Colt Advanced Piston Carbine

5.56mm, Advanced Piston Carbine
Type	Assault rifle Carbine
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	2010s–present
Used by	See Users
Production history
Manufacturer	Colt's Manufacturing Company
Specifications
Weight	7 lb (3.2 kg) empty 7.5 lb (3.4 kg) with 30 rounds
Length	33 in (840 mm) (stock extended) 29.8 in (760 mm) (stock retracted)
Barrel length	14.5 in (370 mm)
Cartridge	5.56×45mm NATO (.223 Remington)
Caliber	5.56 mm (.223 in)
Barrels	1
Action	Gas-operated, rotating bolt (Direct impingement)
Rate of fire	700-1000 round/min cyclic
Muzzle velocity	2,900 ft/s (880 m/s)
Effective firing range	600 m (660 yd)
Feed system	30-round box magazine or other STANAG magazines. Magazines with different capacities also available.
Sights	Iron sights or various optics

The Colt Advanced Piston Carbine or Colt APC is a lightweight modular 5.56mm caliber piston-operated, magazine fed carbine with a one-piece upper receiver which is capable of firing in automatic and semi-automatic modes. The design incorporates an articulating link piston that reduces the stresses in the piston stroke by allowing for deflection and thermal expansion.

Design

The weapon has a suppression-ready fluted barrel, which is lighter and cools better than previous M4 barrels. It is claimed to have "markedly better" accuracy. To improve reliability, Colt used an articulating link piston (ALP) which "reduces the inherent stress in the piston stroke by allowing for deflection and thermal expansion".^[1] In traditional gas piston operating systems, the force of the piston striking the bolt carrier can push the bolt carrier downwards and into the wall of the buffer tube, leading to accelerated wear and even chipped metal. This is known as carrier tilt. The ALP allows the operating rod to wiggle to correct for the downward pressure on the bolt and transfers the force straight backwards in line with the bore and buffer assembly, eliminating the carrier tilt. This relieves stress on parts and helps to increase accuracy.^[2] The Individual Carbine competition was canceled before a winning weapon was chosen.^[3]

Users

The Colt Advanced Piston Carbine (APC) is set to become the standard assault rifle of the police Special Operations Force units, the UTK and the VAT69 replacing the Bushmaster Carbon 15 carbines. Although some of the units had already purchased other rifles to replace Carbon 15s, the contract signed between the Home Ministry and SMEO Sdn Bhd, today indicated that the APC will become the standard assault rifle for them. The contract for the 2,000 APCs – signed at the ongoing GPEC Asia 2015 – worth some RM8.4 million clearly marked the end of the Carbon 15 reign as the Special Ops assault rifle. Although already superseded by small batches of HK416s and the Ferfrans SCW in certain teams of the UTK and VAT69, the Carbon 15 remained in the inventory, mostly for the lack of anything else. Apart from anecdotes from operators, no one had published the full details of the Carbon 15 travails in service however.^[4]

References

1. Enhanced M4 – Defense Review, November 29, 2011
2. Articulating Link Piston – Investorvillage.com
4. "Colt APC to replace Bushmaster M4s". Malaysian Defence. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2016.

External links

• Colt's Manufacturing Company Official