05-10-2011, 01:02 AM
warped Wrote:In reality if it were to be adopted making links would not be a big deal, this is according to a guy that makes all sorts of stamped precision metal parts for automotive and other applications.True, the process of stamping sheet metal to make links is simple enough, in itself. The difficulty is in designing a link configuration that will not only have the required strength and elasticity, but also correctly fit the cartridge case for proper interface with the feed mechanism.
So far, nobody has presented a disintegrating link design that has actually made for any cartridges of similar dimensions and/or proportions to 6.5 Grendel.
The best I've been able to find are the non-disintegrating links made for the 7.62x39, and the .280 British:
http://iaaforum.org/forum3/viewtopic.php?p=52142#p52142
Can the M249 be modified to work with that type of metallic link? And if it can, would the UK be willing to use it? I doubt very much that the US would, what with being so strongly wedded to disintegrating links, and that might influence a UK decision.
Forgive me for sounding like a broken record on this matter. :o It's just that if 6.5 Grendel is to be the proposed solution, I'd like to see some hard data to support the idea that converting belt-fed LMGs is actually doable. (Conversion of magazine-fed rifles to 6.5 G has been well proven. AFAIK, conversion of belt-feds has not.)