MY MOS brought in the M16A4 and it's better than what you guys have on every level ( IE you dont train past 300 meters in Marksmanship and we do 500m for everone). If you want data just come and ask I'm the Officer in Charge of range control at Marine Corps Base Hawaii!!!. Also the RCO or ACOG is better that anything you have a red dot M68 is crap. our sight can do so many thing's and so Many sights have spawned off it IE (SDO,MDO). CQB is done at our CQB school (Security Force Reg ) something the army does not have......MOUT on the other hand is what you are talking about is done with a Rifle/Carbine my last choice would be a pistol (effective use of a fmj no expanding 115 grain bullet for terminal ballistics vise a SOST)
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/...ost-5-56-ammo/ ,
and I'm a grad of HRP/Gunslinger school and a few other Marine corps schools for actions with a pistol. Please before you knock another service be in for more than 4 years and have some MOS street creed to back it up. Our M27 smokes anything you have in General Service and it might be our new Service rifle if we can get the cash for it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M27_Inf...utomatic_Rifle
Yes that means every Marine would have a piston Carbine/Rifle that has a Heavy floated barrel that does sub MOA work....nothing the army has on the Table for there SF can beat that...How do I know welllllll I work with them.... I had a ODA team on my range last week and this week they will be back and they are blown away with what our basic guys do and what my scout sniper school does out here.
The amount of times a primary weapon has failed a Marine in the Global war on terror is so low we cant even find numbers for it in our Marine Corps lessons learned branch. we clean our weapons!!! we teach this in boot camp check any movie , we dont use the M4 as a machine gun and burn up the barrels and make the chamber so hot rounds cook off. I have read after actions of this from the army MANY!!!!. so a back up is for tier one operators who have a mission to use one. Ie guys trained in CQB......witch take a long time and a ton of ammo.
and no we dont make these decisions to send guys home in a box to save a buck. If you said that to my face I might eat you. We train our Marines to fight at all ranges IE Tables 1-4 ...look it up the army does not even come close to our tables 1-4.. I have viewed there training and felt bad for them....our basic guys get this..........
http://www.lejeune.usmc.mil/wtbn/MCO...74%202K%20.pdf
Your not doing CQB by definition in Iraq or Afghanistan you are doing MOUT. Look it up in your FM 90-10,FM 90-10-1 , FM 3-06 FM 3-21.8,FM 7-8, FM 7-85, FM7-92