Talk:Heckler & Koch XM8

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XM8[edit]

Hi, has the US military finally made a decision on their new Assault Rifle? Anyone have an external link that talks about what they are up to now? Thanks. Green Squares (talk) 21:47, 9 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Try reading the article. It says so clearly there. --Nukes4Tots (talk) 23:37, 9 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Nope! Green Squares (talk) 23:01, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Yep! --Nukes4Tots (talk) 23:18, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Do either of the last two editors have any kind of proof to support their answers? Spartan198 (talk) 01:08, 22 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Similarities to H&K G36[edit]

The XM8 has the same cocking handle, similar carry handle and optics, and similar ambidextrous controls as the G36. Is that all that is the same or are the respective actions the same? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shortstack2012 (talk • contribs) 21:20, 4 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Both guns are the same inside, they use the same mechanics, only the wrapping is different. 85Pando (talk) 20:06, 27 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Basically just a G36 in a different shell, yes. Spartan198 (talk) 14:30, 23 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Why isn't this at all mentioned in the main article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.235.206.240 (talk) 04:29, 22 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Because without a valid source to back it up, such a statement would probably be flagged as POV and removed from the article. Spartan198 (talk) 12:54, 22 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Why?[edit]

Why did they cancel the program? It seems quite okay to me. Why does it need to be a metal magazine anyway? Okay, well I guess it's just a qualification, but still...--Rollersox (talk) 02:35, 6 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It was canceled mostly because it couldn't handle the harsh desert conditions, like Iraq and Afghanistan. Thegreene2010 (talk) 14:08, 3 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
No, that's just speculation on your part unless you have a citation to verify that. As far as I know, there's no concrete reason for why the rifle was canceled. ScienceApe (talk) 23:52, 4 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Because it didn't provide enough of an advantage over the current system to justify the cost of replacing hundreds of thousands of up-to-spec M16s and M4s. That, and replacing your standard service weapon in the middle of two wars is likely to cause all kinds of logistical problems for in-theater combat units. Spartan198 (talk) 14:36, 23 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
That's just your rationalization. Truth is congress denied funding for reasons unknown. --87.152.118.13 (talk) 00:12, 6 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I'll leave you to play the "blame Washington" card. I prefer to base my "rationalization" on the merits of the weapon itself rather than politics. Even with a piston and the Starship Troopers-style look, the XM8 is just another 5.56mm carbine and wouldn't be anymore effective in combat than an M4 or G36K already is. Spartan198 (talk) 12:52, 22 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Well, they could have done it slowly. Start with issuing it out to special forces units, like navy seals, wait till the war was over then replace it completly. Just my opinion on the matter. 71.79.110.221 (talk) 20:59, 23 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Special Operations are subject to logistical complications just like regular forces. And the fact remains that any advantage the XM8 provided over the currently issued and battle-proven M16 and M4 is negligible at best. Not enough to waste hundreds of billions on a new "cool-looking" weapon when those same negligible advantages can be had with much cheaper M16/M4 receiver upgrades. As far as the US military goes, the XM8 is dead. Spartan198 (talk) 13:33, 27 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Multiple issues is why it was canceled such as politics, Funding, rival companies, and BS. Also... every time there is a xm8 thread on a game forums.I hate everyone saying that it "melts" or the "battery power is super low" All those issues have been fixed. Alot of people just dont like the xm8... they spread lies and it catches like wildfire.--68.54.58.58 (talk) 14:53, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I wasn't aware the XM8 was battery-operated... :P Spartan198 (talk) 12:52, 22 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
The XM8's built in scope is battery powered..... -.-. Sorry i didn't make my statement clear but i thought a smart person such as you could have notice that.(Steve4529 (talk) 20:53, 1 January 2011 (UTC))[reply]

