Carbine trials and piston future.

[C4IGrant]

@C-grunt

First of all this is not a thread about pistons vs DI.

So the Army has another trial going on for a replacement for the M4. Some here have stated that the top contenders right now are the H&K and the new Colt piston rifle.

If one of those gets chosen and adopted would that then be the standard piston system after that? Do you think other companies would be inclined to change their pistons to conform to “military standard”? Would they even be able to with patents or does a contract for the .gov make the design free to everyone?

If BIG ARMY chooses a new rifle and it a piston type M4, there will be a TDP written and the company(s) that were awarded the contract would be in control of it (and the info will NOT be shared).

With that said, companies will reverse engineer it as best they can, but at the end of the day it will not be equal (for many reasons).

C4