New US Army rifle

[peyton]

I read the article and while mentioning the 6.8 it says it is not the 6.8.spc, so I wish they would give us more details, perhaps a 270 Winchester short or one of the wssm cartridges that failed already? You can only stuff so much powder in a case before you go to a longer sized action.
But we all know the 6.5 Creedmoor can do it all already!!

 

[DWalt]

"I read the article and while mentioning the 6.8 it says it is not the 6.8.spc, so I wish they would give us more details, perhaps a 270 Winchester short or one of the wssm cartridges that failed already?"

There is the 6.8 SPC and then there are also a half-dozen or so modifications of it around. The article is not specific as to what 6.8 round the Army is considering. I was evaluating the 6.8 SPC about 15 years ago before most people had heard of it, and I still have a full box (all white) of the first production run made by Remington. At that time, the main idea was to improve the downrange ballistic performance of the M4 (and even shorter barrel rifles) vs the 5.56mm, and that it did very well. We were looking at it for potential use by USAF combat air controllers and pararescue men. I can't really tell from the article what the Army's idea is now, maybe something like an M249 in 6.8.

 

[LVSteve]

I read the article and while mentioning the 6.8 it says it is not the 6.8.spc, so I wish they would give us more details, perhaps a 270 Winchester short or one of the wssm cartridges that failed already? You can only stuff so much powder in a case before you go to a longer sized action.
But we all know the 6.5 Creedmoor can do it all already!!

The army could shock us all and go 6.8 in a polymer case...or my alarm clock could go off and I will wake up.

 

[PR24]

Last time a similar round appeared was in the late 1940s and it was called .280 British. Sadly, a certain US ordnance colonel was having none of that, thus denying NATO the caliber and weapons it REALLY needed. JMNSHO.

Compare and contrast, if you can.

.280 British - Wikipedia

6.8mm Remington SPC - Wikipedia

Oddly enough I just opined about the .280 Brit on another site covering the same subject. It may be prudent to reevaluate that cartridge. Why reinvent the wheel? If they want something that works in existing M-16/M-4 platforms then so be it, find a dang caliber & run with it. It they're looking to replace the M-16 designs all together then look at the .280 Brit. Lots of data on it. Heck a bull pup like the EM-2 may be the ticket.

I agree that they need to stop wasting taxpayer money on this ****! The latest battlefield fashions, dang near a decade long BWOT for a pistol!?!....now the rifle caliber debate once again!!

 

[PR24]

Given that 7.62 NATO was an abject failure for the original intended purpose, it's not hard to see that almost any smaller caliber would have been much more successful.

Up until the 1980s 5.56 evolved into a round designed for a specific purpose, penetrating the helmets and body armor of Warsaw Pact troops out to about 400 m. Then came the M4 to reduce that capability and after that came the Sandbox actions against skinny unarmored opponents using Enfields and Mosins from 500 m or more. Oops. Sure, the 77 gr ammo got back some of the capability, but the key word is "some".

I think the main issue is that the army needs something the SIZE of an M4 for house clearance and getting in and out of vehicles. Trouble is a conventional weapon that size cannot meet the stopping power requirements using the current crop of 5.56 ammo at the required ranges from what I have read. It just doesn't have enough barrel.

The bullpup is one answer IF you can get the gun to be safe in the event of a case failure and make it easy to clear stoppages. Even if you fix that somebody will whine about it being ugly and the wrong shape for drill. Me, I don't care what shape it is so long as it is effective.

Perhaps the US Military needs to look at what their UK, Aussie & Austrian counterparts are fielding? Yes indeed; bullpups! Longer barrels & still as short or shorter than an M4 or Commando.