Grendel as a Universal Infantry Cartridge

[JASmith]

...the one that keeps repeating the old song about how a 6.5 Grendel LMG can give performance equal to that of a 7.62 MMG, even though there's no test data to prove it and there's no certainty that links can be developed for it...

The most recent breath of fresh air is the observation by LRRPF52 that some East European countries might develop an interest in the cartridge. Let's help him pursue that notion and see where it takes us.

So, in that spirit, consider where our discussions seem to have stagnated:

in this business Good Enough frequently trumps Equal To or Better Than because the issues are extraordinarily complex, even before the political and social consequences are brought into play.

Others have told us that the link problem will almost certainly be solved once the resources are made available. Continuing to harp on that and the testing topics suggests that your audience has the wherewithal to demonstrate new link designs and to do the kinds of testing the government either conducts in-house or funds contractors to do.

We, even as a collective body, would be hard-pressed to define and execute unsolicited testing that would be viewed as credible, even if we could somehow get the funds from non-government sources.

Further, I recall an admonition from Bill Alexander that some of the testing advocated can easily be counterproductive. I have indicated in prior posts that my own experience validates Bill's concerns.

Warped has told us that building dies for making links will cost a lot. I know enough to accept his conclusion as credible.

Support for this design and testing will happen when (or if) the current mix is shown to be inadequate or that somehow the Grendel is vastly superior to the current mix. Alternatively, political pressures of the kind LRRPF52 may have uncovered may drive the interest in an alternative cartridge.

I am also guilty of repeating in multiple different times with several different choices of words that we are not attempting to equal the performance of the 7.62X51 in all categories for either the rifle and the machine gun.

So, let's get on with the discussion and address something new in the "Grendel as a Universal Infantry Cartridge" theme.