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The US Army's new Belt fed Machine gun. The M250 is replacing the M249

steve podleski

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Nov 26, 2005
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Near the end of the video, is a quick view of the M250 big brother, the 338Norma Mag MG.
 
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25 minutes of not much useful information from two guys who are not that interesting. So they made a new gun with some non-specific improvements and in some vaguely new calibers that duplicate calibers developed in the 1920's.
 
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25 minutes of not much useful information from two guys who are not that interesting. So they made a new gun with some non-specific improvements and in some vaguely new calibers that duplicate calibers developed in the 1920's.
260, 257 roberts, 7mm08, 6.5x55, maybe the 270 and 280.....how many others ?
Oh but 277 that's 80k psi OMG !!!11
I'll wait till I see faces blown away when the chambers/bolt let go after a few rounds.
Can't tell me the joint between a steel base and a brass or plastic case isn't an issue.
It's a weak spot, Darwin will find it.
Suppressor on a belt fed....hah......hahaha.....BWAAAAAHAHAHAHA, yea that'll work well.
Watch the video.....note massive amount of carbon when he removes suppressor....it's like 1/4" thick.
Would not carry to battle where lives depended on it.
SIG, good customer service, they'll need it.
 
I can't wait until we spend billions of dollars on these new weapons systems that basically re-establish our capabilities circa late Korean/early Vietnam era, and then come to the conclusion that it sucks dealing with the associated mass, bulk, noise, recoil, etc. of larger rounds.
 
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260, 257 roberts, 7mm08, 6.5x55, maybe the 270 and 280.....how many others ?
Oh but 277 that's 80k psi OMG !!!11
I'll wait till I see faces blown away when the chambers/bolt let go after a few rounds.
Can't tell me the joint between a steel base and a brass or plastic case isn't an issue.
It's a weak spot, Darwin will find it.
Suppressor on a belt fed....hah......hahaha.....BWAAAAAHAHAHAHA, yea that'll work well.
Watch the video.....note massive amount of carbon when he removes suppressor....it's like 1/4" thick.
Would not carry to battle where lives depended on it.
SIG, good customer service, they'll need it.

So what are your engineering credentials and how many small arms and cartridges have you designed and developed?

Fucking derp
 
I’m surprised at the level of hate the M5 and M250 are getting.
These are absolutely badass weapons and Garand Thumb is legit.
Like it or not, bash it or not.. steel base cases are the future. SIG has said they can actually handle around 105k psi. Also, they will be making bigger long action rounds in the future. Imagine a .300 Norma or .338 Lapua at 80+ kpsi. This is genuinely a true leap forward in firearms technology like we haven’t seen in a very very long time. SIG also isn’t the only one working on this stuff, we have members here who are as well.
Embrace it or step aside for those who will because this is the future. I for one am very excited. We are on groundbreaking new territory here, and best part is SIG is letting civvies have the cool shit too unlike HK likely would do.
 
The next step will be adopting or developing barrel material that can handle the extreme pressure/heat and provide an acceptable service life. Several companies are already working on that also.
 
The next step will be adopting or developing barrel material that can handle the extreme pressure/heat and provide an acceptable service life. Several companies are already working on that also.
SIG themselves are claiming 10-15k round barrel life. The barrels we have right now can handle it. However SIG did have to make the bolt lugs bigger lengthwise to withstand it and the barrel is fairly thick. But the M5 is still only 7.7 lb or something like that. However with a full mag + the crazy new digital optic that they will be putting on it, it’ll be fairly porkey at over 13 lb. But the capability it brings to the table really is a big step forward.

Are y’all saying we should just stay stagnant? And let China or Russia take the lead on this stuff? Personally I ain’t a fan of that idea..
 
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I’m surprised at the level of hate the M5 and M250 are getting.
These are absolutely badass weapons and Garand Thumb is legit.
Like it or not, bash it or not.. steel base cases are the future. SIG has said they can actually handle around 105k psi. Also, they will be making bigger long action rounds in the future. Imagine a .300 Norma or .338 Lapua at 80+ kpsi. This is genuinely a true leap forward in firearms technology like we haven’t seen in a very very long time. SIG also isn’t the only one working on this stuff, we have members here who are as well.
Embrace it or step aside for those who will because this is the future. I for one am very excited. We are on groundbreaking new territory here, and best part is SIG is letting civvies have the cool shit too unlike HK likely would do.

The same assholes that 120 years ago where shitting on the automobile and swearing that nothing would replace their sweet ride

amish-horse-cart-12592013.jpg
 
The hammer forged chrome lined barrels we have right now can handle it just fine. I’d be more worried about what those steel core rounds will do to the barrel if the lands cut through the jacket down to the steel, than the cartridge pressure.
As far as the pressure, it’s the bolt lugs and lug abutments that have to do a lot of work there.
Either way, SIG appears to have figured it out.
 
