6.8mm newest military cartridge?

What do you guys think of the possible next military cartridge[a 6.8mm] replacing the .223[5.56mm]?  I like the idea of a bigger bullet but why can't we use a 7mm thats been around for years on a shorter case[7x40]?  Seems kinda overcomplicated.

joe dirt isn't the funniest movie of all time, Caddyshack is.

It sounds like the 6.8mm round should have very good balistics. It's a .277" diameter bullet, same as the .270 Winchester. It's supposed to function using bolt faces for 7.62X39mm AR-15 clones which are already being produced, and use slightly modified AR-15 mags holding 25 rounds instead of 30, all slapped onto an AR-15 lower. It's not the only round being considered. Failings of it include the fact that you can't use it to feed light machineguns with the same links used for the M249. The 6.8mm cartridge isn't going to replace the 5.56mm in the near future, but supliment it as a designated marksman's round or for special ops forces who'd like to have it. The average soldier will still be toteing an M-16.


EDIT: It's based off of the .30 remington case, which was a rimless .30-30 for autoloaders. The neat thing about it is how this project has gone from the bottom up. It's what the guys on the ground want, not what the brass wants them to have. Getting the cartridge designed only cost the military a few grand. Remington's taking a big gamble with this.

Edited by rednekk98

i subscribe to a lot of gun magazines and havent heard of this at all. i'll search for it on google. 

Funny that the Chinese have had a similar cartidge for a few years...

see y would u need a bigger bullet a small one still dose the job, and if u wana bigger bullet look at 50 cal. machine gun, or a sniper rifle

meteora wrote: boomstick wrote: joe dirt isn't the funniest movie of all time, Caddyshack is. trust me joe dirt is

Joe Dirt has that everlasting funnyness about it. You remember lines from it for a long, long time. Like "See that peanut? Dead giveaway." LOL. Caddyshack was funny for the first one or two times.

Joe Dirt > Caddyshack

Joe Dirt > Caddyshack but waynes world 1 or 2 is much >  joe dirt

Wayne's World barely breaks my top ten in funny movies...

kwkmrorange wrote: Hmm, i've always had this question and even my friend in the reserves coulndt answer it for me but what does the 5.56mm refer too? I know it is something to do with the size, but is it the length or the width or circumfrance at the widest point or what?

Its the cross sectional width of the bullet or diameter if you will.

Edited by Solipsism