The Canadian C8 Carbine, similar to an M4 or M4A1 carbine, in Lego.
About this creation
The Armalite AR-10 was one of the best autoloading rifles of its time. Straightline construction, advanced lightweight materials, NATO standard 7,62mm calibre, and quick field-stripping made it an excellent choice for any military looking for a modern rifle or even just trying to conform to NATO's standard. There was only one problem: it was a moment too late.
By the time the AR-10 was in full-scale production, the vast majority of countries who might desire it had already adopted the FN FAL rifle of the same calibre [created in Lego under L1A1 on this MOCpage]. Those that hadn't either stuck to their old bolt-actions, or had their own designs. The US might have taken it, but they had already purchased the M14. The only country who bought the design was Sudan, and that was not in any large numbers.
Thus the AR-10, for all its advancement, was an utter failure. Enter John Stoner, the Vietnam War, and a military request for a rifle firing a light calibre at high velocity. The AR-10 became the AR-15, firing the new .223 Remington round based on the .222 Remington, and with new furniture and some other external changes. The AR-15 weighed less than seven pounds, and with its small cartridge rapid or even fully automatic fire was now not so futile as before.
The origninal military request came to nothing, but the AR-15 was gaining popularity in Southeast Asia with the small built inhabitants of those countries, especially for the thick jungle fighting that was typical of those areas. Soon the rifle was issued to US Air Force guards, and before long it was replacing the M14 in US military service. The troubles of the rifle were not over yet, however.
Stories began to emerge from Vietnam about the gun constantly jamming, or of entire 20-round magazines being fired at an oncoming NVA or VC soldier with no effect. It was said the new cartridges was unpredictable: sometimes one or two shots was enough, other times it seemed many were required.
Eventually, it was found that poor training regarding the use of fully automatic fire caused soldiers to spray bullets, firing their entire magazines in one long burst. Also, the military had chosen an inexpensive powder for their M193 cartridge that caked the direct-impingement gas tube with grime. Direct impingement means that hot gas travelling at high speeds behind the bullet is bled off of the barrel straight down a tube to strike the bolt carrier, unlocking and cycling the action. Normally there is a piston or rod in the gas tube that does this, but in the AR-10 and AR-15 designs, as well as some others in history such as the Swedish Ljungmann AG42, the gas impinges directly on the bolt carrier, which can cause extra fouling of the gun's internal workings. With this powder and the grimy jungle conditions, AR-15s, military nomclomature M16s, had to be cleaned often, sometimes three times a day.
The military did not change its powder. It did, however, adopt a newer version of the AR-15 as the M16A1. The M16A1 added a new flash hider and an easier to clean chamber, along with a forward assist. This is a button on the right side of the gun, facing the shooter, which is hit to ensure that the bolt is fully closed after reloading. A 30-round magazine was also made standard.
The M16A1 was much later replaced by the M16A2, which had stronger furniture, new sights, a heavier barrel, a round instead of teardrop shaped forward assist button, a three-roud busrt option replacing fully automatic fire, and most importantly the new NATO standard Belgian SS109 round. The SS109 is a heavier bullet, providing better performance downrange, and it uses a different powder which helps to keep fouling down. The rifling for the SS109 is very fast, however, so the M16A2 will not take old M193 rounds very well.
But anyway, to the Diemaco. Diemaco manufactures the C7 rifle, which is similar to an M16A2 in overall appearance but uses the M16A1 sights, and has fully automatic fire as opposed to a burst. It still uses the M16A2 furniture, cartridge, etc. The C8 is the carbine version and is somewhat similar to an M4A1, but does not have the removable carry handle and once again uses M16A1 pattern sights.
My own is a simple replica with a flipping dust cover, retractable stock, three different magazines, and some other stuff. The charging handle doesn't move, because if the bolt carrier of the gun moved there would be very little support for the barrel and handguard assembly.
