6mm SAW aluminium-cased Ammo

**ffhounddog** · 05-16-07, 15:00

6mm SAW aluminium-cased Ammo

I read something about it last night and the Army thought of using this round for the SAW. Is there anything ya'll might know about it? With copper price more than 3 years ago would it be possible to make ammo with an Aluminum case like Blazer that CCI makes for Handguns? I Googled for it but not alot of info

**MASP7** · 05-16-07, 17:53

The 6mm SAW (6x45mm, but not to be confused with the wildcat 6x45 necked-up .223 Rem.) was developed in the early '70 as a squad automatic weapon round. The idea is the same as the current 6.8 SPC- smaller package like a 5.56, but approaching 7.62 performance.

While they made aluminum and brass cased versions, (including a long, 7.62 Nato length aluminum version), the most often seen examples are the lacquered steel cased XM732 round. It has a 106 gr. projectile with a muzzle velocity of around 2,500 fps. This is the middle round below, flanked by a 5.56 and a 7.62. Every example I have ever handled was headstamped FA73 (Frankfurt Arsenal 1973), which leads me to believe that this was the bulk of the trial ammunition.

Aluminum cased ammo has been successfully used in ammunition up to at least 30mm (GAU-8/A cannon in the A-10 Aircraft), not to mention CCI Blazer ammo (which has had mixed results). With enough R&D work, aluminum cases could certainly be a viable option in 5.56, but aluminum is expensive also.

I think steel shows more promise.
Hornady has already successfully brought steel-cased 5.56 ammo to the US market with their (LE-only) 55gr. and 75gr."Practice" ammo, and the former Warsaw Pact and ChiCom's have used it forever. I have had excellent results with the 75gr. Practice, and it's an excellent value. Hornady just needs to expand production so that everyone can enjoy it.