The difference between "possible" and "commercially viable"
Most things are possible if someone is willing to pay enough

Commercially viable doesn't mean just "commercially viable to the hobby market"
 
Seems stupid not to design a quick change barrel.
That was the one part I had issue with. But big Army in all their wisdom apparently didn’t want a quick change handle..? Seems extremely short sighted..unless they plan to bring back the asbestos glove?
Everything else seems fine IMO but if our boys run into another Wanat situation.. there could be trouble.
 
Does it not?


Just forward of the ejection port on the right side where the barrel/receiver junction is, that opening appears to have a hand operated lever release mechanism that's in the right place to be a barrel release lever.

 
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Does it not?


Just forward of the ejection port where the barrel/receive junction is, that openining appears to have a release mechanism that's in the right place to be a barrel release lever.
Yes. You can change it quick. Very quick. If the barrels cold. Or you’re just an absolute man to the max like John Basilone and can’t be bothered by 3rd degree burns.
 
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Yes. You can change it quick. Very quick. If the barrels cold. Or you’re just an absolute man to the max like John Basilone and can’t be bothered by 3rd degree burns.

I bet nobody in the Army thought of that.

 
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I bet nobody in the Army thought of that.

LOL if you think those gloves will do the trick.. go ahead be my guest..
M60 had asbestos gloves for a reason.

Maybe Im wrong but I never really heard of 240B and SAW gunners carrying spare barrels around tho..? So maybe it wont really be an issue(outside of a Wanat situation but that was poor planning). Certainly theres a reason for not going with a quick change handle?
 
They may be made out of the same material those ukrainian shoes were made from.
 
I was a 240B gunner when it first came out, mid to late 90s. (11b, 3d bde 3rd ID). And M60 and SAW at different times. My unit got a mix of B and G models at first, but later replaced the Gs with more Bs when more were available

When it was time to swap a barrel, you didn't have it in your hand long enough to burn through your gloves. If you did, your doin it wrong.

The old barrel got dropped on the ground right where it falls next to the gun and the old one goes on.

The mechanism on that thing looks like a lever that would take 2 second to disengage, but I could be wrong.

I'm making a few assumptions based on the way that lever it appears to work. If it requires keeping your hand in there more than a few seconds, then yea I can see a problem.
 
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I was a 240B gunner when it first came out, mid to late 90s. (11b, 3d bde 3rd ID). And M60 and SAW at different times.

When it was time to swap a barrel, you didn't have it in your hand long enough to burn through your gloves. If you did, your doin it wrong.

The old barrel got dropped on the ground right where it falls next to the gun and the old one goes on.
Eh.. you'd know better than I would then. Guess I was wrong bro.
Its a badass MG, wish I had one. Looks like it shoots great and quite a bit lighter than the SAW. If that new digital optic is rugged enough, this is a game changer.
 
I can't wait until we spend billions of dollars on these new weapons systems that basically re-establish our capabilities circa late Korean/early Vietnam era, and then come to the conclusion that it sucks dealing with the associated mass, bulk, noise, recoil, etc. of larger rounds.
Not to worry, I'm sure for a few billion more SIG will sell us a lighter smaller faster deadly round that tumbles on impact.
 
I was a 240B gunner when it first came out, mid to late 90s. (11b, 3d bde 3rd ID). And M60 and SAW at different times. My unit got a mix of B and G models at first, but later replaced the Gs with more Bs when more were available

When it was time to swap a barrel, you didn't have it in your hand long enough to burn through your gloves. If you did, your doin it wrong.

The old barrel got dropped on the ground right where it falls next to the gun and the old one goes on.

The mechanism on that thing looks like a lever that would take 2 second to disengage, but I could be wrong.

I'm making a few assumptions based on the way that lever it appears to work. If it requires keeping your hand in there more than a few seconds, then yea I can see a problem.

I watched the video and the clamp comes undone in a sec without even touching the barrel. Once the clamp's loose, rip the old one out, slap a new one on, clamp again, replace upper handguard.
 
Only question I have really is: why is it brown?

(Hopefully just camera messing with coloration)
 
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I wish SIG would let a reviewer get their hands on the digital optic that comes with it. From what I’ve heard it’s extra badass. Rangefinder, automatic ballistic calculator, etc. IF it works.. every infantryman becomes a designated marksman.
 
