Weapon Name- Robinson Armament M96 - Titanium
Round Type- 6.8mm Remington
Over-all length- 42.5-39 inches, 38.5-35 inches, 34.5 inches-31 inches, 30.5-27 inches
Barrel length- 24 inches, 20 inches, 16 inches, 12 inches
Weight- 7.5 lb
Rate of Fire- 600 RPM
Feed Mechanism- Detachable Box Magazine, Belt Fed
Round Capacity- 30, 40, 100, 100+
Effective Range- 500 meters
Range- 700 meters
Accuracy- 1 MOA
Accessories- Picatinny Rails
Quick switch firing mechanism- N/A
Scope/Sights- Picatinny Rails
Muzzle Velocity- 850 m/s, 820 m/s, 800 m/s, 755 m/s, 7.45 gram
Firing System- Long Stroke Gas piston
Miscellaneous/electronic information- The weapon is essentially a heavily modified XCR, based off of the M96 concept, or a light machine gun designed to operate similarly to a rifle.
Basic Information
The weapon is essentially a heavily modified XCR, based off of the M96 concept, or a light machine gun designed to operate similarly to a rifle. The Robbison's Armament M96 machine variant was approximately 11 lb, and made almost entirely of melonited stainless steel, which made the weapon's operating system extremely reliable and durable. Both due to it's general strength and ability to absorb heat, the weapon was capable of keeping sustained fire for longer periods of time than standard rifles, without being the full size of a machine. While still much lighter than a standard machine gun, such as the M249, it also was much heavier than standard rifles, being over 11 pounds, compared to 6.5 to 7.5 pounds for standard rifles, such as the M4 carbine, M16, or Ak-47. While this weapon is still relatively heavy, especially loaded, it is much lighter than the Robinson Armament M96, and still only approximately as heavy as an ordinary rifle. This is largely achieved by using Titanium over stainless steel, which increases the price considerably, due to the difficulty of using titanium for reciprocating parts, and the surface treatment required. Titanium is nearly as strong as high strength steel, but only 58% of the weight. While the barrel and stock is still made of a different material, the furniture and receiver are still made of titanium.
The system is significantly more reliable than the direct impingement system. The firing system is based off of the Ak-47, which uses a long stroke piston system, similar to that in the M1 Garand, Ak-47, BAR, or M14. In July 2007, the US Army announced a limited competition between the M4 carbine, FN SCAR, HK416, XCR, and the previously-shelved HK XM8. Ten examples of each of the four competitors were involved. Each weapon fired 60,000 rounds in an "extreme dust environment." The purpose of the shoot-off was for assessing future needs, not to select a replacement for the M4. The XM8 scored the best, with only 127 stoppages in 60,000 total rounds, the FN SCAR Light had 226 stoppages, while the HK416 had 233 stoppages. The M4 carbine scored "significantly worse" than the rest of the field with 882 stoppages. However, with the HK416, 117 of the 233 malfunctions were from just one of the 10 weapons. In comparison to this, the Ak-47 jams only approximately once per every 1000 rounds, in all environmental conditions, under rapid, sustained fire, without needing to be cleaned often, even with corrosive ammo, compared to the M16 under ideal conditions. This makes the Robinson Armament M96 operating system far more rugged and reliable than the M16, as well as durable, which allows it to outlast the M16, and be used in a greater range of demanding environments (such as the jungle, arctic, or desert). Fine sands or even water can greatly impact the reliability of direct impingement systems, and it's larger mass and simpler design over short stroke gas pistons gives it a higher degree of reliability than them, despite their similarly increased improvements over Direct impingement systems.
The weapon also borrows elements from the FN HAMR, despite being based on the HK417. The weapon has an automatic mechanism to switch from a closed bolt to an open bolt firearm, when the weapon overheats. Closed bolt firearms tend to be more accurate and more intuitive to use while also more easily keeping out debri, while open bolt firearms dump heat faster and thus are better for fully automatic fire or heavy use. A closed bolt firearm doesn't have a delay right before the weapon fires, and also does not need to shake around or slam the bolt shut right as the weapon is firing, causing the weapon to jerk right before firing The weapon is able to compensate by automatically switching between mechanisms during use, when the weapon overheats. This is achieved entirely mechanically ,without sensitive measuring devices, via an expanding alloy which will trigger the mechanism and that grows larger, and thus activates or imparts stress on to the mechanism, when it heats up. This material is made to the precision temperature of which the weapon would overheat, which makes it unique in that aspect. Few if any weapons in the world besides these possess such a feature.
The weapon uses a detachable polygonal cobalt chrome "flow formed" 5 groove 1:11 inch (1 complete turn in 1 in 11 / 279.4mm) right hand turn barrel; the barrel is made of an alloy that contains more than 50 percent cobalt. The barrel is roughly 13% heavier than standard steel barrels, but is more erosion and corrosion-resistant and is designed to retain high strength during long-term exposure to high temperatures. Cobalt alloys are frequently used in the aerospace industry, such as the hot-gas section of turbine engines. A proof of concept M240 7.62mm x 51mm NATO barrel, in practice, had 24,000 rounds test-fired through it, causing it to reach temperatures of 1,100 degrees, without failure. A steel barrel would have failed under such treatment. The barrel itself, combined with polygonal rifling, is extremely durable, and has a minimum 20,000 round barrel life, although it is possible to extend this or get use out of the rifle after the minimum is reached. The barrels come in 12, 16, 20, and 24 inches inches.
The 6.8mm Remington round, in use with the weapon, typically gets around sub 1 MOA. The weapon uses a 7.45 gram round that travels at approximately 820 m/s, or generates 2500 joules. This is approximately 25% more power than an Ak-47, and 40% more than an M16, at the muzzle; however, with shorter barrels, the velocity is slightly reduced. The cartridge was designed to work effectively from short barrels, and to have an effective range of approximately 500 meters. With it's high ballistic coefficient, it's energy is retained out to long ranges, making it effective both at close ranges and as a marksmen weapon. Tests by the U.S. military showed that 6.5mm cartridge size had the best accuracy of their intermediate cartridges tested, while the 7mm had the best terminal performance; the SPC was designed to meet the middle of this criteria, and be useful from shorter barrels, such as those found in the M4 carbine. Thus it's size and power, in addition to it's high ballistic coefficient, provides superior stopping power, barrier penetration, and accuracy over traditional 5.56mm weapons.