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Left side from the back. Check out the texture on the back of the stock, and the sling attachment point under the front sight.
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Right side, front. See flash hider, front sight assembly, etc.
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The right side, plain. Good time to get a basic overview of the right side of the reciever.
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Here is the magazine in its well. This is the 20 round magazine.
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Stock texture and stuff. You can see the T shaped charging handle in this pic, if you know where to look.
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Right side stuff. From back to front this is the forward assist, case deflector, and dust cover.
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Front sight assembly, bayonet lug, and sling attachment point.
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Front sight is not right, couldn't figure out how to get a realistic one in two studs without it looking weird.
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Stock extended halfway, seen from front left, not much to speak of but a decent pic.
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9mm mag, originally gun was to be an M635 and I saved the mag.
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Comments
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I like it |
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December 5, 2011 |
Awesome build! Your intro was pretty good but you forgot some things. The m16a1 is the worst assault rifle in the world. It has an over complex mechanism, thus making the gun jam. Also it had faulty advertisement as a "don't have to clean" rifle. The gun jammed so much they wrote a comic book for cleaning!!! Also the stopping power of the 223. is very low. Compared to the 7.62x39 (308. encase you didn't know.) A really cool thing is that they came out with a gun called the Barret REC7. This has the same features as an m16, same field strip, same trigger, same safety, same firing selector. But... it shoots the heavy 6.8 round used by SOCOM. Thought that was kinda cool. Again, awesome spectacular build. |
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I like it |
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April 26, 2011 |
Looks just like the real thing! Oh an dit's Eugene Stoner, not John Stoner. |
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I like it |
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August 12, 2009 |
This is awesome. Nice handiwork. |
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I like it |
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July 29, 2008 |
Cool |
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I like it |
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July 29, 2008 |
Cool |
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I like it |
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July 29, 2008 |
Cool |
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I like it |
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June 27, 2008 |
to immortalnottelling: Canada has no army, only Mounties. |
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I like it |
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June 20, 2007 |
c8 carbine is a canada's army rifle i like you did it just as it looks kool keep it up and email me insturions if you want my email is sesshomarujr32@hotmail.com |
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I like it |
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March 31, 2007 |
Lookin good :D |
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I like it |
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August 12, 2006 |
This is wicked. I have never seen a Diemaco C8 in my life, but judging that they and the family of M4's and AR's look alike, I can guess this is pretty dead on. The only thing I see wrong with it is your rear sights. They are kind of funky looking, but I dont know what the C8's look like, so I could be wrong. Please check out my AR-15's or my G36C, because I am rebuilding my G36C for a contest, and I would like some constructive criticism. Thanks, great job, keep up the good work. P.S, have you considered making a Heckler and Koch G36? |
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I like it |
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August 11, 2006 |
the review was too long, my e-mail covered it, the next page wouldn't even load..., nice functionality, all the feautures are duly noted, and i agree with ben, the rear sights do look a bit funky... |
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I like it |
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August 10, 2006 |
Very well done. Just a note to "the mad hatter", I've built 5 versions of the Steyr AUG, including one last one (not posted) inspired by Robert P. himself. Check out my site to see them. Also, there were a few people who built the AUG before me. To the review...Nice stock. Intersting pistol grip, and beautiful barrel. There are a lot of great things about it, but your magazines don't go all the way into the gun. That would be great if you did that. BTW: The latest AUG is coming along nicely. I added the small things you wanted me to, and no, the hatch doesn't open when I pull the charging handle, sorry. Great work as with all of your creations. Keep it up. |
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I like it |
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August 7, 2006 |
All I can say is oh...my...god. Actually, I have a bit more to say. I believe I have seen this gun before but know next to nothing about firearms yet, so this page was EXTREMELY educational and very interesting. This definitely looks pretty darn close to real, and the fact that it has sooo many true-to-life functions (such as dust cover and extendable stock) is amazing. This is sheer genius. Thank you for sharing this, seriously. :-) |
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