XM7 Sig Spear

[prepare]

Part 3 of a decent review

[Hammer_Man]

I watched that last night. Seems like a cool gun, but I still have my concerns about the overall weight of the weapon system, and mag capacity.

[markm]

“There's fewer rounds required for the soldier to carry,” Lt. Col. Micah Rue, product manager for soldier weapons at the Army’s Program Executive Soldier office, told Task & Purpose. “They don't need as many as they needed in the past to neutralize the target. But if you look at the round itself, it's actually a more substantial round.”

I smell a croc of crap. The old M16 hype was that you could carry almost the ammo weight-wise compared to 7.62.

I'd love to shoot this round in a bolt gun to get a no bullshit idea of the round's potential compared to a 77 SMK or even a 7.62 SMK... for reference. I'll bet is sucks balls.

[ABNAK]

I smell a croc of crap. The old M16 hype was that you could carry almost the ammo weight-wise compared to 7.62.

I'd love to shoot this round in a bolt gun to get a no bullshit idea of the round's potential compared to a 77 SMK or even a 7.62 SMK... for reference. I'll bet is sucks balls.

Everything I've seen ballistically says this round is pretty awesome, BUT......the awesomeness comes from the 80,000psi the combat ammo is loaded to. IMHO that is going to lead to problems with parts breakage down the road. As proposed it will have a "training" round (loaded to less pressure with a different bullet) and then the combat one.

My prediction? Eventually they will load the combat bullet itself into the downloaded "training" case and that will become the standard issue round.

[mack7.62]

Who are we going to shoot with these? Doesn't seem like they are needed for a war with the Russians, doesn't seem like they are a good fit for island hopping and jungle warfare. Would have been good for Afghanistan but I don't think we are going back there. All I can figure is Aliens or Predators must be coming and we need to up our game for them.

[ABNAK]

Who are we going to shoot with these? Doesn't seem like they are needed for a war with the Russians, doesn't seem like they are a good fit for island hopping and jungle warfare. Would have been good for Afghanistan but I don't think we are going back there. All I can figure is Aliens or Predators must be coming and we need to up our game for them.

I've heard it said that the military is always preparing to fight the last war. This XM7 might've been a decent (not great) choice 20 years ago, but of course then it would have had to be initiated 30 years ago!

[ABNAK]

Just a few minutes ago I read a Military.com article about the XM7; today it was officially announced that the 1/506th Infantry at Ft. Campbell (101st) had taken possession of the new weapon, with training slated for next month. This is the first full battalion to receive the rifle as an issued weapon.

[Vgex2]

Just another grift of taxpayer dollars.

[markm]

Just another grift of taxpayer dollars.

For sure. If I were a soldier and hadn't spent the last decade long range shooting, this crap might sound like it has potential.

I get the idea that there could be something "better" out there if you're an end user, but this is just another expensive fantasy.