12-27-2013, 05:30 PM
Tony Williams Wrote:I suspect that you are right, but there could be one significant difference: the long-range performance of the 6.5mm might have meant that guns like the PKM and SVD were chambered in it, rather than continuing with the old 7.62x54R.I partly agree. I think it's quite possible -- maybe even probable -- that the SVD would've been chambered for 6.5 Grendel. Certainly the RPD would have, thereby eventually proliferating that 6.5mm belt-fed LMG around the world.
But, I'm skeptical of the idea that the PKM would've been designed to fire 6.5 Grendel. The PKM was intended to be a GPMG, for use not only by infantry, but as vehicle armament and other applications. IMO, that virtually dictates sticking with the old 7.62x54R. (IIRC, it is your considered opinion that 6.5 Grendel is not sufficiently powerful to replace 7.62x51, so I see no reason to think the Russians would've deemed it powerful enough to replace 7.62x54R.)
Quote:That would have meant large quantities of weapons in opposition hands, able to match the long-range performance of the 7.62x51 NATO with far less size, weight and recoil.Presumably by "opposition hands" you are referring to the insurgents in Afghanistan?
I guess the number of lightweight, 6.5mm weapons that our troops would now be facing depends on your definition of "large quantities." I see the RPD as being the only long range 6.5 platform certain to be encountered, with the 6.5mm SVD highly probable. How many RPDs and SVDs are currently used by the enemy?