Better than M4, but you can’t have it

[Uboat509]

There are two schools of thought about the 9MM in my community. One says that 9MM is better because you can carry a lot more of it (15 + 1 or 21 +1 depending on your magazine) and nobody wants to go dry one their secondary in the middle of a firefight no matter how fast your mag change is. The other school says that you will rarely have your secondary out for more than a few shots anyway and it is better to have that one round stopping power. I am a believer in the latter but it is not up to me and I am still carrying the M9 which I personally think is a peice of crap. I agree with Ken. If we absolutely have to go with 9MM then we can definitely do better.

SFC W

[mde]

The 9mm ball is so unsatisfactory that the CJSOTF (Spec Ops Task Force) for Iraq decided to go with old M1911s rescued from the melting plant. As far as 5.56 ball ammo? Nope -- most of SOF highly desires either the 6.8mm mod for the M4 or -- much easier -- the 7.62 mod. The only trouble I see is that the M4 was not overall deisgned for the physics behind the larger, heavier rounds. For a permanent solution (until we get laser blasters), I think most of us are looking forward to the 7.62mm SCAR and the various mods from FN.

[Ken White]

The 9mm ball is so unsatisfactory that the CJSOTF (Spec Ops Task Force) for Iraq decided to go with old M1911s rescued from the melting plant. As far as 5.56 ball ammo? Nope -- most of SOF highly desires either the 6.8mm mod for the M4 or -- much easier -- the 7.62 mod. The only trouble I see is that the M4 was not overall deisgned for the physics behind the larger, heavier rounds. For a permanent solution (until we get laser blasters), I think most of us are looking forward to the 7.62mm SCAR and the various mods from FN.

also want something better. The Marines got smarter than the Army and went for the heavier bullet in the Mk262 which helps but is not the answer. the swiss also went for a heavier 5.56 with good range characteristics -- but you're still confronted with the fact that you're shooting a varmint round. People ain't woodchucks. Robert Strange McNamara and Pierre Sprey have a lot to answer for (Moral of that story is people should stick to what they know and not intrude in other domains...)

The 7.62x39 has a range problem.

I hope FN gets the SCAR going, folks I've talked to who banged the prototype are happy with it. Ideally the entire defense establishment would hop on it and support it totally but I don't think we're that smart...