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Old 01-11-2017, 09:14   #10
scooter
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Tennesse
Posts: 766
Quote:
Originally Posted by FlagDayNCO View Post
Don't forget the Marines went through great lengths to legitimize the M16 as a replacement for the SAW and M240, in the AUTOMATIC RIFLE role. They use an M16 that is now an M27. A MAGAZINE FED 5.56 rifle in the role we all learned to be of a BELT FED 7.62 MACHINE GUN.

I recall extensive publicity efforts in the gun media and even NAT GEO or Discovery to show how the M27 ADDS an important FULL AUTOMATIC FIRE CAPABILITY to the Marine Infantry Squad.

Unbelievable.

Now, none of us ever enjoyed carrying the PIG, or the M240 and variants, but it is a weapons system that is the one that determines the planning of an ambush. Both initiating and reacting to.

As I sit back as a Civilian now and read all the "advances" and "initiatives" in the Infantry, I see the decision makers do not have the surviving and lethality of the Combat Arms at heart. Maybe it's just to dilute the Combat Arms so EVERYONE can now be a WARRIOR.
The M27 is designed to replace the M249 SAW, not the 7.62mm belt fed MG like the M240. It is a reprisal of the BAR and is similar in concept to the RPK. It takes the same ammo and feed device as the rest of the squad (30 round mags). I kind of like the idea. The SAW was good for open terrain, but in urban or restricted terrain it actually made squads LESS flexible, as the SAW doesn't do a good job in close fights that require a lot of firing from unsupported positions. Lots of Marines and Soldiers ended up clearing houses with SAWs in Iraq, which is less than ideal. There are still plenty of M240s out there for area suppression and grazing fire into kill zones or FPFs.
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