The M468 is the designation for an upgrade to the M16/M4 family of service rifles made by Colt. The M468 is manufactured by Barrett Firearms Company, who in addition to making this upgrade also makes the M82 .50 caliber sniper rifles in use by various branches of the United States Military. The service rifle (also known as standard-issue rifle) of a given army or armed force is that which it issues as standard to its soldiers. ... The Barrett Firearms Company was founded in 1980 by Ronnie Barrett. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The word calibre (British English) or caliber (American English) designates the interior diameter of a tube or the exterior diameter of a wire or rod. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In firearms terminology, an action is the system of operation that the firearm employs to seal the breech (in a breech-loading firearm), and to load consecutive rounds. ... The gas-operated system for implementing automatic reloading of a firearm is one of five such systems, the others being recoil-operated, gatling, chain, and blowback. ... Rotating bolt of a Sig 550 rifle. ... (for paintball markers also)Rate of fire is the frequency at which a specific weapon can fire or launch its projectiles. ... A guns muzzle velocity is the speed at which the projectile leaves the muzzle of the gun. ... M16 (more formally United States Rifle, Caliber 5. ... The M4 Carbine is a family of firearms tracing its lineage back to earlier carbine versions of the M16, all based on the original AR-15 made by ArmaLite. ... Colts Manufacturing Company (CMC--formerly Colts Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company) is a United States firearms manufacturer founded in 1847. ... The Barrett Firearms Company was founded in 1980 by Ronnie Barrett. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Unlike possible replacements for the M16/M4 such as the now canceled XM8, the M468 is not an entirely new service rifle, instead the M468 is only made up of a service rifle upper receiver (made by Barrett) that is attached to M16/M4 service rifle lower receivers and is compatible to many accessories intended for the M16/M4 family. It can also be mated to M16/M4 lower receivers currently in the possession of the US military, thus causing the cost to update the M16/M4s to be significantly less than replacing all the M16/M4s in the US arsenal with a new weapon. The same is true for the HK 416 service rifle. A US Marine weapons instructor holds an XM8 Carbine during the Infantry Operations Chief Symposium in August 2005 The XM8 is a developmental U.S. military designation and project name for a lightweight assault rifle system that was under development by the United States Army from the late 1990s to... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

In addition the M468 uses the new 6.8 mm Remington SPC (6.8 x 43) rounds that are very similar and size to the 5.56 mm rounds used by the United States Military today. According to Barrett, the new 6.8 mm round is supposed to have 50% more stopping power than the 5.56 round and a longer effective range. The round has a slightly lower velocity than the 5.56 round, but Barrett claims it has 1.5 times the kinetic energy as the 5.56 mm round. The company claims that it is effective at six hundred meters and has a muzzle velocity of 808 metres (2650 feet) per second when fired from a 406 millimeter (16 inch) barrel. The M468 employs the S.I.R. handguard (Selective Integration Rail) manufactured by ARMS Inc, which allows many military accessories such as a bipod, night vision devices, and combat optics to be placed on the rifle. In addition the SIR system had flip-up iron sights already built in to the system that can be used if used as a stand alone weapon. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... U.S. Military 5. ... The kinetic energy of an object is the extra energy which it possesses due to its motion. ... A bipod is a support device that is similar to a tripod or monopod, but with only two legs. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Image intensifier. ...

According to Military.com the entire rifle costs $2,535 however the upper receiver upgrade kit alone only costs $1,494. The Barrett M468 page lists the complete rifle at $2,700 and the complete upper receiver at $1,590.

While information regarding US military use of the Barrett M468 is murky, it has been reported by several reliable sources that some weapons are in current, if limited, use by US SOF(particularly the 5th Special Forces Group) in the GWOT^{[citations needed]}. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

The M468 has been featured on a second season episode of the Discovery channel's Future Weapons ("Top Guns"). Discovery Channel is a United States-based TV channel founded by John Hendricks. ... Future Weapons is a television program series first shown on April 19, 2006 on Discovery Channel. ...

Barret Firearms Model M468