Grendel as a Universal Infantry Cartridge

[stanc]

The anecdotal reports from guys who don't know how to shoot, and want a new caliber mean very little to me. Like I said, every 5.56 injury or death I've seen has been impressive, to say the least. You have to argue with thousands upon thousands of seasoned shooters in their mid-to-late 30's who have been stacking bodies with 5.56 carbines for most of their adult lives, against the pleadings of a few of entry-level soldiers and maybe 2nd-termers who aren't gun guys and can't shoot to the standards that they will need to in order to make whatever new caliber they want hit their targets anyway.

I'm pretty sure that Steve Holland was neither entry-level nor 2nd-termer when he undertook the development of 6.8 SPC because he thought 5.56 was inadequate. As for the countless others who've criticized 5.56, I don't pretend to know how many were gun guys, or how much experience they had. All I know is that I've seen many complaints about 5.56 performance, but none about 7.62 in that regard.

5.56 as an LMG round for squad support cuts the mustard to most of the distances a squad will be tasked with, but an optimized LMG specific cartridge that could replace both the 7.62 and linked 5.56 would be the ticket for enhancing ground-pounder's capabilities, if offered in a 12lb max LMG weight. We have to get SAW/LMG gunners as maneuverable as possible, not make riflemen more burdened. Increasing the rifleman's and grenadier's loads while reducing their ammo capacity is the wrong direction to go in force structure at those levels.

I understand what you're saying, and I don't disagree. I just think it'd be impossible to get a third caliber adopted by the US/NATO.

When you take into account the general satisfaction with 7.62 performance, and combine that with the certainty that vehicle-mounted MMG's and Gatling guns will remain chambered for 7.62, it just seems to me that it's a losing proposition to argue for replacing 7.62 with an intermediate round.

As I see it, if they won't add a third caliber to the system, and they won't replace 7.62, the only feasible option left to get an intermediate round for LMGs is to replace 5.56 (even though that would mean giving up the advantages that you like about the smaller cartridge for use in carbines).

Or do you know of another alternative?