Posting this for historical use for down the road. These uppers are issued by USSOCOM to its Special Operation forces as a separate upper to the issued M4A1 with its 14.5" barrel.
parts
So today had the time
FN flattop M4 marked upper and various contracted small parts
After that was assembled then there’s the Crane cut down and dimpeled Colt M4A1 barrel to 10.3"
Torque the barrel nut down and then gage headspace
Install the Coronet low profile gas block and LMT gas tube. Use Locktite to secure set screws.
Attach the Daniel Defense Mk18 RIS II rail
Install Surefire FH556RC-1/2-28 FH with shims and Rocksett. Then torque down
Install Knight 600m rear sight, Knight folding front sight, FN bolt carrier and bolt, Precision Grinding & Manufacturing charging handle.
Got a range tomorrow out in the desert so I’ll take it out for a functions check and then issue out.
Lol I think several CQBR/mk18 clone junkies have tried bribing CD to mail home some of those 4 prong mounts :). Thanks for the post your insight/pics/contributions are awesome.
Last 416 I seen was the one I tested back in Dec 05’ with a SCAR Mk16. AWG had to turn theirs in and only CAG might be running them. Every DoD unit I see over here is running standard gas impingment.
There are still 416s in use by some units. Almost no complaints other than the additional weight and minimal benefits over the MK18. However none were significant enough to make the users go out of their way to substitute the weapon or upper for a conventional non-piston set up (as is often done with other weapon systems). The vast majority are running Geissele rail systems. Optics vary - I can’t remember seeing anything other than a EOTech or Leopold MK8 on them.
Seen some brand new in wrapper FN 10.3" 1/7 5.56mm SOCOM barrels. These are brand new just made a few months ago. Not cut down Colt 14.5" Govt profile from Crane. No taper pin holes where FSB goes, barrel dimpled and roll mark in proper place.
CD, it’s very interesting to see the Behind the Scenes on these.
May be offtopic, but wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to just fire off a cold-contact PM un-introduced: Just out of curiosity, have you ever seen or built-up anything like a GL/SSC, or are you pretty much a Mk 18 specialist?
