NationStates Jolt Archive


Rail Systems for tactical rifle add-ons: A primer.

Eutrusca
24-02-2006, 14:38
COMMENTARY: Anyone here remember having to use "100 mile an hour" tape to mount a flashlight, laser sight, etc., on a rifle? I sure wish we had rail systems available in Vietnam. Any thoughts on rail systems?


BEST THING: Rail Systems (http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0,14632,SoldierTech_060223_Rails,,00.html?ESRC=soldiertech.nl)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rail systems have now become so integral to combat firearms that it’s hard to envision a time when we didn’t have them, or what soldiers used to do without them.

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/824/railsystems16sq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

By Eric Daniel, Military.com Staff Writer

In the beginning (1940) there were guns. Air-cooled, magazine-fed and in trained hands, they were capable of firing 24 aimed shots per minute out to 300 yards. The guns of that early time worked well during the day, when you could see, but weren’t so hot at night, when you couldn’t. Later (1960), scopes were added to some weapons to give them better accuracy at long ranges (out to 1000 yards in some cases), but the rate of fire took a serious hit; these scopes were so precise that aiming was equally precise and, consequently, time consuming. That made these weapons the equipment of the specialist (the sniper) rather than the rank and file, and these scopes still didn’t address the issue of the world being shrouded in darkness 50% of the time.

In the 80s, with the invention of duct tape and necessity, flashlights made an appearance as a field expedient illuminator. While they did light up the battlefield they were a bit indiscriminant (white light went everywhere), they weren’t exactly tactical (white light went everywhere) and they were clumsy to use (the on/off switch was hard to manipulate). But at least you could see and, taped to the rifle, it left your hands free.

Finally in the 90’s, a zero-parallax, red dot (M68 CCO) combat sight for the masses was developed that not only allowed the shooter to take aimed shots at any range, but actually increased the shooters rate of aimed fire. On top of that, at about the same time an infrared laser designator/target illuminator (AN/PEQ-2) was developed that actually eliminated the need to aim altogether at night. With the PEQ-2, all you had to do was put the dot on the target (literally) and pull the trigger; kinetic energy would do the rest. The problem then became, where do you put all of this cool stuff and how do you wrap the duct tape so that it doesn’t cover up something important, like the ejection port.

Enter the rail. Designated the Picatinny rail (after the Picatinny Arsenal which developed it), or the MIL-STD 1913, accessory rail systems have enabled shooters to accessorize their weapons to meet specific environmental conditions. Rail systems were developed initially for large caliber rifles for the mounting of precision optics, but it was soon realized that rail systems could be developed to accommodate a wide variety of accessory systems beyond scopes, such as laser designators/illuminators, flashlights, bipods, bayonet mounts, back-up weapon sights and custom grips for close quarters action.

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/4483/railsystems21eh.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

A number of companies now design complete rail packages for military weapons. GG&G out of Tucson, AZ, for example, markets a complete rail “kit” for the standard M16/M4 rifle, replacing the carrying handle and arm guards with 5 separate rails. Meanwhile, Knight Enterprises LLC features a floating barrel modular weapon system (RAS II) where the rail system is suspended away from the barrel, thus improving accuracy. Other firms, such as Smith Enterprises and A.R.M.S. focus on accessory mounts for legacy equipment. Smith, for example, offers a wide variety of scope mounts and rings, as well as a number of rail systems (especially for the re-introduced M14 series semi-automatic sniper rifle) while ARMS specializes in Picatinny rail mounts for combat optics, night vision devices, and laser illuminators (ARMS also offers a complete rail package, the SIR or Selective Intigrated Rail system).

In fact, rail systems have now become so integral to combat firearms that it’s hard to envision a time when we didn’t have them, or what soldiers used to do without them. Rails have now become the standard attachment system and entire crops of technology have been developed specifically to work with these systems (sparking a quintessential chicken-egg debate over which came first -- the laser or the rail.)

Aimpoint (M68 CCO), Trijicon (ACOG), and Eotech (HWS) all manufacture sights specifically for use with rail systems, while Surefire offers a line of white light/IR lights for both rifles and pistols and Insight Technologies specializes in combination white/IR/laser systems, while Nightline Inc. manufactures the Army’s current issue laser illuminators, the AN/PEQ-2 and the AN/PAQ-4 visible/IR laser illuminators.

In the realm of gun combat the rules are simple; he who hits first wins. All things being equal, the shooter who can align his sights on the target first and pull the trigger is going to win the fight. Accordingly, advancements in weapon technologies have focused on target acquisition and rapid sight alignment. Rails allow shooters to tailor their weapons to their mission requirements; zero-parallax optics, like the M68, for close-in work, and the ACOG for medium range shooting, white/IR lights for tactical illumination, and visible/IR lasers for target designation and illuminating. In this respect, the development of the rail system, and the ensuing technologies it enabled, may have been the greatest contribution to infantry warfare since the development of the repeating rifle.

Of course, there’s now the problem of all that surplus 100 mph tape…