LMG, the SS 77 in its new Compact format is also a winner. Also a reliable peformer now that they've lowered the cyclic rate. It's based on the old USSR SGM action -- which is the Bren / MAG 58 / BAR action turned on its side.Me too, not least because I once carried a BAR with a 20rd magazine and had no problems... ;DI'm convinced that the IAR will work, and one of the reasons I'm so sure is because the USMC is also soliciting magazines that hold more ammunition. Information is publicly available about a 55 round magazine in development.Progress is all fields; the 7.62 NATO is getting old.As for alternate cartridges, there are many designs extant, all of which would outperform 7.62N on soft targets and some of which would outperform it on harder targets.Yes, they do. My spies tell me it has reliability problems, though... Lightweight is good -- but it has a cost.KAC makes a ten pound LMG that is an improvement on the Stoner 63.Noteworthy the new Russian is essentially a PKM with a really heavy barrel (LINK) allowing among other things movement of the bipod to the muzzle where it provides a far more stable firing platform. More accuracy is the result -- and it weighs more. Maybe they know something we don't...The USMC is soliciting a thermally stable machinegun barrel that will extend barrel life and obviate the requirement for a quick change barrel. There is only one company, that I know of, that has a viable product. It is an SBIR set aside, if that matters.
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