I think I'd be just fine with that. I'm useless to comment because I've never shot any of them, but it's a lot easier for me to trust one from SIG based on the MCX--even with hybrid ammo--than prototypes that always looked like...well, prototypes. I've also never met a bullpup trigger that I particularly liked. 'Course I haven't actively been trying to test a bunch of them, either. Love the concept of short OAL but long (relatively) barrel, but it seems to me no one has yet figured how to make the firing mechanism as smooth on the trigger as a conventional barrel-forward platform.
Search found 2 matches
- Wed Dec 22, 2021 4:09 pm
- Forum: Rifles & Shotguns
- Topic: Sig MCX Virtus
- Replies: 10
- Views: 16796
Re: Sig MCX Virtus
- Wed Dec 22, 2021 9:49 am
- Forum: Rifles & Shotguns
- Topic: Sig MCX Virtus
- Replies: 10
- Views: 16796
Re: Sig MCX Virtus
SIG is one of the last three companies in the running to be selected for the Army's replacement of the M4, the M16 and the M249. My bet is that they have a really good chance.
The offering previously from General Dynamics is now being handled by a company called Lonestar Future Weapons. Theirs is a bullpup design, I believe for both the AR replacement as well as the M249. Not certain about that, though.
The other entrant is Textron Systems. And it's one ugly gun...but it isn't a beauty pageant. The real reason I'm selfishly hoping against Textron is that theirs uses what they call "caseless telescoped ammunition." This has a polymer system encased the bullet, shortening the overall length but providing the same ballistic capabilities. May work just great. But it's such an oddball ammo that I could envision supply chain issues (not that the federal government ever has any issues with that), and it isn't something that we're likely to see on the shelves at Academy any time soon.
All are chambered in 6.8x51mm (bullet about 135 grains; around 3,000 fps). Which I think makes sense (those supply chain issues aside) because I do believe it's time to replace the beloved 5.56. Super great for its time when boots on the ground had to lug their own ammo through the jungles of Viet Nam. But it's always been just a little too anemic for the kind of firefights we saw in the sandbox; just doesn't have much effective range. I love me some .308, but that's a little on the large side for an individual infantryman to carry in any volume.
SIG's entrants, though, the NGSW-AR lightweight belt-fed machine gun and the NGSW-R rifle, are...ta dah!..."built on the foundation of the battle-tested MCX platform." To me, I think there's a big benefit to be gained from the new battle rifles having both the MCX modularity and a not-too-dissimilar manual of arms compared to the M4/16. And since SIG has a huge marketing footprint in consumer sales, those military developments/improvements are likely to quickly filter down to civilian models. I mean, when was the last time you bought a Textron or General Dynamics firearm? The ammo won't be Academy-ready from the get-go, though. It isn't as odd as the Textron offering, but it's still a hybrid case design. The case walls are traditional brass, but the base that joins it is (I think) an aluminum alloy. It's alloy of some kind, at least. The design allows the rifles to retain backward compatibility with standard brass-case ammo while, according to SIG, provides a weight savings of about 20-30% per empty case.
As probably everyone predicted, the Army has pushed their selection date from "by 2022" to "by mid-2022." We'll see. But if SIG is selected, I expect that will give them a big development budget bump and a big consumer sales bump. I've been really trying to keep my number of calibers to a minimum, preferring to have more of a few than a little of a lot. If someone wanted to give me something in .50 BMG or .338 Lapua Mag I wouldn't turn it down, but... All I shoot nowadays in rifles is 5.56 and .308; don't really hunt deer anymore so sold my last "other" chambering, a .270 Winchester bolt gun, a few years ago, and I don't do LR benchrest. But...I should start putting my spare change in the piggy bank because I know that if SIG wins the contract, as soon as the NGSW-R and the ammo become available to consumers, I'm gonna want one.
Here's a pic of one of the prototype SIG NGSW-R MCX Spear assault rifles:
The offering previously from General Dynamics is now being handled by a company called Lonestar Future Weapons. Theirs is a bullpup design, I believe for both the AR replacement as well as the M249. Not certain about that, though.
The other entrant is Textron Systems. And it's one ugly gun...but it isn't a beauty pageant. The real reason I'm selfishly hoping against Textron is that theirs uses what they call "caseless telescoped ammunition." This has a polymer system encased the bullet, shortening the overall length but providing the same ballistic capabilities. May work just great. But it's such an oddball ammo that I could envision supply chain issues (not that the federal government ever has any issues with that), and it isn't something that we're likely to see on the shelves at Academy any time soon.
All are chambered in 6.8x51mm (bullet about 135 grains; around 3,000 fps). Which I think makes sense (those supply chain issues aside) because I do believe it's time to replace the beloved 5.56. Super great for its time when boots on the ground had to lug their own ammo through the jungles of Viet Nam. But it's always been just a little too anemic for the kind of firefights we saw in the sandbox; just doesn't have much effective range. I love me some .308, but that's a little on the large side for an individual infantryman to carry in any volume.
SIG's entrants, though, the NGSW-AR lightweight belt-fed machine gun and the NGSW-R rifle, are...ta dah!..."built on the foundation of the battle-tested MCX platform." To me, I think there's a big benefit to be gained from the new battle rifles having both the MCX modularity and a not-too-dissimilar manual of arms compared to the M4/16. And since SIG has a huge marketing footprint in consumer sales, those military developments/improvements are likely to quickly filter down to civilian models. I mean, when was the last time you bought a Textron or General Dynamics firearm? The ammo won't be Academy-ready from the get-go, though. It isn't as odd as the Textron offering, but it's still a hybrid case design. The case walls are traditional brass, but the base that joins it is (I think) an aluminum alloy. It's alloy of some kind, at least. The design allows the rifles to retain backward compatibility with standard brass-case ammo while, according to SIG, provides a weight savings of about 20-30% per empty case.
As probably everyone predicted, the Army has pushed their selection date from "by 2022" to "by mid-2022." We'll see. But if SIG is selected, I expect that will give them a big development budget bump and a big consumer sales bump. I've been really trying to keep my number of calibers to a minimum, preferring to have more of a few than a little of a lot. If someone wanted to give me something in .50 BMG or .338 Lapua Mag I wouldn't turn it down, but... All I shoot nowadays in rifles is 5.56 and .308; don't really hunt deer anymore so sold my last "other" chambering, a .270 Winchester bolt gun, a few years ago, and I don't do LR benchrest. But...I should start putting my spare change in the piggy bank because I know that if SIG wins the contract, as soon as the NGSW-R and the ammo become available to consumers, I'm gonna want one.
Here's a pic of one of the prototype SIG NGSW-R MCX Spear assault rifles: