Not exactly on topic, and I don't know if it's a commentary on military bureaucracy or future trends. But with the U.S. military looking to make its first official change in battle rifles in about 60 years, the three remaining contenders (at least two of the three) have more moving parts than the M16 (the Textron offering has a...unique chambering and ejection system); a couple of them have kind of an oddball manual of arms compared to the M16; and the military finally acknowledged that the 5.56x45 round has probably always been too small a caliber for the purpose and will use 6.8mm.bagman45 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 07, 2020 10:28 pm The 1911's, on the other hand,would be an absolute tragedy if any of the above occurred. I'm likely looking at it wrong, but the Browning design in steel is part of our heritage and freedom from the past, and so must be revered and protected. While I ABSOLUTELY LOVE 'em, the new polymer wonder guns are just better; "maybe" more reliable, fewer moving parts, lighter, higher capacity and easier for the average gun owner to run. Not to mention the ease of replacing and upgrading parts - generally NO gunsmithing or fitting required; just drop in and go. Add that to the fact that the ballistic engineers have now developed 9mm loads that work every bit as well as .45acp, and the 1911 just doesn't make carry sense to this engineer.
And that 6.8mm round is likely to be very different from what we're used to, also. In the running--I believe mainly to make the ammo lighter and more similar in carry weight to the 5.56--is one with a polymer case, no metal, and another that has an odd-looking hybridization of steel and thin brass: supposedly the steel at the base and a few millimeters up the case provides the extra strength at the point of combustion/propulsion/extraction, and the thin brass is then just fine for the remainder of the case and the necking. The steel portion rides inside the brass and the two are joined by some sort of clip mechanism. Clearly, I would think, neither of those rounds would be reloadable...at least not easily; maybe you could use the steel portion again. Dunno.
The general reference to the new systems is "Next Generation Squad Weapon" and the 6.8mm will see use in a new rifle and a new light machine gun, replacing the M16/M4 and the M249. Won't be an overnight rollout, though; evidently once the two platforms are selected there will be a few hundred thousand ordered and put into service over the next 5 years. So the military is headed toward a (probably) more complicated platform; a platform that uses a larger caliber; a platform with a somewhat slow rollout so for quite a while there won't be broad battlefield pickup options for replacement parts or ammo; and a platform that uses a unique type of ammunition that we civilians probably won't see for years.
I'd love to shoot those new prototypes that are in the running, but gotta admit that the change seems like it will be radical enough that it leaves me scratching my head.