Feuer Frei!
08-05-11, 07:29 AM
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In 2005, Jimmy Stavrakis received an order to make components for Colt's M4 rifles as they were being rapidly fielded for units in Afghanistan and Iraq. In just a few days, Stavrakis and his engineers at ADCOR Industries Inc. had carved out precisely made upper receiver components for the Army's individual rifle.
But when officials came to inspect the parts, there was one small problem. Stavrakis and his team had printed the logo upside down. ADCOR, which until then mostly specialized in making precision components for the beverage industry, had never seen a completely assembled M4.
"We made the uppers in less time than they thought we could, and the components were right to specification," Stavrakis chuckled. "But we had no idea how they actually went on the rifle."
Despite the mix-up, this small manufacturer based in an industrial section of Baltimore, Md., found a way to make Colt's design better. After several years of building many of the rifle's parts, ADCOR's engineers decided to take a whack at making their own carbine.
What they came up with is the Brown Enhanced Automatic Rifle, or BEAR. The BEAR is a piston-operated AR design that features a variety of internal enhancements, including a forward charging handle, a bolt carrier-mounted dust shield and a free floating barrel.
"When we look at this weapon, what we see is another machine -- and it's a very simple machine for us in comparison to what we do for the bottling industry," Stavrakis said, explaining that some of his bottling machines have 20,000 parts and can fill 2,000 cans per minute.
"It's basically a giant Gatling gun," Stavrakis said.
The company plans to submit the rifle to the Army for the service's Improved Carbine competition, which could result in a wholesale replacement of the Colt-made M4.
An April 19 report from independent weapons testing firm HP White provided to Military.com by ADCOR shows that two of the carbines fired 6,000 rounds with no stoppages -- including 60 shots from a BEAR that had been submerged in water and buried in sand. The entire rifle, including the piston system, is designed to be disassembled and cleaned using a firing pin or rifle round.
Company officials say they've sold about 50 rifles to the Baltimore City police department, which called it in an October 2010 test report "an exciting and truly innovative weapons platform."
"We saw how much [the M4] has come under scrutiny on Capitol Hill and we took it upon ourselves as mechanical people to see if we could solve some of these problems," Stavrakis said.
SOURCE (http://www.military.com/news/article/from-cans-to-carbines-making-a-better-m4.html)
In 2005, Jimmy Stavrakis received an order to make components for Colt's M4 rifles as they were being rapidly fielded for units in Afghanistan and Iraq. In just a few days, Stavrakis and his engineers at ADCOR Industries Inc. had carved out precisely made upper receiver components for the Army's individual rifle.
But when officials came to inspect the parts, there was one small problem. Stavrakis and his team had printed the logo upside down. ADCOR, which until then mostly specialized in making precision components for the beverage industry, had never seen a completely assembled M4.
"We made the uppers in less time than they thought we could, and the components were right to specification," Stavrakis chuckled. "But we had no idea how they actually went on the rifle."
Despite the mix-up, this small manufacturer based in an industrial section of Baltimore, Md., found a way to make Colt's design better. After several years of building many of the rifle's parts, ADCOR's engineers decided to take a whack at making their own carbine.
What they came up with is the Brown Enhanced Automatic Rifle, or BEAR. The BEAR is a piston-operated AR design that features a variety of internal enhancements, including a forward charging handle, a bolt carrier-mounted dust shield and a free floating barrel.
"When we look at this weapon, what we see is another machine -- and it's a very simple machine for us in comparison to what we do for the bottling industry," Stavrakis said, explaining that some of his bottling machines have 20,000 parts and can fill 2,000 cans per minute.
"It's basically a giant Gatling gun," Stavrakis said.
The company plans to submit the rifle to the Army for the service's Improved Carbine competition, which could result in a wholesale replacement of the Colt-made M4.
An April 19 report from independent weapons testing firm HP White provided to Military.com by ADCOR shows that two of the carbines fired 6,000 rounds with no stoppages -- including 60 shots from a BEAR that had been submerged in water and buried in sand. The entire rifle, including the piston system, is designed to be disassembled and cleaned using a firing pin or rifle round.
Company officials say they've sold about 50 rifles to the Baltimore City police department, which called it in an October 2010 test report "an exciting and truly innovative weapons platform."
"We saw how much [the M4] has come under scrutiny on Capitol Hill and we took it upon ourselves as mechanical people to see if we could solve some of these problems," Stavrakis said.
SOURCE (http://www.military.com/news/article/from-cans-to-carbines-making-a-better-m4.html)