308 Battle Rifle?

[DDadams]

Anyone who has ever slugged a steel plate at any kind of distance with a .308 versus a 5.56 ought to know there's a "there" there with the big boy calibers.

You can do a whole lot with a good 5.56 gun, but when it's time to punch through intermediate barriers or reach out and nail something, there is no replacement for displacement. There's a reason machine guns still shoot full rifle calibers and not 5.56. Not all that is relevant to civilians or police, but out in the downrange world you use bullets to wreck a lot more than just flesh.

I might not be sold on something like the Spear as general issue, but until someone makes 5.56 exploding smartrounds, full power calibers aren't obsolete.

I'm not sold on the Spear because of all the issues with the Spear itself. Being able to flex the handguard out of place and have it stick physically to the barrel is ridiculous for example.

Plus I think they should have looked at the 6 arc instead. It's already a wonderful round but I don't think anyone has even tried to make an AP version or any real 'military version' of it.

 

[Ark]

I'm not sold on the Spear because of all the issues with the Spear itself. Being able to flex the handguard out of place and have it stick physically to the barrel is ridiculous for example.

Plus I think they should have looked at the 6 arc instead. It's already a wonderful round but I don't think anyone has even tried to make an AP version or any real 'military version' of it.

Yeah they got a little goofy with that design. I also have durability concerns with their pissin hawt ammo and AP projectiles, on top of the sledgehammer recoil. I think the notion of pussycat ammo for training and only handing out the real stuff on deployment is dumb and counterintuitive for a weapon whose whole point is "overmatch" at distance. Doesn't mean anything if a 19 year old can't hit the target. Ammo carry capacity is also a problem, real world fights don't care about your combat load.

But, hey, seeding a few of them in every squad? Sure. They can do DM, they can do roadblock duty, they can do base of fire to chew enemies out from behind insufficiently hardened positions, they can do lots of stuff with a big caliber.

 

[devildog178]

I had a DD 308 a few years ago and it was an excellent rifle. I sold it after I bought a Sig 716i. The 716i isn't quite as light as the DD but i think its an excellent rifle at significantly lower price.

 

[Tombs]

Yeah they got a little goofy with that design. I also have durability concerns with their pissin hawt ammo and AP projectiles, on top of the sledgehammer recoil. I think the notion of pussycat ammo for training and only handing out the real stuff on deployment is dumb and counterintuitive for a weapon whose whole point is "overmatch" at distance. Doesn't mean anything if a 19 year old can't hit the target. Ammo carry capacity is also a problem, real world fights don't care about your combat load.

But, hey, seeding a few of them in every squad? Sure. They can do DM, they can do roadblock duty, they can do base of fire to chew enemies out from behind insufficiently hardened positions, they can do lots of stuff with a big caliber.

The spear is an example of a committee of clipboard warriors seeking to solve a problem that doesn't exist, with no experience of what the soldier actually wants or needs to do their job.

The "high pressure" ammo is likely never going to materialize, and our logistics will be shouldered with supplying and dealing with an inferior performing 7.62x51 in a rifle that weighs twice what the commercial market currently offers for a comparable rifle.

No matter how good 6.8x51 is, it does not match 3 rounds of 5.56, which is effectively what it's going to be attempting to do.
If we have a range or material defeat necessity, 7.62x51 exists, and there's no shortage of platforms available, even in our own logistics.

That said the XM250 chambered in 7.62x51 would make a lot of people happy, I'm willing to bet.

 

[two70]

What's the recoil like with that? To be honest I had no idea they made one in 7.62x51. That has me intrigued

Recoil is not bad at all, the weight probably sucks up a lot of it. It seems to be significantly less than most of the AR style .308s I've shot.

 

[Dog1]

Recoil is not bad at all, the weight probably sucks up a lot of it. It seems to be significantly less than most of the AR style .308s I've shot.

Awesome! Thank you I appreciate it

 

[DadSmith]

I still use an M1A I've had since 1980. No complaints.

Had a national match back in the mid 90's. One I regret selling, but has to be done to take care of family while on hard times.

 

[Crandall Crank]

What about the original...HK 91? Mags are still relatively cheap ($8 each). Fires and ejects ANY 308 or 7.62 NATO cartridge.

 

[D.R.SCOTT]

I'd say go try some different ones out and choose what scratches that itch for you.

For me, out of my 7.62 semis I preferred to take out my M1A socom 2 because it was incredibly fun to shoot, plus im a sucker for the history of the M14.

Which means I shot it more, so I inadvertently trained more with it, thus it became the rifle I shoot best with. Even though I have better shooting rifles... on paper.

Find what you love to shoot and train, train, train.

 

[JAL]

Carried and used an M14, albeit very briefly before it was replaced by an M16A1, including with an M6 bayonet on the end of it. If you go with an M1A, I recommend one of the short ones: 16" SOCOM, 16" Tanker, or 18" Scout Squad. The 22" full length are long and heavy, just over 44-1/4 inches, and a bitch to shoot standing for any length of time without any support, even when using the sling wrapped around the arm to help. With a bayonet on the end it was almost unwieldy standing. Its weight wouldn't be so bad were it not for its length, hence the recommendation to go with a short one. Otherwise an excellent rifle. Easy to field strip.

For the nostalgic, the M6 bayonet for it left a lot to be desired. The latch was unreliable, the plastic/Bakelite scales were fragile, and the blade broke too easily if used for anything except pure stabbing. I saw more than one M6 come flying off the muzzle (fortunately nobody was hit by them).