.338 mmg

[stanc]

IIRC, some of you want a .338 machine gun. Here ya go.





http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2012/...gun-lwmmg/

[LRRPF52]

That's sick. I don't see feeding it a diet of 300SMK's though. I wonder what line of projectiles will be used. Lapua has 250gr Lock Base, and some HE even.

It also uses a recoil principle that allows the gun to basically not move perceptibly to the shooter.

Humping the ammo for that would be a major suckfest, but it would make a great vehicle mounted system. This would make a great bridge between the M240 and the M2 .50 BMG.

It could help promote the end of 7.62 NATO, which is what is needed. This would be an insane long-range machinegun for engaging targets at Taliban mountain ambush ranges.

[stanc]

That's sick. I don't see feeding it a diet of 300SMK's though. I wonder what line of projectiles will be used.

I dunno what bullet they're using. The pic with a 300gr SMK was just to show what the cartridge looks like.

This would be an insane long-range machinegun for engaging targets at Taliban mountain ambush ranges.

Yeah, it does seem like it'd be good for that purpose.

[mongoosesnipe]

I like the idea but think that it should just use 338 lapua unless they are trying to have parts compatibility with the 240 I don't see the advantage of the Norma mag over the lapua

[LRRPF52]

There aren't any compatible parts with the M240. This was based off the .50 cal portable machinegun receiver they tried earlier. They went with Norma Magnum since it allows longer ogive projectiles to be used, without increasing the COAL.

[stanc]

I like the idea but think that it should just use 338 lapua...I don't see the advantage of the Norma mag over the lapua

Two main advantages.

- Increased barrel life, due to lower MV, smaller powder charge

- Able to use longer, higher-BC bullets

Same principle as 6.5 Grendel.

[mongoosesnipe]

Two main advantages.

- Increased barrel life, due to lower MV, smaller powder charge

- Able to use longer, higher-BC bullets

Same principle as 6.5 Grendel.

The ability to use higher bc bullets is relative to the length of the action used and overal cartridge length using 300 smk set to he same oal length they are probably nearly the same as the nm has 6% less capacity than the lapua

Similarly the 6.5 grendl does not have a balistic advantage over .260 Remington

As far as barrel life is concerned its a different ball game with machine gun barrels full auto fire burns up a barrel pretty quick compared to sporting use often mgbbarrel are built to significantly differt spec to attempt to extend barrel life even still if more than about 100 rounds are fired without a cooldown period or barrel swap the barrel wil most likely be toasted as it will have gotten hot enough to anneal the steal

[txgunner00]

I like the idea but think that it should just use 338 lapua unless they are trying to have parts compatibility with the 240 I don't see the advantage of the Norma mag over the lapua

You don't need to have high MV from a machine gun for extended effective range. Take the .308 for example. Out of a M24 sniper rifle, it's max effective range is about 800 meters. The same round out of a M240G- 1800 meters. Volume of fire is were it's effectiveness comes from.

[LRRPF52]

Roger. .338 LM barrel life is pretty short, and not acceptable for a serious ground-pounder. It's an awesome precision long-range rifle caliber, that just starts to get fun at about 800m, and not too challenging to hit with at 1000m. Guys are making 1st-round hits at 1700-2000m with the Lapua radar data and 300gr Scenars.

[stanc]

More info from Tony Williams:

GD took the gun down to the range session at the end of NDIA, so (after a long wait in the queue) I was able to fire it. That is one impressive gun. I was instantly aware, from anywhere on the range, when it was firing. That deep, measured hammering sounds very different from all the 7.62mms and 5.56mms (which to my ears sound very similar). I couldn't really judge recoil because it was on a tripod, but it stayed on-target between bursts. GD were obviously so confident about the gun that they gave literally scores of tyros like me the chance to shoot it, in a steady stream (they were working hard to belt up the ammo - Black Hills manufacture, loaded with 300 grain Sierra MatchKing).

Some notes from the GD presentation:

- ballistic drop similar to .50 ball at 1500m
- defeats Level III body armour at 1000m
- delivers 4x the energy of 7.62mm at 1000m
- can maintain 10 minutes of continuous suppressive fire (50-100 rpm) without a barrel change
- very quick-change barrel (the carrying handle is on the barrel)
- quickly strips down into a few parts
- will fit on any M240 mounting (doesn't need a soft mount - the mechanism has its own, built in)
- the gun mechanism is called Short Recoil Impulse Averaging: it uses gas operation, but the barrel group recoils in the receiver and fires as it is moving forwards, giving a very smooth recoil push rather than a series of sharp kicks
- forward-stripping link specially designed: normal load 50-round soft pouch
- weight of gun plus one minute's worth of ammo (500 rounds) = 105 lbs, compared with similar load for M240 (800 rounds) = 100 lbs.
- GD working on polymer-cased ammo to reduce the weight.

I can imagine that troops facing long-range attacks in Afghanistan would be queueing up to carry this one into battle, despite the ammo weight. It provides what the US Army keeps stressing it needs: "overmatch". Unlike the M240, which can only match the performance of the PKM (with a lot more weight), this one will make PKM gunners afraid.

http://iaaforum.org/forum3/viewtopic.php?p=91061#p91061

[txgunner00]

I would love to get behind that machine!

[BluntForceTrauma]

Stan, the Second Coming is near! Have long proposed a two-cartridge system: (1) Shoulder-fired, man-portable = 6.5 Grendel in 100gr, or so, for ARs (a nod to LRRPF52's love of SCHV) and in 123gr for LMGs. (2) Vehicle-borne = MMG in .338 LM (.338 NM, even better, it seems). (Well, OK, a three-cartridge system with a 9mm or 6.5mm for handguns/SMGs/PDWs.)

I like this development.

John

[stanc]

Stan, the Second Coming is near!

Yes, indeed. The end is only seven months away! :eek:

[video=youtube;zcpCUh3djoI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcpCUh3djoI[/video]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcpCUh3djoI

I like this development.

Why do you think I posted it.

[LRRPF52]

Tool:

Some say a comet will fall from the sky
Followed by meteor showers and tidal waves
Followed by faultlines that cannot sit still
Followed by millions of dumfounded dipsh*ts

Some say the end is near
Some say we'll see armageddon soon
Certainly hope we will
I've a suggestion to keep you all occupied:

Learn to swim...learn to swim!

[stanc]

Here's a photo Tony Williams took of linked .338 NM rounds:

[Tony Williams]

I would love to get behind that machine!

Some of us have had the pleasure...

[BluntForceTrauma]

Tony, how would you describe the recoil?

John

[Tony Williams]

I can't comment on the recoil because the gun was on a tripod. What I can say is that the sights remained on-target between bursts, with no need to re-aim.

[Variable]

Some of us have had the pleasure...

Lucky booger!!!

[txgunner00]

Some of us have had the pleasure...

I want your job! (or what ever it was that gave you that opportunity)