POTD: Blue Lights, Hard Steel and Rio's Thin Blue Line
TFB’s Photo Of The Day goes in blue and red lights. Polícia Militar do Estado do Rio de Janeiro officers stand at attention in the darkness, berets crisp and squared, radiating exactly the kind of disciplined presence the force projects when it wants the streets to know it is there. These images capture something real about modern Brazilian law enforcement: formidable posture, hard equipment, and the weight of a city on their shoulders.
The rifle slung across the officer's chest seems to be the ArmaLite AR-10 A4, a full-length 7.62x51mm NATO battle rifle with a 20-inch stainless steel heavy barrel, flat-top Picatinny receiver, and gas-operated rotating bolt system. Introduced in 1995 as a modernized reinterpretation of Eugene Stoner's original 1956 design, the AR-10 A4 is not a subtle weapon.
It hits harder and reaches further than the 5.56mm platforms proliferating across Brazilian law enforcement right now, and in a state where criminal organizations routinely field military-grade rifles of their own, that calculus is not accidental.
All images by Polícia Militar do Estado do Rio de Janeiro.
Ex-Arctic Ranger. Competitive practical shooter and hunter with a European focus. Always ready to increase my collection of modern semi-automatics, optics, thermals and suppressors. TCCC Certified. Occasionaly seen in a 6x6 Bug Out Vehicle, always with a big smile.
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30 cal. vs. 5.56? Sounds good to me. 😉
The .308 is still supersonic at 600 yards. the 5.546 is not. If you have ever pulled butts back in the Old Corps you could always tell when your target had been fired upon by the crack of the round going over head. It didn't whine like in the movies unless the shooter had hit the butts and it was ricocheting of the concrete butts. You also knew because there was a loud bang and oftentimes a shower of concrete chips or dirt or both.