Plastic Cartridges: Are They The Next Big Thing?
BY Herschel Smith
4 years, 2 months ago
We actually know precious little about this new squad weapon, since military procurement is shrouded in classified secrecy. But here’s what we do know: It will be chambered in 6.8mm. The projectile it fires will be a copper slug tipped with steel to pierce the body armor of “peer adversaries” at long range. And it will be capable of belt-feeding and the high rates of fire required by the successor to the SAW, as well as slower rates of fire but more precisely placed shots from squad-deployed carbines. Also in the Army’s requirements: Despite shooting a heavier bullet, the gun, together with its ammo, must be 30 percent lighter than the current platform firing the 62-grain 5.56mm load. The Army’s new 6.8 is not to be confused with the 6.8 SPC, based on a .30 Remington case. The external dimensions of the new 6.8 are bigger, both in diameter and length, and require a new magazine configuration, according to sources.
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We’re covering this arms race because if the history of military small-arms procurement teaches us anything, it’s that technology developed for the battlefield eventually shows up in the deer stand. The Springfield Rifle, the .30/06, the AR platform, the .223/5.56 round, nearly all of John Browning’s inventions, plus hundreds more innovations were developed for military use. How soon will we see the 6.8 cartridge and associated weapons platforms come to our sporting-goods stores?
Very soon. Those of you paying attention to the porous membrane between civilian and military ordnance have seen evidence of this Army squad-weapon project in the commercial space.
Okay. Well, color me unimpressed.
Solid copper slug, with no proof that it will tumble and fragment upon impact like the 5.56mm does? No experience yet in feed reliability? No time in the field yet with guys banging those weapons and cartridges around? No in-situ experience with effects on rifling? No experience yet on the effect of increased muzzle velocity on barrel lifetimes?
And this cartridge is supposed to replace the M4 & 5.56mm Stoner system, a battle tested and proven platform and cartridge, and the soft tip .270, which has taken more deer than any other round in America (outside of the 30-30)?
So give it a half century to prove itself.
On October 9, 2020 at 1:02 am, George 1 said:
They have been trying to replace the M-16 and variants since shortly after it was introduced. Maybe this time.
On October 9, 2020 at 1:15 am, xtphreak said:
Did you mean the .30-06 instead of the .270 Win?
Because in a discussion of military calibers and their crossover to civilian usage, I missed the military use of the .270.
Oh and it’s not going to be anything but conjecture on either side, but I’m betting more Bambi’s have fallen to the .30-06 than the .270.
On October 9, 2020 at 7:39 am, MN Steel said:
The new rifles will also be self-cleaning, have zero recoil, not need lubrication, fire underwater, shoot down planes and choppers with one hit, and make everybody shoot Expert at the range.
Thus it is said, thus it shall be…
On October 9, 2020 at 11:52 am, Jaque said:
The military will buy Copper bullets by the billions. What a waste of an essential metal. You can bet the price of copper, already far too high, will skyrocket. If you have bought a roll of Awg 12 Copper wire or a length of 3/4 Copper pipe lately you know what I mean.
Copper is currently $ 6160/ton
Lead is $1779/ ton.
On October 9, 2020 at 2:48 pm, John said:
Sell a thousand of the rifles/Mg’s and the necessary number of test rounds of ammo
to pro US troops in the ME dustbowl along with enough ammo to make or break them.
If they are 3rd world fighter break-proof it may be worth considerating.
On October 9, 2020 at 3:28 pm, TRX said:
Lead with steel penetrators does the job cheaper. And the Soviets developer jacketed sintered steel bullets.
I suspect the use of copper is due to environmental correctness posturing; a copper bullet is less dense than lead and will have inferior downrange performance.
There have been several new cartridges that got approved, supposedly contracts were let, yet somehow never filled, and outside of a handful of test rifles, never reached the hands of troops. Every ten years or so the wheel turns again, bringing a new contender to the light.
I’m not a fan of the Stoner system or the .223/5.56, and there have been many attempts to replace it with something better… but the sad fact is there hasn’t been anything better *enough* to make it worthwhile to switch.
If we see a switch, it’ll be something like how the Pentagon decided to make the Beretta the new military pistol, and kept moving the goalposts until every other contractor said “screw this!” and gave up. The deal was already made; there was no intention of ever giving the contract to anyone else, no matter how their entries fared in the evaluation process.
On October 10, 2020 at 11:37 am, Ned said:
And here I thought caseless was the next big thing…https://infogalactic.com/info/Heckler_%26_Koch_G11