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To: holymoly

I think the XM8 in 6.8spc would be a great choice. I'm surprised it's taking so long.

However, the M16/M4 are still very viable systems.


4 posted on 11/15/2005 2:43:35 AM PST by Lauretij2
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To: Lauretij2
Ronnie Barrett has an answer ready today.


5 posted on 11/15/2005 2:47:35 AM PST by FreedomPoster (Guns themselves are fairly robust; their chief enemies are rust and politicians) (NRA)
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To: Lauretij2
I think the XM8 in 6.8spc would be a great choice. I'm surprised it's taking so long.

Why not just rechamber it for 7.62x51 NATO?

8 posted on 11/15/2005 2:51:27 AM PST by lentulusgracchus ("Whatever." -- sinkspur)
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To: Lauretij2
However, the M16/M4 are still very viable systems.

Not for the kind of battles our troops are engaged in. The 5.56 is fine for European theater warfare, less so for urban combat.

Troops in Iraq regularly report that while shooting at cars that run checkpoints that 5.56 rounds fail to penetrate sufficiently to stop the car.

Additionally, troops in Afganistan report that shooting an enemy at 500+ yards with a 5.56 often ends up with the target going down and then getting back up.

5.56 is fine for an area denial weapon, ie keeping the enemy's head down while riflemen move into killing positions. It's not so fine as a primary infantry rifle.

Let's put composite stocks on the M14 and issue that as the primary rifle until we get something better.

9 posted on 11/15/2005 2:52:30 AM PST by Knitebane (Happily Microsoft free since 1999.)
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To: Squantos; Eaker; Travis McGee; Jeff Head; Joe Brower; sit-rep; archy; Lion Den Dan; ...
I had not heard of the XM-8 being scrubbed. If this is true, it is one of the best things the guys and gals at the Infantry School has ever done. IMHO they should erase all preconceived notions of 5.56, 6.8, and 7.62 and start from scratch. Rather than design a rifle around a caliber, figure out what the best caliber compromise is (yes it will be a compromise) and then design the rifle around the caliber.
11 posted on 11/15/2005 2:56:20 AM PST by SLB ("We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us." C. S. Lewis)
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To: Lauretij2

I was talking to a colleague who was in Vietnam, and handled both the M14 and M16. He told me the M14 was a far better weapon. He called the M16 "Mattel" from all the plastic.


18 posted on 11/15/2005 3:22:13 AM PST by shekkian
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