I like how all GD gun threads these days end up about bitching about the colors not matching by the second page.

Meh.

H&K has been getting by on the MP5’s reputation and demonic marketing for a couple of decades now.  The USP series is good, but nothing special.  The UMP was/is hot garbage.  MP7 was a clever engineering take on a DOA concept (not really H&K’s fault there, MP7 is their best recent design achievement by a fair margin), Post-USP pistols are a solid “meh”.... just another McPistol.  Their piston AR series of abortions have been snapped Iike hot cakes by various military forces, which more often than not go back to their M4s for actual field use.

Lol

HK makes some superb handguns. They’re still trying to figure out long guns.

@ArmyInfantryVet

Why's that? Seems to me like having an asset capable of more precise shots at longer distances organic to the infantry squad is a good idea.

Normally I'd think it would make logistics and ammo sharing easier to make it in 5.56, since 5.56 rifles can still make precise hits out to impressive distances anyway. But if the squad is also going to have an M240, then making the SDMR in 7.62 doesn't seem that retarded.

Maybe dirt isn't one shade.

Agreed. Pistons are fucking gay.

They should have bought LMTs, tbh.

50 Shades of FDE

IMHO still pretty retarded.

If you’re just going to use the same M80 as the M240, you will add very little capability over a good 5.56 gun/optic.  And if you carry special .308 ammo for the SDMR, why not make it something better at range like 6.5C?

Even Beretta and SIG are doing it.

Also keep in mind some accessories like scopes and suppressors come from different brands and they all seem to have a unique shade of tan/brown.



I have nothing against LMT as I am sure they are great, but remember the MWS had issues with the British. Likewise, the 5.56 rifles New Zealand got had some issues with firing pins and bolt wear. They fixed them and it seems like as is well. Point being, all brands seem to have some issues and maybe the HK submission samples were just better/cheaper/whatever.

LMT or Knights, HK has no business getting this contract for a variety of reasons.  Ridiculous choice

would take both LMT or Knights over the HK everytime it would be offered.

From all the actual data and studies I've read (which admittedly are not a lot), it does seem like 7.62/.308 offers pretty trivial performance improvements over 5.56. So if 7.62 could be phased out and replaced by 6.5CM in all NATO militaries then that would be a performance improvement.

But if 7.62 is going to be the NATO standard cartridge, then I think it still makes sense to use that IF you aren't going to use 5.56 for your SDMR. Even if you're going to issue specialty ammo to the SDM, he can still make use of ammo pulled from M240 belts. The flight path of the M80 he pulled from the M240 belts won't match the flight path of the specialty .308 ammo he zeroed his optic with, but at least he can shoot at the enemy. A 6.5CM SDM can't use rounds pulled from the M240 in a pinch.

Actually, as I was typing this I looked it up. And the M240 isn't a squad level asset. It rolls with weapons squad, making it a platoon level asset. Making the SDMR the only 7.62 squad level asset. So yeah, a 20" 5.56 seems to make more sense to me as a squad level DMR.

why?

It'll get rattle canned soon enough

From my time in, I saw half of that. Yes there were guys who could train it. However, it’s pretty hard to train for that particular role when the unit doesn’t prioritize it, and book range time & ammo. Between my 3rd and 4th deployment, our M14s came out of the arms room exactly once. And we didn’t have what we needed to actually do any real training with them. They weren’t even zeroed when we deployed. I spent the whole of the time between those deployments beating my head against the wall, trying to get the CoC to understand what we were in for(I had been to Afghanistan previously, they hadn’t) But, I guess that’s the lot in life for a squad leader sometimes. That example is probably more typical of the reality of the situation.

An official course has some real things going for it, so long as the units actually send their people. Your guy’s training isn’t going to get stepped on to go clean up the motor pool(or to get suicide training for the 10th time this month) if he’s off at an official course-even if it’s just across the street.

What they really should do is bring back the Division level “sniper” courses that existed until the 90’s. Same thing with the Division level Recondo schools(but that’s a whole other thing). No extra cost for the guys to travel. Minimal time away from the unit. They would even be training with the exact weapon they’ll deploy with.


As far as the weapons for DM usage, I never saw what was wrong with the M14s. All the issues I ever saw with them were from a lack of training. I will say that I never cared for he sage stock. It seemed like a needless complication to me.

The FN SCAR was the original “what color is that!” The Lowers were all tan/fde, the upper ranged from gold, to almost OD, to something that looked like fde.



I like you, you can come over and bang my sister.

You can specify a process and color but different materials and different processing plants are going to end up with different color shades. Since exact color match is not possible, the contract probably specifies a singular process and the color variation is accepted.

7.62 has weight, even though lower velocity. It tends to punch though cover a bit better. The 6.5 is a nicer round, but you are going to burn out barrels much faster. I like the 6.5, it’s a neat round.

My buddy, who is in SO, sourced a 20” M16 upper when he went to AFG, he used it depending on mission. 20” rifles are still the cats meow, the US just drives around, so the 14.5 seems to be the thing. shrug. If the guys he was attached to were carrying 7.62 rifles, he would take a SCAR-H, which he is issued along with an M4 and MK18 (upper.)

Nope. 7.62x51, made just a little heavier by including a gas piston.

too bad there's no "contract overruns" on this rail.

Im sure it shoots fine but it looks like dog shit dipped in baby puke. I'd get the Aervoe rattle cans out ASAP.