Goody bye M16! Military Adopts the M5 rifle and 6.8x51. Are they crazy?

[Zarvan]

It happened when many said it wouldn't. The US military adopted not only a new service rifle but a whole new cartridge, the 6.8x51 also known as the .277 Fury. The gun is solid, but the 6.8x51 seems like a huge step backwards and the US military has abandon the assault rifle in favor of a Cold War era type battle rifle.

Good discussion to listen to all those who suggest Pakistan should follow the same path with this cartridges.

 

[MisterSyed]

Any chance we can Buy M16s for cheap?

 

[RescueRanger]

Any chance we can Buy M16s for cheap?

M16 is a very old weapon. Even the m16a2 is dated now - not only that compared to the m4 the recoil and barrel length on the m16 makes it unsuitable for urban terrain.

 

[Damir877]

Funniest thing is that during Cold War most NATO countries used 7.62x51 mm battle rifles while US was using 5.56.It wasn't until 1980's when most started adopting 5.56.
Anyways like it or not this will probably become official NATO caliber.All 30 countries will start buying rifles and machine guns in 6.8mm(unless US eventually cancel the project).
Good times ahead for stockholders in companies that produce small arms and ammo.

 

[Path-Finder]

It happened when many said it wouldn't. The US military adopted not only a new service rifle but a whole new cartridge, the 6.8x51 also known as the .277 Fury. The gun is solid, but the 6.8x51 seems like a huge step backwards and the US military has abandon the assault rifle in favor of a Cold War era type battle rifle.

Good discussion to listen to all those who suggest Pakistan should follow the same path with this cartridges.

Hazrat @Zarvan do you think that the people who made the decision have had a brick hit them on the head?

They made a good decision and time will prove it.

 

[Metal 0-1]

It happened when many said it wouldn't. The US military adopted not only a new service rifle but a whole new cartridge, the 6.8x51 also known as the .277 Fury. The gun is solid, but the 6.8x51 seems like a huge step backwards and the US military has abandon the assault rifle in favor of a Cold War era type battle rifle.

Good discussion to listen to all those who suggest Pakistan should follow the same path with this cartridges.

My guy 6.8 out ranges common Russian and Chinese rounds. So basically it's a huge step forward

 

[mulj]

What will they do with huge surplus of existing rifles and ammunition?
M4 is still great rifle.

 

[Zarvan]

My guy 6.8 out ranges common Russian and Chinese rounds. So basically it's a huge step forward

Have you seen the recoil of it and even former US soldiers find it hard to handle it.

 

[Wergeland]

Funniest thing is that during Cold War most NATO countries used 7.62x51 mm battle rifles while US was using 5.56.It wasn't until 1980's when most started adopting 5.56.
Anyways like it or not this will probably become official NATO caliber.All 30 countries will start buying rifles and machine guns in 6.8mm(unless US eventually cancel the project).
Good times ahead for stockholders in companies that produce small arms and ammo.

Correct.
We used 7.62mm when i was in Norwegian Army in the early 2000s. The AG-3, Norwegian made variant of the G3.

HK416N (5.56mm) replaced the AG3 by the end of 2000s.

 

[Paul2]

My guy 6.8 out ranges common Russian and Chinese rounds. So basically it's a huge step forward

7.62R obviously outranges any intermediary round

 

[Paul2]

It happened when many said it wouldn't. The US military adopted not only a new service rifle but a whole new cartridge, the 6.8x51 also known as the .277 Fury. The gun is solid, but the 6.8x51 seems like a huge step backwards and the US military has abandon the assault rifle in favor of a Cold War era type battle rifle.

Good discussion to listen to all those who suggest Pakistan should follow the same path with this cartridges.

I always though that 5.56 was a "a Vietnam round," and the US got the whole of NATO switched to it as a result of it bad experience there. Lets an untrained soldier spew on full auto on distances they seen in jungles.

Europe stayed on 7.62 because they though of combat in wast open fields, where 5.56 was an obvious peashooter, and trained shooters had a drastic advantage.

European NATO switched 5.56 when US got them entertained with urban warfighting game during the "war on terror," and their generals watched too much movies about commando raids.

 

[SecularNationalist]

It happened when many said it wouldn't. The US military adopted not only a new service rifle but a whole new cartridge, the 6.8x51 also known as the .277 Fury. The gun is solid, but the 6.8x51 seems like a huge step backwards and the US military has abandon the assault rifle in favor of a Cold War era type battle rifle.

Good discussion to listen to all those who suggest Pakistan should follow the same path with this cartridges.

So is it even more powerful than the 7.62*51?
The bullet used in G3?

 

[MastanKhan]

It happened when many said it wouldn't. The US military adopted not only a new service rifle but a whole new cartridge, the 6.8x51 also known as the .277 Fury. The gun is solid, but the 6.8x51 seems like a huge step backwards and the US military has abandon the assault rifle in favor of a Cold War era type battle rifle.

Good discussion to listen to all those who suggest Pakistan should follow the same path with this cartridges.

Hi,

The combat distance between the opponents in AFG conflict showed the americans that the 5.56 was a weak round and something stronger was needed.

 

[MilSpec]

Hi,

The combat distance between the opponents in AFG conflict showed the americans that the 5.56 was a weak round and something stronger was needed.

6.5 Grendel could have been a contender. But now with a new round, aligning the entire Nato to follow is going to be a tough task. Also, m5 is an Ar10 receiver, the modularity incentive of the AR15 platform was wasted.

 

[Meliodas]

When will PA replace the old standard issue rifle, it's long due