The Bushmaster M4 or M4A3 is a semi-automatic or select-fire carbine size assault rifle manufactured by

Bushmaster Firearms International Bushmaster Firearms International, LLC, is an American firearm manufacturer and distributor. The company's product line revolves around semi-automatic pistol and semi-automatic rifle, rifle variants of the M4 carbine, M4/AR-15 style rifle, AR-15 ...

, modeled on the AR-15. It is one of the Bushmaster XM15 line of rifles and carbines.

Design

The M4 Type Carbine is a copy of the Colt

M4 carbine The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO assault rifle developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle. The M4 is extensively used by the US mi ...

. The semi-automatic version is marketed to the U.S. civilian market in compliance with the

National Firearms Act The National Firearms Act (NFA), 73rd Congress, Sess. 2, ch. 757, was enacted on June 26, 1934, and currently codified and amended as . The law is an Act of Congress in the United States that, in general, imposes an excise tax on the manufact ...

. A select fire variant can be ordered by military or law enforcement organizations with three-round burst or

fully automatic An automatic firearm or fully automatic firearm (to avoid confusion with semi-automatic firearms) is a self-loading firearm that continuously chambers and fires rounds when the trigger mechanism is actuated. The action of an automatic firear ...

capability. The rifle's caliber is .223 Remington/5.56×45mm NATO, and the barrel is hard chrome lined in both the bore and chamber. Unlike the current Colt M4 Carbine which features a four-position telescopic

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

, the Bushmaster has a six-position stock. It is compatible with most standard AR-15 parts, can mount various attachments such as options on its

picatinny rails The 1913 rail (MIL-STD-1913 rail) is an American rail integration system designed by Richard Swan that provides a mounting platform for firearm accessories. It forms part of the NATO standard STANAG 2324 rail. It was originally used for mountin ...

and has the ability to accept all AR-15/

M16 The M16 (officially Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of assault rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-round magazine. In 1964, th ...

type

STANAG magazine A STANAG magazine or NATO magazine is a type of detachable firearm magazine proposed by NATO in October 1980. Shortly after NATO's acceptance of the 5.56×45mm NATO rifle cartridge, Draft Standardization Agreement ( STANAG) 4179 was proposed i ...

s. The standard M4 Type Carbine features a permanently fixed "Izzy"

flash suppressor A flash suppressor, also known as a flash guard, flash eliminator, flash hider, or flash cone, is a device attached to the muzzle (firearms), muzzle of a rifle that reduces its Muzzle flash, visible signature while firing by cooling or dispersin ...

attached to a barrel, which brings the barrel to a total length of . Bushmaster also produces the Patrolman's Carbine variant which features the more common removable "bird cage" flash suppressor, attached to a barrel, bringing the total barrel length to . Both of these comply with current U.S. federal law which states a minimum barrel for a rifle. There is also a military M4 Type Carbine which comes with a barrel and a removable "bird cage" flash suppressor. An M4 Type Post-Ban Carbine was developed for the 1994 United States

Federal Assault Weapons Ban The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, popularly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB or FAWB), was subtitle A of title XI of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, Violent Crime Control and Law ...

requirements. Since the ban expired in 2004, this rifle has essentially been replaced by the M4A2 and M4A3. Some states in the U.S. have kept these laws, so the rifle is still being produced.

Legal issues

A trademark dispute between Bushmaster and

Colt's Manufacturing Company Colt's Manufacturing Company, LLC (CMC, formerly Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company) is an American firearms manufacturer, founded in 1855 by Samuel Colt that has become a subsidiary of Czech holding company Colt CZ Group. It is th ...

concerned the use of the "M4" name. The M4 was developed and produced for the

United States government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

by Colt, which had an exclusive contract to produce the M4 family of weapons until 2009. Several other manufacturers, including Bushmaster, offer M4-like firearms, nicknamed "M4geries." Colt previously held a U.S.

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

on the term "M4." In April 2004, Colt filed a lawsuit against Bushmaster and

Heckler & Koch Heckler & Koch GmbH (HK or H&K; ) is a German firearms manufacturer that produces handguns, rifles, submachine guns, and grenade launchers. The company is located in Oberndorf am Neckar, Baden-Württemberg and also has subsidiaries in the United ...

