Can anyone shed light on a AR Variant I saw out here in Iraq the other day. It was being carried by a serving US Army soldier although I never got chance to ask him what it was.
I don't have any pictures but here is a description.
The rifle appeared to be 7.62mm NATO in calibre and was fed from a straight box mag that looked like a large version of the 20rd USGI type or a FN FAL type. There was a gas system under the barrel like a M240 with a small gas plug and it had a four rail metal handguard that seemed to be part of the upper receiver as well. The ejection port was on the top of the receiver slightly canted to the right of the weapon and the bolt had a sliding handle similar to an M240 rather than a chargeing handle like an AR. The lower receiver and butt were similar to an M4 with the same telescoping butt.
It looked like it was a hybrid M240/M4 in 7.62, never seen anything like it before.
Anyone with any suggestions on what it is?
Cheers
Mac

It almost sounds like an M1A SOCOM version.  You mentioned a gas system like the M240 and the sliding handle, that seems to allude to that variant ... the Troy SOPMOD specifically

I think you saw an M14 with a Sage stock.  There are 3 Sage stock variants, one of them has an M4 telle-stock:



The standard stock has a 2-rail collapsible butt-stock with an adjustable cheek rest:



... Then there is the California-legal version with no pistol grip:




It really changes the look of the old M14:

Yep thats the rifle I saw, many thanks Marty and Q Man for your info and speedy reply, I wasn't aware it was still in service!
Cheers
Al

Q-man found the Sage pix that I could not find ... hee hee

STILL in service?  Heck, 3ID and 4ID sent more business to SEI than you can imagine to get M1A or M14s (cannot recall) dressed up in "Crazy Horse" configuration.  Being deployed in DMR role at levels as low as sqaud ...  a LOT of them in service.  Try this on - armorer going into the deep recesses of the armories to open old (some unopened) boxes of 1911s to rework and put into service ...

I have been out here for over a year and see 4ID out on the streets every day, seen many different weapons, all sorts of chromed free floating barrels etc, but this one was a first! Hence the request to ID it. Certainly never would have guessed it was an M14 with all that furniture on it. I heard that they were digging out the old 7.62 rifles and .45 pistols as the lads had lost trust in the 5.56mm and 9mm they were given. Captured AK's were all the rage around here for a while for that reason.
Cheers for the info
Mac