Gosh, it's good to see this forum again!
Might as well start with an old Grendel topic -- how well it might serve as a universal cartridge for one or more nation's services.
I'd like to call your attention to these articles:
The "6.5 mm and the Politics of Procurement" explores a replacement of both the 5.56 and 7.62 NATO rounds on a likely new platform sometime in the next 5-10 years. The discussion narrows down to a cartridge that looks like a stretched 6.8 SPC. (Be forewarned -- there were 215 posts as of the writing of this note, but the rate is slowing - likely from exhaustion!)
The Grendelmania series uses the military potential as background to focus on Grendel as a medium to large game hunting cartridge.
The "Battle-Rifle" series explores alternatives with a promising candidate that may be viewed as part of the Grendel family.
The principal difference between the Military Guns and Ammunition debate and the ShooterNotes Battle-Rifle discussion is in the assumed long range lethality requirement. One specifies that the resulting cartridge be at least as lethal as the 7.62 mm M80 round at 1100 meters. The other requires that the lethality at 600 meters be at least equivalent to the muzzle performance of 5.56 M855. Similarly, one is aggressive with assumed ballistic coefficients and the other is conservative.
I am of the opinion that the Grendel community can illuminate this debate. Let's look at these questions:
The list can be a lot longer, and part of our discussion may illuminate the things that really count!
Might as well start with an old Grendel topic -- how well it might serve as a universal cartridge for one or more nation's services.
I'd like to call your attention to these articles:
- The "6.5 mm and the Politics of Procurement" at http://forums.delphiforums.com/autog...ges?msg=4491.1
- "Grendelmania" -- series of notes at http://shootersnotes.com/grendelmania/
- The "Battle Rifle Series" at http://shootersnotes.com/battle-rifle-cartridge/
The "6.5 mm and the Politics of Procurement" explores a replacement of both the 5.56 and 7.62 NATO rounds on a likely new platform sometime in the next 5-10 years. The discussion narrows down to a cartridge that looks like a stretched 6.8 SPC. (Be forewarned -- there were 215 posts as of the writing of this note, but the rate is slowing - likely from exhaustion!)
The Grendelmania series uses the military potential as background to focus on Grendel as a medium to large game hunting cartridge.
The "Battle-Rifle" series explores alternatives with a promising candidate that may be viewed as part of the Grendel family.
The principal difference between the Military Guns and Ammunition debate and the ShooterNotes Battle-Rifle discussion is in the assumed long range lethality requirement. One specifies that the resulting cartridge be at least as lethal as the 7.62 mm M80 round at 1100 meters. The other requires that the lethality at 600 meters be at least equivalent to the muzzle performance of 5.56 M855. Similarly, one is aggressive with assumed ballistic coefficients and the other is conservative.
I am of the opinion that the Grendel community can illuminate this debate. Let's look at these questions:
- Is there really a need for a new military cartridge? Opinions vary widely -- and an informed discussion of what is 'good enough' may be highly useful.
- Assuming the need exists, what platforms (AR15, AK, AR10, etc.) should the new cartridge be compatible with? The choices make a major difference in cartridge design flexibility, weight, and performance potential
- What should be the round be capable of and at what range? Remember, this is being viewed as a cartridge capable of fulfilling the medium machine gun role!
- What are the viable technical alternatives -- caseless ammunition, etc.?
- etc.
The list can be a lot longer, and part of our discussion may illuminate the things that really count!
Comment