Posted on 08/08/2017 5:39:21 AM PDT by w1n1
Interim Combat Service Rifle Solicitation Released by US Army
The US Army has released a statement for a new 7.62mm infantry rifle to replace the M4. The Interim Combat Service Rifle program, has been in the works since April of this year, would replace M4 Carbines in use with combat units with a new weapon in the 7.62x51mm caliber.
The new statement requires companies to submit 7 weapons plus ancillaries for testing, and includes the promise of up to 8 Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs, non-contract transactions), leading to the eventual selection of 1 weapon for a contract of 50,000 units.
The primary justification for the ICSR program are the upcoming improved ceramic body armors that are resistant to existing 5.56mm small arms ammunition. The logic goes that the Army’s new 5.56mm M855A1 round cannot penetrate these new armors, and therefore the service must switch to a new round.
However, what’s misleading is, as current 7.62mm M80A1 is incapable of penetrating these body armors either – on the other hand with specialty tungsten cored ammunition in both 5.56mm and 7.62mm calibers are capable of penetrating armor of this type. Read the rest of the US Army to replace M4 Carbine story here.
Will the old rifles be put up for public sale??? Army surplus.
Good idea. I have always preferred a 30 caliber rifle.
I seriously doubt it. They are just testing because of new body armor on the market. It’s another good opportunity for 6.5 - 6.8 to shine.
Save money. Save time. M1A. A bit heavy but gets the job done.
Stopping Power!
I doubt it. They are select fire and would be a class 3 weapon.
So then everyone with .223 or 5.56 now just have rifles, no longer classified as assault rifles right?
Given the choice of carrying 20 Rds of 7.62 or 30 Rds of 5.56, I’d choose the 20 Rds of 7.62 every time.
They did this because of the effective range of the rifle. The old ones didn’t have enough.
They did this because of the effective range of the rifle. The old ones didn’t have enough.
They’ve asked for a quote for only 50,0000.
So, no.
Not in favor of this. 308 cal semi auto rifles are quite heavy and so is the ammo. 5.56 actually performs very well at the ranges it’s normally used at, often it outperforms 308 in terminal ballistics on unarmored targets. The only place it struggles is defeating certain intermediate barriers.
If barrier penetration is an issue, the solution is 6.8 or 6.5. The conversion can be made by swapping uppers and mags. The cost can be defrayed by surplusing the 5.56 uppers, mags, and ammo. Since the uppers are not serialized parts, they can be surplused without running afoul of NFA / Hughes Amendment restrictions.
Do they have the scary black shroud thingy that goes up?
Ditto. I would go with 6.5 Creedmore over 7.62x51 at this point. By a mile. There is nothing the 7.62 can accomplish that the 6.5 Creedmore could not accomplish. Let the 6.5 and 6.8 duke it out the the .30 Cal and may the best round win.
Eggs Ackley ... 6.8 Vreedmore
While I can’t quote it, I remember from the book Blackhawk Down where one guy took a 7.62, the rest took 5.56. They could not understand why until attackers hit with 5.56 kept coming while when a 7.62 hit the attacker went down. They decided (if I am remembering right) that the 7.62 guy was a f@@king genius.
One well-aimed shot per customer.
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