How could or should the 6.5 mm Grendel be improved?

[LRRPF52]

I would think that the goal of a GPC is "an ammunition that matches 7.62 mm NATO ballistics at 1,000 metres in a package that is 30% lighter. The 6.5 mm Grendel does this, but not as completely as we would like. Put a bit of extra power behind a slightly lighter projectile and you have a truly impressive round that is as lethal at 0 metres as it is at 1,000 metres. At least that is the theory."

As power goes up, so does recoil, taking us away from an assault rifle. The gun is controllable with a 100gr for close quarters, but still not like a 5.56 NATO, and won't be without some other changes. Pushing a 123-130gr closer to .260 Velocities takes us away from that, and we're not going to get .260 velocities, nor do we want them when weight/recoil is considered.

Thus it would work on the current M4/M16/L85 platform with either a barrel/bolt change or a new upper. But the majority of parts now in the rifle would not have to be changed out. Just a bit more powder so that it comes close to the power of the .260 Rem/6.5x55mm/6.5 BRM.

The basic Grendel cartridge is 6.5x38mm with a case dia of 10.6mm. This gives a magazine of 25 which is a good compromise between the 20 round 7.62 mags and the 30 round 5.56 mags.

A 25rd magazine capacity is a good change for the DMR and SASS, not any assault rifles. Trends in assault rifle magazines are going towards higher capacity than 30rd, not backwards.

My conclusions after mulling over this for most of my life are that approaching the small arms mix from the intent to fix assault rifles, is futile, because we have excellent assault rifles currently. We need to approach it from a big picture new generation of small arms, with fixing the SAW/LMG concept, and making a better DMR/SASS, while employing some other indirect assets lower in the organization. I see the Grendel as a great candidate for addressing the SASS and LMG, while displacing 7.62 NATO to vehicle-mounted only.