[The Reaper]

Let's see....

This discussion has been had on many threads here before.

We have a rifle and a carbine that are working and have most of the bugs out of them over the past fifty years or so. We have a SAW that uses the same ammo. We have a heavy rifle, a GPMG and our sniper rifles using another round that is adequate out to almost 1,000 meters. We tested alternate weapons, and the troops preferred the existing rifles in the lighter caliber, and were only marginally in favor of the SCAR-H in the heavier caliber.

The 5.56x45 is a proven round, when used within its effective range. You will not have a sexy little 10.5" seven pound carbine dropping people like a death ray at 500 meters unless you are making head shots. A 20" 5.56 rifle is pretty effective with body shots out to 250 meters or so. Closer is better, though I am not convinced that the 6.8 is a significantly better round at the combat ranges we normally engage at.

We have two established calibers that we sold to our other services, allies, and NATO. We have hundreds of thousands of SMGs, carbines, and rifles with Eugene Stoner's direct impingement gas system. When clean, maintained, and using good mags, they are reliable weapons.

There are probably billions of 5.56 rounds currently in bunkers in the U.S. military ammunition system.

At a time when we are cutting retirement benefits, asking soldiers to pay for their families' health care, and kicking combat proven soldiers out of the military to save money, why in the world would any rational person think that we are going to cut more to pay billions of increasingly rare dollars for a new operating system for more than a million weapons, and buy billions of rounds of a new caliber?

Maybe the people who dreamed this 6.8 scheme up?

I don't see this happening.

TR