The M-16 has three glaring problems.
The rifle, the varmint round it fires and the idiots that got a lot of soldiers killed who shoved it down the throats of American fighting men.
No matter how much they improve the rifle, the round sucks. It is designed to kill chipmunks in the open not men behind cover.
As for the rifle all you have to do is watch the film after they first get into Baghdad. There is a solider engaged in a firefight shooting around a corner.
He'll fire a few rounds and then have to clear a jam,It happens three times in a matter of a couple of minutes. This is insane.
If Remington can build and sell a semi-auto for four hundred dollars which fire reliably a number of rounds all much better and more powerful than the .223in. or 5.56 mm then they should be able to build one for the military for $2000.
For a bullet to work it has to first penetrate and then expand.The Geneva Convention already outlaws soft nose expanding bullets.
We went them one better by giving our soldiers a round that neither expands nor penetrates.
Any congressman or general that would approve money for such ought to be shot with it if they can get it to work.
We send our people into a life and death battle with a cartridge that is outlawed in all states for a hundred pound deer because it is inadequate.
Now they want a bullet that is 6.8 cal. that nobody makes and will require manufacturers to re-tool to make them and the barrels and therefore greatly increase the cost of the of the unproven ammunition and weapon itself.
There are hundreds of thousands 6.5,7MM proven bullets and the rifle barrels to fire them made everyday. They want one in between that is a couple thousandths different.
Stupid, wasteful, stupid and SOP for congressmen who know nothing about firearms, shooting or the needs of a soldier, only about spending money.