I've been reading "Whattaya Mean I Can't Kill 'Em?" by Rad Miller Jr.  He was a member of SEAL team 1 in Vietnam.  Very good read. He was talking about the weapons the teams liked to carry and mentioned the Stoner Weapons System, which I had never heard of:

"We are introduced to the Stoner Weapons System, which is a light machine gun using the M-16 5.56mm round... The ammo is used in 150-round linked belts, which feed from a round metal drum under the barrel. SEALs usually remove the shoulder stock, which leaves the Stoner with just a pistol grip, although a few guys keep the stock out of personal preference.  A short barrel is installed and a shoulder sling is mounted on the weapon that allows it to be carried hanging horizontally in a ready to fire position.  Lightweight, mechanically reliable, and with a firing rate of 700-900 rounds per minute, it will lay down a huge volume of fire, perfect for a small squad pretending to be much more numerous than it really is.  All of us really like the Stoner and it will be our first choice for usage in Vietnam."

[img]www.dimensional.com/~mwluse/rad_miller.jpg[/img]

From all I have read about this system, it is the one to have when the chips are down. To bad it didn't make it.

The civilian model would have been cool to own!

There's a handful of transferable 63/63A's are out there, but if you want one, you'll need about $50k+ for one.

[>Q]

It's just not the real deal.

don't most machine guns weigh more? How did they get it down to 8.5 pounds?

"At 11.9 lbs. empty with wooden furniture and its bipod and sling attached,

the stoner 63 light machine gun weighed only a few pounds more than the then standard U.S. infantry rifle,

the M14, while offering a much higher volume of fire."

From the small arms review-Vol.5 No.7 April, 2002

I remember seeing the stock and one other small item for sale at Subguns recently, it was over 4,000$.

The prices for the complete weapons are also insane.

wasnt it desgined to be a modular weapons system ie need a LMG pop on this part need a carbine pop on this part?