Ideal Assault rifle cartridge.

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So the proposal is to swap uppers with a new one that is not in inventory, correct?

We have m14 inventories that can fill the task. I don't know how many m14 rifles are in inventory, however.

They can fill the role, but they will be a little punishing to the soldiers. They can be re-mothballed when the Afghanistan business is over.
 
It would indeed be interesting to know how many M14 rifles the defense department has on hand but "punishing to the soldiers?" Please explain.
 
Code: 
	                     [U][B]M14[/U] 	[U]M4*[/B][/U]
Rifle Wt Empty (lbs)	    10.0	6.4
120 Rnds (M118/M855)	     6.9	3.2
Magazine Wt for 120 Rnds     3.1	1.0
		
Full Battle Load Wt (lbs)   19.9**     10.6


*  Current 5.56 M855 62gr steel core
** Numerical rounding

And (oh by the way)...		
               1.  Length     47"   	30"
               2. M14s cannot be controlled on auto
 
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As noted above: "Only... the Ops Analyst would take the tact that cartridge change
"...wouldn't have been worth the money."
Click to expand...

Everything in life must be evaluated in terms of cost. Everything you chose to do comes at the expense of the other things which you chose not to do. The same holds true for our national defense budget. Every dollar we spend on A is a dollar not available to spend on B. Only a child thinks that money does not matter. The adults in the room understand what I am talking about.

If the Army has money to change out all the M4 uppers, and re-do the supply chain/ training/ documentation/ etc... perhaps a better use for that money would be better optics...? or something else we haven't thought of yet

I just re-read the entire thread from beginning to end, and one thing I have determined is that Capt Kraig Stuart has a great depth of knowledge, and is the subject matter expert in this discussion.
 
Only a child thinks that money does not matter. The adults in the room understand what I am talking about.
Click to expand...

The adults, eh?

Tell that to a grieving mother after you come back.
"Your son wasn't worth the money for another cartridge"

I've done that for other reasons, many, many times, but not that reason yet.
So,too, has my son now repeatedly over the last half-dozen years
I hope he doesn't have to use that reason this time out either.

And once again, I invite you to look up Jame Wolfe Ripley.
He was one of those adults.


BTW: Has anyone looked up the opportunity cost of a $400,000 SGLI payout?
 
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Tell that to a grieving mother after you come back.
"Your son wasn't worth the money for another cartridge"
Click to expand...

Are you seriously implying that a larger cartridge will stop enemy bullets? If that was the case we would have never changed rounds in the first place.

Have you been to Afghan or Iraq? You do realize that the number one cause of death are IEDs. The caliber of your weapon will not save you.

I'll say this again, if you can not hit your target the size of the round does not matter. If you install more DMs into a unit the you will be more effective. But to think that you can run and hit a target 400m while taking fire consistently is much more tied to training than the size of the bullet.
 
Blue train,

Excessive weight and recoil is one of the criteria in this thread it seems. An intermediate cartridge does seem to be the topic. But the m14 is capable of the magic 400 kill shot being argued. I personally feel many soldiers could handle the extra weight.

I was talking to a guy at work that got out of the navy, he said that they have them aboard ships. I don't know for sure, its hearsay on my part.
 
OK, this thread is beginning to degenerate into one that has the potential for one that will get some posters in trouble for what they say, so I think this is a pretty good time to shut it down.
 
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