BUIS in the Marines

[Solaran_X]

Okay...so I'm turning my current Colt M4 LE6920 into a M4A1 clone, and getting a second LE6920 to turn into a M16A4 clone. But I'm curious about something, and maybe one of the ex-Jarheads (or current Jarheads) can answer it for me.

In pictures I see of US Army M4A1s, I see a Matech BUIS behind either an Aimpoint CompM2 or CompM4 (depending on when the picture was taken - the M68 CCO) or under the eyepiece of a Trijicon TA31RCO-M150CP ACOG.

But in pictures I see of US Marine Corps M4A1s or M16A4s, I don't see any kind of BUIS under their TA31RCO-M4CP or TA31RCO-A4CP.

Is there a reason why the Marines don't use BUIS and the Army does?

[customloaded]

Okay...so I'm turning my current Colt M4 LE6920 into a M4A1 clone, and getting a second LE6920 to turn into a M16A4 clone. But I'm curious about something, and maybe one of the ex-Jarheads (or current Jarheads) can answer it for me.

In pictures I see of US Army M4A1s, I see a Matech BUIS behind either an Aimpoint CompM2 or CompM4 (depending on when the picture was taken - the M68 CCO) or under the eyepiece of a Trijicon TA31RCO-M150CP ACOG.

But in pictures I see of US Marine Corps M4A1s or M16A4s, I don't see any kind of BUIS under their TA31RCO-M4CP or TA31RCO-A4CP.

Is there a reason why the Marines don't use BUIS and the Army does?

Money. The US Army is the size of the Marine Corp and AF combined. It's purely about money. On my last tour to Iraq, I couldn't believe the horrible condition the equipment used by Marines was in. Hell, half the stuff they had had been decommissioned from the Army and they took it for their own use. Until the opportunity to jointly work with the Corp, I had no idea how much they don't get compared to the other services.

This is just my opinion of course. The saying "Do it with what ya got" takes on a whole new meaning in my opinion on how badly the Corp's gets shafted!

CL

[USMC3531]

I got out in 05 and we still had a2's, from what my buddies said they now have acogs and removable carry handles

[Franky4Fingers]

A army vet friend of mine and I were playing operation flashpoint dragon rising, and some of the Marines have iron sights on A2's. He's like, why in the hell would they put those in this game? I said, because they are still using them, thats why. He retorted, the Marine Corps uses A2's? I said, yes, its a money thing. Now, the force recon guys have better funding, but your 0311's are all on the ground with whatever they got.

[USMC03TJ]

We did not have BUIS in 2011. Whenever we zeroed, we did our carrying handles, then the RCO. It's probably a money thing. We had a mix of M4s and M16A4s.

[Thursday]

Have BUIS and an ACOG on my issued M4A1, left it on there because I was hand receipted for it, can't even flip it up because of how far my ACOG sits.

It's personal preference, some people take them off, some don't.

[ViperHummel]

One of the best quotes from Generation Kill,

"You want logistics, Join the Army. Marines make do."

[PAMedic=F|A=]

One of the best quotes from Generation Kill,

"You want logistics, Join the Army. Marines make do."

To be fair. The Marines spent their money FAR more wisely.

Army Cammo = worthless
Marine Cammo = pretty damned good.

Army boots = suck
Marine Boots = good

Army Pants = made of paper, I promise the crotch well tear out
Marine pants = basically denim

I use a Marine Rucksack, when I actually have to do Infantry Stuff. The Army Rucksack is next to worthless.


Marines buy better stuff. When something is a need, they find the money. Marines are dumping the worthless, dangerous, M9 Pistol, and switching to a .45 acp, that looks an awful lot like a 1911 to my untrained eye....

[Noah_Zark]

The Marine Corps purchased the "Micro" rear BUIS from KAC, it's essentially a folding post consisting of a threaded barrel for elevation with an aperture, and windage adj built into the base. The USMC version is nearly identical to this civvy version on their website:

http://www.knightarmco.com/shop/inde...products_id=44

The USMC version has "USMC" molded into the base:




That said, there is a tremendous amount of squabble on the Interwebz about these USMC-imprinted Micros. Some employee of KAC is net-nannying sellers on ARFCOM's Equipment Exchange saying that KAC has never sold these USMC-imprinted models of the Micro to the public. That's most likely true. Then he goes on to state in several threads that the USMC has never surplussed them. That I have a problem with, because how would he know what the USMC had DRMO'd?

As it happens I have personal knowledge of containers of surplus materiel having been purchased by dealers through DRMO, containing dozens of these sights in the original packaging, sometimes loose, sometimes in a pouch:



I do not deny that some of these sights have found their way into seabags. I know a lot of Marines who have been deployed who told me that they did not use rear BUIS because the optics were in the way, and the optics were either 1) reliable or 2) simple to replace with another optic in the event of damage or failure. In many cases, where Marines are issued and receipted for equipment that ends up unused, trying to turn that equipment in when in-field can be a PITA, because Supply doesn't want the hassle of restocking items that are not in demand anyway. Many of these deployed Marines have told me that Supply instructed them to "Lose it" when attempting to return unused items.

However, IMO the KAC guy at ARFCOM has a market to protect with his net-nannying; he needs to keep selling the civvy Micro rear BUIS at over $150 each, and legitimately-surplused USMC imprinted Micro BUIS at 25% to 30% of the civvy price are cutting into that business.

JMO; you decide.

Noah

[USMC3531]

are those any good? have any "extra"?