decision, but the decision has been made.

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Interesting that Bundeswehr is sticking with 5.56mm rather than going for a higher calibre like the US Army.

Maikeru said:

Interesting that Bundeswehr is sticking with 5.56mm rather than going for a higher calibre like the US Army.

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I believe the US is the only one currently planning on adopting the new caliber and even then, there are push backs against this within its own community.

Maikeru said:

Interesting that Bundeswehr is sticking with 5.56mm rather than going for a higher calibre like the US Army.

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It is really only the US Army. Even US Marines are sticking with 5.56. Though they opted for a higher sustained rate of fire and a bit longer barrel. 6.8 Fury is a really powerful cartridge. High sectional density and really high speed... From a 16-inch barrel, it has more energy than 7.62 NATO has from a 22 inch barrel. It has all that energy despite having just an 80% of the cross-sectional area of 7.62 NATO. It is certain it is going to penetrate any body armor.

Such a round comes with cost and weight penalties though. The XM5 is an expensive rifle that is also heavy. 80 ksi pressure makes a suppressor mandatory because of sound, flash and recoil.

Combined with the fire control system, it is a return to the "every soldier is a marksman" mentality. We will see how it will work. Too early to say anything.