Choices for new military weapons?

Dangus:

.270 is the offspring of the .30-06; kinda long for the Galil action. I've always thought that the .308-derived .243 Winchester round, however, nicely splits the difference between 5.56 and 7.62 NATO... ;)

RE: The OICW...
20 or so years of experience with home computers (That's right; got in on the ground floor with an Apple! ;) ) have taught me that microchips and firearms don't mix.

What was it Heinlein said about ladening a grunt with gadgets allowing the bad guy to sneak up and whack him with a stone axe?

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"..but never ever Fear. Fear is for the enemy. Fear and Bullets."
10mm: It's not the size of the Dawg in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog!

[This message has been edited by Tamara (edited October 19, 2000).]
 
Company A, 107th Engineer Battalion (my Guard unit), despite being awarded "Best Mechanized Engineer Unit" by the Army Department, is a very small unit. The whole battalion is not very big. We also don't have any ranges we can go to around here. The only range we can use is a short, indoor range built behind our armory (which is right next to the school). But the range is so short, we have to use those blue-tipped plastic bullets that require a special bolt for the rifle and REALLY gum up the barrel. My company didn't get any belts of 5.56mm Blank for Annual Training war games. That's okay, I guess, as I didn't get my SAW, either. A little mix up between my squad leader and some dopey corporal who runs the arms room. Somebody, despite my squad leader's best efforts, keeps changing the battle roster and assigning me an M16, leaving my squad with only one SAW gunner. IT's kind of funny... :)

The problems I see are not my unit's fault. Lack of training ammo is the least of our worries. We have a hell of a time getting parts for our M113A2 armored personnel carriers, and sometimes it's a superhuman feat that we keep these '70s vintage crates in operational condition!

I don't know who's to blame for this. StateGov? Or, since the Guard is really nothing more than a clone of the Reserves these days, and the state governments hardly control anything, is FedGov to blame?

Either way, I'm voting for Bush. I may not agree with dubya on everything (gun control), four years of Gore will just be more of S.S.D.D. for us guys in uniform, I fear....
 
Neither the .223 nor the .308 do I consider to be optimal for modern combat. Throw out the 7.62x54 and x39mm, as well.

The ideal modern shoulder-fired/LMG round should have more energy than the .223, and less weight and bulk than the .308. Something along the lines of the .250 Ackley Improved Savage would be perfect. In fact, one should be able to milk 120 grainers @ 2600 fps out of a 19-inch barrel and a cartridge barely larger than the 7.62x39mm. I consider this performance considerably better than the .223's. One could then dispense with an extra cartridge in the inventory, having only "light" and "heavy" MG's.

From what I have heard, the M-60 is a disaster. Just because it wasn't as bad as the Chauchat doesn't mean it didn't still have serious flaws.

If H&K ergonomics have not improved since the G-3, I would only take one if you gave it to me.

So...I could take a Galil in .250/3000. I would be at least equally happy with a down-sized FN-Fal firing the same round. Either one should give an accurate and rugged firearm...and, heck, the FN-Fal was originally supposed to have been a round more like this one!
 
Sidearm: Glock Model 17. It holds 17+1 rounds of 9x19mm. You could also issue quantities of Model 19s to REMFs and Model 26s to staffers and such. Modular mags means 10+1, 15+1, or 17+1 as needed. Or hell, just staff it all with the full-size weapon.

SMG/PDW: Heckler & Koch MP-5 in 9x19mm is a fine weapon system, with 30-rd stick mags. For those that need it, a HK-53 in 5.56x45mm is quite a potent little carbine. 25 or 40-rd mags available.

SIR/Std Infty Rifle: 5.56x45mm is a suitable cartidge, light, fast, able to carry decent quantities. I see no reason why we cannot marry the basic AK-47 in 223rem action/design into a bullpup layout with a M203-type set-up underneath in the forearm for 40mm grenade shells. Use polymers wherever possible to reduce weight. No chips, no gadgets. Just a great combo system for the guys in the trenches.

SAW/LMG: Ultimax 100 is a great weapon used in Asia.

GPMG: Rheinmetall MG-3, the next generation of MG42 and a damned fine piece of machinery. Rugged, reliable, and battle-proven.

HMG: Ma Deuce.
 
if i'am going in to Combat i like to have a Colt M4 Carbine and a Sig P226. and if not a M4 Carbine then a M16A2.

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Staff Sergeant Andrew Robert Smith
CO LRRP Team
of the Second Ranger Battalion Charlie Company in WW2 Online.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>.270 is the offspring of the .30-06; kinda long for the Galil action. I've always thought that the .308-derived .243 Winchester round, however, nicely splits the difference between 5.56 and 7.62 NATO...[/quote]

I mentioned it because of the extremely good ballistic qualities of this round. Is there another round that contains this much powder, this size of bullet, and has a shorter, squatter case?

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The Alcove

I twist the facts until they tell the truth. -Some intellectual sadist

The Bill of Rights is a document of brilliance, a document of wisdom, and it is the ultimate law, spoken or not, for the very concept of a society that holds liberty above the desire for ever greater power. -Me

Compromising the right position only makes you more wrong.
 
The Army recently asked Metalstorm Ltd to demomstrate their Metalstorm 9mm rifle, which has a cyclic rate of fire of 90,000 rounds oer minute and their 9mm pistol, which has a cyclic rate of 60,000 rpm, These are prototype weapons, byt they worked well enough. The Army seems to be impressed and has given Metalstorm Ltd some R&D funding to continue their development.
 
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