12-28-2013, 01:11 AM
stanc Wrote: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.)
Let me put it a different way: if the Soviets had developed a lightweight belt-fed MG in 6.5mm Grendelski they probably wouldn't have bothered with a lightweight belt-fed portable MG in 7.62x54R like the PKM. A heavier support and vehicle weapon, yes, but not for dismounted infantry. The ballistics are not quite as good, but they aren't far behind and the substantial weight and recoil reductions would be well worth having.
Quote:Presumably by "opposition hands" you are referring to the insurgents in Afghanistan?
I'm referring to any combatants, regular or irregular, which NATO forces might find themselves engaging, wherever they may be.
Quote:How many RPDs and SVDs are currently used by the enemy?
Raising the RPD in its existing (7.62x39) form is a straw man argument. Of course it isn't used, because the long-range ballistics are rubbish and the PKM is of comparable weight. A RPD/PKM equivalent designed around a 6.5mm Grendelski would be a very different matter.