Posted on 04/08/2024 1:56:04 PM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
The Army intends to introduce in 2023 a rifle and light machine gun pairing to substitute the M4 carbine and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon for its close combat unit.
The Marine Corps and Special Operations Command are also involved in the extensive testing and experimentation phase and will be able to choose the new-caliber firearms.
The new 6.8mm round, specially designed by the Army, is the most significant change for shooters. In the Next Generation Squad Weapon program, competitors were tasked with building the weapon to accommodate this round. Sig Sauer secured the $4.7 billion weapon contract last year, while Vortex Optics and Sheltered Wings jointly won the $2.7 billion NGSW-Fire Control contract.
In recent years, the U.S. Army’s fiscal projections have highlighted significant investments in the modernization of the M4 carbine. The modernization program, which began back in 2014, is a multifaceted initiative aimed at enhancing the reliability, durability, ergonomics, and zero retention of the rifle. It encompasses a range of improvements, including the integration of combat optics and a Close Quarters Battle Kit, as detailed in the Army’s budget justification documents.
A significant part of this program is the conversion of standard M4 carbines into the M4A1 configuration. This upgrade not only provides soldiers with full auto capability but also outfits the carbine with a heavier and more accurate barrel. As of the time of writing, more than 117,000 M4A1 upgrades have been completed, with plans to transform over 480,000 M4 rifles in total.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
.270 Winchester uses .277 caliber bullets.
The M855A1 EPR round in the 1/7 M4 is as effective at putting bad guys down with authority as anything the M16/M4 has ever been chambered for, including the original 55-gr round thru a 1/14 bbl. If you don’t believe me, listen to Kevin Owens, former Tier-1 anti-terrorism with the Irish Rangers and 18 years as a Green Beret with SOCOM (he’s killed more people than cancer):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84KBHdpKB1c&t=314s
But the 6.8 SPC is a big step forward for CQB because it isn’t bullet-sensitive, whereas the AR15 platform has proved itself extremely so (Big Army’s fault, not Eugene Stoner’s). However, the 6.8’s case head is 0.44” larger than the .223’s so there is a small loss of magazine capacity.
And the M4 is a stone-reliable platform thanks to millions of unpaid beta-testers over the last 60 years. Cheap AR-15s now are more reliable than guns Colt built in 1963 because of the lessons learned in more than half a century of manufacture. It would be a shame to bin it because it can’t drive a 130-gr pill at 3000 fps.
Military ammo is meant to be shot in vast quantities mainly to keep the other guys heads down. Chasing accuracy or quality beyond a certain point is not productive.
How many people did you shoot with 5.56 before coming to that conclusion? A rough estimate would be close enough.
Good point! I went through a whole magazine and didn't stop them. They were still coming when I got on my moped and left the combat zone. I had no air support! I made it down to the river bank and got in my submersible and took off. As I looked into the periscope at a secure distance away, I think all of them were mobile which was disappointing. I threw the carbine away and carried an AK47 I found off of the enemy. It was better.
Some or all of this may or may not have happened because I get my dreams mixed up with reality. So I'm not really sure.
Hey we don't do cheap boondoggles 6.
The average man's torso is 19.5 inches wide. Not coincidentally, so is the Army's Trainfire pop-up target. And Army TM 9-1005-319-10 says the maximum effective range of the M4 carbine against an individual is 500 meters.
At 500 meters, a 19.5-inch-wide target is ~3.4 minutes of angle in width. 3.4 MOA at 100 yards comes to ~3.6".
I don't know many shooters who would buy a sporting rifle knowing it wouldn't group any better than 3.6" @100 yards. However, from the Army's perspective, that's good enough to hit an enemy combatant at 500 meters.
And the Army's precision requirement for an infantry rifle is just that simple.
This is a mess of an article. The M4A1 spec rifles will continue in 5.56, specifically the M885A1 Enhanced Performance Round. Upgrading 480,000 of them seems like a smart move, if the CQB packages and optics make them more effective in a changing battlefield environment. None of it appears to have anything to do with the new 6.8x51 Sig rifle, which is basically an AR-10 with a piston-based gas system and will (thus far) be produced in smaller numbers.
Mate, when push comes to shove it’s always a compromise between projectile weight, velocity, cartidge size/weight etc. I carried an M14, 18 mags plus one in the rifle, 6 grenades, 1 Claymore, rats, deet, socks, etc., and didn’t bat an eye. But then again at 6’3” and 210 lb. I wasn’t effin bothered. Give me the biggest bullet mass/velocity you got and I’m a happy jack. 200 rounds a day on the course was nothing. What’s a bruised shoulder to proficiency. 24/365 and happy.
Yes, I guess that would be pointless, wouldn’t it?🤣
Center Mass ..
I’m thinking.
“308 - one shot, one kill 5.56 - 5 shots, one kill.”
That assumes better marksmanship than I would expect from the army.
GEE WHIZ I gotta run out and get some of that stuff TODAY!!
Thank you. I was totally confused by the article but I thought it must have been me...
OOPS ... that should have been 0.044" larger. I moved the decimal. Sorry 'bout that.
M-193 55gr ball ammo never had the problems I’ve seen with M-855 green tip.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.