Cut to the chase. Go back to 30 caliber.
Cut the weight with modern stock design and smart action engineering.
The old .308 was pretty good. The OLD 30-06 is still a very lethal long range cartridge.
The newer rounds like the 6.5G shoot a lot like the 7.62 with better recoil.
NO! The .308 was never the ideal round even when we adopted it and it is even less ideal today. The 6.5 Creedmoor or the .260 Remington is where it’s at.
Meet every argument dead center ...... 260 Remington. Logistically a single caliber for GPMG’s and Battle Rifle . Planners seem to forget past wars mistakes. Short range CQB Stopping power, long range hits / terminal velocities , human wave aggressors , replenishment, resupply common caliber.... above all else reliable , tested, proven designs to use the .260 Rem.
My choice...
Most of these explanations eventually get around to comparisons to and comments about how their pet platform a is "just as good as" .30 cal in a rifle and the .45 cal in a handgun.
I thought about that for a bit.
Guess what I decided to go with for my weaponry.
There is a series of videos on youtube where a guy shoots .30-06 AP and 7.62 NATO AP at mild steel and AR500 steel targets. The .30-06 would pierce through 1” of mild steel whereas the 7.62 wouldn’t pierce through it. Both rounds were stopped by 1/2” AR500 steel.