The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan
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Dirty Little Secrets
Short Shotgun Replaces the Bayonet
by James Dunnigan
November 14, 2007
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
After several years of research and field testing, the U.S. Army is buying 38,000 M26 12 Gauge Modular Accessory Shotgun Systems (MASS). The M26 weighs less than three pounds (2 pounds, 11 ounces) and has a five round magazine. The M26 is a 16.5 inch long, 12 gauge shotgun and can be operated right or left handed. It fires solid shot for blasting open closed doors, or lower velocity, non-lethal (most of the time) rubber slugs for dealing with hostile crowds without killing people. A stand-alone version weighs 4 pounds, 3 ounces, and is 24 inches long (with the attached stock collapsed).
The first versions of this weapon weighed nine pounds and carried only three rounds. The design rapidly evolved into the current M26. Troops have been testing it in combat for about a year. There were complaints about the cocking mechanism, which uses a bolt instead of a pump action (which many troops expressed a preference for.) The final design will improve the cocking mechanism, and improve the reliability of the magazines. Currently, troops use a conventional (Mossberg) 12 gauge shotgun for getting locked doors open in a hurry. The M26 proved very reliable during testing, with over 15,000 rounds being fired. Large quantities of the M26 will be reaching the troops next year.
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