Military Model Scene

Title: The M4 Carbine
Author: Chris McNab
Publisher: Osprey Books
ISBN: 978-1-4728-4227-5

Weapon number 77, an 80-page soft-cover book in this Osprey series, from well known and knowledgeable author Chris McNab. It is of course well illustrated throughout, as you would expect with these Osprey books, including cutaway artwork of the M4A1 along with more super colour artwork illustrations and colour photos of the weapons in service with a good mix of operators.
There is a lot to this one, starting with the Development story, an evolution of the Colt AR-15 and the M16A2, and with a certain amount of turmoil within the story. A carbine, a shorter weapon than the older M16A2, and originally intended for use by Special Forces units and, thanks to the more compact size, vehicle crews. It tells us how it developed to be a widespread infantry weapon within the US armed forces and multiple overseas buyers. Not without a few problems along the way, but we hear how the M4A1 has developed over the years, and despite some issues, has become a popular weapon with its' users. One thing I liked is that the author discusses these issues from an independent standpoint as I read it, giving both good and bad points. Too often I read things sometimes where an author has simply quoted company sales or government press statements. This considers good and bad to come to a conclusion. Also included are the wide variety of accessories that are available to fit to the basic weapon and give additional tools to improve the performance for the individual soldier, and how they work out in use. There is an evaluation of the M4 in service with a variety of users, its' reliability, ammunition, and offering a Conclusion to round off how well the M4 Carbine has proved to perform over plenty of years in service, and what might replace it at some point in the future.
Thanks to Osprey for our review copy.

Robin