[Phalanx]

I hope i can post this here ,this is the only forum that knows about one of this mans inventions.
And this isn't to gripe about anything that Robams is or did make , But Robinson did make one of his dreams.
I was on a Large Forum this week posting on a thread about if you only had one Black rifle what would it be.
Guys were posting ARs ,AKs , all the usual , and i told them mine would be my XCR ,and i said why I liked it. I was shocked because they were asking me whats an XCR! I figured everyone by now knew that ,this was a BIG forum also.
I went back on and told them about Robinson ,why i bought the XCR and liked it .I posted some photos and this forum link and the site.
The next time i looked they were talking about going to the main site and cruising there ,and a guy asked me if i had one of the M96 rifles . I said yes ,i told him i liked it also and that i had read a lot about it on the web.
He was one of those who carried the M63 !! and another guy had seen them in Nam .These guys were a well of knowledge .
Others were chiming in about both the 96 and the 63 , Then a guy who was very knowledgeable on the 63 wrote in and he said some neat stuff.
He found it interesting that Alex had the 96 ,then the XCR ,and that he offered the XCR in 7.62x39 ,and wanted one.
He was an Armorer in The Navy in the late 60s ,he said the M63 was a Mission adaptable platform ,in that it could go from a Carbine to a Rifle ,or a Squad MG . And it was an accident that it was found that it could also become an Caliber conversion Platform when no one was even thinking about that then.
A Machinist Mate in the Navy was fixing one,once and was looking at it noticing the Mag well was removable along with the barrel and of course the bolt. This was at a time the M16 was causing a major fuss ,the war Dept was trying to cover its ass on all fronts.
The old story about troops dropping the M16 and picking up an AK were true.
This Machinist showed the Navy his idea ,the Navy contacted Cadillac Gage (Stoner )to see if the M63 could be converted to fire the 7.62x39 caliber ,using even the AK magazines. After some time and lots of thinking they did it ,and Stoner had it to where it would even go back to 223. The Navy ordered some Rifles to be used by its SEAL teams for use in recon missions deep into N.Viet Nam.
The thinking was ,these teams could travel light resupplying off the Enemy .
Stoner never saw any real Market for this then ,but was thinking of seeing if the M63 could be upgraded to a 308 using the M14 Mag.
The M63 was the size of an H&K G3 and also was made of steel so he thought why not.
Then with all the story's of the 223 not having any Knock down , he abandoned the 308 and started to design his own caliber that would bridge the gap , Three calibers were developed but only the 8x47 ever became a rifle. But it was never adopted ,and he died and took a lot of his ideas with him.
Anyway this guy was shocked to see the M96 ,and a rifle ,the XCR that actually was a 7.62x39 kit ,all on the same site ,by one company.
Way to go Robinson.

 

[gunner69]

Eugene Stoner was brilliant, he actually saw his mistake and created the AR-18 a piston powered rifle. A battle rifle in .260 Remington (6.5mm) would be awsome. My opinion.

 

[MickeyC]

Yep, a very smart guy and one actually able to acknowledge his error and correct it. What a correction, lok how many modern rifles copy the AR18 gas system. Damn fine work even if the 18 was an ugly duckling.

 

[Phalanx]

I have seen the AR180s ,one came up for sale here last year but the mags, looked like an AR Mag ,but they were not.
An AR mag wouldn't work in that rife. But that was a nice Rifle.
I have never seen an 18 ,what do they look like ? is it the 180?
The sad thing is when the M16 was getting guys killed ,and everyone in the Pentagon was passing the buck ,Stoner had the rifle that could have done the job.
Even today in the sand box you hear story's about the M4 ,They are better now ,but its mostly problems with the 223.
The 6.8 Rem. from what i have read wasn't a flat shooter ,but i never have even shot one so i cant say.
Many of these things are Politics i think ,some one wanted the M16 ,Its the same with the 9mm ,but i think that was more of a NATO thing. But a .40 would be better , and i still think the XCR would be a good choice if you had to stay with 223.
Mickey ,that thread about that new caliber ,that looks promising .
Stoner just seemed to give it up after awhile, but you see his ideas in a lot of guns made today.
Knight, said in a column on the Impact Guns page that the MG ban in the 80s stopped them from making a lot of things for Stoner's Guns. One of the guys on that other Forum after looking at the Robinson main page, said the XCR was a Rifle Stoner would have liked.
I wonder if Alex just liked the Stoner designs ,or if he knew him in some way.
The guns at Robarms look like they picked up where Stoner left off.