It failed because it was a G36 with a new shell, and the G36 is not a good rifle. The Germans have never liked the G36 for a variety of reasons, mostly because of all the shortcuts HK had to make to save weight; HK openly admitted the rifle wasn't made for "extended firefights". It overheats badly after a few hundred rounds, and once it does, the accuracy goes progressively and dramatically to crap. Once the barrel is 30C above ambient, tests showed a shocking 7% hit rate at 100 m. That's...simply unacceptable, virtually useless in combat conditions. The integrated sight, which was seen as such a great idea, also failed much more often than they anticipated and the BUIS were so bad and inaccurate you basically had yourself a sleek plastic Wiffleball bat until you could send the thing back to the armorer. The German Defense Minister declared just last April that, after two decades of trying to improve it, the G36 was an unfixable pile of crap and they were replacing it with the HK416, a modded Colt M4. Imagine that. All the conspiracy talk about "outside influences" (presumably from the evil American gun lobby) is mostly nonsense from HK fanboys who play too many video games where weapons never malfunction. HK pulled the plug on the XM8 themselves once it became evident that their no-bid contract was about to fall apart and the weapon would have to beat out the (vastly superior) SCAR, ACR and 416 in any further tests. They knew it couldn't. And that is why the XM8 died suddenly. Vintovka Dragunova (talk) 22:54, 5 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Opinion[edit]

"The exact reason why this happened is a matter of debate; some combination of the aforementioned technical issues, funding restrictions, and outside pressure being involved."

Without a valid source to back it up, that statement is no more than speculation. Spartan198 (talk) 14:46, 23 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Never mind, scratch that. I misread the sentence. My bad, sorry. Spartan198 (talk) 15:04, 23 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with the opinion.... Its multiple issues that caused it to be cancelled..... is their any independent work on the xm8 today?..... I would like to see this weapon get through its developmental stage.(Steve4529 (talk) 14:35, 6 June 2010 (UTC))[reply]

Range/effective range[edit]

Could someone find out the range/effective range of this weapon and add it in? It's relevant. The US Army is currently complaining that the Afghanistan resistance forces' AK-47 has more range than their M16s. - Richard Cavell (talk) 03:55, 26 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

See here: [1] - Richard Cavell (talk) 03:56, 26 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]
An AK outranging an M16? That's hilarious.

In Videogames[edit]

I removed the pop culture trivia section, per the firearm project guidelines. The guidelines say that pop culture trivia sections should be avoided in firearm articles. Only highly notable pop culture information should be noted; for example, Dirty Harry's use of the Smith & Wesson Model 29 was highly notable because it made that revolver extremely popular. A source that establishes the notability of the appearance is needed. For example, this source, which says that Dirty Harry's use of the Model 29 made it extremely popular. ROG5728 (talk) 22:06, 4 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

"Why does the M16 have a higher muzzle velocity?"[edit]

This question appeared at the Science Ref Desk: Wikipedia:Reference desk/Science#Why does the M16 have a higher muzzle velocity?. I have reverted the most recent change to muzzle velocity info in the article, but that still doesn't help here. Is there a good source for it? Is there a well-sourced answer to the question, if indeed the M16 rifle does have a higher muzzle velocity, all else being equal? WikiDao ☯ (talk) 20:21, 28 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

M16 barrel is 7.5" longer than the XM8 barrel. Longer barrel = higher muzzle velocity. Spartan198 (talk) 12:52, 22 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, Automatic Rifle variant has 508 mm barrel, this is the same length with the M16 barrel. But M16 has 948 m/s muzzle velocity, XM8 has 918 m/s. Its because, they used different 5.56 cartridges in the test firings. Avatar9ntalk 15:18, 20 December 2011

Malaysian use[edit]

Nothing here on the railed version used by Malaysia? Information on it's pretty thin on the ground, I'm not even sure what they call it or how they got it. Herr Gruber (talk) 11:32, 5 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think they ended up adopting it, i do know the Royal Malaysian Police and the Malaysian army had done tests with it too. From memory they had an improved version which used regular picatinny rails along the top where the US version had the integrated sight. 58.174.241.157 (talk) 02:42, 17 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

If some version actually went into production the article should focus on it, not on the hypothetical capabilities of a proposed weapon system. It'd be good to get more information on the Malaysian contract. Rezin (talk) 21:36, 6 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Name?[edit]

XM8 was the US military designation... they name all prototypes with an 'X'. We know the US didn't accept it, but other countries have, ie: Malaysia, which means H&K is producing it. But, is H&K calling it the XM8? Is Malaysia? Any other users? What I'm asking is, does this rifle have any other name than XM8? (an official one) I'm primarily asking out of curiosity, but perhaps this article is improperly named. (in which case, that stupid 'wp:commonname' policy will somehow come up, I'm betting...) - theWOLFchild 21:58, 4 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

By a similar token I don't think it should be listed as a prototype if it is being manufactured and a military issues it.--204.9.182.3 (talk) 00:00, 15 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

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