The same assholes that 120 years ago where shitting on the automobile and swearing that nothing would replace their sweet ride

amish-horse-cart-12592013.jpg


I expect to see an exponential value increase in the near future. Maybe even a return to the Judge Roy Bean mindset if you steal one.
 
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That was the one part I had issue with. But big Army in all their wisdom apparently didn’t want a quick change handle..? Seems extremely short sighted..unless they plan to bring back the asbestos glove?
Everything else seems fine IMO but if our boys run into another Wanat situation.. there could be trouble.

Maybe we could breed another generation of Basilones...nah, not happening.

main-qimg-784fbc8139495d487f29345efedee34c-pjlq
 
I’m surprised at the level of hate the M5 and M250 are getting.

The firearms and ammo are fine, or at least they will be after technical development is concluded. It's the context that causes a problem. We're going to buy 100,000 of these things to address a particular threat that is extrapolated from the last war, and it's almost certainly going to bite us in the ass in some unforseen fashion during the next conflict.

We moved away from battle rifles over a half-century ago, which I guess is far enough in the past that we'll have to learn the lesson all over again.
 
Just speculating but there is likely some tech/functionality that the DoD does not want to make public knowledge.
Like that it doesn’t work perfectly yet?:ROFLMAO:

The vortex optic sounds like a legit package but I’m kinda doubtful they are 100% done yet.

M5 is eh but the M250 seems legit and the 338NM beltfed makes me happy inside. If we decide the 6.8 isn’t all that and a box of chocolates we are a barrel away from stepping back to 7.62
 
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The firearms and ammo are fine, or at least they will be after technical development is concluded. It's the context that causes a problem. We're going to buy 100,000 of these things to address a particular threat that is extrapolated from the last war, and it's almost certainly going to bite us in the ass in some unforseen fashion during the next conflict.

We moved away from battle rifles over a half-century ago, which I guess is far enough in the past that we'll have to learn the lesson all over again.
You might be right. We’ll just have to see I suppose. I’ll admit, WITH the digital optic + full mag + can.. the rifle is supposed to end up at ~14 lb. That’s no bueno hiking the peaks of the Hindu Kush and our guy’s will probably opt to go back to small frame AR’s if we end up in another place like the Afghan mountains again.

But from the little insider info that I’ve gleaned, the CCP military has recently come out with some whiz bang titanium plate armor.. and the 6.8x51 was specifically developed to defeat it. SIG didn’t just pull .277 cal out their ass. Army came up with a AP round that would defeat that armor and told SIG(and others) to go come up with a case that would launch it at the MV necessary to defeat the chink armor along with weapons to utilize said cartridge.

I had a feeling SIG would win. They didn’t try to make too far of a leap forward. Other competitors were a bit optimistic in launching multiple combat-unproven technology at once eg: caseless ammo, etc.
 
Like that it doesn’t work perfectly yet?:ROFLMAO:

The vortex optic sounds like a legit package but I’m kinda doubtful they are 100% done yet.

M5 is eh but the M250 seems legit and the 338NM beltfed makes me happy inside. If we decide the 6.8 isn’t all that and a box of chocolates we are a barrel away from stepping back to 7.62
The .338 NM MG has been in the works quite a while (like 10 years right?).. nice to see it making more headway! Now just imagine when SIG releases a steel base Norma case along with the rest of their line of upcoming steel base rounds. 300gr at 3k fps from a ~16-18” barrel or damn close to it seems likely. 😱
 
Are parts discontinued yet?
Lol.. the Mexican military uses the SIG 516… do they just toss them when a rifle goes down?

Also.. making that abomination that is the SIG 556 instead of just bringing the full data package of the masterpiece that is the SG550 series to America was unforgivable!
 
A cartridge with 80,000 psi of pressure failing and exploding on extraction or cooking off with the bolt opened oughta be epic failure, fingers blown off and people blinded. The current 7.62 runs around 48,000psi.

I got to test fire several of the last round of shitty ideas the army was developing and they all fucking sucked. My favorite was the XM-8, you could swap barrels from 9" to 20" long and no two barrels impacted anywhere near one another. Some of the guns did not have enough windage or elevation to correct for the wonked barrels.

I would not trust the current brain trust to make a sandwich, much less a gun.
 
But from the little insider info that I’ve gleaned, the CCP military has recently come out with some whiz bang titanium plate armor.. and the 6.8x51 was specifically developed to defeat it.

You know enough military history to know the next step in this progression - the CCP or Russians or Iranians or Cobra Commander will issue a slightly thicker plate that defeats the new round, and we won't be fighting them anyways so we'll be carrying around a monster battle rifle and not much of its heavy ammo while chasing around a lighter and faster foe.
 
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