It looks real hot !6.5 Grendel
Posted on 12/26/2008 3:55:08 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
ARLINGTON, VA. — The Marine Corps has moved one step closer to selecting a next-generation light automatic rifle.
On Friday, the Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va., announced contract awards for three competing weapons manufacturers to produce and deliver their final entries to the Corps by the middle of next year, in what signifies a final round of competition that began with ten candidates.
The lighter, magazine-fed Infantry Automatic Rifle — or IAR — is intended to replace the belt-fed M249 Squad Automatic Weapon — or SAW — in “the Marine Rifle Squad within infantry battalions and in the scout teams in Light Armored Reconnaissance battalions.”
But the rifle will not be for all Marines, according to a statement by MARSYSCOM spokesman Bill Johnson-Miles.
The Pentagon requested up to 10 samples of a 5.56 mm IAR prototype from FN Herstal, which would be made in Belgium; Heckler and Koch Defense, which is based in Ashburn, Va., but whose samples would be made in Germany, the home country of the parent company; and two entries from Colt Defense, made in West Hartford, Conn.
The rifles will then undergo limited testing by infantry Marines.
Under the five-year contracts, the Pentagon could tap the winning entrant for an acquisition of 4,476 rifles, with an option to purchase up to 6,500 copies at a possible value of $28 million for FN Herstal or Heckler & Koch, or $24 million for Colt.
The SAW, which is manufactured by FN Manufacturing, the US subsidiary of Belgium’s FN Herstal, weighs 16.5 pounds and fires 750 rounds per minute.
The lighter IAR candidate from FNH USA, for example, weighs in at 10.4 pounds and fires 650 rounds per minute.
Spokesmen from Heckler & Koch’s Ashburn, Va., office and FNH USA, in McLean, Va., did not return calls to Stars and Stripes.
The rifles are scheduled for deployable use in December 2010.
That's why they're 'looking at' 6.5 mm Grendel. It's a larger bullet diameter but will still fit in the existing 5.56mm AR/M4 action.
L
“Replacment of the M-16 weapons sytem is something that is long overdue”
My understanding is that he M4 is very popular among the troops and preferred by many of the other countries soldiers who are serving w/ our troops in the ME. I recently spoke w/ a British Paratrooper Regiment commander who is not very fond of the “bullpup” (SA-85?) that is the standard issue for his troops. He’s a big fan of the M4. He’s been in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
For a look at some of the Kel-Tec reliability you disparage, would you do this with your rifle (after already running 500 rounds through it in one day):
Fast fire 30 rounds, ice bath, then 30 more rounds
Fact is, ALL platforms will have reliability issues in some situations. AKs generally go bang when you pull the trigger, but a VERY large percentage of them have terrible accuracy. It's one thing to go bang; it's another to deliver the round on-target.
Is that similar to (or another name for) the 6.5mm SPC round?
It looks real hot !6.5 Grendel
It’s a really nice shotgun. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that almost nothing is made here any more. Between the unions and onerous regulations it’s expensive and dangerous (legally speaking) to manufacture anything here.
I do buy Ruger when I can since they make things right here in AZ.
They are similar, but not the same.
“...but the British “Brown Bess” was in service for over 150 years...”
Working on that with the .50 “Ma Deuce”...made in 1922 and still going strong.
God Bless John Moses Browning...
I was wondering since I believe the 6.5mm SPC is designed for use in M16/M4 pattern rifles with greater range and lethality.
The 6.5 Grendel has better long range characteristics I think you are referring to the 6.8 mm Remington SPC
L
Sorry, I should've been more clear. I meant in comparison to the 5.56mm NATO round.
And thanks, you’re correct, 6.8mm SPC...not 6.5mm...
see 86The 6.5 Grendel is better than
6.8 SPC, 5.56x45, 5.8x42 and the 7.62x39 for distance.
He agreed on the ability to control the recail on a 5.56. They are now training in forced entry to use full auto 8-9 rounds, walking the rounds into the target, unshouldered weapons. So, they need to carry more ammo now.
7.62 weapons are just too heavy for today's need for extreme mobility with this enemy.
Well, the forward ejection of the Ke Tec and the FN F2000 are an improvement over the Israeli Tavor bullpup.
That sort of ejection system also seems well suited for firing from a vehicle. No brass flinging around the crew cab.
Any reliability issues with this sort of ejection tube jamming up in combat use?
Dang, I hadn't even thought of that case... Yes, that certainly is a HUGE benefit! Nothing worse than a hot shell casing in the crotch when you're strapped in!
Any reliability issues with this sort of ejection tube jamming up in combat use?
The Kel Tec is just entering production so not enough data to make a claim (but looking at cutaways of the mechanism says it should be reliable).
The FN2000 has been used by militaries around the world since 2001, so it's proven itself in battle to be quite reliable.
My choice, if I could sit down and do it from scratch: an FN2000 style rifle chambered for 7.62x39. It's got the form factor and broad attachment set needed for modern combat, and you're assured of finding ammunition around the world. Nothing is more frustrating than to be low on 5.56 or 7.62 NATO while guarding a captured dump of 7.62x39 that you can't use.
If that caliber were not an option, I would retain the current 5.56 as it is also widely available.
They never will acknowledge it. They want our nation weak because they want to do away with the nation state ideal. Most leftist media are in bed with the UN one ruling government BS.
If you read the Amicus brief in the DC v. Heller case from the United States Retired Generals (sorry, I don’t remember the exact title of the brief), you’ll see that they touch on the point that small arms technology in the area of military preferred firearms.
Basically we are up the creek until our Government gets rid of the cranial/rectal inversion.
Mike
http://www.kel-tec-cnc.com/rfb.htm
‘The release of the RFB Carbine is being delayed 30 to 60 days. Expect the first shipment by February of 2009.
The delay is due to a re-tooling effort aimed at adjusting production in order to precede any future negative legislative actions that are likely imminent due to the incoming administration.
‘
Thanks a lot America, dumbasses!
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