Army thrilled as next-gen 6.8mm squad weapons once thought 'unachievable' are revealed

The Washington Times ^ | October 23, 2019 | Douglas Ernst

[jazusamo]

Brig. Gen. Dave Hodne: 'Those impossibilities are on the floor here today'

U.S. Army leaders are one step closer to deciding on a supplier for its Next Generation Squad Weapon system after a who’s who in weapons makers unveiled their progress.

The 2019 Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting impressed officials with prototype 6.8mm rifles and automatic rifles by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems inc., Textron Systems, and Sig Sauer Inc.

Each company is vying for the opportunity to replace the 5.56mm M4A1 carbine and the M249 squad automatic weapon used in combat units.

Military leaders essentially want a weapon that boasts the firepower — and range — of a machine gun with the precision of a rifle.

[Carriage Hill]

Bookmark for later tonite.

[zeugma]

I'll take two please.

[Spktyr]

You want to see a slow bullpup, see the below link - 1:08-1:13.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4Db8V38cLg

The Tavor is at least in the same league as the AR to AK area. The Steyr... no, just no.

[Myrddin]

Many 5.56 weapons may be convertible to 6.8, though.

You can already purchase 6.8SPC II ammo, barrels, bolts and magazines to refit an AR-15 pattern rifle. There are specialty rounds for hunting.

I have a .224 Valkyrie that uses a 6.8SPC II bolt and magazine since that is the parent case.

The military may take a different direction, but the existing builds prove that it is feasible. I would include headspace gauges for go/no-go/field if converting an existing rifle with parts from a supplier to ensure a good mating of the new barrel and bolt.

[Myrddin]

6.5 Grendel is a decent round. I buy Wolf WPA 6.5 Grendel with 100gr bullet/steel case. It performs fine in my AR build and the two bolt actions (CZ/Ruger). I had one steel case split in the CZ. It was difficult to extract. Accuracy is good and Burris has a good ballistic chart to go with the scope I purchased from them. Coupling that with the WPA 6.5 gives sub MOA groups.

[Spktyr]

The 6.8 in the article is not related to 6.8 SPC II, except for the proposed SIG version. Especially in the case of the telescoped case ammo, 5.56 weapons may now be *that* readily convertible. We’ll see when they select a final type, but for now we just don’t know.

[Charles Martel]

Brownells actually put out a decent piston AR recently.

Their AR upper assembly that's a modern take on the AR-180 has been getting rave reviews.

[Hugh the Scot]

That’s what she said...