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 | | Subject: a machine gun in focus: stoner 63 / mk23 Mon Mar 14, 2011 2:54 am | |
|  The Stoner 63, also known as the XM22/E1, is an American modular weapons system designed by Eugene Stoner in the early 1960s. It was produced by Cadillac Gage and used in very limited numbers in Vietnam by members of the United States Navy SEALs and several law enforcement agencies.
Soon after leaving ArmaLite, Eugene Stoner, one of the nation's most prolific modern military small arms designers, responsible for the design of the AR-15/M16 assault rifles, AR-10 battle rifle and AR-5 survival rifle, among others,[1] devised a concept for a weapons platform that would be built around a common receiver and certain interchangeable components and could be transformed into a rifle, carbine or various machine gun configurations by simply fitting the appropriate parts to the basic assembly.[2]Stoner managed to solicit the help of Howard Carson, in charge of Cadillac Gage's West Coast plant in Costa Mesa, California
(where Armalite was also located), in convincing the company's
president, Rusell Baker, of the feasibility and commercial potential of
his new weapons system.[2]
Russell obliged and Cadillac Gage (a subsidiary of the Ex-Cell-O
Corporation) established a small arms development branch in Costa Mesa.[2]
Stoner then recruited his two principal aides at Armalite: Robert
Fremont and James L. Sullivan (who would later go on to design the Ultimax 100 light machine gun for the Chartered Industries of Singapore).[2]The first working prototype was chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO and completed in 1962.[2] It was designated the Stoner M69W
(for no other reason than when turned upside down it reads the same,
symbolizing Stoner's vision of a fully invertible receiver).[2] A second prototype called the Stoner 62 was fabricated before the team decided to focus on the promising new 5.56x45mm
small caliber high-velocity cartridge, as it appeared the new round was
gaining mainstream military approval. At that time the weapon became
known as the Stoner 63.[2]
No more than 200 guns were manufactured at the Costa Mesa facility
before production was transferred to the Cadillac Gage plant in Warren, Michigan.[2] The weapon is covered under U.S. Patent 3,198,076
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