Key words being "support weapons," the ammunition loadout for which is split up amongst the squad. Like I said, these considerations were for the "average infantryman" and I did not mean that we no longer used the 7.62mm or other rounds besides the 5.56mm, because that would just be incorrect, and we all know how infallible I am.

dident mean anything like that.Just noted that there are 7.62s.

Right, the 7.62mm NATO round survives in support weapons (M60/M240B/GPMG etc. and various sniper rifles) BECAUSE it has superior range and pentrating power (the same thing applies to .50 cal/12.7mm). Although Redneck states the case for a smaller service round for rifles and squad support weapons very consisely , even upgrading to the higher power of the 5.56mm SS109 round for the M249 and M16A2 series rifles does not change that (more like admitting that the original 5.56mm round was underpowered ).

Changing to 7mm might fix most of this disconnect (.50cal/12.7mm will always be around although maybe not in the M2HB), but then again, it might not. So could somebody try so we can find out?

Originally Posted by Gunner13

Although Redneck states the case for a smaller service round for rifles and squad support weapons very consisely

Thank you, Sir.

You're welcome (have to keep the moderators happy after all). 8)

Always happy, Sir, it's a chemical imbalance.

What if you had most rifles 5.56, and just 1 or 2 7.62 rifles in a squad?

The main reason behind having the same caliber round for all the weapons in a squad (support and main rifles) is that you can interchange ammunition, so if you are in a situation where you need to ration it, and your support gunners have a load of extra ammo and the riflemen are short (or vice-versa) you can divvy up the ammunition so you don't have half your firepower disappearing just when you most need it, as long as anyone in the squad has ammo, everyone in the squad has ammo.

well, i guss every side of this has pros and cons

Still, we all know how well a M249 feeds from an M16 mag.
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