Aussie Defence Forces to drop the AUG - SLR in 6.8mm?

T

Tikirocker

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It's no secret I am not a fan of the F88 Steyr Aug used by my nations Military, I'm not the only one either. The members of our elite SASR have a choice what they use and they don't use them either. Well, I've just had an interesting chat with a fellow who is close to those inside the Lithgow Small Arms Factory who liaise with our Military and the latest word is that we might well be switching to an entirely NEW platform using the 6.8mm round.

The new Australian made standard issue rifle will apparently be using the SLR L1A1 as the platform but with the 6.8mm round! For people like me who have been lamenting the move away from the SLR I must say this is wonderful news ... I may just go and join the ADF now they've come to their senses once more. It will also be very interesting to see what this newly designed and built Aussie SLR in 6.8mm will look like in the end product.

More to come as I get news ...

Tiki.
 
That is good news. Less wounding, more killing power. Screw what the war college says about a wounded man taking 3 combatants out of the fight. If the wounded keeps fighting what has your varmit 5.56 done?
 
FAL with a lighter round is a great idea. sustainable full auto might actually be possible!! :D

and the 6.8mm is great. similar velocity to the .223 (maybe a little less) but with a much heavier bullet. methinks stopping power might increase from, as OHW said, the varmint round currently used.
 
Best news I have heard all day. Maybe us yanks will follow suite. Oh my all that surplus 5.56 and new cases and pulled bullets that will be on the market, almost makes me think we have the luck of the Irish. (St. paddy's day comming soon you know).


Jim
 
Considering the FN FAL was designed to shoot 7.92x33mm originally... And was a controllable
In full auto, unlike the 7.62x51 models.... This kind of brings it full circle, BACK to the way it should have been all along. It also would have worked well in the .280 round
The British toyed with, and the intermediate 7mm round that was tested by the South Americans in the FAL......as it turned out the 7.62x 51
That was rammed down everybody in NATO 's neck by the USGovt, was about the most that could be shoehorned into the FAL, and it lost
Full auto controllability in the bargin.
(oh if you adopt our cartridge, we will adopt your rifle- the FAL, said Uncle Sam) lol
 
didnt realize it was originally meant for the 7.92x33.

still, it became a great designated marksmen weapon, just not something to do a breech+clear with.

but if the aussies brought it back with the 6.8mm, the hope is that it would encourage other countries (cough, US, cough) to do the same. Just a cartridge change would be a good thing, even if it meant sticking with the m16 platform, which is certainly not a bad platform by any stretch of the imagination.

btw, the 6.8 is at 1700 ft lbs at the muzzle, whereas the .223 is at 1300, with a lighter bullet. which means it will lose energy faster as well. win-win on the 6.8.
 
The new Australian made standard issue rifle will apparently be using the SLR L1A1 as the platform but with the 6.8mm round! For people like me who have been lamenting the move away from the SLR I must say this is wonderful news ... I may just go and join the ADF now they've come to their senses once more. It will also be very interesting to see what this newly designed and built Aussie SLR in 6.8mm will look like in the end product.
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So 60 years after the original idea hit the ground, someone may finally adopt the nearest thing we'll ever see to a FAL chambered in 280 British?

Cool, but honestly they'd be better served in terms of economics to see about licensing the FN SCAR, which could easily be converted to 6.8 Rem SPC.

didnt realize it was originally meant for the 7.92x33.
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Original experimental models were, but that was quickly dropped in favor of 280 British, which is what the rifle was really fully developed for.
 
I have no idea who dreamed of this idea- it is nonsense.

1. We would never move to a non NATO / SEATO standard for ammo.

2. The FN FAL / traditional battle rifles are dead. The Aus styr is performing well. I know a number of commanders who have advised me that their soldiers perform well with it- many were around when the L1A1 was in use, and found many troops could hit nothing with it.

3. The 6.8 is an oddball calibre. Dreamed up by an American and reflective of the US love affair with the .270. Anyone else in the world would have based the round on a 7mm, which offers a far wider choice of projectiles. Although this is not an issue for the military.

While it has a following in sporting circles, this round is destined to die.

Most soldiers who need more reach from a rifle prefer the 7.62 NATO, which i note the Brits have just purchased in an AR 10 clone for designated marksmen.
 
Looks like there are quite a few to choose from Lawyer
 

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I guess the Jordanian PDW based on the M4, in 6.8SPC, wasn't a good way to go either?

It wasn't designed as a specialty hunting cartridge, it was meant as an improvement to raise power levels downrange in the M4 with 14.5" issue barrel. Special Forces and the Army Marksmanship Unit settled on the .30 Remington case, the rimless version of the .30-30, cut it down to fit the mag well of the M16 action, and settled on the 6.8 as it had as much lethality as the 7mm and nearly the ballistics of the 6.5. Basically, the optimum compromise for combat.

It's a military design, not a corporate marketing offer, which has succeeded so well in less than ten years it's now the #1 alternate caliber in AR15's.

Dying calibers seem to do that a lot?

Interesting report, not denying the sources, but as all things I learned in the military, we'll see.
 
If my information is correct, I believe that Australian infantry sections in Vietnam used both AR-15s and SLRs--at the same time.
 
I have no idea who dreamed of this idea- it is nonsense.
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Sorry. it isn't nonsense ... our rifle club is the THALES factory range; they are testing weapons for the Military there every week. The contacts between members of the club and factory/military personnel testing weapons, and those at the factory who manufacture the ADF's small arms is very close. The word on the 6.8 comes from solid sources - this is the word.

Something else you won't know is that the Factory bought an L1A1 off the Small Arms Museum for the purposes of design work.

Tiki.
 
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If military procurement (anywhere in the world, not singling anyone out here) made any sense I'd doubt this too, but it doesn't, so anythings possible.:D
 
Interesting -- even if the SLR/FAL in question is just is just a test rig for R&D on using 6.8 Rem SPC (or other rounds), it's very interesting.
 
If they didn't screw it up this time I'd be on board. Its what the SLR was supposed to be from the beginning.
They just have to stick to their guns (pun intended):D
 
Why would they bother with the 6.8 SPC when the 6.5 LBC/Grendel is available?

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Better yet, ditch the AR mag-well limitations and just design a longer cartridge so we aren't left with these stubby cartridges.
 
Because 6.5 Grendel is a target shooting cartridge whose tactical relevance is just marketing smoke and mirrors? That'd be my theory, anyway. :rolleyes:

Better yet, ditch the AR mag-well limitations and just design a longer cartridge so we aren't left with these stubby cartridges.
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That may be why they're playing around with the FAL/SLR in the first place . . .
 
Those graphs are pretty amazing, look at 5.56 compared to 6.8 its almost better in every aspect apart from energy up to 400yards, and then from then on its about the same, and thats the distance that people are saying 5.56 is useless get a 6.8!
 
Because 6.5 Grendel is a target shooting cartridge whose tactical relevance is just marketing smoke and mirrors? That'd be my theory, anyway.
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I saw Wogpotter's facts backing up his bold words, where are yours?

No one has every explained to me why the 6.8 is more popular in ARs. All the numbers show the 6.5 Grendel to be a hard-hitting, flat-shooting, low recoil round. And the 6.8... not so much so.
 
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