wasted tax dollars

[Lloyd Smale]

always said replacing the m16 was a waste of money. its still the hot weapon to possess by any enemy combatant in the world. many toss away there ak's if they get a chance to grab one. now the "pre hegseth military spent billons on a replacement soldiers are screaming its heavy, unreliable and with only 20 rounds in a mag thats heavier than a loaded 30 round 556 mag they cant carry as much ammo. dont get me wrong. im all for better weapons but why waste billions fixing a problem that never existed. makes you wonder which politicians were getting their palms greased by sig!!

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-sig-sauer-xm7/

by the way this isnt the first article about this and the first troops that got them and actually used them are the ones complaining

[Dee]

So someone comes up with a body armor that will possibly defeat the 556. Now, with a little extra, they can make a body armor that will defeat the new round.

They've been tweaking the old Colt A1 & A2 since the 60s until its about as dead nuts reliable as a carbine can be. The M4 is super accurate, super reliable, super easy to maintain, super easy to train on, super portable, good out to a little over 300 yard, and easy to feed, with 30, not 20 round magazines.

Lets replace it. We'll make millions.

But thats not to say theres nuthin better. This new rifle could be it. Maybe?

I'm old enough to remember when they replaced the M14 with the M16. The complaining was loud and long. Now, several decades later, they think they have a superior rifle to the M4 built on what appears to be the same basic platform.
I don't know anything about the author of the article, so maybe he knows what he's talking about, or not.
I personally want the soldiers to have the very best rifle available. Maybe this new rifle is it. Maybe?

[Lloyd Smale]

They've been tweaking the old Colt A1 & A2 since the 60s until its about as dead nuts reliable as a carbine can be. The M4 is super accurate, super reliable, super easy to maintain, super easy to train on, super portable, good out to a little over 300 yard, and easy to feed, with 30, not 20 round magazines.

YUP!!

[gypsyman]

  Eisenhower warned us of the military complex in his farewell speech. M16/M4 is still, and until they come with laser guns that a soldier can carry, the best one out there. With the advancement of using red dot sights, Dee-your right on the money, 300 yds isn't that hard to keep rounds on target. Both my boys have one, probably because when they were growing up they shot mine. At least their nice enough to kick in and help finance with the reloading components.

[AtlLaw]

The M4 is super accurate, super reliable, super easy to maintain, super easy to train on, super portable, good out to a little over 300 yard, and easy to feed, ...

Now, back in the day I trained with the M1 and M14 and never even saw an M16 until 1966.  By 1969 (the year the picture was taken) We had the A1 model and I thought it was a great weapon; rugged, light weight, accurate in semi-auto mode and controllable on full auto.

We didn't have 30 round magazines back then but I never felt the need for an extra 10 rounds in a fire fight.  Besides, the 20 rounders fit nicely into ammo bandoleers, two of which I wore crossed over my chest.  The only thing close to "body armor" we had at the time!     I still prefer the 20 round mags as I feel they balance better, especially in the M4.  Personal preference...   

Is an M16 based platform the "perfect" Infantry rifle?  I dunno...    But I do know that what Dee said is correct and I see no glaring (or even mildly bright) deficiencies in the system that would demand it's replacement.

[ironglow]

  Visited my grandson a couple months ago..askd him what he could allowedly tell me about the new 6.8 mm round & rifle.

  He and his team apparently approved the rifle for NATO, but he doesn't expect widespread usage, since the rounds are so complex and costly.

  Possibly for certain special operations..or perhaps one in a squad..like the old BAR..

  Check the rounds out..  https://www.mcarbo.com/Sig-277-Fury-6-8x51mm-Ballistics-Chart