US Army Considers Adopting an Interim Battle Rifle in 7.62NATO: eventually adopt 6.5

[JASmith]

Alas, I do not recall any thread with a discussion of 7.62 NATO being slowly displaced and replaced by a 6.5mm round like .260 Remington or 6.5 Creedmoor.

I participated in those discussions and, yes, gradually came to understand that replacing the 5.56 with the Grendel would ultimately not work well, but that a 6.5 caliber medium machine gun could work.

The biggest challenge at the time was that the Grendel, while outperforming the 7.62 at long range, was not very competiive inside about 400 meters. The larger cases solve that challenge.

Nonetheless, my understanding is that a number of folks are still pushing the 6.5 Grendel and .264 USA in addition to the 260 and 6.5 Creedmoor. Absent a final decision, it is therefore fair to say that we do not know what the final cartridge mix will be.