Posted on 04/21/2022 9:13:32 AM PDT by packagingguy
Today, it has been announced that SIG Sauer have won the contract to provide both the NGSW-Rifle and NGSW-Automatic Rifle. An initial delivery order contract worth $20.4 million has been awarded. SIG’s MCX 6.8 Spear will be designated the XM5 Rifle and the LMG-6.8 belt-fed will be designated the XM250 – designations directly following on from the M4/M4A1 Carbine and M249 SAW which the new weapons will replace. SIG’s selection means that the US Army’s new 6.8mm round will be based on a hybrid metallic case, not the polymer-based design developed by True Velocity
(Excerpt) Read more at thefirearmblog.com ...
It appears the military wants to move back towards a rifle rather than an intermediate round such as the 5.56x45 NATO.
Sig-Sauer makes civilian rifles in semi-automatic and bolt action chambered for the new round:
https://www.sigsauer.com/mcx-spear.html
https://www.sigsauer.com/sig-cross-rifle.html
Looking forward for a increase in supply of 556 with a significant price drop in the future.
6.8,,,
Should free up 5.56/223.
Unless Manufacturers switch their capacity to 6.8.
The rifles are supposed to include optics with laser rangefinder, wind evaluator, and sound suppressor.
Combined with exceptional ballistics (140 grain .270 bullet starting at about 3,000 ft per second), this should mean consistent hits on man-sized targets to 1200 yards or so, without a lifetime of shooting experience.
A soldier will still need to be a rifleman, but the emphasis seems to be on aimed fire rather than suppressive fire.
My question is how does this square with NATO allies, especially less affluent ones such as Hungary and Poland. Not long ago they unloaded all their 5.45x39 to purchase 5.56 NATO. Will they have to unload their 5.56 NATO and purchase the 6.8? Will we purchase new ammo for them? Or are we going it alone?
Wait and see - they’ve announced ‘new’ rifles and cartridges for decades now, only to have them fall through the cracks and disappear.
6.8x51 with a bi-metallic case? So it’s a non reloadable case and a first ever case with two separate components.
Expense and complexity for no good reason I can see.
Who knows?
The planet is Spinning
Out of Control.
But You bring up a
Great point.
Yup,
Go with what Ya Know.
“Unless Manufacturers switch their capacity to 6.8.”
Not easily. Look at that bi-metallic proprietary case. It is a hybrid three-piece cartridge case with a steel case head and brass body connected by a locking washer to support high chamber pressure of 80,000 psi. The casing itself is a three piece assembly.
And little known factoid, steel can even rust. This is gonna be awesome anywhere but the desert. And they rust there too. Gonna be fun to have your ammo start rusting.
This is just a "test drive" of, maybe, 5,000 rifles. Sounds like the army has not fully committed yet.
Also, Winchester receive an award of $20 Million to produce the new 6.8mm ammunition for the rifle.
Sig pellet guns don’t have the best reputation. Hope,their firearm guns are better.
No. It is closer to the old "Everlasting" rifle brass with a steel head.
And they will find a way to classify the round as “Armor Piercing” so the ATF can prevent civilians from getting it or the rifle ...
Unless you are in the cartels.....
I believe the way the law is written it has to do with the material the bullet is made from. Tungsten, hardened steel and brass (which work-hardens on impact) can be considered armor piercing.
A standard ball ammo .50 BMG can get through almost any personal body armor.
Of course, that’s not to say the government will not try. They would ban everything down to a .22 Short if they could.
Sig will market the cartridge on the civilian market as the .277 Sig Fury, and will eventually offer a semi-auto version of the rifle as the Sig MCX-Spear. And you can own one for the low, low price of only $7,999.00
Sig Sauer make excellent quality 9mm hand guns. They are used by most of the police around here.
FYI, many of there guns are manufactured in Portsmouth and Rochester, NH. They have been hiring people like crazy the last couple years.
My son used to work right next door to their Portsmouth plant.
Sig won the contract in 2017 to replace the Beretta M9 handgun with the Sig M17 andM18 handguns for the armed forces.
So with this announcement, Sig will make the Army's rifle, squad automatic weapon, and handgun.
Although the new M5 and M250 are only going to elite units, not the entire Army.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.