One of the distinct advantages of working for a place like Military.com is that on occasion you get to spend a day at the firing range slingin' lead from the latest in military weaponry.

Our boy Bryant Jordan went down to Blackwater USA to test fire the Kriss .45 cal. submachine gun a couple weeks ago, and I just had the pleasure of spending the day out at the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland getting some trigger time on a variety of weapons the service is pushing to troops in the field.

First of all, it's a big deal to even be allowed on base at Aberdeen. Some of the U.S. military's most closely-held testing and evaluation of armor, ballistics and explosives goes on there and officials are loath to let anyone in - especially the press - to get even a preliminary glance at what they're up to.

But thanks to an invitation from the Fort Belvoir, Va.-based PEO Soldier, Aberdeen opened its doors on Wednesday for a small group of journalists to come out and learn more about Army weapons. On hand were program managers, test directors, engineers and everyday Joes to answer questions and give the ground truth on what's being developed.

Testers showed off six different systems either already deployed to the field or ready to be fielded with units in the Sandbox, including:

XM320 Grenade Launcher - Pretty close to my favorite one to shoot, the XM320 is a major upgrade for the M203, 40mm grenade slinger attached to the barrel of M4s and M-16s. Finally H&K has gotten through to the Army about its side-eject under-barrel grenade launcher. The Army plans to field about 71,600 XM320s in a one-to-one replacement of the M203 beginning in late 2008 … and it's a good thing. The XM320 can be detached from your combat rifle and fired as a stand-alone weapon (which is how we fired it at Aberdeen) but I'll tell you, it's tough to handle in that configuration for tall people like me since the butt stock doesn't extend very far.

The best part of the system, however, is the integrated electronic sighting system that comes with it. Developed by Insight Technology, the optic uses an iron sight reticule that's precision balanced. A soldier uses a hand-held range finder to determine the distance to a target, dials in the yardage in five-yard intervals on the XM320 sight and a handy green/red light and digital bar tells the shooter whether he's on target and shooting level. I hit the target at 150 yards on my first shot. The rifle-mounted laser illuminator can be used at night with the system to find a target even in darkness, making the new grenade launcher far more effective in all conditions, said Maj. Larry Dring, assistant product manager for individual weapons with PEO Soldier.

M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System (MASS) - Here was another modular weapon that's pretty cool, but a little more difficult to use than the grenade launcher. Mounted under the combat rifle - or configured as a stand-alone weapon using a standard M4 pistol grip and collapsible butt stock, the M26 is designed to fire both standard 12 gauge rounds and non-lethal munitions. The M26 has an extendable choke-tube that allows the shooter to place breeching rounds against a door frame from a safe distance with the shotgun attached to his rifle - a method that eases the transition between shotgun and rifle in combat situation, said Sgt. 1st Class William Kone, test and evaluation NCO at Aberdeen.

That's all well and good, but I found the cocking mechanism to be clunky and inefficient. Instead of an under-barrel pump-gun style action, a metal bar attached to the bolt extends out to the side, forcing the shooter to transition his hand position to load another round into the breach. I'm sure with practice, I could have gotten as fast on the action as Kone, but I wasn't the only one with that complaint. The Army plans to field 38,000 MASSs beginning in late 2008 to replace its Mossberg 12ga. pump guns.

Common Remotely Operated Weapon System (CROWS) - The Army's been talking about the CROWS for a long time, and it's been fielded in limited numbers to a variety of units in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maj. Pat Baker, assistant product manager for CROWS told me units doing route security and other convoy operations have a particular interest in CROWS.

The model we test fired at Aberdeen was the second generation CROWS, which basically has a wider field of view for the operator than the first-gen model. What Baker seemed to like most about the system was its combined optical/thermal imaging system. Aside from helping in targeting, the thermal optics have been used in route clearance to spot IEDs. If that lump of trash on the side of the road gives off a heat signature, it's probably a roadside bomb. Operating the system was easy - much like manipulating a video game joystick - and four crew served weapons can be attached to the roof-mounted station, including the M249 SAW, .50 cal, M240 and Mark 19 grenade launcher ... depending on the mission.

M110 Sniper Rifle - So, the Army decided to go whole hog into the semi-auto sniper rifle world with the Knight's Armament SR25 - the same basic model used by the SEALs (Mark 11) and being evaluated by the Marine Corps. The Army said screw it, and is ditching its inventory of M24 bolt-action rifles for the 7.62 M110 - whose action is based on the same Stoner gas system as the M16 and M4. Now, I've heard rumors from the Marines that they were unimpressed with the weapon's reliability in Iraq. But the soldier I talked to at Aberdeen said he's been testing the heck out of the rifle and only saw minimal bolt cracking after nearly 15,000 rounds. The M24 is said to have a bolt lifespan on 5,000 rounds before a major re-working. While he recognized bolt-action purists would be horrified by the sacrilege of moving to a semi-auto system, he said with the number of targets typically being engaged by snipers in the war zone, he'd rather have 20 rounds per magazine than six any day of the week. "With this I get 20 rounds and a split second between shots," he said. "I can kill more targets every time with this."

Plinking targets at 250 yards with the suppressed M110 was a breeze - especially with the Leupold Mark4 3.5-10x scope. The action was smooth, the report sounded like a BB gun and the system is totally stable and easy to use. I know from experience that snipers in Iraq love the M110, especially with its increased capacity and resemblance to the M16 which keeps you from silhouetting yourself as a "one-shot-one-killer." The Army plans to field nearly 3,000 M110s - the first unit to receive them will be a New York National Guard unit preparing for a deployment to Iraq next year.

M249 Squad Automatic Weapon - The SAW is a no-brainer. When you want to sling lead at high rates, pull the trigger and let 'er rip. The main difference in the one we fired at Aberdeen was the lighter-weight collapsible stock that resembles the same one attached to the M4. The older telescoping stock was comfortable and gave the shooter nothing to rest his cheek on for stabilization.

M107 Long Range Sniper Rifle - Mmmmm, the granddaddy of them all. The .50cal beast. The M107 sniper rifle.

For any of you who haven't shot one - or been around one that's being fired - it's like a darn roller coaster ride. The concussion of that fat round is so strong the Army restricts Soldiers from shooting more than 25 rounds at a time for health reasons, one Army officer told me. Keep your eye well back from the scope and tuck that stock back hard into your shoulder, because if you don't, you'll end up with a healthy shiner on both. Shooting out to 400 yards on the Aberdeen range, the LRSR dinked the target spot on. There's something primeval about firing one of these and I'll tell you, after a little break to get the ringing out of my ears, I was ready for more.

Just another day on the range plinking pop-ups at Aberdeen. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.