It was a minor piece of firearms news when the US Army changed the name of their new SIG rifle from the XM5 to the XM7. Their reasoning is the fact that Colt produces an M5 carbine. Colt produced the original M4 series rifles, and the M5 was an extension of that series. Why the company skipped M6 is a bit up in the air. Maybe it’s because LWRC makes the M6 series or because the m6 was an Air Force survival weapon. Who knows? What is known is that Colt has used the nomenclature M5, which goes a lot further than the original M4 or the SIG M7.
The M5 and the SAWS Program
SAWS does not stand for Squad Automatic Weapon in this acronym. It stands for Small Arms Weapon Systems. The SAWS program dates back to 1965. This program intended to test numerous modern rifles and machine guns to find which would be best for the rifle squad. The SAWS program had numerous candidates, including the already adopted M16, as well as the Stoner 63 in various configurations, the AR-18, the Colt CMG, Colt Heavy Assault Rifle, and more.
These candidates would be tested against the current crop of Soviet weapons, including the AK, the RPD, and DPM, as well as the M14, M14E1, and M60 machine guns. It’s worth noting that some of the candidates never made it to the testing phase. The AR-18 dropped out, as did the Colt Submachine Gun, and two rifles never existed among the candidates.
This all ties back to the name M5. Specifically, Colt named these two nonexistent rifles CAR-15 M5. In 1965, both guns were listed in the SAWS candidate’s pamphlets, which is where our only photos come from. The photos are listed as Artist’s Concept. It’s the only two guns that wear that title in the pamphlet.
The Two M5 Rifles
The M5 rifles are often mistaken for some form of Colt 703. The Colt 703 was an experimental AR converted to a long-stroke gas piston system. It’s easy to see why that assumption is made. However, we didn’t see the 703 until 1969, and the M5 series was in a pamphlet from 1965.
Part of that assumption comes from the fact that the M5 series lacks any form of receiver extension. The guns appear to have a tube running from the AR front sight gas block to the rear of the gun that could conceal a piston system of some kind. We’ve seen a functional design of this concept through the OA-93 from Olympic Arms.
There are two CAR-15 M5 concepts. One has a zany-looking fixed stock, and the other has a wire-type under-folding stock. Both appear to have very short barrels and spoon-style flash suppressors. The fixed stock eliminates the inline design of the AR, which would be a mistake. The inline stock helps reduce muzzle rise and greatly benefits the AR design. At least the underfolding stock offers a much smaller overall size.
When you look at the text below the fixed-stock M5 concept, it seems the picture doesn’t match the descriptive text. It lists the barrel as 20 inches, weighs 6.1 pounds, and has an overall length of 35 inches. The M16 had a 38.8-inch overall length and weighed 6.37 pounds. It seems like the fixed stock would be the ‘rifle’ version but used a short barrel in the concept.
The other M5 is called the M5A1 and lists the barrel length as 10 inches, with an overall length of 29.2 inches and a weight of 5.1 pounds. The M5A1 is the carbine variant of the M5.
What Happened?
Whatever happened to the concepts seemed to need more time. This might have been an early 703 concept, but there is no evidence of that. The guns never made it beyond the concept phase. The SAWS program declared the M16 to be the best weapon to equip a squad with, with the Stoner 63 taking second place. It’s fascinating, and the folding stock version looks awesome, but sadly, it never made it beyond the concept phase.
