stanc
10-21-2009, 01:02 AM
Might the performance failures attributed to the 5.56 NATO round have been avoided?
From Frankford Arsenal's last commander:
I do think the 5.56mm cartridge needs to be replaced--in my opinion, the 5.56mm is under-powered for Urban and long range combat (over 300 meters) and is very difficult to manufacture and has marginal performance from an exterior ballistic standpoint. Now as to what should replace it, I would think some round in the Cal..25 range that could be retro-fitted to existing weapons should be considered. Strange as it seems, Col. Studler at OCO in 1958-59 suggested to Stoner that the AR-15 should be increased in caliber to .258--this round called the "6.35mm Long" was tested at Ft. Benning in 1959 with good results.
Because of the OAL of the 6.35mm Long, that cartridge would've necessitated a complete redesign of the AR15. That wouldn't have been a great problem in 1959, but is hardly feasible for retrofitting current 5.56mm weapons. However, the shorter 6.35x48mm (http://www.ammo-one.com/6-35x48mmFA59.html) -- which was also developed in the late 1950s -- has OAL the same as 5.56x45mm, making it usable in the M4/M16 by swapping barrel, bolt, and magazine.
Interestingly, both of those 6.35mm rounds were based on the .25 Remington, which has the same basic case as the .30 Remington that was used to develop 6.8 SPC. If the Army had elected to chamber the M16 in 6.35mm, we might've had 6.8 SPC created two or three decades earlier than it was.
OTOH, there might never had been a perceived need to develop 6.8 SPC... :a08:
From Frankford Arsenal's last commander:
I do think the 5.56mm cartridge needs to be replaced--in my opinion, the 5.56mm is under-powered for Urban and long range combat (over 300 meters) and is very difficult to manufacture and has marginal performance from an exterior ballistic standpoint. Now as to what should replace it, I would think some round in the Cal..25 range that could be retro-fitted to existing weapons should be considered. Strange as it seems, Col. Studler at OCO in 1958-59 suggested to Stoner that the AR-15 should be increased in caliber to .258--this round called the "6.35mm Long" was tested at Ft. Benning in 1959 with good results.
Because of the OAL of the 6.35mm Long, that cartridge would've necessitated a complete redesign of the AR15. That wouldn't have been a great problem in 1959, but is hardly feasible for retrofitting current 5.56mm weapons. However, the shorter 6.35x48mm (http://www.ammo-one.com/6-35x48mmFA59.html) -- which was also developed in the late 1950s -- has OAL the same as 5.56x45mm, making it usable in the M4/M16 by swapping barrel, bolt, and magazine.
Interestingly, both of those 6.35mm rounds were based on the .25 Remington, which has the same basic case as the .30 Remington that was used to develop 6.8 SPC. If the Army had elected to chamber the M16 in 6.35mm, we might've had 6.8 SPC created two or three decades earlier than it was.
OTOH, there might never had been a perceived need to develop 6.8 SPC... :a08: