Internet source -
Stoner 63 Modular Weapons Systems
This weapon system came from legendary American arms designer Eugene Stoner, creator of the original Armalite AR-15 rifle, which was later adopted by the military as the M16. Stoner’s next project after leaving Armalite was a modular weapon system developed with Cadillac Gage: a 7.62×51 mm caliber weapon that could be configured as a rifle, carbine, or machine gun. When Stoner and his design team saw the growing popularity of the 5.56 x 45 mm caliber, they switched away from the heavier 7.62 mm round.
The Stoner 63 system featured a variety of different subassemblies, that enabled a variety of configurations. A full-size rifle, a compact carbine, even a solenoid-fired vehicle machine gun were available. But the most popular version of the Stoner 63 was the light machine gun. Special operations units like the SEALs and Marine Force Reconnaissance prized the 63’s light weight — it was 11 pounds lighter than the standard M60 machine gun. The weapon’s 5.56 mm caliber was also significantly
more controllable than the heavier 7.62 rounds of the M60.
The Stoner 63 family got attention from the Marine Corps, which conducted testing with the various configurations from 1963 to 1967. It got positive reviews in boot camp training environments and performed well in
limited combat trials. But the Army disagreed, with Army Weapons Command electing to stick with the M16.
While the SEALs had an appreciation for the weapon, its complicated assembly and
fussy maintenance requirements meant that it would never see wide acceptance outside special operations circles. But its modular design was a revolutionary approach to small arms design, one that would ironically be best exemplified in improved versions of Stoner’s previous work on the AR-15. But even modern versions of the AR still don’t offer what the Stoner 63 did back in the 1960s.
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Best description I found of the 63. Maybe this is what he meant or was getting two rifles mixed up?
