I've made the same point in reply to 223, M1 Garand and optimal assault rifle round posts, arguing for a 30-30 with redesigned rim (rimless) and spitzer point... I forgot about the .30 Rem...I also suggested the 7-30 Waters (30-30 with 7mm bullet) with spitzer and redesigned rim...and sounds like the current 6.8 NATO discussion would yield a similar result. Yes, the whole idea of a "30-30" or 7-30 Waters designed for auto load operation sounds like a stellar idea, and have always felt the 30-30 superior to the 7.62x39 (and is slightly larger anyway). A lot of WWII, Korean (and even early Nam/M14) GI's wished the US Gov't would have given a lot more thought to this kind of thinking in the development of what became the (cursed) overly large, heavy and limited firepower'd M1 Garand (albeit powerful and accurate--but aspects often not needed in the amount delivered by the Garand, at least by many troops in many, many combat circumstances vs often more desired characteristics of firepower, medium and close range utiity and wieldability/portability, i.e., something between the Garand and the M1 Carbine).