New Army "Caliber Configuration Study"

[nincomp]

Nincomp I was referring to the end game scenario, but I completely agree with what you just said. The biggest question here is, can the .338 be effective enough against vehicles and light armor to replace the 50 cal.

I don't think so, but I have been wrong before. The bigger projectile of the .50 gives more room for things like HE.

JASmith, I think that the proposed .276 Penderson and the .280 British (the 7x43mm version) could have been GPC's. They were intended for individual weapon and LMG use. I don't know if they were to be used in the MMG role, however.

Ironically, the Japanese had the 6.5mm Arisaka and the Italians had the 6.5 Carcano, but both initially used round-tipped bullets which had poor terminal ballistics. They both decided to move up to to a larger caliber. I do not know if the Japanese reevaluated the 6.5 Arisaka after switching to the pointed bullets which would yaw after impact.