Looks like our military or at least the army is going to 6.8mm

I'll salt a few 30-06 rounds around to use with that AK .308 barrel.

 

I don't know where the "6.8spc shoots flatter than 5.56" myth came from.
The only way I can reconcile those trajectory myths is if the "5.56" on the chart is fired in a 14 or 16 inch barrel and the 6.8spc has like a 24 inch barrel.
The nothing special M855 fired from a rifle length barrel drops about 5 feet at 500 yards with a 100 yard 0. In every conceivable but equal scenario with the hottest load, high BC bullet the 6.8spc drops a lot more.
Maybe the 6.8spc shoots flatter out at some ridiculous range or if both guns have a ridiculous shot barrel.

 

The 6.8 has more punch and is good out to around 4-500 yards, after that the 6.5 Grendel is much better but it still lacks the punch of larger calibers like the Creedmoor or say the .375 Cheytac

 

Well the 5.56 rules everything 0 to 300 yards which is where virtually all gun battles happen.
No point in carrying something heavier, holds less rounds, is slower to shoot on the remote chance it might be needed to make a shot at 400 or 500 yards.
If shooting a 5.56 and the shooter guesses 400 on a 500 yard shot, it should be a hit. With 6.8 if the shooter guesses 400 and it's 500, probably a miss.

 

I read an article and it covered a 6.8x51 MM plastic body steel head case looking VERY close to the 7.62 NATO round. The were many lofty claims and a lot of speculation in the article. Personally I think we should have a rifle capable of making 600M shots, and let the snipers and GPMGs and M2 50s take care of everything past that. Too bad every man can"t be sniper, but that is the way it is. Leave the long range shots to snipers, MGs and artillery of which we have plenty.
Regardless of what the bean counters and candyasses think, we are in dire need of a rifle round that can perform in the manner of the old .30-06 round, period! In this highly mechanized army, there is no excuse or need to load a soldier down with 80-100 lbs of pack then the rifle and basic load of ammo. That is pure bs and should never have been instituted. A good rifle, ammo, body armor, water and other supplies for 1-2 days max. Resupply is much more easily accomplished today than in times past. I spent 7 years in an Air Cav Recon unit, and I know for a fact that heavy loads are not needed except for rare occasions.
Further, spray and pray needs to be eliminated as of yesterday. There is absolutely no reason for any soldier not being able to shoot VERY well. I am ex Army, but the average grunt needs to be able to shoot as well as the average Marine, Ranger, or Spec Ops men do. Full Auto should be mostly reserved for anti aircraft, and repulsing massed Opfor.

jim

 

I shot the M16A2 and M4 a few times on bust, pretty much useless.

 

Sig fan boys all over the world have been creaming them selves non stop over the news.

7-08+P+
The m250 as a replacement for the m240b, yes.
The M5 replacing yee oldly designated marksman rifles such as M14, yes.
The M5 replacing the M4 and 5.56 for doing M4 stuff, probably not.
The only poison pill being that 80,000psi chamber pressure. Is this going to cause barrels to wear unreasonably fast or cause the guns to shit them selves under actual army conditions? Idk.

 

Since I was just now able to get ahold of 6.8x51 hybrid brass I would say it looks like the military is not going to 6.8x51 in any kind of big way.