USA – -(Ammoland.com)- New Rifle, New Caliber!
Two days ago, the Pentagon officially announced what many have suspected for some time:
After over two years (actually, more like fifty years!) of testing and evaluation, the US Army’s new rifle will be SIG’s candidate, an upscaled version of their existing gas-piston MCX Rifle, now designated the “XM5,” chambered for SIG’s version of the new military 6.8mm cartridge, called the 6.8×51.
SIG is the only genuine “gun-maker” to actively seek this business. Other candidates were submitted by companies like General Dynamics and Textron. However, SIG’s now-chosen XM5 will have to be eventually manufactured in large numbers (particularly when war breaks-out), and rifles and LMGs will necessarily be manufactured (under license) by any number of other companies, probably including General Dynamics and Textron!
The 6.8×51 round is basically a 308, necked-down to 27-caliber, but this new cartridge has a steel base and a brass forward section, allowing for chamber pressures in the range of 80k psi, all in an effort to get increased range from a short (13″) barrel.
It comes-out to a 140gr bullet and 2800f/s.
The civilian version is called the “277 Fury,” but it likely will be confined to traditional rifle chamber pressures of 50k psi, more like a 140gr bullet at 2400f/s
SIG’s belt-fed GPMG (w/bi-pod and probably a tri-pod), in the same caliber, designated the M250, is also part of the multi-billion dollar deal.
Both rifle and GPMG are to be equipped with a sophisticated, but bulky, 1×8 optic, that includes a range-finder and atmospheric sensors.
Both are also to be equipped with suppressors, reducing the weapons’ sound and signature. The downside is that suppressors add considerable length, necessitating short barrels, which translate to a reduction in muzzle velocity.
Additionally, many are skeptical as to whether any kind of suppressor will hold up under heavy, military use!
After sixty-plus years, our existing M4 rifle (5.56×45) actually runs as well as any military weapon ever has, and many of us rely on our M4s every day, in the domestic environment.
Yet for military use, the 5.56×45 NATO round (223 Rem) has shown itself to be consistently inadequate in range and penetration, ever since its adoption in the 1960s. Since that time, many different bullet weights and configurations have been introduced in an effort to address range and penetration issues, but none have adequately solved the problem.
In the end, the 5.56×45 remains what it has always been, a relatively short-range round that doesn’t penetrate much! Yet, in a police patrol-rifle, and for domestic self-defense, it is close to ideal, but for military use, it is sadly inadequate, and we’ve known that since 1960!
Of course, this announcement comes with the usual nauseating, self-serving hype, but we all know and understand that any new product, when mass-produced, will develop issues, issues that won’t even be identified until many thousands of units are manufactured, issued to troops, trained with, deployed to forward areas, and billions of rounds are fired through it over a number of years.
These issues will have to be identified, verified, and honestly confronted and fixed, assuming they can be!
Unfortunately, our woke-era star-wearers are far better known for creative cover-up and denial than they are for brutal honesty!
In any event, we’ll have a two-tier system, probably for at least the next thirty years. M4s, M240s, and the 5.56×45 round will remain active throughout our entire System for the foreseeable future. New rifles and GPMGs will go to front-line troops first. Troops in rear areas will continue to be served by the older weapons.
It all depends on how fast new weapons, new ammunition, and new accouterments/accessories can be produced (along with spare parts, armorer training, etc), issued, trained with, and ultimately deployed, and mostly how many unforeseen issues rear their ugly heads and have to be fixed, on the fly!
Ultimately, we should all be glad this long-overdue update is finally going forward!
What concerns me is that our current armed forces are one-third the absolute minimum size a so-called “super-power” needs to be in our dangerous world. A new war will require an immediate, exponential expansion, much like what we, as a nation, went through in 1941. I’m not at all sure this nation is even capable of that currently!
With any luck, that theory will not be tested any time soon!
/John
About John Farnam & Defense Training International, Inc
As a defensive weapons and tactics instructor John Farnam will urge you, based on your own beliefs, to make up your mind in advance as to what you would do when faced with an imminent lethal threat. You should, of course, also decide what preparations you should make in advance if any. Defense Training International wants to make sure that its students fully understand the physical, legal, psychological, and societal consequences of their actions or in-actions.
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I’m trying to figure out your reasoning for using Revelation 21:5 (God’s “I Make All Things New” declaration from his throne) to trumpet a military gun platform, Mr. Farnham. Not in the best taste.
Read more: https://www.ammoland.com/2022/04/us-armys-new-rifle/#ixzz7RLKHHPbs Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Follow us: @Ammoland on Twitter | Ammoland on Facebook “Yet for military use, the 5.56×45 NATO round (223 Rem) has shown itself to be consistently inadequate in range and penetration, ever since its adoption in the 1960s. Since that time, many different bullet weights and configurations have been introduced in an effort to address range and penetration issues, but none have adequately solved the problem” Does this not prove that a AR rifle is not a weapon of war? Or at the least not a good one if this is the opinion of the Military? Does this not punch huge… Read more »
boutique ammo, that’s 5 times more expensive CHECK
excessive recoil noise and flash without a can CHECK
won’t be good for longevity of firearm barrel life CHECK
rethinking an existing cartridge CHECK
made by a foreign company CHECK
problem could be solved with a 7.62 AR-10 CHECK
the military industrial complex rapes taxpayers CHECK
So the Armed forces reject the AR10 platform as a replacement for the M14 many years ago. Cited issues being size and weight of the weapon system in the field which included ammo. At that time after Korea the pentagon wanted more rounds issued in the field and the only way to achieve the goal was a size (weight) reduction of the issued weapon system.
So now many years latter we are basically going back to an updated AR10 platform, do see the irony of what’s old is new again?
Another attempt to fix a problem by committee, gun is too long then shorten barrel, velocity too low then increase chamber pressure. Might as well go back to M14’s chambered in 7.62×51. I personally like the looks of the 6mm ARC where all they need to do is change out the barrel and bcg on their existing M4’s. Instead of carrying a 6 pound rifle the grunts now have to lug a 12 pound anchor around. You can tell someone who’s never been out in the field design this monstrosity. Glad I’m no longer in.
This is a hilarious April Fool’s joke right?
…..”The civilian version is called the “277 Fury,” but it likely will be confined to traditional rifle chamber pressures of 50k psi, more like a 140gr bullet at 2400f/s”
A 140 grain bullet @2400 FPS is pretty much the equivalent of the Russian 7.62X39 cartridge. ….. The Sig rifle will cost premium bucks, chambered in a new cartridge that barely has better ballistics than the 7.62X39? Hilarious!
Don’t look to NATO countries & our allies to convert any time soon either…..
Ammo is necessary for survival in a gun battle, don’t bring enough your dead. This system is too heavy and will cost lives. Thank you pentagon commandos
What ever happened to team snipers? Everybody has 5.56 and the sniper has something else. This is NOT WWII. We will NOT engage at long distances with few exceptions.
Have not seen, much less fired a 6.8. I am certain it will be a killer BUT, the advantages of the 556 are numerous. It recoils less. It’s a smaller platform. Ammo weighs a lot less per round. This is a good thing because I don’t have Uncle Sam airlifting ammo to me should I run low. In the Army we carried, among other things, a basic load of 720 rounds at all times. Try doing that with a 50 Browning or even the 762 x 51 and you will see the good in this. Accuracy; I have seen and… Read more »
God forbid it will be tested any time soon. We will NOT survive, if it is.