Hmmm…Guns 'n Grass…sounds like a rock group!
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If I remember right, it was considered a crew served weapon when I was in.
When we got the M1s, we also got M16A2s and it was considered the loaders weapon as he’s the lowest rank and no one else wanted to shoot it.
The army had some dumb ideas in the '80’s.
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Using the same picture as reference I’ve used a Live Resin M4 on my 1/16 RC M1A1.
Barry
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Same here, the Tankers had Grease guns. I was on a M-88 recovery vehicle and was issued one. They never let us fire them or take them out of the arms room. Then was issued an M-9 later on.
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@Stikpusher @Dan For tank crews, the Grease Gun was considered a crew served weapon because it was issued to the tank, not any individual crew member, just like the machine guns. On M48/60 series tanks, there were two, one was stored in the drivers compartment, one was in the turret near the loader. Since they were also the lowest ranking men on the crew, they usually got stuck with them. When the M1 came out, it had one rifle, originally an M16A1, in the turret. As Dan said, the loader usually got it.
In any case, these guns, just like the machine guns, are considered part of the tank, and are signed for by the tank commander. They are not personal weapons, so you do not have to qualify with them, only your pistol.
Ken
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If I had been a tank commander, I’d have been taking my crew to the range.
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That’s funny, as a Tank Commander, I took my tank to the Range.
BA-dum-tissss…
I’ll be here all week. Try the Pot Roast.
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Only the loaders were tasked to go the range.
I didn’t even learn the M16 when in basic.
The '80’s were great times but some things were plain dumb.
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How is that possible? BRM is part of basic. No Bolo Badge earned? I went thru in the 80’s, but being Infantry of course we were married to our rifles long before we even went to the range for the first time.
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I’m sure that’s true. And it was probably based upon the company/battalion commander’s guidance, which leaves your fate more or less up to his level of competence.
Any unit I’ve been in in the past twenty years, I’ve pushed for more range time, either military or civilian. On our own dime or the Army’s. Get some SF guys together without adult supervision. 
The female lieutenant (S1) credits me with saving her life, even though I was not with her at the time.
We used to hold contests for everything. She ultimately was able to do M4 mag changes faster than I could about 50% of the time. That’s saying something.
She was a true badass.
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Not for tankers (and maybe some others). When I went through One Station Unit Training (OSUT) at Ft Knox in late '79 our entire training program, basic and AIT, was 13 weeks. “Basic” training was the first three (3) weeks, the rest was AIT, tank school. Rifle/M16 training was only a couple of days, with one day on the range for familiarization. I was on sick call and missed that day. I was in the Army for over a year before I ever fired the M16.
At that time it was expected that tankers would have a very short lifespan in combat and would not need to know any infantry stuff. BRM, hand to hand combat, and a bunch of other stuff were skipped over. A tank crewmember’s personal weapon is a pistol, M1911A1 or M9 or whatever they have now. Qualification/Bolo Badge was for the pistol. With the 1911 I always shot “expert.”
Ken
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No tanks carried the rifle. There were only a few rifle carriers in HQ PLT.
I didn’t make the rules just lived by them.
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So this is true then…
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Hey, I drive very well!
Ken
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The Army is funny. The Corps, as everyone is rifleman we all spent time at the range with M-16 at boot camp. Tankers are issued pistols, the tank might have had a M-16 but never saw it. Might also have had been issued M-16 as tankers but never saw those either. Some reserve units deployed without tanks and became other MOS’s (maybe MP or grunt don’t remember).
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Love your stories and inputs. 
I guess I have to put a M4 on my build.
Luckily I have some sprues from Trumpeter that comes with all the extras. Considering all your experiense, is there som obvious does and don’ts regarding the setup of the M4?
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The M4 was after my time, so no experience there. Your best bet is to go with photos, like the ones posted above. You should use one with a short stock, the one you show is extended.
Ken
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Just cut down the buffer tube and reattach the butt stock closer to the receiver to recreate a collapsed butt stock.
This is an aftermarket butt stock but you’ll get the idea. Extended (note buffer tube)
Collapsed:
Edited to add:
The Government issued M4 butt stock shows more of the buffer tube adjacent to the receiver than this aftermarket one does when collapsed.
Got ambitious and dug through the spare parts
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Ok! I got it. I think I can do that.
What about the barrel? I’m not sure but are there a long and short version?