View Full Version : USMC to buy polymer-cased .50 cal ammo
Will this be part of a general trend towards this type of ammo?
"A sole source solicitation ordering an estimated 2.4 million rounds of polymer-cased .50 calibre ammunition has been awarded to MAC, LLC of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The order for the new ammunition comes from the Marine Corps Systems Command and will include both ball and API ammunition."
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2019/04/04/usmc-to-by-2-4-million-rounds-of-polymer-cased-50-calibre-ammunition/
All for innovation, but honestly where and when did brass become such a rare and expensive commodity.
It's only been a few decades but now a plastic bottle of coke costs twice as much as a glass bottle of coke. Exactly how and why does this shit happen?
titsonritz
04-05-19, 02:55
Just what the world needs, more plastic on the ground and floating in the oceans.
I don't get this. The point of plastic casings is weight savings. No one is humping a .50 cal around.
Give us plastic cased 7.62 and 5.56 (that works). At least that way, there will be a point to it.
I don't get this. The point of plastic casings is weight savings. No one is humping a .50 cal around.
Give us plastic cased 7.62 and 5.56 (that works). At least that way, there will be a point to it.
The article said it would save 1000# per pallet. That would make a difference logistically.
I don't get this. The point of plastic casings is weight savings. No one is humping a .50 cal around.
Give us plastic cased 7.62 and 5.56 (that works). At least that way, there will be a point to it.
Look at the big picture, save 1,000 lbs a pallet means XX more pallets you can haul on a C17.
Doesn't the polymer case idea come up every few years followed by a "well shucks" because it still isn't workable?
All for innovation, but honestly where and when did brass become such a rare and expensive commodity.
It's only been a few decades but now a plastic bottle of coke costs twice as much as a glass bottle of coke. Exactly how and why does this shit happen?
In theory, nixing brass and copper from rifle/pistol ammunition should cut costs based on some SWAG extrapolation using shotshell components and costs. Getting functional ammunition from it seems to be an issue though.
Seems to me brass-less ammo is a cool way to shorten the life span of ammo forcing faster replacement of ammo stores.
One benefit of saving weight for the .50BMG might be for allowing more munitions in fighter/attack aircraft. But how many US aircraft use the .50 anymore? Seems most are using 20mm and 30mm, or .30 miniguns.
So why caseless.50? Can it be made near same cost as brass cased ammo? Are the Marines willing to pay three times the cost of a pallet of .50 ammo in order to save 1,000#?
It isn't caseless and isn't even all polymer...like this from about 5 years ago.
https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/pcp-ammo-review/
That was one of the types that made me think every few years it comes up then goes nowhere.
.223 version made the news once and think it may have been poly at least up to the shoulder of not all the way to the neck.
Pretty sure this is the ammo in question.
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/11/24/new-polymer-cased-ammunition-introduced-true-velocity/
It's a complete poly case and they claim to have solved the magic formula.
vicious_cb
04-05-19, 13:38
Seems to me brass-less ammo is a cool way to shorten the life span of ammo forcing faster replacement of ammo stores.
One benefit of saving weight for the .50BMG might be for allowing more munitions in fighter/attack aircraft. But how many US aircraft use the .50 anymore? Seems most are using 20mm and 30mm, or .30 miniguns.
So why caseless.50? Can it be made near same cost as brass cased ammo? Are the Marines willing to pay three times the cost of a pallet of .50 ammo in order to save 1,000#?
WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER. Im guessing no one here knows how valuable keeping a gunship around for even an 5 extra mins on station is for the guys in contact eating shit on the ground. Or how many extra SMAW rounds or motar shells can you pack into the back of an osprey by saving a couple hundred lbs in ammo before the load master tells you **** off?
FromMyColdDeadHand
04-05-19, 14:28
The bi-polar nature of the military that on one hand is extremely reluctant to change anything because of unseen outcomes and the effect on mission and casualties, but then sometimes just gets a wild hair and does something that on the face seems rather silly.
My thought was that maybe they picked it because the M2 fires from an open bolt, but that's not true. Maybe since the M2s are in vehicles and more permanent locations, the ammo won't get as abused as say a 556 round.
I'd rather see a ceramic case than a polymer case. How hot does a chamber get after a full auto string? How much hotter are these guns going to run when the brass case isn't pulling heat out with it?
The claims are lower chamber temperatures.
The .gov funding was one of the things that got mentioned in past mentions of poly case been done before/went nowhere news.
Pretty sure this is the ammo in question.
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/11/24/new-polymer-cased-ammunition-introduced-true-velocity/
It's a complete poly case and they claim to have solved the magic formula.
I think that is what I recall with more being polymer....color looks right....but I am just about certain it was more like 2014 or 15.
Moose-Knuckle
04-07-19, 05:11
And to think people bitch about Uncle Sam leaving depleted uranium littered about war zones.
I can hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth already about the environmental impact all the plastic shell casings will have lol.
And to think people bitch about Uncle Sam leaving depleted uranium littered about war zones.
I can hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth already about the environmental impact all the plastic shell casings will have lol.
Yeah, would have to rule out any open-water target practice as we might have a sea turtle or whale choke on a spent case.
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