Hi all,
I am an avid reader of any serious content related with the evolution of firearms calibers and performance. Some of my main references are Anthony's works about this topic, and I have to say that I concur mostly with Anthony's position (although I believe that it will be difficult to abandon 5.56x45)
As we can see at
http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/The%20N ... ration.htm , 6.5 grendel or a similar cartridge will be very well suited for a total unification of caliber in the individual weapons range, from AR to DMR and GMPG. In terms of economy of scale, I cannot argue about that, and benefits would be surely huge.
However, I find that either our actual bi-calibre situation, or a future one-calibre, have a serious limitation: the revolution of optics has not been taken into account.
The revolution of optics has three eras under my point of view:
1) iron era: Iron sights were almost the only aim elements, with the only exception of scoped rifles used by snipers
2) universalization of optics era: picatinny rails, holographic and red dot sights and augmented sights became generalized for well-equipped armies. There is a huge leap in soldiers' performance because of it.
3) digital/synthetic sights era: with FELIN and other defence and private initiatives we are approaching to a generalization of an unprecedented kind of sight: a sight which offers very valuable info for the shooter and helps him correcting the shoot and almost assuring that shot is going to be effective, compensating wind, altitude, temperature, etc., and giving permission to the firearm to shoot only when the shooting solution is fully achieved.
It is obvious that 5.56 is a dramatic limitation for the second era. As 5.56 is practical only at short distances (less than 300 and even 200 meters, depending on barrel lenght). My point is that even a 6.5 grendel wouldn't offer the full benefits for GMPG gunner, sniper and even designated marksman. With a digital sight, .338 norma magnum would take advantage of the firing solution beyond 1.500 meters.
.338 norma magnum is not practical for anyone who nowadays uses an AR. Too much recoil, and the firepower is unneeded at CQB and shorter distances. 6.5 grendel would offer a much better solution for ARs... AND would take advantage of either contemporary optics or future synthetic optics, offering viable results at 500 meters or more.
As a conclusion: if it is demanded that the grunts achieve much better performance, my best option would be 6.5 for rifleman and maybe marksmans and SAW operators, while GPMG and snipers would take advantage of .338 Norma performance
Any opinion and criticism of my scenario would be greatly appreciated
Best regards,
Juan