The Army’s new rifle - the XM7

[Astro14]

What? Are my eyes deceiving me? $80 bucks for 20 rounds!

Yep. When it’s in stock. I’m sticking with 7.62x51 for now…got a lot of ammo for those rifles when it was $0.44/round. Under $9 bucks for 20.

6.5 Creedmoor isn’t cheap these days, but it’s about $1.00/round, and out of an 18” barrel, does everything this round does.

 

[Pew]

1) It's absurdly heavy at 8.38# "naked". This compares with a bit under 6.5# of the Colt M4.
2) It holds 20 and 25 rounds (depending on mag) instead of 30.
3) The weight and packaging difference in ammo means that the standard loadout goes from 210 rounds to 140.
4) The rail is stupid and makes zero sense to me. Style>Functon, that.

I get that body armor is a threat, especially vs near peers, but the .277 Fury isn't special. It won't even penetrate civilian-available level 4 plates at what amounts to across a large livingroom and down the hall. If budget COTS solutions stop it, I can't imagine a near-peer having issue stopping it.

Next we can get into barrel life. I do not have official specs on it, but there are currently specs for 5.56 barrels being issued which detail the need to maintain accuracy standards to 20,000 rounds of mixed FA/SA fire. I can promise you the .277 Fury isn't going to get there. This means one of two things: More cost and PM, or sub-standard performance from weapons used beyond their PM schedules.



I think it will make for a decent battle rifle to supplement the DMR role, but as for general issue? It's clown shoes. M855A1 and X135 and MK318MOD0/1 kill people dead just fine.

Long and short? I have zero desire to own one as it brings nothing to my table.

I absolutely agree. All that added weight up front where the suppressor is; getting close to the weight of an M4 with a 203; an absolute nightmare to carry on a foot patrol already. The military always had issues giving folks pitcanny equipment....now they get to contend with mlok and pitcanny stuff. I feel like this is to trap the military to exclusively use SIG. I'm thinking at best the SF guys will get the rifle.

 

[Ws6]

Great addition to the thread. Very well thought out opinion. I agree with all you said, accept the body armor thing. The full pressure stuff is not available yet, as the Fury is low pressure stuff, no real gain. Which brings up another logistical nightmare: +P stuff for front liners and "regular P" for everyone else and storage? Steel armor will defeat it no doubt, composite armor, not so sure.

Armor really is only effective while standing squared up to the shooter, not at all effective from the side, or in the prone, which adds to the dumbness of the "armor piercing" requirement.

I would rather be light and fast, but that is just me.

If I remember right, military standard for the M4 was 4 MOA. Way above civilian "standards". The 277 in full pressure flavor will destroy barrels, no doubt. But what's money right??.... especially when you can spend someone elses.

That's for general issue ammunition as a system. Most of the MK18 and URGI additional upper systems are capable of 1.5-2.5moa given an LPVO and MK262, X135, etc.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

What? Are my eyes deceiving me? $80 bucks for 20 rounds!

Because now everyone make $20 an hour or more and gun power you used to get for $22 a pound is now $68 a pound!

 

[burbguy82]

That's for general issue ammunition as a system. Most of the MK18 and URGI additional upper systems are capable of 1.5-2.5moa given an LPVO and MK262, X135, etc.

Right, but we are not talking SPRs. As an SPR, it would be a killer gun, and I would not be in opposition to it adoption. I would have dug the caliber.

Should the round come mainstream, and cheap one day, I will rebarrel one of my Aks to the Fury, just because I can.

 

[Ws6]

Right, but we are not talking SPRs. As an SPR, it would be a killer gun, and I would not be in opposition to it adoption. I would have dug the caliber.

Should the round come mainstream, and cheap one day, I will rebarrel one of my Aks to the Fury, just because I can.

It all depends on what the next war brings.

 

[burbguy82]

Any new opinions on this as time has progressed?