Marine Corps Times has several weapons-centric stories up online in the last 36 hours.
First, there's a blog entry highlighting Military Times photographer Tom Brown's photographs of the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle in combat. Brown and senior writer Gina Cavallaro are currently embedded with 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, the first unit to take the IAR to war.
Marine Corps Times also reports the Corps is pushing forward with potential upgrades to its version of the M16A4 rifle and M4 carbine that could result in free-floating barrels, adjustable stocks and common weapon slings on both 5.56mm weapons.
Finally, the Corps will reportedly adopt optics at boot camp beginning in July. It's labeled as a pilot program, but with the amount of momentum behind the decision, it seems likely it will become a permanent move.