, claiming acts of

trademark infringement Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attached to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the licence). Infringement may occ ...

trade dress Trade dress is the characteristics of the visual appearance of a product or its packaging (or even the design of a building) that signify the source of the product to consumers. Trade dress is an aspect of trademark law, which is a form of intelle ...

infringement,

trademark dilution Trademark dilution is a trademark law concept giving the owner of a famous trademark standing to forbid others from using that mark in a way that would lessen its uniqueness. In most cases, trademark dilution involves an unauthorized use of anoth ...

, false designation of origin,

false advertising False advertising is the act of publishing, transmitting, distributing or otherwise publicly circulating an advertisement containing a false claim, or statement, made intentionally, or recklessly, to promote the sale of property, goods or servi ...

patent infringement A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

unfair competition Anti-competitive practices are business or government practices that prevent or reduce competition in a market. Antitrust laws ensure businesses do not engage in competitive practices that harm other, usually smaller, businesses or consumers. ...

, and deceptive trade practices. Heckler & Koch later settled out of court. On December 8, 2005, a District court judge in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

granted a

summary judgment In law, a summary judgment, also referred to as judgment as a matter of law or summary disposition, is a Judgment (law), judgment entered by a court for one party and against another party summarily, i.e., without a full Trial (law), trial. Summa ...

in favor of Bushmaster Firearms, dismissing all of Colt's claims except for false advertising. On the latter claim, Colt could not recover monetary damages. The court also ruled that "M4" was now a generic name, and that Colt's trademark should be revoked.

Users

*: The Bushmaster M4A3 B.M.A.S. is used by special forces units of the

Czech Armed Forces The Czech Armed Forces (), also known as the Czech Army, are the military responsible for the defence of the Czech Republic as the main part of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic (). The Czech Armed Forces led by the General Staff consis ...

. These rifles are usually seen with an

M203 grenade launcher The M203 is a single-shot 40 mm under-barrel grenade launcher designed to attach to a rifle. It uses the same rounds as the older stand-alone M79 break-action grenade launcher, which utilizes the high-low propulsion system to keep recoil force ...

. The

601st Special Forces Group The General Moravec's 601st Special Forces Group or 601 SFG (' or ''601. SkSS'') is a special forces unit of the Czech Armed Forces. It was officially created in 2003, the product of reorganizations in the Military of the Czech Republic in that ye ...

is armed with the M4A3. *: Used by the Georgian Army, some taken by Russian troops after the

Russo-Georgian War The August 2008 Russo-Georgian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Georgia,Occasionally, the war is also referred to by other names, such as the Five-Day War and August War. was a war waged against Georgia by the Russian Federation and the ...

. *: Used by NOCS. *: Used by the Kuwait 25th Commando Brigade. *: Used by

Royal Malaysian Customs The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (Abbr.; RMCD; – ''JKDM''; Jawi: ); is a government department body under the Ministry of Finance. RMCD functions as the country's main indirect tax collector, facilitating trade and enforcing laws. ...

*: New Zealand Police (including

Armed Offenders Squad The Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) are specialist part-time units of the New Zealand Police based around the country available to respond to high risk incidents using specialist tactics and equipment. The AOS was established when front-line poli ...

and

Special Tactics Group The Special Tactics Group (STG) is the full-time police tactical group of the New Zealand Police. The STG, originally named the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), was established to respond to high-risk situations which are beyond the scope or capac ...

), replaced the Remington Model 7 as their standard-issue rifle. *:

Cambridge Police Department (Massachusetts) The Cambridge Police Department is the municipal police department for the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. Formally organized in 1859. with the appointment of John C. Willey as the first chief of police, the Cambridge P ...

Gallery

File:Czech ISAF (6).jpg, Czech Special Operations soldier in Afghanistan with a Bushmaster M4A3 File:A Georgian soldier with Scouts Platoon, Delta Company, Special Mountain Battalion conducts reconnaissance operations Feb. 14, 2014, during Georgian Mission Rehearsal Exercise (MRE) 14-02B at the Joint 140214-A-HJ139-001.jpg, A Georgian soldier with a Bushmaster M4

Bibliography

* *

References

External links

Official Bushmaster Website
{{ArmaLite AR-10 derivatives 5.56 mm assault rifles 5.56×45mm NATO assault rifles 7.62×39mm firearms Assault rifles of the United States Semi-automatic rifles of the United States Bushmaster firearms AR-15 style rifles 6.8mm firearms